The 2TB version of WD's Red NAS range of hard drives has a performance profile that is similar to that of its larger 3TB sibling. Both drives lag behind the group average significantly in terms of overall performance. With an average read speed of 108 MB/s the 2TB Red is 36% slower than the group leaders which manage an average of 147 MB/s. There is a huge amount of hype around the "NAS" aspects of these drives but there is very little substance in terms of specific characteristics that make this drive better suited to a NAS than any other. The obvious factors such as energy efficiency and operating temperature are only marginally improved on these drives. I would personally prefer one of the far better performing Seagate Barracudas as when looking at a direct comparison of the Barracuda vs the Red it's clear that the performance of the Barracuda is better across the board. [Feb '14HDrivePro]
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 freeware 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 upgrades.