I replaced my 80GB IDE drive on a Dell 4600 with this drive. It's made a significant difference in performance.The directions for install were a bit confusing but once I figured it out the included software installed the drive and copied all of the files from my old drive including the boot record and Windows XP. I then disconnected my old drive and rebooted using the new one.
Buy Western Digital WD2500KSRTL Caviar SE16 250 GB SATA 3.5-Inch Hard Drive Kit Now
The other poster states that you can get this drive for $50 less through the Manufacturer but fails to mention that they are selling the bare drive (oem) through Western Digital and Amazon sells the retail version which is always higher, which doesn't include data cable.Originally reviewed by me June 4, 2006Pros: Sweet deal for an entry level Enterprise class hard drive.
Cons: As with any SATA drive, the install can be difficult.
The Bottom Line:
With its popularity, you would be hard pressed to go wrong buying this drive. It offers compatibility others haven't approached. Just be sure your system is properly set up first.
Author's Review
The SE 16 SATA II WD2500KS is no stranger in the marketplace, having been around since May 2005, and I was in the market for a new set of SATA drives for my last years model GA-7N400 Pro2 motherboard (nForce2 chipset with Sil3512 SATA RAID chipset). Those old Maxtor IDE PATA drives on it are approaching five years in age and that was their expected lifespan. Fortunately, all my Maxtor drives are all still running well including one six years old.
Note: This is a long review of this drive covering its features, install, and specifications in some detail. I have broken it into subtopics for ease in finding what you may be more interested in. Feel free to skip around if it pleases you.
Why I looked to Western Digital:
Why would I switch after so many years of good service? Well, Maxtor has been bought out by Seagate, a company I've just never given a hard look. The Maxtor Maxline III 300Gb. drive was in my mind but, the lack of website support for looking at compatibility and features was lacking. Hey, it even had a five year warranty, but without that needed support, what can I say? I don't buy equipment only to find out later it won't work in my applications.
I checked the Internet for SATA drives, capable of the latest second generation speeds (3Gb. compatible over 1.5G. and vice-versa), and came up with a number of models from different manufacturers that sparked my interest (I wanted SATA II for later possible swaps into my AMD X2 4400 XP system. I also wanted models that had good support with later chipsets for good compatibility with my motherboards SATA and RAID functions. I like drives that run cool, quiet, and fast. That narrowed the field quickly as I found many below the 16 Mb. in buffer, which I wanted for improved data acquisition speed in these large platter drives.
It was then down to studying reviews, and the other seemingly less important features sets left. What I found first was an extremely large following for the WD2500KS that was more or less overwhelming with praise for the units capabilities and service in use.
Of note, NewEgg.Com had no less than 377 customer reviews, at the time I started writing this review, of this drive with an overall excellent approval rating of 76.66%. I found this odd, so I began reading the better ones. I concluded many were indeed from experienced consumers who really thought highly of this product made in Thailand . Many of the lower ratings still had praise for the drive noting their problems were due to a poor install. My other drive choices had no such record of praise, nor have I noticed so many reviews for such an item before. I have to admit this weighted the scales heavily in favor of the WD2500KS.
Western Digital didn't compromise anything when designing this drive it seems. True, some server support provided in the Maxline III for supposedly faster data movement is not supported here, but the advantages of the WD2500KS far outweigh this minor exclusion and I would still consider this an Enterprise class drive. Those two programming features? Well, TCQ (Tagged Command Queuing) and NCQ (Native Command Queuing) aren't even supported by many machines. So, why add more procedures in the way of your data flow? They're just not that mission critical here and they don't provide that much of a performance boost to single user or single processor machines (standard/high performance desktops).
Website support for this drive just blew Seagate and Maxtor SATA drives out of the saddle. Not only has Western Digital provided necessary specifications there, but pictures as well that clearly show all connections and settings! Neither Seagate or Maxtor SATA drives had this. WD also provided a number of software options for transferring data or the OS to your new "bootable" SATA drive/s from your others being replaced, with suggestions for other sources should their Data Lifeguard Utilities fail. Instruction on just how you should proceed with your particular installs is also easily available there.
