Western Digital 4TB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5 - WD4005FZBX

Run several stress tests. Good in all

I recently lost a PC, and am going through a technology upgrade cycle, and wanting to have data redundancy and convenient clones of hard drives to test under various scenarios (different PCs, docks, cloning hardware and software, OSs, etc.) So, I recently bought four of these (One from Amazon, and three from another PC vendor). All four worked as expected right out of the box, taking nearly a 1 TB of Windows 7 OS and user data from other PCs via various drive cloning processes, and then showing up as expected and letting me acess and update the data just fine. The drives seem to run reasonably cool, and are fairly quiet (considering Im running them in external open SATA docks for now), and the speed is fine. Just what Id expect from a modern WD drive. I dont take chances with my data, so am happy to pay the premium for the WD black technology and reputation vs., say the WD blue. I cant report on reliability/durability yet, since Ive had these drives less than a week. If I have problems worth noting, Ill plan to post updates. In my experience (from memory), over the past 20+ years, Ive had a LOT of experience with roughly 30 WD drives. All consumer drives, size ranging from about a GB to 4 TB. Ive had only two problems. One was completely my fault. Back in the day when they sealed the drives with some kind of rubber gasket, I tore a small section of that removing a drive from a desktop case the first time. (Not a HW guy -- didnt know what I was doing). That drive crashed in a few days -- which again was COMPLETELY my fault as air (with hair, dust, etc) got in there for awhile. I had another drive start making noises and refusing to accept a full hard drive clone via Partition Magic version 8.X -- probably in the early 2000s. Again, not wanting to fool around with my data, I quit using that drive. The main reason Ive stuck with WD is the drives seem to be very solid and perform consistently. Ive use lots of both bare OEM and full retail kit WD drives, depending on prices/convenience.

In general, an 8TB hard drive for $150 is a good value considering the amount of storage it provides. However, the quality and performance of the hard drive can vary depending on the brand and model. When considering a hard drive, it is important to look at factors such as the rotational speed (measured in RPM), cache size, and interface (such as SATA or NVMe) to determine its performance capabilities. Additionally, it is important to consider the reliability and durability of the hard drive, as well as any warranty or customer support options offered by the manufacturer. Overall, if the hard drive has good performance specifications and is from a reputable brand with a track record of reliability, then it could be a good investment for storing large amounts of data. However, it is important to do thorough research and read reviews from other users before making a purchase to ensure that the hard drive meets your specific needs and expectations.

5/23/14 This WD Black 1TB is used as my primary data drive. I use a Kingston SSD as my O.S. / application drive. Win7 volume creation and format went without a hitch. The xfer of ~500GB data from my WD Red drive to this new WD Black drive went smoothly. This new Black drive has much faster read speed and very respectable write speed compared to other 7200rpm SATA drives I have used thus far. I also noticed that when I booted to win7 from it (I loaded a backup boot partition in case my SSD failed) the speed was impressive. No, not nearly as fast as my SSD but much faster than my backup WDSE and WDRed NAS drives which are also 7200RPM SATA3. Ive had Seagate 7200 RPM SATA3 drives which are not quite as nimble. Alas, it was all too good to be true:( My super speedy Black drive started clicking & chunking after appx. 2.5 mos. Hey ... This happens sometimes with hard drives ... ok, no big deal, the drive came with a 3yr. Wd warranty. This is where the fun started: Went to WD website and spent appx. 1/2hr. in RMA process. Very easy. Sent my RMA drive back via UPS label I printed from WD website (very convenient). After appx. 7 days I checked the RMA status on the WD website. WHAT??? The model# I sent them does not match the model# they are sending me. I looked up the model# they were sending me and it was the slower / cheaper Blue hdd with only 1yr warranty. I called WD to confirm. They answered the call after a few min of going thru the phone tree. The person I spoke to was very polite and spoke with no language accent issues. He said they didnt have any Black drives to send so they sent the Blue. I tactfully let him know this was not acceptable and requested a WD Red or SE drive as a replacement. You would think I was asking the United States Congress to agree on something. I have talked to 3 different reps on 3 separate phone calls with no resolution. I have had numerous business dealings with WD in the past. I was in network I.T. for over 20yrs. I have never gone through this much trouble with WD. Politely offering no resolution after hours of my time does not cut it with me. All this over a $90 hdd. Ill update when the issue is finally resolved. UPDATE 5/28/14 I called the corporate WD cust. svc. line this morning. The operator was very helpful and made sure I was connected to a live person, not voice mail. The Customer Service rep was very polite and sympathetic, but most important he resolved the issue within 30 min. The only reason it took even that long was because we were searching for an appropriate replacement drive I would be happy with since they had no (Black) drives to send me. I couldnt believe he actually offered a very generous upgrade for my time and inconvenience, which I of course accepted. I have always thought very highly of WD products. My faith in WD service is restored. I cannot upgrade the stars on my review because I am not receiving a (Black) hdd. I will give WD as a company a very favorable rating and will not hesitate to purchase from WD in the future. Update 5/29/14 My replacement drive arrived today, ahead of schedule. The drive is installed as my primary data drive and is loading as I write this. The drive is everything WD promised. I am a happy camper:) Update 11/25/14 Since my initial review I have added the following Western Digital hard drives to my systems: (2) 4TB SE NAS enterprise class 7200rpm (1) 4TB Green 5400rpm (2) 1TB Velociraptors 10,000 rpm All my W.D. drives are performing well 24x7. I run full Lifeguard diags on them once per week and have had no issues. The point is: Western Digital hard drives, as a whole, perform very well under very demanding conditions. I am chalking up the initial issue I had with the Western Digital service department as a one time fluke. They really did go out of their way to make it right. UPDATE 6/16/16 Since there are quite a few hits / comments on this review I thought I would supply a quick update All my WD drives from 2014 are still running great:) 24 x 7. UPDATE 4/6/18 Since there are quite a few hits / comments on this review I thought I would supply a quick update Green drive failed last month. WD sent replacement with no hassles and quick ship processing All other WD drives from 2014 are still running great:) 24 x 7. Thank you all for your comments. I am happy to have been helpful:)

