The Cheetah X15 turns in an average
access time of 6.8 milliseconds... considering the drive's specified 3.9 millisecond
seek time and its 2 millisecond
rotational latency, this is actually a tad on the high side, even considering various overheads. Take a look, for example, at the
Quantum Atlas 10k II, the previous access time champion. It meets its expected access time dead on, at 7.8 milliseconds. Yes, the X15 has the lowest measured time to date, but not nearly by the margin we expected.
Despite its smaller sector-per-track count in its outermost zone, the X15 turns in record sequential transfer rates. WinBench 99 measures the drive at 41 MB/sec, just a smidgeon ahead of the Atlas 10K II's 40 MB/sec score. The drive's inner zone transfer rate, relatively speaking, is even more impressive, weighing in at nearly 29 MB/sec, almost a full 4 MB/sec faster than the Atlas 10k II or the Cheetah 18XL, for that matter.
WinMarks...
