This version (WD10EALS) of Western Digital's mid-range blue series drive is nearly four years old and as such not a good choice as a new purchase. This drive operates at 7200 RPM and has two 500GB platters which allow it to sustain reasonable sequential transfer rates of up to 180 MB/s read and 140 MB/s write. Average transfer rates are below this by nearly 50% and this version of the blue exhibits particularly weak throughputs of just 50 MB/s when faced with mixed IO (simultaneous reading and writing). Overall as a new purchase the newer single platter 1TB Blue 2012 Blue (WD10EZEX) is a far better choice and offers nearly 20% better average performance. [Dec '13HDrivePro]
The new 3TB Seagate Barracuda 2016 (ST3000DM008) replaces its hugely successful predecessor, the 3TB Barracuda 7200.14 2011 (ST3000DM001). Comparing performance between the two models shows that the newer drive has 12% faster sequential speeds, comparable 4K speeds, improved mixed sequential speed and reduced mixed 4K speed. Overall, the effective speed is 12% faster on the 2016 model. Since there is normally little price difference between the two models the 2016 version is the clear winner especially for use as a backup drive with its impressive sequential read and write speeds of nearly 200 MBps. See the current value leaders here. [Feb '17HDrivePro]
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.