It has been more than a year and a half since the 150GB Raptor-X was introduced into the enthusiast market. Yet no consumer – meaning no “non-enterprise” drive, even up to now, can match the Raptor in nearly any aspect of speed.

Interestingly, the Raptor series started out as an enterprise drive, being initially targeted at the high-end enterprise / server market, dominated by big names like the Maxtor Atlas and its ilk. Fortunately though, the drive series ended up becoming the darling of power users and DIY-enthusiasts everywhere. Starting with the WD360GD and going up to the current WD1500AHFD, these drives seduced enthusiasts with jaw-dropping spindle speed, enterprise level reliability, and integration of cutting-edge technology into each new release.

                                     "Wink, wink"....             

This release boasts of native SATA circuitry that avoids the inefficiencies of the PATA to SATA bridge found in previous Raptors, Native Command Queuing useful in multi-thread and processor environments, as well as the expected high MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) and 10,000rpm spindle speed. The most noticeable difference in the 150GB Raptor-X though is the polycarbonate window showing off the hot platter-on-platter action. Figuratively speaking of course.  The product appeals at many levels to the curious kid in all of us – remembering cut-away diagrams we treasured when we were at the kindergarten and grade school levels of our schooling.

Not only curious kids will find this fascinating of course – the enthusiast market has been falling in love with this drive since day one. Enthusiasts are, after all, people who want to have great performance and at the same time have bragging rights for their hardware. What better way to do this than to have the performance; and at the same time boast of a 10,000rpm spindle speed – and then show it through a polycarbonate window? I keep getting visions of bullets ricocheting off the Raptor’s window while I keep playing Half-Life2 in the background.

                                   Officer, I'd like to press charges on grounds of blatant seduction...

As mentioned above, the Raptor-X has been in the market a long time - not only in the “world” market – but also locally, as Western Digital has been carried by a series of local distributors over the years. Why blather on about it now, then? Two reasons: one is that the Raptor-X is still very much an interesting product unchallenged by its peers, and two, this product, while we cannot call it a “requirement” for most users, is becoming a more viable addition to anyone who values speed even a little in their computing.

                                        The Raptor imprisoned in a glass fronted prison...

Notice the next time you open a large file, or perform maintenance, or start up your computer – the very thing that slows down your computer is the hard drive. It loads and transfers your data, loads startup files, rearranges its data blocks when you’re maintaining it through defragmentation – and what are the rest of your computer components doing? They’re waiting for your hard drive to finish. Even games on a computer with a fast videocard and CPU and lots of memory may cause you to stare at the screen for a few moments while the hard drive loads up your game level.

The Western Digital Raptor-X has many things going for it. As the local hardcore-gaming population increases, and more and more hardware enthusiasts are made every day, the viability of this hard drive goes way up. Users who value speed and productivity will also do well to look into upgrading to this drive. Why then, is this drive not “dominating” the market? Maybe it’s because the targeted enthusiast market still hasn’t reached critical mass. Perhaps so.

                                      We didn't have to stare at this screen for long...

But I think it is something more fundamental than this, and I’m sure many of you readers will have thought of this by now: the issue of speed over size, factored in with its price. 500 GB and higher-sized drives are already available, and these drives are usually lower in price than the Raptor. That’s one detail I hope WD will deign to adjust in the near future – not the size per se, but the price - if they bid to dominate not just the enthusiast market, but also the daily user who desires a bit more speed in their computing.

                                          
                             RaptorX 150GB and its predecessor's specifications