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WD WD4001FAEX

Black 4TB (2012)

▲ Black 4TB (2012)
BENCHMARKS (4,113)
MKT (0%)
BUILDS
(2)
BUY • $259

Effective Speed -19%Effective Speed -19%Average Score +4% Read -18%, Write -10%, 4K Read -10%, 4K Write 59%, Mixed 9%, 4K Mixed 15%, SusWrite -20%Peak Score +2% Read -18%, Write -16%, 4K Read -3%, 4K Write 50%, Mixed 15%, 4K Mixed 10%, SusWrite -22%Value & Sentiment User Rating -15%, Market Share -34,711%, Price -299%, Value -134%Nice To Haves -16%Age -16%

Barracuda 7200.14 1TB

Black 1TB (2013)

Black 2TB (2013)

Barracuda 4TB (2016)

Barracuda 7200.14 3TB

Average Bench: 74.1% (111^th of 1015)

Based on 4,113 user benchmarks. Models: WDC WD4001FAEX-00MJRA0, WDC WD4001FAEX-0, WDC WD4001FAEX-32MJRA0, WDC WD4001FAEX-00MJR, WDC WD40 01FAEX-00MJR, WDC WD40 01FAEX-00MJRA0, WD4001FA EX-00MJRA0, WDC WD4001FAEX-32MJR, WD4001FAEX-00MJRA0

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]}

Poor: 49%Average: 74.1% Great: 93%

Popular builds with this HDD

Good average bench

The WD Black 4TB (2012) averaged 25.9% 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 0.96MB/s

Avg. 4K Random Write Speed 3.16MB/s

See where your HDD ranks →

Average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the WD Black 4TB (2012) is 43.6%. This is a relatively wide range which indicates that the WD Black 4TB (2012) performs inconsistently under varying real world conditions.

Weaknesses

Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed 86.1MB/s

Avg. Sequential Write Speed 124MB/s

Average Bench

(Based on 4,113 samples)

Rank 11174.1%

Min	Avg	Max
84.3	Read 132	169
72.3	Write 124	155
54.3	Mixed 86.1	108
61.3	SusWrite 125	159
86% 117 MB/s

Min	Avg	Max
0.6	4K Read 0.78	1
2.01	4K Write 3.16	3.7
0.61	4K Mixed 0.96	1.1
198% 1.64 MB/s

User Benchmarks

Bench

Sequential

Random 4k

Deep queue 4k

The fastest HDD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%

USA-User, 4 hrs ago.

3TB free

Firmware: 01.01L01

SusWrite @10s intervals: 155 155 157 158 158 157 MB/s

91% Outstanding

Write 155

Mixed 106

SusWrite 157

106% 145 MB/s

4K Read 0.8

4K Write 3.2

4K Mixed 0.9

193% 1.63 MB/s

USA-User, 4 days ago.

2TB free

Firmware: 01.01L01

SusWrite @10s intervals: 143 140 146 143 143 142 MB/s

83.7% Excellent

Write 144

Mixed 99.4

SusWrite 143

98% 134 MB/s

4K Read 0.7

4K Write 3.6

4K Mixed 1

207% 1.77 MB/s

USA-User, 2 days ago.

1.5TB free

Firmware: 01.01L01

SusWrite @10s intervals: 133 130 134 136 135 135 MB/s

80.7% Excellent

Write 132

Mixed 104

SusWrite 134

96% 129 MB/s

4K Read 0.8

4K Write 3

4K Mixed 0.9

189% 1.57 MB/s

4,113 MORE »

Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 53,961,065 HDDs tested

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

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Typical Black 4TB (2012) Builds (Compare 11,136 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 159%

UFO

Desktop 94%

Nuclear submarine

Workstation 161%

UFO

Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE - $262

CPU
Ryzen 7 3700XAMD $136Bench 86%, 635,419 samples	2,218x
Ryzen 7 5800XAMD $158Bench 98%, 89,263 samples	1,768x
Ryzen 5 5600XAMD $105Bench 96%, 383,420 samples	1,288x

GPU
RTX 3080Nvidia $501Bench 187%, 424,051 samples	949x
RTX 3070Nvidia $400Bench 148%, 619,642 samples	916x
RTX 2070S (Super)Nvidia $387Bench 115%, 663,603 samples	718x

SSD
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung $117Bench 310%, 455,997 samples	615x
980 Pro NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung $117Bench 385%, 327,441 samples	448x
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GBSamsung $80Bench 275%, 495,311 samples	408x

RAM
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GBCorsair $40Bench 85%, 653,654 samples	312x
Vengeance RGB PRO DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GBCorsair $55Bench 85%, 346,786 samples	309x
F4 DDR4 3600 C16 2x16GBG.SKILLBench 104%, 73,741 samples	286x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 97% - Outstanding

Total price: $1,056

Popular Black 4TB (2012) 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
- 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) November 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]

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.

Comments

HDrivePro

level
1,391

Looking for leading-edge performance...

Added 11 years ago.

USA-User

level
10,044

Poor (edit your comment) Add link

7 years ago.

I bought two of these factory sealed. I recorded all smart data and put them into a raidset in NAS with ample power/bw. These drives fell out of raid several times before I was able to return them, centralComputers would not give me a few days past the short policy, and I got stuck with them. My friend used them as JBOD and lost data. RMAs came back even worse. We took the PCB off and cured the performance issues at a ranch, with a 30-06. Worst hdd purchase I've ever made.

HDrivePro

level
1,391

Average

11 years ago.

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Ready to retire
Age: 12 years

Speed Comparisons

vs Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016)
vs WD Blue 1TB (2012)
vs Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016)
vs Seagate Barracuda 3TB (2016)
vs Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 1TB
vs WD Black 1TB (2013)
vs WD Black 2TB (2013)
vs Seagate Barracuda 4TB (2016)
vs Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 3TB

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 »

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $210	Nvidia RTX 4060 $299	WD Black SN850X M.2 2TB $130
Intel Core i5-12600K $160	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $389	WD Black SN850X M.2 1TB $80
Intel Core i5-12400F $111	Nvidia RTX 4070 $500	Crucial T700 M.2 4TB $378

WD WD4001FAEX

Black 4TB (2012)

Average Bench: 74.1% (111^th of 1015)

Popular builds with this HDD

Good average bench

Strengths

Average consistency

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Average Bench

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Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE - $262

Popular Black 4TB (2012) compatible motherboards:

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Official site www.wdc.com/...

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WD WD4001FAEX

Black 4TB (2012)

Average Bench: 74.1% (111th of 1015)

Popular builds with this HDD

Good average bench

Strengths

Average consistency

Weaknesses

Average Bench

Market Share (See Leaders)

Prices

CHOOSE A COMPONENT:

Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE - $262

Popular Black 4TB (2012) compatible motherboards:

UserBenchmark of the month

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Official site www.wdc.com/...

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Average Bench: 74.1% (111^th of 1015)