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]
The WD Blue EALX (2010) is sold as an all round desktop drive. This model is nearly four years old now and can't compete against the newer competition. WD superseded this drive in 2012 with the EZEX. Comparing the EALX and EZEX reveals that the newer EZEX drive is approximately 30% faster yet both drives still retail for almost the same price. With average sequential read/write speeds of 109/97 MB/s the EALX lags the group leaders by 40%. Average small file 4K performance clocks in at 0.67/1.85 MB/s which is again around 40% slower than the top ten group leaders. With an effective speed of just 102 MB/s the 2010 WD Blue lags its peers by 34%. There are both cheaper and faster alternatives available elsewhere. [Mar '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.