NoTouch Ramp Load TechnologyThe recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media, as well as better drive protection in transit.
High Performance Electronics ArchitectureThe electronics architecture of WD Caviar Black 500GB SATA 3Gb/s drive employs dual processor - twice the processing power, and 32 MB colossal cache to maximize performance.
IntelliSeek TechnologyWD’s IntelliSeek technology proactively calculates an optimum seek speed to eliminate hasty movement of the actuator, resulting in lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
SATA 6 Gb/s InterfaceSATA 6Gb/s (SATA Revision 3.0) provides twice the bus bandwidth of SATA 3Gb/s (SATA II) along with enhancements including a new Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and improved power management capabilities. SATA 6 Gb/s uses the same connector as SATA 3 Gb/s and is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000 and Mac OS X.
Pros: BULLETPROOF. My experience has led me down ONLY one avenue - stick with what works. I am murder on HDD's and WD offers me fightclub results of standing my abuse (see other thoughts also)
Cons: The prices nowdays caused by devestation. NOTHING to take advantage of to make a buck - my opinion.
Overall Review: Ever wonder why you don't see Western Digital on sale or being given away at some crazy price? THAT is because they are worth every cent you will spend on them. QUALITY. I am VERY hard on HDD's - I mean VERY hard on them, and WD holds up to everything I throw at them.
Pros: HD Tune: AMD WD5002AALX 2+0 Stripe/RAID0 Benchmark (6.0Gb/s)
Transfer Rate Minimum : 112.5 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 248.8 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 194.1 MB/sec
Access Time : 15.3 ms
Burst Rate : 178.0 MB/sec
CPU Usage : -1.0%
HD Tune: WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B Benchmark (3.0Gb/s)
Transfer Rate Minimum : 52.7 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 107.7 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 85.8 MB/sec
Access Time : 12.3 ms
Burst Rate : 127.5 MB/sec
CPU Usage : -1.0%
650 watt pwr
1090t x6 cpu 3.2ghz
4gb ram 1333
asrock 870 extreme3
Cons: why are there so many defective and dead drives?
Overall Review: ssd id still too high .. this setup is just fine and fat.
Pros: Nice stable HDD. Quiet. Faster than the blue 500G HDD.
As always fast delivery. No bad sectors. Well packed.
Cons: None
Overall Review: I was lucky enough to get this before the Thailand floods impacted prices.
I will wait until after prices come down to buy another one or three.
Pros: Great transfer rates. Plenty of space. Easy to set up.. Hasn't failed.
Cons: Currently expensive.
Overall Review: Bad timing on purchase. Flooding in Thailand has made the price jump to $120 for this drive, apparently 200% more than it was previously judging by other reviews. Here's to hoping we don't see more speculators driving up prices, though I think prices will only continue to rise for the next few months.
I might hold off on buying a new HDD and keeping an eye on Thailand for now.
Pros: This drive is pretty quiet. I'd heard that the 1TB and larger drives have too many platters and create noise. I just got a mobo with SATA 3 capability (6.0 gb/s), but I really don't think that getting a HDD with the same spec is worth it. 32 MB cache is adequate, and games load up plenty quick. I'm happy with the read/write functioning and low noise level.
Cons: Hard drives can't read/transfer data nearly as fast as SATA 2 (3.0 gb/s) already provides, so the SATA 3 (6.0 gb/s) is just a perk.
Not as advertised- will not work in a Raid 1 array7/6/2012 9:43:11 PM
Pros: None
Cons: According to Western Digital: WD Caviar Black Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications. (RAID-0 / RAID-1)*
They don't work in Raid 0 or 1 though because Western Digital removed the ability to enable Time-Limited Error Recovery in the drive's firmware. The drives randomly drop out of the array when the computer is booting.
I have been using and recommending Western Digital consumer drives in RAID 0, 1, and stand-alone configurations for ten years and have never had a problem until now.
Western Digital, you lost a loyal customer.
Manufacturer Response:
We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the WD Black Desktop, as this is not the typical experience with the product. The black drives are our high end desktop drives, these drives can exist in a desktop RAID 0 or RAID 1 (Striped or Mirror) using software RAID with two drives only. RAID enclosures require hard drives with TLER meaning they do not go to sleep and will respond to the request for read or write within a reasonable amount of time. Desktop drives such as our Black Drives do not have TLER, they park the heads and go to standby in order to conserve energy. For this reason they are not suitable in RAID enclosures or harware RAID arrays more than 2 hard drives. From this review, it seems the customer was trying to use this drive outside the intended use. He would have been better using a RE drive which has TLER. We would appreciate the opportunity to further assist you, and resolve any further concerns you may have with the device and/or your experience. You may contact us at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/. Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.
Pros: I got this drive when I build my computer about 2.5 years ago for I think it was $50. Performance is excellent for that price, adequate for it's current price.
It's pretty quiet. Only occasionally would I be able to hear it above my fans.
Cons: Drive failed after 2.5 years (only half way into it's 5 year warranty; clicks of death).
Overall Review: I didn't buy it through Newegg and since I couldn't remember who I bought it from it had to be RMA'ed directly through WD. Fortunately they keep track of every drive they make thru S/Ns and their RMA process is easy and quick.
Pros: BULLETPROOF. My experience has led me down ONLY one avenue - stick with what works. I am murder on HDD's and WD offers me fightclub results of standing my abuse (see other thoughts also)
Cons: The prices nowdays caused by devestation. NOTHING to take advantage of to make a buck - my opinion.
Overall Review: Ever wonder why you don't see Western Digital on sale or being given away at some crazy price? THAT is because they are worth every cent you will spend on them. QUALITY. I am VERY hard on HDD's - I mean VERY hard on them, and WD holds up to everything I throw at them.