The Connectors

This is a Serial ATA hard drive, with native support for SATA 3.0 Gb/s. However, it is backward-compatible so you will have no problem using it with older SATA 1.5 Gb/s controllers. However, the faster SATA 3.0 Gb/s interface is necessary for optimal performance since the VelociRaptor boasts a sustained internal (platter-to-buffer) transfer rate of 126 MB/s. That's close to the theoretical maximum speed of the SATA 1.5 Gb/s interface.

VelociRaptor BLFS

VelociRaptor HLFS

Like all Serial ATA drives, it comes the standard SATA data (left) and power (right) connectors and is hot-pluggable. That means you can connect and disconnect this hard disk drive to your PC while it's still running. To the left side of these SATA connectors is the jumper block. From what we can tell, Western Digital ships some drives with a jumper and others without a jumper. Since our OEM unit did not come with one, it is likely that only retail drives come with the jumper.

Generally, you do not need to mess around with the jumper block, especially when Western Digital has not issued any VelociRaptor-specific jumper block instructions. However, if the VelociRaptor follows the standard WD jumper block map, then placing the jumper across pins 1 and 2 will enable Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC).

Similarly, placing it across pins 3 and 4 will enable both spread spectrum clocking and the Power Management 2 (PM2) mode, also known as Power Up In Standby (PUIS) mode.

Finally, placing the jumper across pins 5 and 6 will force the drive to use the slower SATA 1.5Gbits/s (OPT1) interface. This is only necessary for certain SATA controllers that do not properly implement the SATA 3.0 Gb/s speed negotiation, like the VIA VT8237 and VT8237R south bridge chips.

However, please note that these jumper settings may not apply to the VelociRaptor. Unless you are facing any problems with the drive, there is really no need to mess around with the jumper block.

The Breather Holes

The WD VelociRaptor does not appear to have any clearly-marked breather holes on the top plate or the underside. However, there are four holes on the underside of the BLFS, like the one seen in the picture on the right. To be safe, do not cover any of those four holes.

You only need to worry about the breather holes in the VelociRaptor BLFS. On the VelociRaptor HLFS, the breather holes are all hidden by the IcePack heatsink.

Breather holes allow condensation inside the hard drive to escape. They also equalize the hard drive's internal pressure with the ambient air pressure. The hard disk drive needs them to function properly, so please make sure you do not occlude the holes!

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