Difference between these two drives

[Ryujin2003]

I'm looking at getting additional storage for video editing and file storage. I'm looking at WD Black, with two slightly different models, and I'm not exactly sure what the difference is other than cache size.

the 128MB cache is the WD4004FZWX and the 64MB cache is the WD4003FZEX. Both WD Black series, 4TB. What exactly is the difference?

 

Otherwise, for video storage and file storage, would there be a drive better than WD Black that you would recommend? I generally go with WD because I feel they last longer than Seagate, and really don't trust Hitachi or any other drives because of failures in the past. I'm looking for ~4TB expansion, and want something with faster read/write on the mechanical side. I cannot afford 4TB in SSD technology yet. Any other recommendation would be helpful. I do not have the funds to purchase and set up a NAS (which would be preferable), but hopefully I will have one next year.

 

Thank you very much for your time.

[Ginger_]

nothing really, just the first one replaced the second one after 3 years, and added a larger cache.

 

https://www.span.com/compare/WD4004FZWX-vs-WD4003FZEX/58696-41728

[Ryujin2003]

14 minutes ago, Ginger137 said:

nothing really, just the first one replaced the second one after 3 years, and added a larger cache.

 

https://www.span.com/compare/WD4004FZWX-vs-WD4003FZEX/58696-41728

Ok. So I would obviously go with the newer one. The other thing I see now is that there is a WD Gold equivalent: WD4002FYYZ

https://www.span.com/compare/WD4002FYYZ-vs-WD4004FZWX/57219-58696

The only thing that looks at all different is reliability: 2.0 million hours MTBF (whatever this means). The power use while idle is a bit more, and everything else looks EXACTLY the same. It's a little cheaper on Amazon. Why have these two "different" drives? Is there a purpose between the two? I didn't know there was such a thing as WD Gold, so I guess I'm learning today.

 

[Ginger_]

Just now, Ryujin2003 said:

Ok. So I would obviously go with the newer one. The other thing I see now is that there is a WD Gold equivalent: WD4002FYYZ

https://www.span.com/compare/WD4002FYYZ-vs-WD4004FZWX/57219-58696

The only thing that looks at all different is reliability: 2.0 million hours MTBF (whatever this means). The power use while idle is a bit more, and everything else looks EXACTLY the same. It's a little cheaper on Amazon. Why have these two "different" drives? Is there a purpose between the two? I didn't know there was such a thing as WD Gold, so I guess I'm learning today.

 

Gold is more enterprise/power user tghan even blacks are. the only diff it looks like is the 2 million (mean time between failures)

 

It's just a more reliable drive, and probably has some more high end features like drop protection, vibration protection, etc. You would have to look at WD's website for that though. If you only are going to have a single drive installed you probably wont ever need half the features though.

[harveychestbreach]

5 minutes ago, Ryujin2003 said:

Ok. So I would obviously go with the newer one. The other thing I see now is that there is a WD Gold equivalent: WD4002FYYZ

https://www.span.com/compare/WD4002FYYZ-vs-WD4004FZWX/57219-58696

The only thing that looks at all different is reliability: 2.0 million hours MTBF (whatever this means). The power use while idle is a bit more, and everything else looks EXACTLY the same. It's a little cheaper on Amazon. Why have these two "different" drives? Is there a purpose between the two? I didn't know there was such a thing as WD Gold, so I guess I'm learning today.

 

One is enterprise grade and helium sealed (allowing larger capacities), and the other is for gaming and creative work... The gold would be something that Linus would be more likely use

[NQSD]

The newer one would be better due to the higher cache which would decrease its loading time.

[Ryujin2003]

1 minute ago, harveychestbreach said:

One is enterprise grade and helium sealed (allowing larger capacities), and the other is for gaming and creative work... The gold would be something that Linus would likely use.

I'll be using it mostly for video editing content, so bulk video storage plus edits. I have a 2TB WD Black with my games on it, so this new drive is for my productivity. I have an old 1.5 TB Seagate that was new in 2008. I think it's time to replace it before I start having issues. I wouldn't want to loose everything I've got on it.

[harveychestbreach]

Just now, Ryujin2003 said:

I'll be using it mostly for video editing content, so bulk video storage plus edits. I have a 2TB WD Black with my games on it, so this new drive is for my productivity. I have an old 1.5 TB Seagate that was new in 2008. I think it's time to replace it before I start having issues. I wouldn't want to loose everything I've got on it.

Why is this thread about you now lol. Also I have a similar setup

[Ryujin2003]

Just now, harveychestbreach said:

Why is this thread about you now lol. Also I have a similar setup

lol. Cuz I'm not Linus. You have a setup similar with Linus or you have a setup that uses one of these drives? Spill some details!

[harveychestbreach]

Just now, Ryujin2003 said:

lol. Cuz I'm not Linus. You have a setup similar with Linus or you have a setup that uses one of these drives? Spill some details!

Well I mean I have a 2TB wd black and an extra one in my drawer plus a 256GB xlr8

[harveychestbreach]

5 minutes ago, Ryujin2003 said:

I'll be using it mostly for video editing content, so bulk video storage plus edits. I have a 2TB WD Black with my games on it, so this new drive is for my productivity. I have an old 1.5 TB Seagate that was new in 2008. I think it's time to replace it before I start having issues. I wouldn't want to loose everything I've got on it.

But the gold would be a great option over the 6TB Black I think, unless you get the black while it's still on sale.

[Ryujin2003]

1 minute ago, harveychestbreach said:

Well I mean I have a 2TB wd black and an extra one in my drawer plus a 256GB xlr8

I've currently got:

500GB 960 Evo

x2 240GB PNY 1311

x1 OCZ 240GB (I forget the type)

1.5TB Seagate Barracuda

2 TB WD Black

 

I'm not enjoying having to split everything across my SSDs.. I really need some large BULK storage for constant access.

 

2 minutes ago, harveychestbreach said:

But the gold would be a great option over the 6TB Black I think, unless you get the black while it's still on sale.

Well, on Amazon, the WD Black 4TB is currently $184 (on sale), while the WD Gold 4TB is $153. Prices are better than Newegg (plus free shipping)

[Ryujin2003]

32 minutes ago, NQSD said:

The newer one would be better due to the higher cache which would decrease its loading time.

That's what I was thinking. I wasn't sure if there might have been something else I was missing. The thing that threw me off was pricing. The new one is cheaper than the old one... And consumers are generally trained to believe that the more expensive something is, the better it is. So I figured I'd double check to see if I was missing something. Thanks!

[NQSD]

1 minute ago, Ryujin2003 said:

That's what I was thinking. I wasn't sure if there might have been something else I was missing. The thing that threw me off was pricing. The new one is cheaper than the old one... And consumers are generally trained to believe that the more expensive something is, the better it is. So I figured I'd double check to see if I was missing something. Thanks!

Your welcome. It is true that consumers tend to think that more expensive things are better. *Tip* always check online for benchmark results of that specific component and compare it with other in its class.