{"id":1487,"date":"2023-03-03T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bananahdd.nl\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2023-03-03T12:01:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T11:01:35","slug":"toshiba-x300-performance-hdwr460-6tb-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bananahdd.nl\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/toshiba-x300-performance-hdwr460-6tb-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Toshiba X300 Performance HDWR460 6TB (2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The X300 range is firmly based on Toshiba’s native drive designs, carried on from the days of their acquisition of Fujitsu’s disk drive division. Coming in a range up to 18TB as of the time of this post, the HDWR460 is one of the lower end options, just above the lowest capacity 4TB HDWR440.<\/p>\n

How does the HDWR460 perform and is it still a good choice compared to options from Western Digital and Seagate? The underdog in Toshiba may be the best bet.<\/p>\n

Note: This drive’s serial number has been removed for this post.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The usual.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
  Drive Attributes<\/strong><\/em>\r\n ------------------------------------------\r\n  Toshiba X300 Performance HDWR460\r\n ------------------------------------------\r\n  Capacity      6TB\r\n  Mfc Date      2021-06-22\r\n  Format        3.5\"\r\n  Interface     SATA\r\n  Platters      4\r\n  Heads         8\r\n  Cache         256MB\r\n  RPM           7200\r\n  Protocol      Serial-ATA\/600\r\n  Origin        Philippines (TSDP, ex-FCPP)\r\n  ------------------------------------------<\/pre>\n
Using 1.6TB per-platter disks, it means this drive utilises some short-stroking, which is a bit of a shame. This is one of those points where one craves the day when Toshiba will refresh these to a three 2TB per-platter CMR disk configuration. Alas, for the time being, 6TB drives with 2TB per-platter configurations are limited to ex-Hitachi HDA developments such as with the HDWD260, using dreaded SMR. Seagate and Western Digital options are fairly limited for 2TB per-platter CMR models, thus this isn’t a hugely negative point for the time being.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, it means this drive should be a better performer compared to a six platter 1TB per-platter model like the HDWE160, or a five platter 1.33TB per-platter HDWR160.<\/p>\n
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Performance.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
As is usual with Toshiba’s drives using non-Hitachi derived designs, this was produced in the Philippines. It hails from a factory with a complex history, being previously under management by Fujitsu Computer Products Corporation of the Philippines (FCPP) until 2009, now being Toshiba Storage Devices Philippines Inc.<\/p>\n
These are based on the MG08-D’s, as noted by the KCC code “MG08ADA400N”.<\/p>\n
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The rear.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The backside of this drive is as one would expect from a four platter drive. The breather hole is completely recessed, unlike with the three platter HDWG440’s and the like.<\/p>\n
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Beneath.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Underneath the PCB, we’re met with a couple thermal pads for both the microcontroller and spindle motor control IC’s. The usual spindle motor contact pads and head-stack assembly pressure pin-block are present.<\/p>\n
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An alternate angle.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The PCB.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Marvell are the vendor for the microcontroller IC, Winbond for the 256MB of buffer memory and Smooth for the spindle motor controller. Nothing incredibly fancy, but the new Marvell logo is a fun thing to see.<\/p>\n
Toshiba’s internal model numbers have remained fairly similar over the years, this PCB being denoted as “FKR3DC”.<\/p>\n
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Compared.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Comparing Toshiba’s decade old platform with the MK1002TSKB<\/a>, these are closer in general construction in constrast to the differing base-cast to the HDWG440’s as compared previously.<\/p>\n