My price for the WD2500KS was a welcome low at $88 each for a total of $176 for the two I purchased. The nearest competition, in other brands, was $10 to $20 and higher each.
Warranty is three years for this drive and is quickly looked up by serial number. The drive can also be easily registered at the site. The competition had a five year warranty, but three years is still a decent warranty that doesn't mean you should expect any troubles. (Note: The RE II model of this drive does include a five year warranty and has NCQ support.) The WD2500KS is rated a minimum of 50,000 power cycles while the others stated an at least one million hour expected lifespan. Odd, Maxtor used to rate their better drives at a minimum of 50,000 power cycles also so this could mean the WD is easily the equivalent of their 1,000,000 hour expected lifespan (MTBF). But, the WD SATA drives are rated a minimum of 1,200,000 hours MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) along with SCSI drives.
Accessories:
The WD2500KS is "hot swappable", but not if one uses the added SecureConnector for communication available from Western Digital as it requires use of the "MOLEX" connector. Of course you still need to check to see if your motherboard supports this, but it is no less a nice server class offered feature. That connector maintains a sturdy connection to the unit, but is only for Western Digital SATA drives so don't expect to use it on any others. Some have remarked they wish this connector were longer so check for your length requirement before purchase as the cable is one size at 19". It runs $9.99 at the WD online store. PCI adapters, RAID controllers, and standard SATA cables are also offered there for this drive if needed.
Compliance:
As for compatibility, concerning connections, the WD2500KS has standard SATA power and data connections and an additional standard molex power connection designed for older power supplies that were used with earlier PATA drives. This means those older power supplies need no adapters or replacement. Just don't hook up both power supply connections on the drive at the same time you can only use one at a time or risk damage!
Jumper settings are well marked and easily available for study at the website if changes are needed. This means a possible problem with 1.5Gb. or 3Gb. controllers can be eliminated by using this manual switching. Power configuration information for SSC (Spread Spectrum Clocking) is also available there if needed. (Most users will only need the Default settings from the factory and there are no more Master, Slave, or Cable Select settings as there were with PATA drives) Don't concern yourself with SSC unless it is enabled in your SATA controller. It's nothing more than than a device designed to lower electrical emissions the FCC might require for equipment compliance. If enabled, it will require your drive set to "enable" for proper synchronization. It performs no function to improve computer performance but should be used for SATA chipsets that make use of it.
A feature for WD desktop drives, not used with SATA RAID drives also means this Enterprise solution will not drop out of the RAID controller array by going into a deep recovery cycle trying to repair an error a SATA feature that provides definite improvement over PATA drives used in RAID arrays.
Getting ready to install the WD2500KS:
Some further explanation of these jumper pin settings and plugs may be helpful in preventing some severe headaches. If hot swapping is supported with your your SATA motherboard chip, you can use this feature with the WD2500KS only by using the standard SATA power connector and data cable. The legacy 4-pin Molex connector does NOT support hot swapping of drives at any time. Better yet, just DON'T be plugging in or out your drives' connectors with the computer power supply turned ON. "Enabling" SSC (if your chipset supports it) requires the jumper set opposite to the factory DEFAULT your drive used when it arrived. If no jumper was present on pins 1 and 2 then a jumper placed there will enable SSC SO, NOTE THIS SETTING WHEN YOU RECEIVE YOUR DRIVE/S. If your chipset is an early SATA 1.5Gb. one, you may need to place a jumper on pins 5 and 6. This will revert the SATA II 3.0Gb. WD2500KS to operation at 1.5Gb. This may be necessary as some earlier chipsets will not be recognized by the auto-set feature. By now, you may be realizing why some have problems using SATA drives.
