WD Black 500GB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD5003AZEX

Pros: Uses 1 TB platters
Has a 5 year warranty
Very quiet, never made a sound while in use. The only time I ever heard it was when it went into its standby phase and I could hear it spin down as it was shutting off. (Older model was WAY louder, heard it constantly)

I tested the previous model of this drive being the WD1003FAEX from 2010 vs. this drive the WD1003FZEX from 2013.

Crystal Disk Mark (FZEX) – New WD Drive
• Sequential: Read = 198.2 MB/s, Write = 181.6 MB/s
• 512k: Read = 85.77 MB/s, Write = 178.2 MB/s
• 4k: Read = 1.186 MB/s, Write = 2.517 MB/s
• 4k QD32: Read = 3.383 MB/s, Write = 2.553 MB/s

Crystal Disk Mark (FAEX) – Old WD Drive
• Sequential: Read = 161.1 MB/s, Write = 108.2 MB/s
• 512k: Read = 70.22 MB/s, Write = 117.5 MB/s
• 4k: Read = 0.770 MB/s, Write = 1.664 MB/s
• 4k QD32: Read = 1.793 MB/s, Write = 1.596 MB/s

HD Tune (FZEX) – New WD Drive
• Minimum: 93.6 MB/s
• Maximum: 199.5 MB/s
• Average: 154.0 MB/s
• Access Time: 16.1 ms
• Burst Rate: 338.7 MB/s

HD Tune (FAEX) – Old WD Drive
• Minimum: 36.3 MB/s
• Maximum: 142.3 MB/s
• Average: 108.5.0 MB/s
• Access Time: 12.1 ms
• Burst Rate: 195.0 MB/s

Power Consumption (FZEX) – New WD Drive
• Idle Drive Off - 0.75 Watts
• Idle Drive On – 5.15 Watts
• Load Read – 6.75 Watts
• Load Write – 7.15 Watts

Power Consumption (FAEX) – Old WD Drive
• Idle Drive Off - 0.85 Watts
• Idle Drive On – 7.55 Watts
• Load Read – 8.85 Watts
• Load Write – 9.95 Watts

Temperatures
• (FZEX) – New WD Drive: 75.2 °F
• (FAEX) – Old WD Drive: 78.8 °F

I also tested the new drive on a SATA II connection and as I figured the results were within a margin of error as some values were higher and some were lower than when on the SATA III connection. So if you don’t have a SATA III capable motherboard, don’t worry about it.

Cons: The only con that I can think of is very minor but while sitting on a motherboard box, the vibration produced by the hard drive was more than I expected and was more than the previous model also tested on the same box. Granted it was not secured into a case like it should but the Vibration Control Technology featured in this family of drives probably would have reduced that as it is only present in the 2 TB and up drives, so my drive being the 1 TB variant, it doesn’t have it. Again not really a con as it wasn’t really that bad just more than the old model.

Overall Review: Overall I am very impressed with Western Digital’s new and improved drives. By switching to 1 TB platters, the performance has greatly increased and their power consumption reduced over their multi platter predecessor. Specifically looking at power consumption this actually used less power than an old 5900 RPM 750 GB WD green drive from 2009 that I have while of course obliterating it in the performance sector. The drive ran very cool as it only has one platter inside and was in a case with fans blowing cool air directly on it. In the end this is no SSD in terms of speed but for file storage look no further.

Not related to the drive but Newegg’s new hard drive packaging is fantastic as the drive is held together so tightly I could barely get it out of the box.

*All tests were conducted three times to ensure accuracy and repeatability of results.

Pros: It even worked for 7 months

Cons: After 7 months this drive has a combination of bad and weak sectors as reported by HDSentinel (SMART data)

This drive also causes system restarts when bad sectors are accessed now.

Overall Review: Where has the quality control gone? This is/was/used to be a premium priced quality product. I have a pair of 8 year old 1tb blacks that still run fine. I just pray Western Digital leave Hitachi alone and don't cost cut their quality as well.