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Comparison WD Blue WD5000AZLX 500 GB
32/7200
vs WD Black 3.5" Gaming Hard Drive WD5003AZEX 500 GB

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WD Blue WD5000AZLX 500 GB 32/7200
WD Black 3.5" Gaming Hard Drive WD5003AZEX 500 GB
WD Blue WD5000AZLX 500 GB
32/7200
WD Black 3.5" Gaming Hard Drive WD5003AZEX 500 GB
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from $46.99 
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Placementbuilt-inbuilt-in
TypeHDDHDD
FeaturespCpC
Size500 GB500 GB
Form factor3.5 "3.5 "
ConnectionSATA3SATA3
Manufacturer's warranty2 years5 years
Technical specs
Cache memory32 MB64 MB
Record technologyCMRCMR
RPM7200 rpm7200 rpm
Data transfer rate150 MB/s150 MB/s
Operation power consumption6.8 W6.8 W
Standby power consumption1.2 W6.1 W
Reading noise level29 dB30 dB
Standby mode noise level30 dB29 dB
MTBF300 K300 K
General
Size147x102x26 mm147x102x26 mm
Weight450 g430 g
Added to E-Catalogdecember 2015december 2012

Manufacturer's warranty

Manufacturer's warranty provided for this model.

In fact, this is the minimum service life promised by the manufacturer, subject to the rules of operation. Most often, the actual service life of the device is much longer than the guaranteed one.

Cache memory

The amount of internal hard drive memory. This memory is an intermediate link between the high-speed computer RAM and the relatively slow mechanics responsible for reading and writing information on disk platters. In particular, the buffer is used to store the most frequently requested data from the disk — thus, the access time to them is reduced.
Technically, the size of the buffer affects the speed of the hard drive — the larger the buffer, the faster the drive. However, this influence is rather insignificant, and at the level of human perception, a significant difference in performance is noticeable only when the buffer size of the two drives differs many times — for example, 8 MB and 64 MB.

Standby power consumption

The amount of power consumed by the disk "idle". In the on state, the disk platters rotate regardless of whether information is being written or read or not — maintaining this rotation takes the energy consumed while waiting.

The lower the power consumption while waiting, the more economical the disk is, the less energy it consumes. At the same time, we note that in fact this parameter is relevant mainly when choosing a drive for a laptop, when energy efficiency is crucial. For stationary PCs, “idle” power consumption does not play a special role, and when calculating the requirements for a power supply, it is necessary to take into account not this indicator, but the power consumption during operation (see above).

Reading noise level

The level of noise produced by the disk when reading and/or writing information. The source of sound in this case is the moving plates of the disk, as well as the mechanics that control the reading heads. The lower the noise level, the more comfortable the use of the device. The maximum noise produced by modern hard drives during operation is about 50 dB — this is comparable to the sound background in an average office.

Standby mode noise level

The amount of noise produced by a disk "idle", when no read and/or write operations are performed. The sound source in this case is the plates — they rotate all the time while the disk is on; since no other mechanics are involved, idle noise is generally lower than read/write noise. The lower the noise level, the more comfortable the use of the device. The maximum noise level of modern hard drives in standby mode is about 40 dB — this is comparable to quiet human speech.
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