S.M.A.R.T. (Self Monitoring And Reporting Technology) is included on the WD2500KS and all other Western Digital drives. This means you can take advantage of it, if your motherboard BIOS has the feature setting. Don't get out of your BIOS too quickly, as you may also need to set it for SATA drive recognition. This could require several settings to be made to enable it depending on your motherboard. You will also need to make any RAID settings at this time to enable striping or mirroring. In new OS installs, you may also need a driver disk to load a driver if your motherboard BIOS is not capable of loading one automatically for SATA. PCI card controllers will require a driver to be loaded in DOS. If you have an already updated OS installed, you may already have the drivers installed. At the WD site, you can download a set of tools to make the needed driver disks. You will have to run an extraction wizard to mount them to disk first. This all means you should visit the WD website to view the instructions needed with your motherboards specifications which means you may also need some facts concerning your motherboards specifications for installed chipsets and proper BIOS settings or BIOS updates. Finding chipset information will sometimes require you to visit the site of the chipset manufacturer, as all motherboard manufacturers don't supply this. Several options exist, at the WD website, for which download of Data Lifeguard Tools you need for the type of installation you will be making. So, consider how you intend to mount the the WD2500KS beforehand.
Specifications supplied courtesy of WD:
Rotational Speed 7,200 RPM (nominal)
Buffer Size 16 MB
Average Latency 4.20 ms (nominal)
Contact Start/Stop Cycles 50,000 minimum
Seek Times
Read Seek Time 8.9 ms
Write Seek Time 10.9 ms (average)
Track-To-Track Seek Time 2.0 ms (average)
Full Stroke Seek 21.0 ms (average)
Transfer Rates
Buffer To Host (Serial ATA) 300 MB/s (Max)
Buffer To Disk 748 Mbits/s (Max)
Physical Specifications:
Formatted Capacity 250,059 MB
Capacity 250 GB
Interface SATA 300 MB/s
Number of Platters 3
User Sectors Per Drive 488,397,168
Physical Dimensions:
English
Height 1.028 Inches (Max)
Length 5.787 Inches (Max)
Width 4.00 Inches ( /0.010 inch)
Weight 1.32 Pounds ( /.10 lb)
Metric
Height 26.1 mm (Max)
Length 147 mm (Max)
Width 101.6 mm
Weight 0.6 kg ( /.082 kg)
Environmental Specifications:
Shock
Operating Shock (Read) 65G, 2 ms
Non-operating Shock 250G, 2 ms
Acoustics
Idle Mode 28 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 33 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 29 dBA (average)
Temperature (English)
Operating 41° F to 131° F
Non-operating -40° F to 149° F
Temperature (Metric)
Operating 5° C to 55° C
Non-operating -40° C to 65° C
Humidity
Operating 5-95% RH non-condensing
Non-operating 5-95% RH non-condensing
Altitude (English)
Operating -1,000 feet to 10,000 feet
Non-operating -1,000 feet to 40,000 feet
Altitude (Metric)
Operating -305M to 3,050M
Non-operating -305M to 12,200M
Vibration:
Operating
Linear 20-300 Hz, .75G (0 to peak)
Random 10-300 Hz, 0.004 g² / Hz
Non-operating
Low Frequency 5-20 Hz, 0.195 inches (double amplitude)
High Frequency 20-500 Hz, 4.0G (0 to peak)
Electrical Specifications:
Current Requirements
12 VDC
Read/Write 450 mA
Idle 430 mA
Standby 20 mA
Sleep 20 mA
5 VDC
Read/Write 800 mA
Idle 730 mA
Standby 270 mA
Sleep 250 mA
Power Dissipation
Read/Write 9.50 Watts
Idle 8.75 Watts
Standby 1.60 Watts
Sleep 1.50 Watts
Additional relevant system hardware in my computer:
AMD XP3000 333MHz. processor at 2.2GHz.
