Western Digital launched the third generation Raptor a few months ago and the new model came with twice the capacity as its predecessor, namely 150GB. The new model still spun at 10 000 RPM, which has made the Raptor series so popular, but WD also added a bigger buffer at 16MB, compared to the 8MB, with the previous Raptor models. Now Western Digital has updated its 36GB and 74GB Raptors by launching them with twice the buffer, 16MB just as Raptor 150, and support for Native Command Queuing.
These updated specifications will improve the performance somewhat and less noise when idle, while they will consume a bit more power. It seems Western Digital will not start shipping the new models yet, but this is of course very positive news for those who are interested in the Raptors despite their limited capacity and just wants optimal performance.