Both PCB’s use near-identical chip vendors and similarly tracked logic design (with some consolidation for space saving). They’ve clearly kept it true to the core design!<\/p>\n
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Base design.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
PCB shape differences aside, base construction remains incredibly similar with minor changes.<\/p>\n
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Markings differ.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
“DO NOT COVER” is short and sweet. Certainly more brief than Toshiba used to be with these.<\/p>\n
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SMART.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Being a new drive, there’s not much to discuss. These are the sorts of attributes to expect from a standard 3.5″ drive from Toshiba these days.<\/p>\n
This drive also supports device statistics extensions, thus the following output is something to expect too:<\/p>\n
 Device Statistics (GP Log 0x04)\r\nPage Offset Size Value Flags Description\r\n0x01 ===== = = === == General Statistics (rev 3) ==\r\n0x01 0x008 4 5 --- Lifetime Power-On Resets\r\n0x01 0x010 4 0 --- Power-on Hours\r\n0x01 0x018 6 34842128 --- Logical Sectors Written\r\n0x01 0x020 6 172756 --- Number of Write Commands\r\n0x01 0x028 6 83757825 --- Logical Sectors Read\r\n0x01 0x030 6 558297 --- Number of Read Commands\r\n0x01 0x038 6 0 --- Date and Time TimeStamp\r\n0x02 ===== = = === == Free-Fall Statistics (rev 1) ==\r\n0x02 0x010 4 0 --- Overlimit Shock Events\r\n0x03 ===== = = === == Rotating Media Statistics (rev 1) ==\r\n0x03 0x008 4 0 --- Spindle Motor Power-on Hours\r\n0x03 0x010 4 0 --- Head Flying Hours\r\n0x03 0x018 4 8 --- Head Load Events\r\n0x03 0x020 4 0 --- Number of Reallocated Logical Sectors\r\n0x03 0x028 4 0 --- Read Recovery Attempts\r\n0x03 0x030 4 0 --- Number of Mechanical Start Failures\r\n0x03 0x038 4 0 --- Number of Realloc. Candidate Logical Sectors\r\n0x03 0x040 4 3 --- Number of High Priority Unload Events\r\n0x04 ===== = = === == General Errors Statistics (rev 1) ==\r\n0x04 0x008 4 0 --- Number of Reported Uncorrectable Errors\r\n0x04 0x010 4 0 --- Resets Between Cmd Acceptance and Completion\r\n0x05 ===== = = === == Temperature Statistics (rev 1) ==\r\n0x05 0x008 1 23 --- Current Temperature\r\n0x05 0x010 1 - N-- Average Short Term Temperature\r\n0x05 0x018 1 - N-- Average Long Term Temperature\r\n0x05 0x020 1 23 --- Highest Temperature\r\n0x05 0x028 1 12 --- Lowest Temperature\r\n0x05 0x030 1 - N-- Highest Average Short Term Temperature\r\n0x05 0x038 1 - N-- Lowest Average Short Term Temperature\r\n0x05 0x040 1 - N-- Highest Average Long Term Temperature\r\n0x05 0x048 1 - N-- Lowest Average Long Term Temperature\r\n0x05 0x050 4 0 --- Time in Over-Temperature\r\n0x05 0x058 1 55 --- Specified Maximum Operating Temperature\r\n0x05 0x060 4 0 --- Time in Under-Temperature\r\n0x05 0x068 1 5 --- Specified Minimum Operating Temperature\r\n0x06 ===== = = === == Transport Statistics (rev 1) ==\r\n0x06 0x008 4 4 --- Number of Hardware Resets\r\n0x06 0x010 4 3 --- Number of ASR Events\r\n0x06 0x018 4 0 --- Number of Interface CRC Errors\r\n0x07 ===== = = === == Solid State Device Statistics (rev 1) ==\r\n|||_ C monitored condition met\r\n||__ D supports DSN\r\n|___ N normalized value<\/pre>\n
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CrystalDiskMark Performance.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
These are excellent performers, as one would expect. A good 260MB\/s is the outcome of a CDM benchmark.<\/p>\n
While interesting to see Toshiba’s developments, it would be good to finally see a successor to these, with higher platter densities, thus improving performance even further. Perhaps 2023 will provide a worthy refresh, but hopes can always be squandered.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, these remain to be by far the best value per TB in most of Western Europe. I can’t speak as to how this is elsewhere, but it is a shame most only consider Western Digital, or to some degree Seagate, for drives in this segment. Toshiba are often left forgotten, not even considered as an option. One can only hope this will change in the future.<\/p>\n
If you missed the video I made on this drive, you can find it here:<\/p>\n