Western Digital has revealed today that it is currently working on a new version of its Velociraptor hard disk which will take the Raptor series into its fourth generation.

The new drive will boast the largest capacity a Raptor has ever seen at 600GB using two 300GB platters, with a 300GB single platter drive also apparently to be released. Further to the larger capacities are improved electronics and a significantly larger amount of cache.

One of the best bits of news about these new drives is the pricing, with the 600GB model said to initially kick off at around the same price point as current-gen 300GB models (~$250).

The VelociRaptor drives are good alternatives to SSDs with much larger capacities on tap at significantly cheaper prices, whilst still offering much faster performance when compared to traditional mainstream hard disks.