1.5Gb. Ultra Pure DDR433 Winbond memory
500w TruePower supply
Two 80GB. 133 ATA hard drives (RAID 0 PATA)
Three high speed optical drives
3.5 floppy drive
Apacer card reader
ATI 9500 Pro Radeon overclocked to 9700 Pro (BIOS Flashed)
Hauppauge WinTV-HD card
USR wireless PCI card
Logitech Bluetooth hub with MX keyboard and mouse
Logitech video cam
How my install progressed:
After receiving my new drives I allowed them to sit in their anti-static packaging to come to room temperature. (I had already loaded Data Lifeguard Tools to my Windows XP OS drive, checked to see my BIOS was the latest version, and downloaded all the the latest drivers installing them.) Meanwhile, I had re-set my BIOS by removing and replacing the small battery on the motherboard. This meant I also had to reset my BIOS settings. On my motherboard, entering BIOS at post and hitting Ctrl+F1 opens advanced settings. From there, I made the necessary adjustments for enabling SATA RAID, S.M.A.R.T., and the various others I use for monitoring and performance. These default automatically to OFF and other settings after a reset. I recommend the reset when making such changes, but it is not always necessary. I still wanted them fresh and saved to my Gigabyte Dual BIOS so no errors could occur. With the power supply connected and switched OFF, I then attached and neatly routed all the needed new connections. As I did this, I removed two of my older drives from the four 80Gb. Maxtors I had in my ANTEC Sonata case. That allowed me to remove the larger PATA data cable for those two quickly making my case more open and neater.
Next, I opened the anti-static packaging and noted my SATA drive had no jumpers installed. As I had already been to the manufacturers site for my SATA chips and learned they were SSC enabled, I added a jumper to pins 1 and 2 on each drive. My SATA chipset is also 1.5 Gb., but I decided it might have been manufactured late enough (in my version 2 GA-7N400) for the auto-set feature to function. (Western Digital provides some information at their site for which chipsets will not function using "auto-set" at their FAQs search section.) I then installed the new drives and the computer. While posting, SATA RAID "discovered" my drives and offered to set them in an array by pressing Ctrl+S. I went on into Windows without this step.
After Windows booted fully, I opened Data Lifeguard Tools and it instantly found one drive and I allowed it to make that drive ready for use. I had to re-boot for it to find and ready the second drive. This only took seconds each time after opening Data Lifeguard Tools. With both drives now appearing in Windows, I checked C:\ControlPanel\System\Hardware\DeviceManager and found my new drives listed and no conflicts. I then re-booted and entered my SATA RAID setup by pressing Ctrl+S at the appropriate time. The setup to RAID 1 array was instant and I rebooted to Windows. My SATA data program now showed my drives set for RAID 1 at 1.5Gb (the "auto-set" feature worked). With this change to RAID 1, Windows now showed only 1 drive for the two new ones installed.
From this point, I used Data Lifeguard Tools to transfer all data from that data drive to the new RAID 1 array. 25Gb. of data there took roughly 15 minutes to copy completely with no losses. I then formatted that 80Gb. drive and used Data Lifeguard Tools to copy the OS drive to this one and enable it to a boot drive.(My OS drive was 5 years old.) This took 30 minutes and the procedure using Data Lifeguard Tools was flawless. I then shut down and replaced the original boot drive with one of my newer 80Gb. drives, that had been in place previously, and transferred its data to the RAID 1 SATA array also then formatting it. At that same time, using a temporary connection, I had connected the remaining 80Gb. drive and transferred its data also to the new SATA array. I will later make two of my newer 80Gb. drives into a RAID 0 array, transferring my OS with Data lifeguard Tools and making them bootable.
What I observed during and after the install:
The WD2500KS drives did feel cooler to the touch than the older Maxtor drives. I do have a Digital Doc 5 but haven't installed the sensors as yet to the drives again. Previously, the Maxtors had run 43 degrees C. under load and the new SATA drives were decidedly cooler to the touch while they copied the data. Noise was negligible and no louder than the Maxtors which have always been quiet. With my Sonata, the drive trays are isolated by rubber. While touching the drives as they worked, I could detect no more vibration in the new WD2500KS drives than was present in the older Maxtors.
From this standpoint, the WD2500KS drives do run cooler in operation. At idle, I noticed no difference in temperature. Noise generation was not increased, as would have been quickly noticed in the quiet Sonata case.
