ppumkin wrote:
there is no speed difference if you have 1,2, or x platters. Speed all the same.
The access times may not vary much, if at all, but the sustained data tranfer rate is heavily dependent on platter density.
For example, two drives of the same capacity and same RPM, but with one having twice as many heads as the other, will have transfer rates that differ by sqrt(2), all other things being equal. It may also be that, even when both drives have the same usable capacity and same number of platters, one will have a higher bit density, and therefore a higher transfer rate.
Here are several threads that illustrate the above:
http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop/WYH ... 2685#M2236http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop/WD6 ... 9315#M2116http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop/Two ... 6135#M2010http://community.wdc.com/t5/Other-Inter ... 40817#M405