Windows XP SP2 Results

All drives were formatted in NTFS, and were set as Basic disks.  FAT32 and Dynamic Disk tests were performed, but the results were within 1% of NTFS and Basic, making the differences negligible.  Best scores are in green, both for the 100GB and the Hitachi 80GB.  Click to enlarge images:

Test Set 1: NF3 Device Manager Speed Test Utility.  Provides a general indication of read speeds.

HDD	Fujitsu MHU2100AT	Fujitsu MHV2100AH	Seagate ST9100823A	Toshiba MK1031GAS
NF3 Speed Test
NF3 Burst	72.3 MB/S	78.9 MB/S	87.0 MB/S	75.5 MB/S
NF3 Sustained	31.6 MB/S	39.0 MB/S	36.6 MB/S	28.8 MB/S

The test was not performed on the 5K100 due to a testing conflict.

 

Test Set 2:  ATTO Disk Benchmark. Provides detailed read and write transfer rates at varying data sizes. 

HDD	Fujitsu MHU2100AT	Fujitsu MHV2100AH	Seagate ST9100823A	Toshiba MK1031GAS	Hitachi 5K100
ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

Test Set 3:  HDTach 3.0.1.0 RW, 8MB Zones.  Great test for MP3 player performance.

HDD	Fujitsu MHU2100AT	Fujitsu MHV2100AH	Seagate ST9100823A	Toshiba MK1031GAS	Hitachi 5K100
HDTach 3.0.1.0 8MB Zones
Burst Rate	91.4 MB/S	88.3 MB/S	95.0 MB/S	85.4 MB/S	96.7 MB/S
Ave. Reads	25.9 MB/S	32.5 MB/S	30.4 MB/S	23.3 MB/S	33.5 MB/S
Ave. Writes	25.6 MB/S	32.4 MB/S	28.8 MB/S	30.9 MB/S	25.1 MB/S
Seek Time	19.8 mS	17.9 mS	16.6 mS	18.6 mS	16.8 mS
CPU %	0%	2%	0%	1%	2%

Test Set 4:  HDTach 3.0.1.0 RW, 32MB Zones.  Tests for larger files.

HDD	Fujitsu MHU2100AT	Fujitsu MHV2100AH	Seagate ST9100823A	Toshiba MK1031GAS	Hitachi 5K100
HDTach 3.0.1.0 32MB Zones
Burst Rate	60.3 MB/S	93.0 MB/S	93.6 MB/S	80.5 MB/S	96.7 MB/S
Ave. Reads	25.9 MB/S	32.3 MB/S	30.7 MB/S	23.3 MB/S	33.5 MB/S
Ave. Writes	25.7 MB/S	32.3 MB/S	30.6 MB/S	22.6 MB/S	26.4 MB/S
Seek Time	19.8 mS	17.9 mS	16.7 mS	18.6 mS	16.8 mS
CPU %	0%	1%	0%	0%	2%

Test Set 5:  HDTach 3.0.1.0 RW, Var Zones.  Shows results for a mixture of large and smaller files.

HDD	Fujitsu MHU2100AT	Fujitsu MHV2100AH	Seagate ST9100823A	Toshiba MK1031GAS	Hitachi 5K100
HDTach 3.0.1.0 Var Zones
Burst Rate	90.9 MB/S	92.8 MB/S	91.2 MB/S	47.7 MB/S	96.7 MB/S
Ave. Reads	26.0 MB/S	32.3 MB/S	30.7 MB/S	23.3 MB/S	33.5 MB/S
Ave. Writes	25.8 MB/S	32.3 MB/S	30.7 MB/S	22.6 MB/S	31.5 MB/S
Seek Time	19.7 mS	17.9 mS	17.0 mS	18.6 mS	17.4 mS
CPU %	0%	0%	2%	0%	2%

As expected, the 5400 RPM drives have excelled.  The Hitachi 5K100 s the clear winner here.  The Seagate has slightly faster seek times, and the Fujitsu MHV2100AH has better write speeds, however the 5K100 shows all-around performance excellence.