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Old June 16th 20, 03:08 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul[_28_]
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Posts: 1,467
Default Western Digital quetion

VanguardLH wrote:
Yes wrote:

Does anyone have comments about the quality/reliability difference
between WD Black and WD Blue? Their ads say the Blue line is for
everyday perforamnce and the Black line is for power computing.
Usually, whne I buy an HD, I choose "power computing" on the
assumption that those should be more reliable and have a longer time
before it fails.


Blues run at 5400 RPM. Blacks run at 7200 RPM. Faster spin means
reduced seek time hence faster data transfer speed. However, faster
spin means more heat produced. Blacks run hotter than blues. Blacks
also have a larger range for a built-in buffer.

If you use blacks because you want better performance, make sure you
mount the drive so it can be properly cooled. Don't mount other drives
next to it. Don't have cables that block the air flow around it. Don't
have fans competing against each other for airflow through the case.

Blues have a 2-year warranty. Blacks, which you pay more up front, have
a 5-year warranty. Manufacturers have long learned to provide a
warranty that extends far enough into the MTBF (Mean Time Between
Failures) for a product, so the warranty is short of the MTBF. That
way, the product won't fail until after the warranty expires. They
don't want the expense of replacing a failed product, so they aren't
going to warranty much beyond the MTBF. A longer warranty usually means
a longer surviving product. It's in their interests to market the
warranty to draw sales, but not incur the costs of replacement.

See some comparison of color models at:

https://www.windowscentral.com/weste...al-hdd-your-pc
https://www.partitionwizard.com/clon...-vs-black.html

Found using a Google search on "wdc blue versus black hdd".


It's possible the WDC Black has a two-stage actuator, which
means it resists the vibration coming from other drives
in the PC a little better.

WDC Black 6TB, the spec sheet for mine says 9.1W read/write.
A similar pair of Blue 6TB are 4.8W and 5.3W (5400RPM).
Or about half the power of the WDC Black.

It's not quite as loud as it used to be.

In the 4TB era, both companies managed to make some
"thumpers", which would excite the PC case with the
low frequencies involved. The drives now don't seem to be
quite as bad, and maybe their seek has been turned down
a bit.

Paul