Description

The Western Digital WD1600BB is a model from the Caviar series (often referred to as Caviar SE or similar in some listings), a popular desktop IDE/PATA hard drive released around 2003–2004. It was part of WD’s 7200 RPM lineup using longitudinal recording (pre-perpendicular era), competing directly with drives like the Seagate Barracuda 7200.7.

*** Hard drive is tested for good S.M.A.R.T. , no bad sectors and is formatted as an NTFS partition.

Here are the key specifications:

• Capacity: 160 GB (160,000,000,000 bytes / 160 × 10⁹ bytes; approximately 149 GiB usable after formatting)
• Form Factor: 3.5-inch
• Interface: Ultra ATA/100 (also known as ATA-6, Parallel ATA / IDE / PATA) — maximum burst transfer rate up to 100 MB/s
• Spindle Speed (RPM): 7,200 RPM
• Cache / Buffer: 2 MB
• Average Seek Time: ~8.9 ms (typical read)
• Average Latency: ~4.2 ms
• Sustained Data Transfer Rate (outer zones, max): Typically ~50–65 MB/s (varies by zone; typical for high-density 7200 RPM IDE drives of the era)
• Internal Data Transfer Rate (max): Around 600–800 Mbit/s (~75–100 MB/s theoretical, sustained lower)
• Bytes per Sector: 512
• Guaranteed Sectors: 312,581,808
• Number of Platters / Heads: Typically 3–4 platters (around 40–53 GB per platter technology at the time)
• Power Connector: Standard 4-pin Molex (some variants supported FlexPower for SATA power compatibility)
• Other Features:
  • Data Lifeguard™ technology (WD’s monitoring and protection system)
  • ShockGuard™ for shock protection
  • SecureConnect™ connector (improved IDE cable connection reliability)
  • SMART support
  • Quiet operation emphasized (though not as advanced as later FDB motors)
  • 3-year limited warranty (original)
• Power Consumption (approximate):
  • Read/Write: ~8.6 W
  • Idle: ~8.1 W
  • Standby/Sleep: ~1.0–1.1 W
• Weight: Approximately 0.6–0.7 kg (1.3–1.5 lbs)
• Dimensions: Standard 3.5″ — 101.6 mm width × 147 mm depth × ~26 mm height
• Operating Temperature: 0°C to 60°C (typical for desktop drives)
• Non-operating Shock: Up to 300–350 G (ShockGuard protection)

This drive offered solid performance for mid-2000s desktop PCs, with good speed thanks to 7200 RPM and a decent cache, though its 2 MB buffer was smaller than some competitors’ 8 MB versions by 2006.