I was under the impression the largest non-helium drive was 10TB. While I am a fan of helioseal drives for their low noise and low power, I wish "coolspin" drives would make a comeback because for archiving and cold storage, the perceived reliability of a low spindle speed, heat output, power consumption, and (tremendously) lower noise profile make them desirable for what is in my experience a negligible hit to overall performance. I still have many 4TB HGST coolspin drives in service that transfer 200MB/sec sustained. The access time is obviously 33% slower but if you are storing 4-8GB video files or thousands of 50-100MB RAR's, access time is mostly irrelevant.
Except they're still 7200RPM, so they run hotter, consume more power, make more noise...literally all of my complaints about 7200RPM drives still apply to SMR.
Depending on your usage, hearing the difference between 5400 and 7200 RPM drives might be difficult when other factors are considered. Personally, I haven't been able to discern any noteworthy difference.
Harmonics and vibration are substantially different between 5400RPM and 7200RPM drives. The precursor to smartphone apps that detected the sound signature to determin WD was initially selling 5400RPM drives as 7200RPM drives rated at "5400RPM class" was the fact people were suspicious simply based on human hearing of various users.
I don't keep my PC's on the floor and they are unfortunately often ear-level on my desk, and the difference between a case with 2-3 5400RPM drives and a case with 2-3 7200RPM drives is notable from anywhere in the room, no matter how well you insulate the case.
There are clear benefits to 5400RPM drives, but the industry has seized producing them because having a single architecture to base all drives on at scale is substantially cheaper than two architectures. The motor and calibration are entirely different and from a marketing perspective most buyers want the 'faster RPM.' Clearly I am in the minority, maybe I have sensitive hearing, who knows. But I know I am in a small subset of buyers that would like a product that isn't cost feasible for the industry to produce, so I get it. But it's still a wish.
Noise aside, I agree with the benefits of these slower-spinning drives. Today's 5400-RPM drives are not the drives of ten, twenty years ago. Back then, with smaller sizes, they were frustratingly slower, colouring our views.
I have a 5400-RPM 4 TB Blue and have no complaints with its performance. Transfer rates are higher than the 7200-RPM 500 GB Baracuda it replaced. If I had to choose a slower-spinning drive again, I would.
At times, I do lament my time as a car audio fanatic... then I am reminded that it allows me to remain oblivious to my expansive computer equipment's noise, and most hi pitched sounds (above 6khz). I do keep the bulk of it in a dedicated room in my home, but it is extremely difficult to avoid fan noise in today's world. Oh, a world with mild hearing loss is a splendid one, indeed!
CMR only recently was able to, as a result of newly launched EAMR tech, reach 24TB. SMR remains relevant in the sense that you want a drive with higher capacity than it is currently possible to produce. But even then, it's the drive managed SMR HDDs that gave SMR such an evil record.
I still do not trust WD after the whole dishonesty that forced the “Red Pro” brand to exist in the first place. “Red Pro” is basically just “what we always claimed Red would be, sorry we ruined that by lying to you”.
I need a drive exactly like this—or rather, five drives exactly like this—but it’s too bad I can’t give WD that much money since I don’t know what other thing they’re lying to me about this time.
Doh, up to 1.2W while on sleep mode, that is with all motors off, actuators off and shocking sensors off or at least in low frequency acquisition state. Assuming the electronics runs at 3.3V, that more than 350mA current flowing into it. Unless that "up to" means a current spike every N seconds, I find it a very high power consumption.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
18 Comments
Back to Article
pugster - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
What I am surprised is that they have non-helium 12tb drive WD121KFBX. I wonder if they put 5 - 2.4tb platters in it?Samus - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
I was under the impression the largest non-helium drive was 10TB. While I am a fan of helioseal drives for their low noise and low power, I wish "coolspin" drives would make a comeback because for archiving and cold storage, the perceived reliability of a low spindle speed, heat output, power consumption, and (tremendously) lower noise profile make them desirable for what is in my experience a negligible hit to overall performance. I still have many 4TB HGST coolspin drives in service that transfer 200MB/sec sustained. The access time is obviously 33% slower but if you are storing 4-8GB video files or thousands of 50-100MB RAR's, access time is mostly irrelevant.eldakka - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
The use-case you are describing is precisely what SMR drives are designed for.Samus - Friday, March 29, 2024 - link
Except they're still 7200RPM, so they run hotter, consume more power, make more noise...literally all of my complaints about 7200RPM drives still apply to SMR.Really weird, pointless comment.
