Slow HDD test results: Symptom of slow PC or the cause?

Question

My computer is very slow at the moment and the only thing that I can think that has changed is the disk space utilisation. I did a test of my HDD read/write performance which seems slow for my drive.

Are the low results a consequence of the overall slow PC or the cause?

CrystalDiskMark Results:

      Read[MB/s]   Write[MB/s]
Seq   93.30        83.65
512K  29.85        39.49
4K    0.353        1.074

CrystalDiskMark Resuls (SAFE MODE)

      Read[MB/s]   Write[MB/s]
Seq   99.56        85.35
512K  32.38        39.88
4K    0.365        1.027

AFTER FIRMWARE UPDATE...

CrystalDiskMark Results:

      Read[MB/s]   Write[MB/s]
Seq   101.7        90.24
512K  36.93        42.8
4K    0.444        1.008

PC Details:

• Fujitsu Siemens ESPRIMO P7935 Core2 Quad 2.8GHz Q9550
• Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate
• 8GB RAM
• ST3250318AS Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 3Gb/s 250GB

Answer 1

Check Seagate for a firmware update. These drives had serious problems when they first came out. Read some of the Amazon reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-Cache-Internal-ST3250318AS-Bare/product-reviews/B002NBIPOW/ref=cm_cr_pr_link_1/181-3133808-7967926?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0

Answer 2

It seems the problem is with your HDD. My suggestion it to try out replacing your HDD if you have a spare.

Is your system taking time to load CD/DVDs and USB drives?