Choosing between three HDD

[Pallimud]

Since this community is so good at giving recommendations, I figured I'd consult before my purchase. These are the three I'm considering:

$49.99 - Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (link)
$59.99 - Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (link)
$64.99 - Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (link)

I'm using this drive as storage, scratch disk, page file, and also for some video editing (tutorial videos and FX will be stored here).

The reason for my indecision is price, I want to spend as least as possible, and not concretely knowing the real performance difference between Blue & Black WD drives in my particular usage.

Any recommendations would be great. Thanks!

 

[treefrog07]

The primary difference is the warranty period: two years for Blue and 5 years for Black. You best value per GB are the Black 640 and the Blue 500, but the extra warranty makes the 640 Black the winner.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The Blacks are faster ( performance drives ) than the Blues (Storage grade ) but with the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB drives faster and cheaper than anything listed WD may not be your best choice.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-HD103SJ&title=Samsung-SpinPoint-F3-HD103SJ-1TB-SATA2-7200rpm-32MB-Hard-Drive

That is the best drive for the money. Very fast and reliable and cheap.

 

[PLATTERMAN]

1TB Caviar Black are good drives more than the 65.00 but you can get them for under 100.00 on sale, make sure you get the larger cache versions for better performance. The larger capacity is worth it if much of the video is HD and to be stored on a permanent basis.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

1TB Caviar Black are good drives more than the 65.00 but you can get them for under 100.00 on sale, make sure you get the larger cache versions for better performance. The larger capacity is worth it if much of the video is HD and to be stored on a permanent basis.

The 1TB F3 is faster than all the 1TB Black models except the barely faster FAEX model and it is usually way more expensive. Both have 500GB platter designs. That 640GB Black you listed above is slower as it is based on the older 320GB platter design.

 

[Pallimud]

Thanks, you guys are very helpful.

I'll go with the Samsung then. I've never ordered from SuperBiiz.com though, is it a reputable site?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Thanks, you guys are very helpful.

I'll go with the Samsung then. I've never ordered from SuperBiiz.com though, is it a reputable site?

Yep, just not as well known as the egg".

 

[Canuck1]

Note that you want a storage drive and be sure to back up your data if you're using the faster, 7200 drives, that will run hotter and have more power consumption than slower 5400rpm drives. Just my opinion, though.

I think the 5400rpm drives are good just for reduced heat and power although Samsung drives are very good at efficient power/temps so I also agree with the other posters to choose Samsung over the WD Blacks. Easy choice, imho.

 

[Pallimud]

Thanks guys, I'll be going with the samsung.

 

[Pallimud]

Best answer selected by Pallimud.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey