Before Solid State Drives started grabbing the market, Western Digital was the only company to offer a 10,000RPM SATA Hard Disk for the consumer market. Even today, their VelociRaptor series are the only 10,000RPM SATA HDDs available, at least without turning to expensive server grade SCSI based HDDs the other HDD manufacturers have.
Western Digital have now announced its latest VelociRaptor addition, a 1TB model which features SATA3 (6Gbps), 64MB of cache, 3 x 333GB platters and the same fast 10,000RPM spindle as previous models. This is a 2.5" HDD fitted inside a 3.5" heat-sink frame, which in turn fits within a standard 3.5" bay. It also features Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) technology to optimise operation/performance even when used in an environment with heavy vibration, such as alongside multiple HDDs. Finally, it features NoTouch ramp load technology to ensure the recording head never touches the surface.
The VelociRaptor series is now available in capacities of 250GB, 500GB and 1TB, with suggested retail prices of $160, $210 and $320 respectively. These models also include a 5-year warranty.
