Western Digital (WD) on Wednesday announced that it’s shipping its second generation of Caviar Green desktop hard disk drives. The drives come in capacities from 500GB to 1 terabyte (TB). The 1TB model costs $219.
WD says the new Caviar Green drives operate using up to 20 percent less power than before, with up to a 10 percent increase in performance over previous versions. They do so using “IntelliPower,” WD’s trademark for its power consumption system, whic combines tuned spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms, along with less current used during startup to allow for lower peak loads on systems as they’re booted.
The drives also employ “IntelliSeek” technology, which calculates optimum seek speeds for lower power consumption, noise and vibration, along with “No Touch” ramp loading technology, which provides less wear and tear on the hard drive and better protection in transit.