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Product:
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Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive |
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Price:
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$139 (CAN) / $120 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Samsung Canada
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Author:
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Hi-TEK
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Date:
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June 19th, 2003
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Rating:
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MODTHEBOX would like to thank Sugmin from Samsung Canada
for sending the Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive for review.
Introduction:
Storage solutions are most common in an enterprise level as well in the small business network. Most
day-to-day operations are reliant on storage devices that can handle the task of retrieving and storing data.
There are a wide variety of storage options available with standard hard drives being the most common.
Consumers have two different formats to choose from in IDE based or high profile SCSI configurations.
As storage requirements increase, we have witnessed a few manufacturers releasing brand new technologies
for improving performance balanced with silent operation. Today in the MTB Labs, we will be evaluating
the Spintpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive from Samsung Canada, a brand new product that offers good
performance balanced with low noise levels.
Specifications:
The Spintpoint SP1203N is one of many available 7200RPM Ultra DMA-133 based hard drives available
from Samsung Canada. This product is part of the Spinpoint P80 series and incorporates thin film
metalic media technology for enhanced performance and reliability. Here are some features and
specifications taken directly from the Samsung Canada website:
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Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive - Key Specifications:
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| Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive: Manufactured by Samsung Canada |
| Interface: Ultra ATA33/66/100/133 |
| Buffer DRAM Size2: 2MB (8MB Option) |
| Bytes per Sector: 512 |
| Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM |
| Average Latency: 4.17 ms |
| Track to Track: 0.8 ms |
| Media to/from Buffer (max): 741 Mbits/sec |
| Buffer to/from Host (max): 133 MB/sec |
| Drive Ready Time (typical): 5 sec |
| Non-recoverable Read Error: 1 sector in 1014 bits |
| MTBF: 600,000 POH |
| Start/Stop Cycles (Ambient): 50,000 |
| Component Design Life: 5 years |
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The Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive arrived in a standard plastic shell which kept the product
secure during the shipping progress. The retail version of this drive does come with proper packaging
as well as a reference manual. The appearance of the Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive is typically
the same as many rival products currently on the market. The outer exterior is encased in black with
an aluminum based top secured by a series of metal screws. The top portion of the drive provides a
brief overview on product specifications, model numbers, serial numbers, and pin configuration. The
rear portion of the SP1203N has a 40-pin AT-Bus IDE connector, 4-pin Molex connector and a 4-pin HD select
connector for configuring this drive in Master, Slave or Cable Select modes.
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The hightlight for the Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive is the introduction of new technology
developed exclusively by Samsung Canada for this product line. The SP1203N supports all existing
drive configuration types ranging from older ATA-33 legacy technologies up to ATA-133. There are
2 disc platters which make up the composition of the drive construction with three read and write
heads. The SP1203N has an average seek time of 8.9 ms and a rotational speed of 7200 RPM. By
default the SP1203N comes with 2MB buffer but is offered in a high-end 8MB configuration. In order
to balance performance levels with acoustic noise reduction, Samsung Canada has introduced two
new technologies which are part of the SP1203N design; NoiseGuard acoustic suppression technology
and SilentSeek technology.
NoiseGuard acoustic suppression technology attempts to silence the audible noises generated inside
a hard drive during normal operation. The vibrations are usually the result of the constantly moving
spindle motor which re-positions the read and write heads during normal use. Samsung has analyzed
various noise levels and the absorption rate of various materials and as a final result has based
the construction of the SP1203N on vibration absorbing materials to minimize noise levels.
SilentSeek technology is designed to minimize the mechanical excitation generated by any resonance,
virtually eliminating the source of seek acoustic noise. The technology incorporates a performance
optimized sinusoidal seek trajectory, as opposed to traditional "Bang-Bang" seek profile. This
prevents excitation by high frequency harmonics, while still providing minimal positioning and head
settling times. The end result is a reduction in dBA noise levels guaranteeing silent performance
during operation.
Testing:
To start performance tests, I assembled the following pieces of hardware to complete the system:
- Asus AV7333 motherboard
- AMD Athlon XP 1800+ CPU
- 512 MB Kingmax Tiny BGA DDR 333 RAM
- MSI G4 Ti4200 video card
- Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive
- D-Link DFE-530TX NIC card
- LG GCC-4120B Combination IDE Drive (12x8x32 CDRW + 8x DVD)
- Chieftec Matrix Mid-Tower Aluminum Case
- CritiCool WaterPlant Acrylic Reservoir
- CritiCool PowerPlant PCI Relay Card
- D-TEK Customs Pro Core Radiator w/shroud (1/2" fittings)
- Eheim 1250 Pump (317GPH)
- Windows XP Professional SP1
Two different application programs were used to test runs for access read and seek performance during
a 30 minute duration. HD Tach 2.61 is a
physical performance hard drive test for the Windows platform that reads from areas all over the hard
drive and reports an average speed. SiSoft Sandra 2003
is a multi-purpose benchmarking utility that can examine different performance aspects of a computer
system.
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The Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive did perform remarkably well in rated and achieved seek times
with a maximum score of 50543 kps. One interesting point to note was that the specification in the
documentation on Samsung's website state that the SP1203N has a seek time of 8.9 ms. When running
multiple tests with HD Tach 6.21, I was averaging anywhere from 13 ms to 15 ms. I am under the
assumption that this score would be reflected better with the 8MB model. In terms of performance tests
in the Sisoft Sandra 2003 File System Benchmark, all scores rated against comparable drives were
excellent. By far the biggest benefit of the Spinpoint SP1203N, is the near silent operation which
is an great edition for any system builders who want reduced noise levels.
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Conclusion:
The Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive represents a solid product that has several useful
applications for system builders looking to assemble a quiet PC. The incorporation of noise reduction
and vibration technologies add to the attractiveness of this product. By default the SP1203N supports
older legacy technologies including ATA formats ranging from ATA-33 to ATA-133. The only minor
issue that I noted during testing was that average seek time performance on this drive was 13ms-15ms,
compared to the advertised 8.9ms. Consumers looking to more performance would benefit purchasing the
8MB model of this product, which is more suitable as a stand alone product or in a IDE RAID
configuration. Overall, I was impressed with the Samsung Spinpoint SP1203N 120GB Hard Drive and I'm awarding a final
rating of 9.5 out of 10. If you have any
questions regarding this review be sure to visit
Samsung Canada website for for more information
or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Quiet idle and seeking operation
- Incorporations new noise reduction and vibration technologies
- Fast access time
- Legacy compatible
- Price
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Cons:
- Seek times were higher than manufacturer specification
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