Originally posted by: killster1
ordered one of the 320gb ones in hopes of getting the b3 version like other recent reviewers mentioned.. no luck got old jan 22 2008 non-320gb platter hd's all wrapped in paper
This was discussed extensively in the 320GB SATAII thrd.
If you want a guaranteed B3 you have to use leniustech
http://cgi.ebay.com/Western-Di...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Note that the B3 is right in the ad.
And he runs these sales continuously.
Edit: and FWIW, the 320 single platter WD B3 has been deliberately crippled by the factory.
http://www.anandtech.com/stora...howdoc.aspx?i=3269&p=2
(Quote)
The one area that really disappointed us with the WD 320GB drive was its pitiful random access times at 16.4ms. After a lengthy conversation with Western Digital, we now understand why the drive performed so poorly in this test. This also explains the good but not great application results in general. Granted, the drive still performs well, but the initial specifications lead us to believe that performance should have been greatly improved over previous generation drives. Western Digital explained the single platter 320GB drive is aimed at the entry-level market where thermals and acoustics are critical for mass acceptance of the drive by the OEM and retail customers.
WD sacrificed a small amount of performance on the 320GB drive to meet these goals. This was by design and is not an indication of the performance potential of their new technology. In fact, these same 320GB platters will be used in single-sided form eventually for the 160GB drives.
(Unquote)
Of course, I didnt find this out until after I had bought 2