Western Digital announced that it has transitioned its award-winning line of WD Caviar Blue and WD Caviar Black drives to SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III) interface to ensure compatibility with next generation of SATA 6Gb/s chipsets and motherboards, and keep up with the market demand for higher transfer rates. The 6Gb/s drive - Caviar Blue (WD500AAKX) is already available in the market.

During 2011, the complete component ecosystem is expected to adopt SATA 6Gb/s that will open windows to new standards of performance and compatibility. The new WD Caviar Black  and WD Caviar Blue 6Gb/s interface drives are compatible with emerging SATA 6Gb/s supporting chip sets and motherboards expected to arrive from the stables of leading component manufacturers.

The SATA 6Gb/s interface also features Native Command Que (NCQ) streaming that allows information to be passed while simultaneous read/write requests are pending. Unique to SATA III, NCQ results in improved performance in bandwidth-hungry applications. The upgraded drives also demonstrate improved performance advantages with the present legacy of 3 Gb/s systems.

Our complete range of Caviar Black and Caviar Blue drives have been updated to be compatible with the new-age SATA 6Gb/s interface, and allow faster transfer speeds for modern home PC users,” said Sushil Bandi, Country Manager - India, Western Digital. “The drives will be made available at no extra premium, as the upgrade is a natural evolution to help consumers keep pace with emerging industry standards

 Price and Availability

Currently WD Caviar Blue (WD500AAKX) 500 GB drive is available in the market at an MSRP of Rs.1900 + taxes.