Seagate LD25 Series: The Xbox 360 hard drive.

[Brimstone]

LD25 Series - for gaming systems, home entertainment devices and small-footprint PCs

Seagate's new LD25 Series is the first consumer electronics hard drive in a compact, 2.5-inch form factor - an entirely new concept for inside-the-box CE storage that enables smaller, simpler, cooler-running and more cost-effective game consoles, home entertainment devices and small footprint media PCs. Seagate's industry leading DynaPlay technology optimizes the drive for media streaming, power consumption and content security.

LD25 Series makes it possible for game consoles like the Xbox 360 to expand their capabilities far beyond traditional gaming - to enable them to expand and keep new soundtracks for games, to rip and store entire libraries of music and video, and to play back multimedia centralizing other entertainment functions with the gaming function.

With the increasing popularity of PC systems based on clever design and Mini-ITX mainboards, small footprint PCs and PC media centers are becoming a very visible - or perhaps a less visible - part of the home entertainment and information network. The LD25 Series' unique combination of small size and media-focused design will further promote and enable these new, creative designs. Based on Seagate's industry-leading technology platforms, the LD25 Series offers 20GB, 30GB and 40GB capacities and both PATA and SATA interfaces, is designed specifically for use in installed home entertainment applications, and features Seagate's patented SoftSonic fluid dynamic bearing motors for super-quiet operation and high reliability. LD25 Series is shipping now to the Microsoft Xbox 360 and to other consumer electronics customers and manufacturers of small-footprint PCs.

"The hard drive extends the gaming experience on Xbox 360," said Todd Holmdahl, corporate vice president, Xbox hardware. "From downloading trailers, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, and more to supporting custom playlists in every game and storing video messages from friends, Seagate's LD25 Series 2.5-inch hard drive brings gaming and digital media together for the ultimate entertainment experience."

http://www.seagate.com/cda/newsinfo/newsroom/releases/article/0,,2731,00.html



http://www.seagate.com/content/docs/pdf/marketing/PO-LD25.pdf


Saw this on the Team Xbox forum.



http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=352879

 

[jvd]

any speed info ? cache size ?

 

[AlNom]

anyone know the specs for the Xbox hard drives for comparison?

any speed info ? cache size ?

check the PDF

 

[Brimstone]

any speed info ? cache size ?

5400 RPM

2 Megabyte Cache

 

[jvd]

eh not to bad , was hopping for a little more cache like 6 megs ... but whatcya going to do

 

[strat_ax]

eh not to bad , was hopping for a little more cache like 6 megs ... but whatcya going to do

It's really not that necessary...the drive has been optimized ("Dynaplay").

 

[jvd]

You don't think so ? I dunno i would have liked to see more cache for writing over a network

 

[strat_ax]

You don't think so ? I dunno i would have liked to see more cache for writing over a network

Indeed, but for obvious reason more cache means more cost.

 

[Rur0ni]

5400? :\

 

[Carl B]

5400? :\

Well it is a notebook drive afterall...

 

[orfanotna]

So how much faster is it than the X360's 12X DVD drive? Are they going to use it to speed up loading?

 

[Shapeshifter]

I must say that Seagate is an excellent choice for the HD to be used in the X360.

Seagate = top quality (and damn silent)

Shame that its 5400rpm (I knew it would be) but I was secretly hopeing MS would say it was a 7200rpm drive

 

[PARANOiA]

I'd rather a quieter drive myself. The less I "notice" a console is on the better.

 

[jvd]

So how much faster is it than the X360's 12X DVD drive? Are they going to use it to speed up loading?

I would think it would be around 50MB/s in performance with higher bursts , lower seeks .... so i would say its alot faster than a optical drive

 

[Carl B]

I'd rather a quieter drive myself. The less I "notice" a console is on the better.

Sound concerns make a difference for me, and I'm happy Microsoft seems to be pursuing as silent a console as possible.

 

[AzBat]

I guess this officially means that Microsoft dropped M-Systems flash hard drive technology for Seagate's 2.5" spindle hard drive? or is the M-Systems technology just for the memory cards now? You'd think they wouldn't need anything special for memory cards.

Kinda disappointed in the news. Only 20gb and 40gb versions? Bleh. Also, Seagate's drives are another item that Microsoft don't have much control in reducing the cost over the lifetime of the console. They're back to where they were before with the original Xbox hard drive. I would have preferred Microsoft use some licensed flash technology from M-Systems instead. You'd think they would have more control over the cost than with the Seagate solution. Maybe it was purely selected based on initial cost? Oh well. I'll still have one anyway.

Tommy McClain

 

[jvd]

well there is no news on if these are the only two sizes ms will use . We only know that this perticular drive is whats packed in with the system

 

[AzBat]

Umm, that was purely stating the obvious. Next time try to add to the discussion. LOL

Tommy McClain

 

[V3]

I must say that Seagate is an excellent choice for the HD to be used in the X360.

Seagate = top quality (and damn silent)

Shame that its 5400rpm (I knew it would be) but I was secretly hopeing MS would say it was a 7200rpm drive

I just had a Seagate failed on me I was cursing it as I was installing a new one.

 

[ERP]

I must say that Seagate is an excellent choice for the HD to be used in the X360.

Seagate = top quality (and damn silent)

Shame that its 5400rpm (I knew it would be) but I was secretly hopeing MS would say it was a 7200rpm drive

I just had a Seagate failed on me I was cursing it as I was installing a new one.

I think I've had harddrives fail from every single manufacturer. WHen they do break it just sucks though so I sympathise.