Low Performing SATA HDD

[munnabhai]

I have a Seagate ST380817AS (80 GB 7200 rpm) and i have measured its performance through Fresh Diagnose it is very low.
Read Speed-: 32 MBps as against same model normal is 44 MBps
Write Speed -: 27 MBps as against 31 MBps
I have tried both mode ie. SATA and RAID mode from Bios but the results presists.
What r the reasons for this low performance and how could i improve it.
I have following config.
AMD 64 2800+
ASUS K8V-MX
Seagate SATA

Also I am thinking of upgrading to WINDOWS XP 64 BIT do u suggest that and will i receive better overall system performance with it.

 

[nishant_nms]

Upgrade to x64 only if u have 512 MB RAM. I had used it on 256 MB. It is slightly slugish than 32 bit XP on 256 MB RAM

 

[deathvirus_me]

Well ... the speeds are always lower than the actual theoritical speed ..... tell me ... do u find any difference in performance ?? If u do in which apps ???

 

[munnabhai]

Low performance

yes its somewhat low in performing in photoediting softwares and some other apps ie. it takes more time to load than my older pata 7200 rpm (seagate).
Also yes i am having 1 GB of ram should i upgrade to WINDOWS XP 64 BIT and from where to get it. Is anyone having that plz tell.