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HD benchmark program?
Anyone know of a decent freeware HD benchmarking program to check Datarates? I've been using Video Tool and Norton 3 with radically different results...So, I'd like to get a third program to find out which is more accurate.
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SiSofts SANDRA Pro 2000 benchmark/sysinfo utility is what I use for Win9x. They have a shareware version with a fully functional disk test module that gives very good results.
When you do the disk test make sure you don't judge video capture performance by the composite figure at the top. Check the numbers for unbuffered sequential writes and reads in the details section. These are the pertinent figures for video capture and playback.
SiSoft is coming out with a Win2K/NT4 utility, SAMANTHA, later this summer. Until then SANDRA Pro 2000's benchmarks will work in them. Don't even try using the SANDRA sysinfo portions under Win2K or NT4 though ;-))
http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra/
Dr. Mordrid
[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 19 June 2000).] -
Dr. Mordrid or anyone with a fast HDD,
how do your maxtor diskdrives score under SiSoft Sandra 2000?
My IBM GXP34 20,5GB (ATA-66) scores 11000 drive index and 13MB/s random write.
My Seagate Barracuda ATA-II (ATA-66) scores 17300 drive index and 17MB/s random writeComment
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As mentioned previously the composite index and random read/writes are not the indices to use in the video context.
The important indices are the unbuffered sequential write and read, as these are directly related to the capturing and playing back of video.
That said my Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40's have been tested two ways: singly and in a 3 drive 120 gig Fasttrak66 RAID0 array. These are fresh runs today with about 90% free space on each setup.
Single:
seq. write: 19-21 mb/s
seq. read: 24-26 mb/s
RAID0:
seq. write: 48-50 mb/s
seq. read: 54-58 mb/s
Dr. Mordrid
[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 21 June 2000).]Comment
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thanks for the clue, Doc. also, in another thread, concerning multiple arrays on the FartTrak, I did as you said and hooked up my spare drive to the controller as another array - works great!Comment
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hey, I checked out that link (www.tomshardware.com) and was wondering if anyone has tried that Ultra66-to-FastTrak trick with desirable results?
If the Ultra66 costs only a third of the FT66, I'm willing to give it a try - my only concern would be if Promise has seen this "fix" and whether or not they've taken steps to prevent it, so as to sell more FastTraks to those who want a RAID.
[This message has been edited by JerryH (edited 22 June 2000).]Comment
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Hi all, if anyone in the UK is going to try the ultra66 to Fastrak66 mod I noticed that aria have a Promise ATA66 PCI 2 port controller, which I assume is the Ultra66, going for 22 pounds plus VAT.
Check it out here; http://cgi.www.demon.net/cgi-bin/www...ricelist_r#CTR
Haven't tried the mod myself yet but I'm tempted, although, there seem to have been a lot of problems with the Maxtor plus40 and Quantum LM drives concerning spiking observed in sequential transfer rate benchmarking graphs. See the forums at www.storagereview.com for more info.
Simon
[This message has been edited by The Scientist (edited 22 June 2000).]Comment
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okay, I see.
My Seagate Barracuda ATA-II 30,2GB does 28MB/s sequential read and 26MB/s sequential write.
IBM Deskstar 34GXP 20,5GB does 22MB/s sequential read and write.
I'd guess the Barracuda ATA-II is pretty darn fast. I bought i after reading tom's review. (www.tomshardware.com)Comment
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