Western Digital Updates Raptor Series

Western Digital silently updated two of its first Raptor series drives: the 36GB WD360ADFD and 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM models. Both hard drives now have 16MB buffer size, Native Command Queuing, increased 'Buffer To Disk' transfer rates of 84MB/sec up from the previous models' 72MB/sec as well as lower overall average seek times. The updated 36GB and 74GB Raptor models are also 3 dBA quieter in the idle state. However, both drives still carry a SATA 150 MB/s interface. These updated models are not available yet, but retailers should start to sell them within the next few days.