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]
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]
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.