Data transfer was a painless experience using the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2. The program has nice prompts and features, throughout, that make using the program extremely easy. In the event of a problem, information is provided to correct the issue. I had no problems, but the prompts for help were there if needed at each step.
The overall response of this computer is noticeably faster, and data transfer is faster than between my 133DMA PATA drives on the same machine. RAID 1 could be playing a large part in this picture, so I will not make a judgement saying how much improvement I have beyond I do recognize some improvement. That however, was not my intent in adding the drives. I just wanted the use of the improved data backup features I available. My four 80Gb. drives were adequate on this machine. Using the 250Gb. Western Digitals in RAID 1, with only two of the older 80Gb. drives, I have similar storage capacity with much greater reliability. At the price, they were a good value that looks to be a winner.
*Note: For those wondering, the build date on these two new drives was May 1st.
Final thoughts:
Note: I purchased my two WD2005KS drives at ZipZoomFly.Com who, previous to March 15th 2006, offered free two day FedEx shipping. Not aware of the policy change, I didn't notice I could have had the same two day shipping I was accustomed to for only $1.99. Ugh! This meant my drives came slowly, cross-country by truck, FedEx Home Delivery one option I certainly never would have selected for a hard drive shipment! This has meant I had to do a thorough inspection of each of my new drives. So, watch that shipping carefully at purchase. At the least, this means my drives have passed a decidedly rough handling test before receiving them, and it's a testament to their strength and the foam packaging they came in inside the box.
The two drives have been in two days of service at this writing. That's just not long enough for any statements on durability, but the drives do look solid with the exception of the SATA connections which do look as if they could snap off with rough handling. That's no problem for me as I had no problems and won't be moving the drives around. I have read Western Digital is very forgiving about replacements should a problem occur.
Since my install did go so well, I do feel my new drives should be a pleasure I won't regret. Time will tell but, from all my observations, I do believe my decision has been a good one.
***Update 6/6/06***
Last night I had installed all eight sensors on my Digital Doc 5 and installed my audible-reporting EasyTune 5 software supplied by Gigabyte for my motherboard. Ouch! Shades of "666"? I awoke this morning to find my computer screaming warnings of higher than normal temperatures. My New SATA drives were running 45 and 46 degrees C.! The motherboard was reporting 49 degrees C., and the processor at 58 degrees C. One of the new SATA drives had dropped out of the RAID 1 array and was trying repeatedly to unsuccessfully repair itself.
The likely problem? Remember, I originally used the WD Data Lifeguard Utilities with its quick format to enable my drives. I backed the still functioning SATA drive up to one of my old Maxtor drives, switched drivers to "basic" SATA, dropping the array configuration using my motherboard BIOS settings so both drives would then appear in Windows. I then reformatted both SATA drives from Windows using a full format. Whew! After this was done, I noted all temps returned to normal. My drives were all reporting temps of 35-36 degrees C. a testament of the superior cooling of the Sonata case over the previous file server case I had these components in. (I had swapped cases with an older system I had in the Sonata.) The motherboard dropped back to its more normal running temp at 35 degrees C. and the processor back to 48 degrees C.
I later returned to my SATA RAID driver and RAID Bios settings. Then retuning the almost 70Gb. of data to my SATA drive array using "drag and drop". Did the drives heat up this time during the data write? NO! In fact, the Maxtors started running cooler by one to two degrees C.! Down to 34 C., and 31 C. on the C: drive. Will the problem reoccur? Well, if it does I'll be back reporting it quickly. Whatever the cause, the remaining WD2500KS did save my data using the RAID 1 array and I was able to later restore both WD2500KS drives to RAID 1 operation. Be cautious of using the Data Lifeguard Utility to format your your drive when it enables it. Just go ahead with a full format after you see the drive before you start using it.
Want Western Digital WD2500KSRTL Caviar SE16 250 GB SATA 3.5-Inch Hard Drive Kit Discount?
Instructions lacked instructions. Included manual tells you to go on-line which is great if you have a computer that is up and running. The drive itself is fine though built years ago therefore no factory warranty.
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