This drive can be used as a combined system and storage drive thanks to its fast 7200K rpm and enormous 3TB capacity. Recently prices for all large drives have been dropping and the 3TB Barracuda 7200.14 is currently a good choice in terms of both value for money and performance. Not only does the Barracuda have respectable sequential read/write speeds but it also goes head to head with the various green options, consuming a very reasonable 5.4W vs 5W (idle) on average for a "green" drive. That amounts to a tiny power consumption disadvantage and a lot more speed. Overall the Barracuda is priced aggressively and represents very good value for money. [Oct '12HDrivePro]
This is the latest version of Western Digital's mid-range Blue drive. At only one year of age this drive is relatively new and the performance figures reflect this. With maximum sequential speeds of 180 MB/s (both read and write) the Blue is amongst the faster drives currently available and in terms of real world performance it beats its predecessor the 2010 Blue (WD10EALS) by around 18%. The 2012 Blue has a single 1TB platter which combined with its 7200 rotation speed allows for above average performance across the board. In terms of value for money a larger capacity drive will nearly always be a better choice but within the 1TB category as a system drive, the 2012 Blue is a very reasonable, if not the best, option. [Jan '14HDrivePro]
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]
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.