tuning? hardrives - seem slow

[Todd Simi]

Hi,

I have 2 SATA hard drives in my FC5 system.  One is a WD Raptor 74GB @ 10,000rpm 
and one is a Seagate 160GB @ 7200rpm.  I was expecting to see much better times, 
especially on the Raptor.  

Is there any type of tuning I can do to speed them up.

Here's the hdparm speed test and identifying info.

Thanks
Todd

*********************************************************************
WD Raptor

/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   15156 MB in  1.99 seconds = 7597.93 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:   48 MB in  3.06 seconds =  15.68 MB/sec

*********************************************************************
Seagate

/dev/sdb:
 Timing cached reads:   13236 MB in  2.00 seconds = 6633.02 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:   48 MB in  3.07 seconds =  15.63 MB/sec

*********************************************************************
WD Raptor

/dev/sda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
        Model Number:       WDC WD740GD-50FLC0
        Serial Number:      WD-WMAKE2426944
        Firmware Revision:  33.08F33
Standards:
        Supported: 6 5 4 3
        Likely used: 6
Configuration:
        Logical         max     current
        cylinders       16383   16383
        heads           16      16
        sectors/track   63      63
        --
        CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
        LBA    user addressable sectors:  145226112
        LBA48  user addressable sectors:  145226112
        device size with M = 1024*1024:       70911 MBytes
        device size with M = 1000*1000:       74355 MBytes (74 GB)
Capabilities:
        LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
        bytes avail on r/w long: 74     Queue depth: 32
        Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific minimum
        R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16
        Recommended acoustic management value: 128, current value: 254
        DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
             Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
        PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
             Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
        Enabled Supported:
           *    NOP cmd
           *    READ BUFFER cmd
           *    WRITE BUFFER cmd
           *    Host Protected Area feature set
           *    Release interrupt
           *    Look-ahead
           *    Write cache
           *    Power Management feature set
                Security Mode feature set
           *    SMART feature set
           *    FLUSH CACHE EXT command
           *    Mandatory FLUSH CACHE command
           *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
           *    48-bit Address feature set
           *    Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
                SET MAX security extension
           *    SET FEATURES subcommand required to spinup after power up
                Power-Up In Standby feature set
           *    READ/WRITE DMA QUEUED
           *    DOWNLOAD MICROCODE cmd
           *    SMART self-test
           *    SMART error logging
Security:
                supported
        not     enabled
        not     locked
                frozen
        not     expired: security count
        not     supported: enhanced erase
Checksum: correct

*********************************************************************
Seagate

/dev/sdb:

ATA device, with non-removable media
        Model Number:       ST3160827AS
        Serial Number:      5MT2HJZM
        Firmware Revision:  3.42
Standards:
        Used: ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 2
        Supported: 6 5 4 3
Configuration:
        Logical         max     current
        cylinders       16383   16383
        heads           16      16
        sectors/track   63      63
        --
        CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
        LBA    user addressable sectors:  268435455
        LBA48  user addressable sectors:  312581808
        device size with M = 1024*1024:      152627 MBytes
        device size with M = 1000*1000:      160041 MBytes (160 GB)
Capabilities:
        LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
        bytes avail on r/w long: 4      Queue depth: 32
        Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum
        R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16
        Recommended acoustic management value: 254, current value: 0
        DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
             Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
        PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
             Cycle time: no flow control=240ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
        Enabled Supported:
           *    READ BUFFER cmd
           *    WRITE BUFFER cmd
           *    Host Protected Area feature set
           *    Look-ahead
           *    Write cache
           *    Power Management feature set
                Security Mode feature set
           *    SMART feature set
           *    FLUSH CACHE EXT command
           *    Mandatory FLUSH CACHE command
           *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
           *    48-bit Address feature set
                SET MAX security extension
           *    DOWNLOAD MICROCODE cmd
           *    SMART self-test
           *    SMART error logging
Security:
        Master password revision code = 65534
                supported
        not     enabled
        not     locked
                frozen
        not     expired: security count
        not     supported: enhanced erase
Checksum: correct