Question Western Digital Red Plus 4TB WD40EFPX : is it suitable for regular PC use ?

[EmmaDobozi]

I would very soon need another HDD to be used in a PC running WIN.
I can afford 4TB size ones.
Some reviews state that the Western Digital Red Plus is more robust / has additional safety features (like sensors) / has better handling of heat
than the Blue family.
However, they say that the cache is optimized for NAS -- this might be a hindrance when used in a conventional PC.
I would be grateful for some additional info.

I can get this WD 4TB WD40EFPX with a 36-month warranty at a price level below WD 4T Blue WD40EZAX, with only a 24-month warranty.
Another option might be Skyhawk 4TB ST4000VX016 with 36-month warranty, with a price level 20 % lower than the Western Digital Red Plus.

 

[COLGeek]

What sort of files/apps will you have on the 4TB HDD?

For the most part, from a user perspective, you'll see no appreciable difference among any of these three HDDs.

 

[EmmaDobozi]

The WIN system runs from a SATA SSD.
The new HDD is meant mostly for archiving / torrent downloads.

 

[COLGeek]

The WIN system runs from a SATA SSD.
The new HDD is meant mostly for archiving / torrent downloads.

Any of these will be fine for that.

Public Service Announcement (PSA): Torrenting is often associated with pirated content. Tom's Hardware does NOT support any form of software piracy. None. Period

 

[fzabkar]

I would buy the Red. It's cheaper, has longer warranty, and has much the same specs as the Blue.

https://documents.westerndigital.co...duct-brief-western-digital-wd-blue-pc-hdd.pdf

https://documents.westerndigital.co...uct-brief-western-digital-wd-red-plus-hdd.pdf

That said, some of the specs are questionable. For example, why does the NAS drive, presumably with rotational vibration sensors, have the same shock specs as the blue?

 

[EmmaDobozi]

I tried to read reviews (but didn't fully understand them) to make an informed decision ; I got somehow confused by some of the seemingly conflicting charts and, after reading their conclusions, I feel unsure about how to decide.
One reviewer makes the statement (actually, on this very site)
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wd-red-plus-12tb-hdd-review
"wd red-plus is a drive that should not be used singly or for general storage use"

Some of the reviews I was able to read (but not fully understand) are older, benchmarking older generation of HDDs.
It seems now that Skyhawk 4TB ST4000VX016 might be indeed a poorer decision to use in a regular PC.

So I would be grateful if you can help me with some more guidance regarding this WD 4TB WD40EFPX with a 36-month warranty and WD 4T Blue WD40EZAX, with only a 24-month warranty. Their prices are about the same.

 

[COLGeek]

I tried to read reviews (but didn't fully understand them) to make an informed decision ; I got somehow confused by some of the seemingly conflicting charts and, after reading their conclusions, I feel unsure about how to decide.
One reviewer makes the statement (actually, on this very site)
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wd-red-plus-12tb-hdd-review
"wd red-plus is a drive that should not be used singly or for general storage use"

Some of the reviews I was able to read (but not fully understand) are older, benchmarking older generation of HDDs.
It seems now that Skyhawk 4TB ST4000VX016 might be indeed a poorer decision to use in a regular PC.

So I would be grateful if you can help me with some more guidance regarding this WD 4TB WD40EFPX with a 36-month warranty and WD 4T Blue WD40EZAX, with only a 24-month warranty. Their prices are about the same.

Get the one with the longer warranty. For your stated purposes, you'll see no difference between the these HDDs.

 

[EmmaDobozi]

Get the one with the longer warranty. For your stated purposes, you'll see no difference between the these HDDs.

I am grateful for your advice ; the WD Red Plus just arrived today.

 

[faalin]

I ran WD red pro 6TB's for years, still have one in my computer. Have now replaced 2 of them with 18TB drives and use the last 6TB for Hyper-v VM's

6TB's are over 6 years old and still in service without issues, I have 5 18TB's that are around 2 years old now, two in my desktop and 3 in my server, they both stay turned on 24/7

 

[EmmaDobozi]

I ran WD red pro 6TB's for years, still have one in my computer. Have now replaced 2 of them with 18TB drives and use the last 6TB for Hyper-v VM's

6TB's are over 6 years old and still in service without issues, I have 5 18TB's that are around 2 years old now, two in my desktop and 3 in my server, they both stay turned on 24/7

Maybe Red Pro is a higher category ...

 

[faalin]

Maybe Red Pro is a higher category ...

The only difference between a plus and pro drive is the read and write speeds. They have turned the original Western Digital Red drive into a plus drive. They gave it he 7200RPM spindle speed but left the read and write speeds at the 5400RPM speeds of the original drive. The PRO drive gets 7200RPM spindles with the faster read and write speeds.

 

[fzabkar]

The only difference between a plus and pro drive is the read and write speeds. They have turned the original Western Digital Red drive into a plus drive. They gave it he 7200RPM spindle speed but left the read and write speeds at the 5400RPM speeds of the original drive. The PRO drive gets 7200RPM spindles with the faster read and write speeds.

If you are referring to the "original" "5400 RPM class" drives, these were 7200 RPM drives that actually spun at 7200 RPM but were crippled in the firmware to perform at a lower level. The drives falsely reported a spindle speed of 5400 RPM.

 

[EmmaDobozi]

After reading faalin and fzabkar replies,
I am wondering if this ?? new ?? generation WD40EFPX
has any improvements beyond the 256 MB Cache Size ?

 

[Misgar]

Maybe Red Pro is a higher category ...

Correct. Red Pros are usually more expensive than Reds.

Some mid-capacity WD Reds are SMR (Shingle Magnetic Recording). WD announced the Red Pro CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording ) range about 4 years ago after they sneaked SMR drives into the old Red range without telling anyone. SMR drives are bad news in FreeNAS and TrueNAS servers if you need to resilver an array. It can take days on SMR instead of hours on CMR drives.
https://www.servethehome.com/wd-red-smr-vs-cmr-tested-avoid-red-smr/

I no longer buy SMR drives and always check carefully to make sure I'm getting a CMR drive. It's a personal choice but I dislike potentially slow writes to SMR drives after they've been subjected to numerous file deletions.

Check your WD drives here:-
https://nascompares.com/answer/list-of-wd-cmr-and-smr-hard-drives-hdd/#WD_CMR_SMR_drive_list