Hitachi has quietly brought out its Deskstar 7K3000 this week and achieved a pair of industry firsts. The 3.5-inch internal hard drive is not only the first 7,200RPM drive of its size with a 3TB capacity split among five platters but is also the company's first with a 6Gbps SATA interface. Versions also come in 1.5TB and 2TB capacities.
All models share a 64MB cache buffer. The 3TB drive has an idle current draw of 6.8W, with the smaller models drawing 5.2W. The lineup is also more environmentally friendly thanks to its halogen-free construction. Pricing or ship dates aren't being revealed yet, but the 3TB capacity's price is estimated to be $320.
Such drives usually need an OS with extended addressing and usually needs Mac OS X, Windows Vista or later.