I use these drives only for digital file storage. Very Happy, Pricing was great for a 4TB drive

This is a GREAT value if you get it on sale, the only problem with it is its only 7.27TB after windows 10 formatting

Western Digital hard drives are my choice when I pick a new hard drive. I used to live near their California HQ and was a former head of a large PC user group and learned WD has good quality. This drive is more expensive than others because i researched which one was good for handling heavy graphic read and writes when using video editing software and the file was on an external drive. This is a SATA drive and runs the faster 7200 RPM with a large cache. You have to either install this an internal drive, or buy an external drive case for this, with cables, etc. This is a do it yourself product and not for novice users. This drive is NOT a consumer product. You have to go to the website to get the instructions on how to format this drive, etc. That is what they mean by Bulk/OEM labels - it lacks any extras included with consumer hard drives in a box. You have to order the cables you need, and download the configuration software from the WD website, which is fairly easy to do. If you dont want to configure a drive like this, find a consumer external drive with the CD, cable, etc. and buy it instead. You need to know if your PC will handle large partitions, ie. 2 TB, or you have to format it with several partitions due to older operating systems. I did not buy a separate external drive box, but bought an Anker external open case with power supply and capability to connect to both USB 3.0 AND eSata connections. I did that because using the eSata port on my old laptop was much faster than 2.0 USB. But, I can move the box and drive to my desktop which has a USB 3.0 add in card. Both eSata and USB 3.0 are much faster transfer speeds than USB 2.0 and this drive can handle it. I have included pictures of the drive working fine in the Anker case so you can see both in use. Note: Hard drives have standard connections to the case or internal slot for power and data transfer. The ability to provide USB 3.0 or eSata connections is built into the case, not the hard drive. Both USB 2.0 and eSata require special cables, so dont forget to get them if you do this. In my case, since I used the external open Anker docking station, I didnt need cables. I just slid the drive into the docking slot and the connection for data and power was made. The Anker unit also has an on off switch. Of course, if you use this drive internally in your system, that is a different process and involves other tasks if you make it your primary drive with an operating system. I did not do that, so mine is used primarily for a video data file drive and has not been setup with booting capability. You cant go wrong with Western Digital. (Unless they sell out to someone,then watch what changes in quality). You can get this drive in 1 TB, 2 TB or 3 TB versions. I got the 2 TB version and it cost about 30% more than WD drives with lower speeds and features.

Bought for storage in a new build. No complaints.

This drive replaces the older WD model: WD6002FZWX. I attempted to buy the older model as a brand new item on eBay, since that is the model I was replacing, and I wanted to replace it with the same make/model. However, the seller sent to me a used item instead. I had to do a return, and then wait around for a refund. Then I went to Amazon to buy the newer model WD6004FZWX - and Im happy with this purchase. The drive from Amazon has zero hours of use, and only 1 turn-on - as checked by my hard disk diagnostic software - so the drive is definitely new. The one from Amazon is quiet, fast, and reliable - and comes with a five year factory warranty, which I verified by going to the Western Digital website, and checking the serial number of my drive with their warranty lookup service. This is a good hard drive for the money - and I should have gone to Amazon first - instead of wasting my time elsewhere, trying to find an older/discontinued drive model as a new item.

Although I am not a gamer, I bought this gaming edition because I like the extra cache (256 MB). Drive has good throughput: both read speed 250 MB/s and write speed 225 MB/s. This was using an external enclosure with USB 3 connection (eSATA connection yielded slightly higher throughput in both read and write). I also like WDs 5 year warranty (as opposed to standard 2 or 3 year on other drives). Since the 1980s, a have mostly used WD drives in my many various builds over the years and they have never disappointed me. (I have extra drives laying around that are over 15 years old (these are smaller capacity SATA1 and SATA 2 drives) and they all still work good. Recommend this drive for anyone looking for decent performance at a decent price. Only one caveat: This drive tends to run hotter then the WD Blue drives, but still within manufacturers specs. So if you plan to use this drive in an external enclosure, be sure the enclosure has a fan, or at the very least is well cross-ventilated. If you put this in a fully enclosed fan-less enclosure, it WILL get hot.