PeachNCream - Friday, March 29, 2024 - link
Depending on your usage, hearing the difference between 5400 and 7200 RPM drives might be difficult when other factors are considered. Personally, I haven't been able to discern any noteworthy difference.Samus - Sunday, March 31, 2024 - link
Harmonics and vibration are substantially different between 5400RPM and 7200RPM drives. The precursor to smartphone apps that detected the sound signature to determin WD was initially selling 5400RPM drives as 7200RPM drives rated at "5400RPM class" was the fact people were suspicious simply based on human hearing of various users.I don't keep my PC's on the floor and they are unfortunately often ear-level on my desk, and the difference between a case with 2-3 5400RPM drives and a case with 2-3 7200RPM drives is notable from anywhere in the room, no matter how well you insulate the case.
There are clear benefits to 5400RPM drives, but the industry has seized producing them because having a single architecture to base all drives on at scale is substantially cheaper than two architectures. The motor and calibration are entirely different and from a marketing perspective most buyers want the 'faster RPM.' Clearly I am in the minority, maybe I have sensitive hearing, who knows. But I know I am in a small subset of buyers that would like a product that isn't cost feasible for the industry to produce, so I get it. But it's still a wish.
GeoffreyA - Monday, April 1, 2024 - link
Noise aside, I agree with the benefits of these slower-spinning drives. Today's 5400-RPM drives are not the drives of ten, twenty years ago. Back then, with smaller sizes, they were frustratingly slower, colouring our views.I have a 5400-RPM 4 TB Blue and have no complaints with its performance. Transfer rates are higher than the 7200-RPM 500 GB Baracuda it replaced. If I had to choose a slower-spinning drive again, I would.
HaninAT - Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - link
At times, I do lament my time as a car audio fanatic... then I am reminded that it allows me to remain oblivious to my expansive computer equipment's noise, and most hi pitched sounds (above 6khz). I do keep the bulk of it in a dedicated room in my home, but it is extremely difficult to avoid fan noise in today's world. Oh, a world with mild hearing loss is a splendid one, indeed!GeoffreyA - Thursday, April 4, 2024 - link
HaninAT. My imagination runs amok with imagery of rattling windows, as the subs, 6x9s, and tweeters do their thing!Dug - Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - link
There is a big difference in my opinion. I only use 10TB shucked WD 5400 drives. Anything else sounds like nails on a chalkboard.The Von Matrices - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
6-platter air-filled hard drives exist as of a few years ago, so 6 x 2TB is more plausible.Threska - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
Hmmm, no data recovery service.kn00tcn - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
so what was the point of SMR if we can still reach 24TB with CMR, or was it more 'just in case' and to reduce platter countballsystemlord - Friday, March 29, 2024 - link
CMR only recently was able to, as a result of newly launched EAMR tech, reach 24TB. SMR remains relevant in the sense that you want a drive with higher capacity than it is currently possible to produce.But even then, it's the drive managed SMR HDDs that gave SMR such an evil record.
shelbystripes - Thursday, March 28, 2024 - link
I still do not trust WD after the whole dishonesty that forced the “Red Pro” brand to exist in the first place. “Red Pro” is basically just “what we always claimed Red would be, sorry we ruined that by lying to you”.I need a drive exactly like this—or rather, five drives exactly like this—but it’s too bad I can’t give WD that much money since I don’t know what other thing they’re lying to me about this time.
cbm80 - Friday, March 29, 2024 - link
Red Pro isn't a new brand. You're thinking of Red Plus.Einy0 - Monday, April 1, 2024 - link
Agreed, I don't trust them at all. They were my go-to brand for years. I won't even touch their SSDs now.CiccioB - Sunday, March 31, 2024 - link
Doh, up to 1.2W while on sleep mode, that is with all motors off, actuators off and shocking sensors off or at least in low frequency acquisition state.Assuming the electronics runs at 3.3V, that more than 350mA current flowing into it.
Unless that "up to" means a current spike every N seconds, I find it a very high power consumption.