HD Tach
We tested HD Tach with the benchmark's full variable zone size setting.

The 750GB SE16 and Raptor WD1500ADFD lock horns in HD Tach's sustained transfer rate tests, and each walks away with a victory. Of course, the Raptor has a 10K-RPM spindle speed and one fifth the Caviar's capacity, so it's not the most direct competition for the SE16. For that, we have to turn to Seagate's Barracuda ES and 7200.10, whose sustained transfer rates fall more than 10MB/s short of the Caviar.

Seagate claws back into the picture in HD Tach's burst speed test, where the 750GB Caviar stumbles to fifth place. Western Digital drives have had slow burst speeds in the past, but this latest 750GB Caviar at least shows improvement over previous models.

IntelliSeek doesn't appear to slow the 750GB Caviar SE16 in HD Tach's random access time test. The drive's seek time matches that of the 500GB SE16 and is just a tenth of a millisecond off Seagate's 750GB Barracuda 7200.10.

HD Tach's margin of error in the CPU utilization test is +/- 2%, and all the drives are within that range.