We have almost every size of this drive in this group test, with the 80 GB,
120 GB, 160 GB, and 200 GB models. These are very average specification drives,
using parallel ATA 133, 7200 rpm spindle speed, and reasonably low noise and
heat levels.
These drives all have 8 MB of cache, and are not to be confused with the 2
MB versions that Maxtor also make. Retailers have a habit of not mentioning
the cache size of a drive if it is particularly low, so it is easy to make a
mistake like this. The 200 GB model stands out as offering the best performance,
and the lowest cost per gigabyte. The 120 GB model also stands out, but for
the wrong reasons. It's performance is the second lowest in the group test,
and is about 20% lower than that of the 200 GB model. If you have a computer
with a 136GB limit, you may be considering the 120GB drive. We advise you look
elsewhere.
