DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

Wd black or green? Urgent!!!!

18 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/wd-black-or-green-urgent.134832/

M
minotaur Original post #1
Dec 8, 2010 at 7:34 PM
Have run out of space and need a new HDD.
Shall I just go for a WD GREEN ( 64 mb cache) or is the WD BLACK (64 mb cache) worth the premium?

I know that the Black trumps the Green in the benchmarks, but what about real world performance?
Have any of you used both and found substantial performance jumps?

I live in Delhi and I will be going to Nehru Place soon, but here are prices from the local vendor):
WD GREEN 2800

WD BLACK 5200

Usage: Primarily gaming, movies and occasional video editing

PLEASE POST REPLIES ASAP I WILL BE BUYING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS
Thanks

My Rig:
i7-920
Intel WX58BP Motherboard
4 gb ram( I have to get another 2 gb stick)
Radeon 5750 graphics card
Samsung P 2250 monitor
500 GB WD Drive
250 GB WD Drive
80 GB Samsung Drive
1 TB Freeagent External Drive
250 GB WD Passport External Drive

WEI score 5.9:?:
The Sorcerer
Dec 8, 2010 at 8:11 PM
Shall I just go for a WD GREEN ( 64 mb cache) or is the WD BLACK (64 mb cache) worth the premium?
Storage capacity? IIRC smc sells 1TB black under under 5k. Consider seagate 7200.12 rpm drives over the WD green as they seem to have to have issues to fail eventually.
Ishu Gupta
Dec 8, 2010 at 9:03 PM
WD green - Power saving, Quiet
WD Blue - General all purpose.
WD Black - High Performance, Noisy, Pricey

Seagate 7200.12 - General all purpose.

PS - The difference between noise and performance aren't too big. Tiny differences.
M
Dec 8, 2010 at 9:27 PM
'IIRC smc sells 1TB black under under 5k'

forgive me for being a noob , what is IIRC smc
K
Dec 8, 2010 at 9:29 PM
+1 to Ishu .
In CHIP , every time I see configs suggested by their tech specialists they are suggesting WD Green.!
Reaper_vivek
Dec 8, 2010 at 9:36 PM
Smc is a store in nehru place..they also have a website
smcinternational.in

i have bought wd green 64mb at 2.9k from there..its performance is better than my old 80gb hitachi but the diff is not very significant..
WEI of hitachi 80gb ATA 5.5
WEI of wd green 1tb 64mb 5.9
if u have the budget go for black otherwise seagate 1tb 32mb 7200rpm is a good alternative..
Ishu Gupta
Dec 8, 2010 at 9:46 PM
If I Remember Correctly

IIRC
M
Dec 9, 2010 at 7:52 AM
Thanks, just checked the SMC site, the Black with 32 mb cache is 4950 and 64 mb cache is 5000. Wonder if prices will be any different on the ground.

About WEI, I already have a score of 5.9 with the old WD Blue 500 GB HDD( model no WDC WD5000AAKS 16mb cache). Wonder if anybody gets past that score (5.9) with conventional HDDs.
All other components are rated 7.3 to 7.4.

How much does the WD Black score ?
And all you Black users-Are load times significantly lesser in games?
Ishu Gupta
Dec 9, 2010 at 7:57 AM
Hard Disks don't get more than 5.9. If you want more than that, you need to hook up a SSD.
A
adizz #10
Dec 9, 2010 at 8:01 AM
black for performance, green for storage :D
The Sorcerer
Dec 9, 2010 at 8:06 AM
*img638.imageshack.us/img638/4271/eacs.png
The above is EACS the green drive.
*img837.imageshack.us/img837/8003/wd1000longhdtach2029282.jpg
This is the black edition
-
This is the tool to use to know about your hard drive- not WEI. I don't have HD Tach screenshots for 7200.12 rpm drives, but someone with this drive can put one up here ;). But the black and 7200.12 rpm seagates and somewhat of the similar graphs, maybe bit lesser on seagate but way more than the greens.
desiibond
desiibond #12
Dec 9, 2010 at 10:07 AM
yes. WD Black and 7200.12 are a bit similar in performance. But Black 1TB costs around 4.5k and 7200.12 costs around 3.5k. For 4.8k, you can get 1.5Tb 7200.12.

Price: 7200.12 is better
performance: not much difference
reliability: WD Black
support quality: seagate
M
minotaur #13
Dec 9, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Thanks guys, I've been using WD for the past 4-5 years after a Seagate died on me, so that's why I prefer WD. And if I am not mistaken, the Black still gives you a 5 year warranty which sorta like pays for the difference. At least for me, the the performance and the peace of mind makes up for the price. I am still tempted to go for two 1 TB WD Green bricks instead of one Black HDD. Your thoughts?
desiibond
desiibond #14
Dec 9, 2010 at 10:57 AM
There is around 35% performance difference between Green and Black if I am right. That's a LOT :)
vickybat
vickybat #15
Dec 9, 2010 at 3:37 PM
How about going for a 40gb ssd @ 5.5k from corsair ? Install the os in it and use the remaining drives for storage.
Ishu Gupta
Dec 9, 2010 at 3:40 PM
^
He needs a drive for storage. 40GB ain't gonna help.
vickybat
vickybat #17
Dec 9, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Oh okie dokie.

ssd's are performance drives and not meant for storage. performance difference is staggering and should be the primary drive.

OP can go for ssd and wd green if budget permits. A wonderful combination.

For hdd go for wd blue or black.
M
minotaur #18
Dec 9, 2010 at 7:55 PM
I was also thinking about going the SSD way, but like a lot of us am waiting for the prices to come down. I can stretch the budget to about 6.5k but the SSD+WD Green option is still outta reach.What I need for now is space with decent amount of performance, so I have the option of turning the now faster TB drive into the OS drive.