WD Blue or Black for save games and play?

[OneCool]

Wd black raptor ... Do I pull that black card...Is that fair?

 

[jboydgolfer]

Everybody has their own experiences with different brand everything including hard driveS. One of the oldest hard drives I had is a western digital blue, the oldest are Seagate barracudas, hell i even have some old maXtor Ide drives still. In the beginning of this thread based on the original Post, I thought he was looking for one terabyte vs 1 tb. In that situation I go with the black. But when it's double the size for five dollars more I go with the blue.

@OP
both blue and black are good drives, you shouldnt lose any sleep after purchasing EITHER. just choose the one that best suites your budget/needs, and dont give it another thought.

 

[eidairaman1]

Velociraptor

 

[Avincombat]

Remarkable reputation for dying early. I won't touch them except for an office desktop.


True 'dat, all drives do in fact die, including SSD's. the clock starts ticking the moment you install them.

However, in almost 20 years of buying, using, building for others various combinations of Blues, Blacks, and Reds the last 6, no matter what revision the models have gone through, the Blues have always been the least reliable, especially when under workloads like gaming, where new levels are loaded constantly.

Blacks are the most reliable, followed by Red, and worth the extra cost. The OP had no concern to cost, asking faster/better and load times. He will find the Black to feel a bit faster in sustained access. And it's reliability and quietness goes in the "better" column.

I feel like rating them in good better best for blue, red, and black doesn't really cover the reason there are different drives. You aren't wrong to say that black is better for long term use, however, red is not meant for regular usage. Red should only be used in a NAS or something that is running all day every day. If cost is not a concern then he should 100% go SSD.

Side note, I have been a computer tech for 8 years now and WD easily has one of the top spots for lifespan. Of say 30 drive failures maybe 1 will be WD. There is something to be said for overall build quality over the years, but for most part, Blue is still my pick.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Red should only be used in a NAS or something that is running all day every day.

You are entirely correct. I only use the for NAS installs or my own server where they are always on. So it is a different kind of use, as you point out, but it does show their longevity, which is why I mentioned them. I probably should have left them out of the conversation.

 

[newtekie1]

You are entirely correct. I only use the for NAS installs or my own server where they are always on. So it is a different kind of use, as you point out, but it does show their longevity, which is why I mentioned them. I probably should have left them out of the conversation.

I have 5 WD Red drives in a RAID5 right now. They are great drives. However, they are great for regular storage use too. They have some features that make them better for server/NAS use, as well as use in RAID arrays, but that doesn't mean they can't be used as a more regular drive as well, they work very well in that use actually. I just wouldn't use them as an OS drive because of their 5400RPM rotational speed. But, actually, I prefer them for storage drives in systems, even if they are just standard desktops and stand alone drives.

 

[RodoGodo19]

Due to the Black has better performance and endurance on loading levels and load the game, etc.. I will go black 2tb, it's just for games.
I don't want a blue to start failing after 1 year or something like that, I play like 5 hours a day, I just want to have a good HDD to keep my games saved.
Besides, I doubt I will fill 2TB so fast.

you are right about Red, Blue, Black.
Blue is good to keep things saved and access them a few times in a day but, for heavy tasks, loads, etc.. I think is better the Black then.
Thanks for all the advices guys, I appreciate it.