Western Digital is now shipping the 450GB and 600GB VelociRaptor SATA HDD, with the high-performance 2.5-inch HDD able to fit into 3.5-inch drive bays using the custom IcePack enclosure.
This is the fifth generation of the popular VelociRaptor line from WD, with the previous largest HDD capacity capped at 300GB. The new HDDs are SATA 6 Gb/s interface drives using 32MB cache, so the drive is reportedly up to 15% faster than the 300GB generation.
The 2.5-inch is designed as an enterprise form factor used in servers, while the 3.5-inch drive is for home consumers. The IcePack enclosure includes a built-in heat sink designed specifically for the new generation of VelociRaptor drives.
The WD VelociRaptor 450GB model is available for $299 while the 600GB model costs $329.
I think the $299 and $329 price points WD is aiming for is respectable for a high performance SATA drive. If you're looking for a real-world review of the VelociRaptor 600GB model, check out this piece on Storage Review.
"The Western Digital Velociraptor has a very unique appearance compared to any other 3.5” drive on the market. The Velociraptor is made up of a 2.5” enterprise drive mounted to an “IcePack” heatsink frame with a pin-to-pin adapter to position the SATA and power connections in the universal location for backplane connections."
The review also shows the drive fully disassembled, with an analysis of its components.
