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WD5000A 500GB

▲ 500 ▼

Release date ≈ Q4 2016.

Average Bench: 46% (371st of 1014)

Based on 687 user benchmarks.  Model: WD5000A
Poor: 19%Average: 46% Great: 78%

Popular builds with this HDD

Below average average bench

The WD5000A 500GB averaged 53.9% lower than the peak scores attained by the group leaders. This isn't a great result which indicates that there are much faster alternatives on the comparison list.

Strengths

Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 0.66MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Write Speed 1.4MB/s

Below average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the WD5000A 500GB is 59.4%. This is a relatively wide range which indicates that the WD5000A 500GB performs inconsistently under varying real world conditions.

Weaknesses

Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed 54.9MB/s
Avg. Sustained Write Speed 74MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 687 samples)
Rank 37146%
Min Avg Max
32.3 Read 86.2 148
12.6 Write 79.9 133
16.2 Mixed 54.9 88.5
12.7 SusWrite 74 133
54.3% 73.7 MB/s
Min Avg Max
0.1 4K Read 0.59 1.2
0.4 4K Write 1.4 3
0.2 4K Mixed 0.66 1.2
124% 0.88 MB/s
User Benchmarks BenchSequentialRandom 4kDeep queue 4k
The fastest HDD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
336GB free
Firmware: 01.01R.5
SusWrite @10s intervals: 103 104 106 105 104 104 MB/s
68.2% Good
Read 133
Write 132
Mixed 86.1
SusWrite 104
84% 114 MB/s
4K Read 1.2
4K Write 2.7
4K Mixed 1.1
222% 1.67 MB/s
394GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 35.25Q.0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 89 103 94 109 119 113 MB/s
63.7% Good
Read 117
Write 119
Mixed 69.4
SusWrite 104
75% 102 MB/s
4K Read 1
4K Write 3
4K Mixed 1
208% 1.67 MB/s
117GB free
Firmware: 05.0AG.0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 115 112 112 115 114 115 MB/s
62.1% Good
Read 102
Write 91.6
Mixed 62.3
SusWrite 114
68% 92.5 MB/s
4K Read 0.6
4K Write 2.3
4K Mixed 0.8
156% 1.23 MB/s
318GB free
Firmware: 05.0AG.3
SusWrite @10s intervals: 107 84 82 109 99 69 MB/s
58.8% Above average
Read 113
Write 111
Mixed 69.3
SusWrite 91.7
71% 96.4 MB/s
4K Read 0.6
4K Write 1.7
4K Mixed 0.8
145% 1.03 MB/s
42GB free
Firmware: 5B.5
SusWrite @10s intervals: 69 70 70 77 85 82 MB/s
50.9% Above average
Read 102
Write 100
Mixed 63.8
SusWrite 75.3
63% 85.3 MB/s
4K Read 0.5
4K Write 2.2
4K Mixed 0.9
162% 1.2 MB/s
117GB free
Firmware: AG.3
SusWrite @10s intervals: 88 87 88 87 87 87 MB/s
47.8% Average
Read 79
Write 77.3
Mixed 53.3
SusWrite 87.3
55% 74.2 MB/s
4K Read 0.7
4K Write 2.1
4K Mixed 0.9
168% 1.23 MB/s
213GB free
Firmware: 90.04R.A
SusWrite @10s intervals: 83 83 80 81 81 79 MB/s
47.4% Average
Read 83.5
Write 81.4
Mixed 40.7
SusWrite 81.3
52% 71.7 MB/s
4K Read 0.7
4K Write 2.3
4K Mixed 0.7
150% 1.23 MB/s
284GB free
Firmware: 78.06F.2
SusWrite @10s intervals: 70 67 71 71 72 71 MB/s
40.6% Average
Read 71.4
Write 68.2
Mixed 50.1
SusWrite 70.2
48% 65 MB/s
4K Read 0.4
4K Write 1.1
4K Mixed 0.5
93% 0.67 MB/s
687 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 53,310,343 HDDs tested

Custom PC Builder (Start a new build) Build your perfect PC: compare component prices, popularity, speed and value for money

CHOOSE A COMPONENT:

CPU GPU SSD HDD RAM MBD
Typical WD5000A 500GB Builds (Compare 10,170 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings
Gaming
Gaming 8%
Tree trunk
Desktop
Desktop 60%
Gunboat
Workstation
Workstation 7%
Tree trunk

Motherboard: Intel H61

CPU
Core i5-3470Intel  $59Bench 63%, 223,595 samples1,963x
Core i7-3770Intel  $297Bench 69%, 278,207 samples997x
Core i5-2400Intel  $250Bench 61%, 166,255 samples988x
GPU
HD 2500 (Desktop 1.05 GHz)IntelBench 1%, 146,665 samples2,004x
HD 2000 (Desktop 1.1 GHz)IntelBench 1%, 150,891 samples1,354x
GeForce GT 730NvidiaBench 5%, 164,888 samples704x
SSD
A400 240GBKingston  $28Bench 66%, 424,288 samples486x
256GB 256GBSSDBench 77%, 9,229 samples267x
128GB 128GBSSDBench 65%, 7,332 samples264x
RAM
2x8GBUnknownBench 64%, 236,291 samples597x
1x8GBUnknownBench 38%, 168,538 samples584x
1x4GBUnknownBench 28%, 154,807 samples242x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 72% - Very good Total price: $87

Popular WD5000A 500GB compatible motherboards:

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

Gaming Desktop ProGaming

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
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.

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Speed Comparisons

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1014 Drives (Compared) Thousands of user benchmarks compiled into one comparison list

See how consistently different HDDs perform with varying real world conditions. The charts also illustrate overall performance, popularity and rank.

 Frequently Asked Questions

Storage Devices FAQ
What is sustained sequential write speed?
What’s the difference between SLC, MLC and TLC?
What is 3D XPoint and how fast is it?
What’s the difference between SATA, PCIe and NVMe?
What’s the difference between NAND and V-NAND?
What is sequential write speed?
What is sequential read speed?
What is incompressible data?
What is queue depth?
What is 4K random write speed?
What is 4K random read speed?
What is AS SSD real world copy speed?
How big is 16GB?
What does MBps mean?
Hard Drives
What is the Hard Drive value for money rating?
What is effective Hard Drive speed?
ALL FAQs »

 Best User Rated
The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279Nvidia RTX 4060 $300Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $182Nvidia RTX 4070 $409Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $30Corsair 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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