March '98 4.5GB SCSI Hard Disk Comparison

by Storage Review on March 21, 1998 4:41 PM EST

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IBM Ultrastar 2ES DCAS-34330
Average Score
Business Disk WinMark 98 (KB/s)		1264
	SS/Database	1100
	WP	1530
	Publishing	1196
	Browsers	1436
	Task Switching	1650
High-End Disk WinMark 98 (KB/s)		3536
	AVS/Express 3.1	2188
	Frontpage 97	2974
	MicroStation 95	7044
	Photoshop 4.0	2594
	Premiere 4.2	6812
	PV-Wave 6.1	2584
	Visual C++ 5.0	8094
Disk/Read Random Access (ms)		16.2
Disk/Read Transfer Rate (KB/s)
	Beginning	8160
	End	5100
Disk/Read CPU Utilization (Percent)		4.4
	Transfer Rate (KB/s)	8157

The Ultrastar 2ES is IBM's entry-level 4.5 GB drive. Entry-level does not necessarily mean low-cost, though, as the 2ES weighs in at a hefty $500. The drive is conspicuously the only 5400 RPM drive in this roundup, with performance to reflect its slow spindle speed. It posted the second-slowest Business WinMark 98 score along with the third slowest High-End Winmark showing of the group. The drive's manual was thorough and easy to follow. Even so, the Ultrastar 2ES' pokey performance combined with its fairly high price make it a very hard recommendation. Users looking for an entry-level SCSI drive would be better serviced by Quantum's Viking or Seagate's Hawk 4XL.

IBM Ultrastar 2XP DCHS-34550
Average Score
Business Disk WinMark 98 (KB/s)		1426
	SS/Database	1208
	WP	1788
	Publishing	1350
	Browsers	1668
	Task Switching	1616
High-End Disk WinMark 98 (KB/s)		3732
	AVS/Express 3.1	2606
	Frontpage 97	3210
	MicroStation 95	7396
	Photoshop 4.0	2254
	Premiere 4.2	7662
	PV-Wave 6.1	2998
	Visual C++ 5.0	7346
Disk/Read Random Access (ms)		12.6
Disk/Read Transfer Rate (KB/s)
	Beginning	9570
	End	6540
Disk/Read CPU Utilization (Percent)		6.9
	Transfer Rate (KB/s)	9101

IBM's Ultrastar 2XP weighs in as the most expensive drive in this roundup, an astonishing $800 in price. IBM provides a thorough multi-lingual manual. One would infer top performance from this drive, especially in the light of IBM's showing in the UltraATA drive roundup. The 2XP does indeed provide decent performance, but nevertheless disappointed given the price. Seagate's Cheetah and Barracuda both bested the Ultrastar 2XP in performance and both cost significantly less. This drive cannot be recommended due to its lofty price.

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