Real World Speed
Performance profile from 6,632 user samples
2,519 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 100% 1.5TB free
Worst Bench: 49% 3TB free
Poor: 49% Great: 100%
SPEED RANK: 77th / 1015
4,113 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 93% 3TB free
Worst Bench: 49% 3.5TB free
Poor: 49% Great: 93%
SPEED RANK: 113th / 1015
Effective Speed
Effective HDD Speed
80.5 % Slightly faster effective speed.
+9%
74.1 %
Read
Avg. Sequential Read Speed
142 MB/s Slightly faster read speed.
+8%
132 MB/s
Write
Avg. Sequential Write Speed
135 MB/s Slightly faster write speed.
+9%
124 MB/s
4K Read
Avg. 4K Random Read Speed
0.86 MB/s Faster random read.
+10%
0.78 MB/s
4K Write
Avg. 4K Random Write Speed
2.97 MB/s 3.16 MB/s Slightly faster random write.
+6%
Mixed
Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed
89.9 MB/s +4% 86.1 MB/s
4K Mixed
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed
0.98 MB/s +2% 0.96 MB/s
SusWrite
Avg. Sustained Write Speed
138 MB/s Faster sustained write speed.
+10%
125 MB/s
Read
Peak Sequential Read Speed
180 MB/s Slightly faster peak read speed.
+7%
169 MB/s
Write
Peak Sequential Write Speed
168 MB/s Slightly faster peak write speed.
+8%
155 MB/s
4K Read
Peak 4K Random Read Speed
1.1 MB/s Faster peak random read.
+10%
1 MB/s
4K Write
Peak 4K Random Write Speed
3.6 MB/s 3.7 MB/s +3%
Mixed
Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed
115 MB/s Slightly faster peak mixed IO speed.
+6%
108 MB/s
4K Mixed
Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed
1.2 MB/s Slightly faster peak random mixed IO.
+9%
1.1 MB/s
SusWrite
Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average
170 MB/s Slightly faster peak sustained write speed.
+7%
159 MB/s
Market Share
Based on 53,307,325 HDDs tested
Market Share
Market Share (trailing 30 days)
0.11 % Insanely higher market share.
+∞%
0 %
Value
Value For Money
36.4 % Hugely better value.
+99%
18.3 %
User Rating
UBM User Rating
51 % 52 % +2%
Price
Price (score)
$177 Much cheaper.
+45%
$323
Age
Newest
131 Months +4% 137 Months
Capacity
Capacity
4TB 4TB
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The WD Se is an enterprise class drive designed for use in a NAS or data warehouse. Unlike the Enterprise Xe, which focuses on maximum data throughput, the focus of the Se is on balanced performance, power consumption and reliability. We only have one sample for this drive at present so for now we can't draw any robust conclusions. Based on the data we do have, in terms of value for money the WD Se lands in the middle of the (scarce) 4TB pack, besting the (2012) 4TB black by just 3.4%. From a performance perspective, with both peak and average read/writes coming in at 137/136 MB/s it's hard to tell at this point because we don't know whether to take those figures as peak or average. As averages they are very strong and as peak figures they are relatively weak. We will update this summary when we have more data. In the mean time the Seagate Desktop HDD1.5 remains our 4TB pick. [Jan '14 HDrivePro]

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I don't understand the pricing on this drive, on the face of it, it looks seriously overpriced. Although the Black has a marginal speed advantage compared to a 3TB Barracuda, one 4TB Caviar Black costs more than two 3TB Barracudas! I have only seen benchmarks from 3 user samples for the 4TB 2012 Black so I will re-visit this recap over the coming months by which time I should have a better sample size. Additional samples may indicate far better performance than I have seen so far. [Aug '13 HDrivePro]

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Hard Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) April 2024 HDD Rankings

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]

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Group Test Results

  • Best user rated - User sentiment trumps benchmarks for this comparison.
  • Best value for money - Value for money is based on real world performance.
  • Fastest real world speed - Real World Speed measures performance for typical consumers.
How Fast Is Your HDD? (Bench your build) Size up your PC in less than a minute

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.

UserBenchmark of the month

How it works

  • - Download and run UserBenchmark
  • - CPU tests include: integer, floating and string
  • - GPU tests include: six 3D game simulations
  • - Drive tests include: read, write, sustained write and mixed IO
  • - RAM tests include: single/multi core bandwidth and latency
  • - SkillBench (space shooter) tests user input accuracy
  • - Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com
  • - Identify the strongest components in your PC
  • - See speed test results from other users
  • - Compare your components to the current market leaders
  • - Explore your best upgrade options with a virtual PC build
  • - Compare your in-game FPS to other users with your hardware

 Frequently Asked Questions

 Best User Rated

The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279Nvidia RTX 4060 $300Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184Nvidia RTX 4070 $409Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $46
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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