WD Raptor X Clear-Top Hard Drive Reveals the Technology Behind its Speed

Engineering a vision on PC performance never accomplished before, Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today introduced the world's only manufacturer-produced clear-top hard drive, WD Raptor X (www.wdraptorx.com). The unique 10,000 RPM Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives feature 150 GB capacity, 16 MB cache and Native Command Queuing (NCQ) for peak performance. Beginning today, a demonstration of the new WD Raptor X drive will be available at CES Las Vegas (WD Booth No. 70059/Sands Expo & Convention Center).

WD is responding to widespread popularity among performance enthusiasts of the unmatched performance of the original enterprise-class WD Raptor. The company designed the WD Raptor X to perform at the highest levels like its predecessors, as well as display a radically progressive style for PC and Mac owners who modify or enhance their computing systems, thrive on high-performance gaming or otherwise demand the most extreme components available.

"Created exclusively for performance enthusiasts, WD Raptor X delivers what they want most maximum performance and plenty of flair, in addition to the proven quality and reliability WD's customers worldwide have long relied on," said Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of enterprise storage for WD. "Maintaining these high WD standards while designing the ground-breaking, one-of-a-kind clear lens design represents a technological accomplishment that we are excited about delivering to these passionate PC enthusiasts, who are continually tricking out their systems."

As the only major component inside a PC with moving parts, all hard drives until now have been sealed with a solid metal top. WD Raptor X features a large clear lens embedded in the top through which the read and write action of the drive's head and disk assembly can be viewed while the drive delivers data, audio and video content and games to PC and Mac® performance enthusiasts in just milliseconds.

While introducing several new materials into the drive's critical structure, the only acceptable result for WD's engineering team was to maintain the unparalleled performance that WD Raptor offered the computing industry, as well as the high reliability customers have come to expect from WD.

The new WD Raptor X hard drives feature NCQ for optimum random I/O performance. WD Raptor X drives also employ RAFF(TM) (Rotary Accelerometer Feed Forward) technology, which protects drive performance from rotational vibration created by fans and other hard drives that rob performance.
WD Raptor X drives feature:
- 10,000 RPM
- 150 GB capacity
- 1.5 Gb/s external data rate
- NCQ
- 4.6 ms average seek time
- 16 MB cache
- 5-year warranty

WD Raptor X 150 GB (model WD1500AHFD) hard drives are expected to be shipping in volume this quarter. Estimated retail pricing for WD Raptor X is $349.99 USD. WD Raptor X will be available soon on the company's online store (www.westerndigital.com), where customers can take advantage of free standard shipping. Additional information, photos and a video about WD Raptor X hard drives may be found at http://www.wdraptorx.com.