Question 1

Will this hard drive work in a dell 4600 or 4700 desktop?. thank you

Accepted Answer

For sure won't work on the 4600 since the HD interface for that is the older Parallel ATA (PATA on most spec sheets).

The Dell 4700 appears to have the newer Serial ATA (SATA) interface, same as this drive.  However, there is a significant age and technology difference between the 4700 hard drive controller and the WD SATA 6.0 interface, so there might be some problems.

Bottom line, it's risky!

Question 2

I have a 2009 Asus computer it has 6gb of ddr3 and an intigrated sound and video chip can i use this drive well and will it be reliable? the main thing i do on my computers is game so i need a  hard drive that can handle that

Accepted Answer

Should work just fine for that platform and application. Their 'Black' series is top-of-the-line in consumer quality drives.

Question 3

whate is meant by bare drive?

Accepted Answer

A "Bare" drive means a hard-drive in a manufacturer’s sealed anti-static bag, and that is it.  (No SATA cables, manuals, fany box, or anything else is included; so you aren't paying for things that aren't needed, or can be obtained elsewhere.)

Question 4

I am wanting to replace WD1500HLFS with WD5003AZEX.  After 8 years, I have out grown the 150.  Is there foreseeable problem?

Accepted Answer

I assume you have Windows 10. 8 years ago SATA 3Gb/s was standard. You will be better off cloning to a 500 GB Samsung EVO SSD for about the same price. Plus you get the cloning software for free. The speed of the SSD will increase output 2-fold. Windows 10 is great at helping you change IDE Mode to AHCI mode in the BIOS if needed. Hope this helps.

Question 5

what kind of power supply plug(adaptor) do i need to use this in a 2 or 3 years old computer?
the old hd had a 4 round pin power supply plug.

Accepted Answer

The HD is a SATA connector that has both the signal and power in a single connector that just plugs right into the end of the drive. It can be done also, with two connectors, one each for the signal and the power, but not recommended.  Suggest you do a google search for : 4pin molex to SATA adapter which gets you the power part of the two. The drive most likely will come with the signal cable which connects to the HD at one end and motherboard on the other.  Your computer is new enough that you should be able to make the switch.  However, your motherboard must have support for SATA 6 Gb/s to realize the full potential in terms of data transfer speed, otherwise it will likely default to 3 Gb/s, a 2x slower transfer speed.  Answering your question more specifically requires more information regarding your comuter, motherboard and present HD setup (SATA vs. IDE).

Question 6

What comes in the box?

Accepted Answer

When I bought it, all that came was the hard drive itself. Might want to buy some cables. I recommend OKGear 18" SATA 6 (they're backwards compatible with SATA 3).

Question 7

Please explain why WD blacks are not recommended in RAID,
I have used AALX and AALS drives in Software RAID 0 for 2 years, for highly intense tasks, each drive has over 14 thousand hours of use 2000 power cycles and no problems.

I was informed when I first set this up it would be problematic but I am yet to find any evidence to support this advice.

Is WD lying to us in attempt to sell more enterprise grade drives?

Accepted Answer

WD would recommend Reds over Blacks due to the lower power consumption along with lower heat levels. Blacks draw more power and generate more heat. I run a WD Black raid for my gaming drives (use SSD for Windows) and have had no issues with them what so ever. I also have cooling around my HDD bay to keep them cool.

Question 8

What is the actual formatted capacity of this drive on Window 7 64bit?

Accepted Answer

At the end of the day it's 465 GB and windows 7 takes up about 14 GB of that. So you're looking at about 450 useable GB.

Question 9

Im wondering about compatibility, I have an older computer that needs a hard drive and this looks like what Id like to have. I have a hp pavilion  a1240n with a  Goldfish3-GL8E motherboard that has 4 sata 1 plugs in it. Will this hard drive work since its sata 6 as it says?

Accepted Answer

Yes, 6 Gb/s is the highest standard the drive is compatible with. It will downgrade automatically to match a slower motherboard.

Question 10

I own an Apple computer...a 2010 Mac Pro.  Are there any compatibility issues with this HDD? WD Black 500GB?

Accepted Answer

You should wait until sometime on the end of August because WD is coming out with better SSD for SATA drive, with reads and write's up to 500 megabytes per sec. Just check WD Web site.

Brand	WD
Series	Black
Model	WD5003AZEX
Packaging	Bare Drive

Interface	SATA 6.0Gb/s
Capacity	500GB
NAND Flash Memory Type	Desktop
RPM	7200 RPM
Cache	64MB

Features	Inspiring performance and capacity WD Black performance storage is designed to enhance your PC experience across heavier computing tasks whether you are a digital artist, video editor, photographer, or gamer. Enhance your PC's performance even further when you combine a WD Black drive with an SSD for a dual drive configuration, allowing you to benefit from the additional caching of your operating system onto the SSD for increased performance. For Creative Professionals When it comes to storing your creativity and entire digital portfolio, look no further than WD Black performance storage for your best solution. Use the WD Black drive for storing your large multimedia files of photos, videos, games or applications and programs because with a WD Black drive, you get the best combination of speed, capacity and large cache sizes. For Gamers The WD Black drive is the perfect storage solution for your gaming machine by offering large capacities to store your game's downloadable content (DLC), large cache sizes, and it is the perfect complement for maximum system performance when combined with an SSD.
Usage	Gaming Hard Drives

Form Factor	3.5"
Height (maximum)	26.10mm
Width (maximum)	101.60mm
Length (maximum)	147.00mm

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

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