Western Digital deploys 600GB VelociRaptor

Western Digital has refreshed its VelociRaptor lineup with two new 10,000 RPM SATA hard drives.

The 450 GB and 600 GB drives are apparently designed for blade servers, high-performance PCs, Macs, workstations and rack servers.

“As the only 10,000 RPM SATA hard drive on the market today and a favorite amongst enthusiast and enterprise groups, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive now comes packed with twice the capacity and up to 15% performance increase over the previous generation,” explained WD spokesperson Tom McDorman.

“The Raptor is built with enterprise-class mechanics that provide 24×7 durability under high-performance demands and packs up to 600 GB of capacity into a 2.5-inch enterprise form factor.”

McDorman added that the drive was also available in an IcePack enclosure, which he described as a 3.5-inch mounting frame with a built-in heat sink to fit the drive into a standard system bay. 


Additional specs include: 


  • SATA 6 Gb/s interface and 32 MB cache.
  • 1.4 million hours MTBF.
  • Halogen-free.
  • Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) – Optimizes operation and performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multi-drive chassis.
  • NoTouch ramp load technology – The recording head never touches the disk media, ensuring less wear to the recording head as well as improved protection in transit.

The 450GB WD VelociRaptor retails at $300, while the 600GB model carries a $330 price tag.