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 '14HDrivePro]
The Laptop Thin (7mm) SSHD from Seagate has a 64MB Cache and comes equipped with 8GB of MLC NAND Flash. At less than a year old the Laptop Thin is relatively new, but its performance is unbalanced and favours small file IO. With average sequential speeds of 85 MB/s the Laptop Thin lags the group leaders by over 50% in this area. As a result regular tasks such as copying multimedia files will be relatively slow on this drive. On the other hand, thanks to its 8GB of NAND flash, small file performance is far better and average and lies in the region of 3 MB/s which is a very respectable result. Overall the Laptop Thin's performance profile is skewed heavily towards small file IO. The Thins larger capacity 1TB sibling offers considerably better value for money. [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.