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WDWD1003FZEX
WDWD4001FAEX
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Effective Speed 
+11%
Real World Speed
Performance profile from 245,078 user samples
Benchmark your HDD here
240,965 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 108% 836GB free
Worst Bench: 50% 413GB free (System drive)
Poor: 50% Great: 108%
SPEED RANK: 65th / 1015
4,113 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 93% 3TB free
Worst Bench: 49% 3.5TB free
Poor: 49% Great: 93%
SPEED RANK: 113th / 1015
Effective Speed
Effective HDD Speed 		82.3 % Faster effective speed.
+11% 		74.1 %
Average Score 
+11%
Read
Avg. Sequential Read Speed 		152 MB/s Faster read speed.
+15% 		132 MB/s
Write
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 		136 MB/s Slightly faster write speed.
+10% 		124 MB/s
4K Read
Avg. 4K Random Read Speed 		1.23 MB/s Much faster random read.
+58% 		0.78 MB/s
4K Write
Avg. 4K Random Write Speed 		2.48 MB/s 3.16 MB/s Faster random write.
+27%
Mixed
Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed 		88 MB/s +2% 86.1 MB/s
4K Mixed
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 		1.09 MB/s Faster random mixed IO.
+14% 		0.96 MB/s
SusWrite
Avg. Sustained Write Speed 		134 MB/s Slightly faster sustained write speed.
+7% 		125 MB/s
Peak Score 
+12%
Read
Peak Sequential Read Speed 		203 MB/s Faster peak read speed.
+20% 		169 MB/s
Write
Peak Sequential Write Speed 		173 MB/s Faster peak write speed.
+12% 		155 MB/s
4K Read
Peak 4K Random Read Speed 		1.5 MB/s Much faster peak random read.
+50% 		1 MB/s
4K Write
Peak 4K Random Write Speed 		3 MB/s 3.7 MB/s Faster peak random write.
+23%
Mixed
Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed 		111 MB/s +3% 108 MB/s
4K Mixed
Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 		1.2 MB/s Slightly faster peak random mixed IO.
+9% 		1.1 MB/s
SusWrite
Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average 		180 MB/s Faster peak sustained write speed.
+13% 		159 MB/s
Value & Sentiment 
+∞%
Market Share
Based on 53,308,853 HDDs tested
See market share leaders
Market Share
Market Share (trailing 30 days) 		0.63 % Insanely higher market share.
+∞% 		0 %
Value
Value For Money 		34.2 % Hugely better value.
+86% 		18.3 %
User Rating
UBM User Rating 		58 % More popular.
+12% 		52 %
Price
Price (score) 		$48 Hugely cheaper.
+85% 		$323
Nice To Haves 
+8%
Age
Newest 		126 Months Slightly more recent.
+8% 		137 Months
Specifications 
Capacity
Capacity 		1TB 4TB
Conclusion 
Average Bench 82.3%
Average Bench 74.1%
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This is the most recent version (2013 FZEX) of Western Digital's best performing consumer storage drive, its predecessor was the WD1002FAEX which is now four years old. With average sequential read/write speeds of 150 MB/s this version outperforms its predecessor by a whopping 50%. Small file random 4K speeds have remained broadly unchanged with average read/write rates of 0.9/2.19 MB/s. Overall the 2013 WD Black has a very good performance profile and it also represents reasonable value for money, at least in the 1TB category. There are some good alternatives to the 2013 Black including the 2012 Blue. Looking at the 2013 Black vs 2012 Blue shows that both drives have similar performance. Power consumption (6.8/6.1 Watts active/idle) and noise levels (29.5 dBA) are also identical making it a tough call between the two. There is however, as always, better value amongst the larger capacities. [Feb '14 HDrivePro]

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I don't understand the pricing on this drive, on the face of it, it looks seriously overpriced. Although the Black has a marginal speed advantage compared to a 3TB Barracuda, one 4TB Caviar Black costs more than two 3TB Barracudas! I have only seen benchmarks from 3 user samples for the 4TB 2012 Black so I will re-visit this recap over the coming months by which time I should have a better sample size. Additional samples may indicate far better performance than I have seen so far. [Aug '13 HDrivePro]

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Hard Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) April 2024 HDD Rankings

We calculate effective speed which measures performance for typical consumers. Effective speed is adjusted by current cost per GB to yield value for money. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top HDDs. [HDrivePro]

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Group Test Results

  • Best user rated - User sentiment trumps benchmarks for this comparison.
  • Best value for money - Value for money is based on real world performance.
  • Fastest real world speed - Real World Speed measures performance for typical consumers.
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Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.

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  • - Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com
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 Best User Rated
The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279Nvidia RTX 4060 $300Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184Nvidia RTX 4070 $409Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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