Western Digital Hard Drive Goes Faster with 3Gb/s Sustained Transfer

It may seem like the entire industry really wants to move on to flash-based memory for a number of reasons, but Western Digital is not giving up the hard drive fight just yet. WD has just announced that they have 320GB single platters available for their dual-platter drives, effectively creating a 3.5-inch drive with a total of 640GB of storage.

Western Digital doesn’t want you to focus on the 640GB housed within this new drive. They want you to notice the 3Gb/s sustained data transfer speed. The drives spin around at 7200rpm, standard for 3.5-inchers, but 3Gb/sec is pretty darn fast. WD is targeting the new drives at hardcore video editors, encoders, and server applications. That’s where speed, and not necessarily capacity, is the most critical.

WD Caviar SE16 640 GB (model WD6400AAKS) hard drives can be ordered through the company’s online store for $139.99 each.