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External

USB 3.0 4TB

▲ 500 ▼

Release date ≈ Q1 2018.

Average Bench: 69.3% (125th of 1015)

Based on 138 user benchmarks.  Model: External USB 3.0
Poor: 17%Average: 69.3% Great: 100%

Popular builds with this HDD

Above average average bench

The External USB 3.0 4TB averaged 30.6% 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 0.69MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Read Speed 1.72MB/s

Terrible consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the External USB 3.0 4TB is 82.9%. This is a particularly wide range which indicates that the External USB 3.0 4TB performs inconsistently under varying real world conditions.

Weaknesses

Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed 78.1MB/s
Avg. Sustained Write Speed 120MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 138 samples)
Rank 12569.3%
Min Avg Max
31.2 Read 121 193
25.8 Write 122 189
23.8 Mixed 78.1 131
25.8 SusWrite 120 183
81.1% 110 MB/s
Min Avg Max
0.6 4K Read 1.72 6.1
0.5 4K Write 2.13 4.71
0 4K Mixed 0.69 1.11
187% 1.51 MB/s
User Benchmarks BenchSequentialRandom 4kDeep queue 4k
The fastest HDD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
3.5TB free
Firmware: 0104
SusWrite @10s intervals: 149 167 168 168 171 169 MB/s
90.6% Outstanding
Read 150
Write 136
Mixed 97
SusWrite 165
101% 137 MB/s
4K Read 1
4K Write 2.9
4K Mixed 1
206% 1.63 MB/s
3.5TB free
Firmware: 0104
SusWrite @10s intervals: 153 158 170 172 172 171 MB/s
86.2% Excellent
Read 134
Write 144
Mixed 120
SusWrite 166
104% 141 MB/s
4K Read 1
4K Write 2.6
4K Mixed 1
201% 1.53 MB/s
1TB free
Firmware: 0104
SusWrite @10s intervals: 142 148 148 148 145 145 MB/s
80.9% Excellent
Read 135
Write 165
Mixed 135
SusWrite 146
108% 145 MB/s
4K Read 5.2
4K Write 0.5
4K Mixed 0
226% 1.9 MB/s
1.5TB free
Firmware: 0104
SusWrite @10s intervals: 82 89 86 88 87 88 MB/s
60.8% Good
Read 124
Write 154
Mixed 142
SusWrite 86.6
95% 127 MB/s
4K Read 5.5
4K Write 0.5
4K Mixed 0
238% 2 MB/s
138 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 53,330,747 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 USB 3.0 4TB Builds (Compare 2,506 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings
Gaming
Gaming 144%
UFO
Desktop
Desktop 103%
UFO
Workstation
Workstation 132%
UFO

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI

CPU
Ryzen 5 5600XAMD  $149Bench 96%, 383,420 samples422x
Ryzen 7 3700XAMD  $205Bench 86%, 635,419 samples416x
Ryzen 7 5800XAMD  $202Bench 98%, 128,080 samples292x
GPU
RTX 3070Nvidia  $400Bench 148%, 619,642 samples203x
RTX 3080Nvidia  $625Bench 187%, 424,051 samples179x
RTX 3060-TiNvidia  $340Bench 128%, 442,467 samples171x
SSD
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung  $95Bench 310%, 455,997 samples171x
980 Pro NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung  $102Bench 394%, 276,089 samples133x
970 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung  $158Bench 297%, 331,647 samples112x
RAM
F4 DDR4 3600 C16 2x16GBG.SKILLBench 104%, 73,741 samples118x
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GBCorsair  $45Bench 85%, 653,654 samples102x
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600 C18 2x16GBCorsairBench 90%, 101,975 samples74x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 98% - Outstanding Total price: $644

Popular USB 3.0 4TB 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.

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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
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  • - 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

vs Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016)
vs WD Blue 1TB (2012)
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vs Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 1TB
vs WD Black 1TB (2013)
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1015 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 $273Nvidia RTX 4060 $295Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177Nvidia RTX 4070 $539Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37Corsair 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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