WD WD6400AAKS vs. WD1000FYPS(re-2gp) for home server

rado3105 · Post by **rado3105** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:06 pm

Hi, I have on my network in server WD re-2gp 1TB disk. I am planning to buy another one, I found that WD WD6400AKS is of great price.
What do you recommend to buy another RE-2GP or this new one?
this new altough just 640GB size is 1/3 price of RE-2GP.
Can you please post me your experiences?

bgiddins · Post by **bgiddins** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 3:13 pm

Well the price difference is easy to explain - the 1TB RE2-GP is an efficient enterprise grade drive designed for 24x7 operation, whereas the 640GB Caviar Blue (WD6400AAKS) is a consumer drive for home use.

The RE2-GP is probably overkill for most home usage scenarios.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 6:03 pm

True that the WD6400AAKS is a consumer grade drive and not a fair comparison vs the enterprise grade drive. A closer comparison would be the WD6401AALS which is more performance oriented and has a longer warranty.

If you are doing hardware RAID you want the enterprise grade drives. If you are just using them as single drives or with software RAID you can mix it up as you please.

I'll quote myself on the comparison of the 3 consumer grade 640GB drives.

here is a comparison from WD specs for the three 640GB models

Code: Select all

640GB            Black   Blue   Green
Cache in MB      32      16     16
AVG Latency ms   4.2     4.2    ?.? (this is a function of RPM)
RPM              7200    7200   IntelliPower (treat that as 5400)
Drive Ready Time 11 sec  13     14.3
Load/Unload      300,000 ??     300,000 (blue listed Start/Stop of 50,000)
Warranty         5       3      3
R/W Power watts  8.3     8.3    5.4
Idle Power watts 7.7     7.7    2.5
Standby watts    1       1      0.46
Sleep            1       1      0.46
Max shock        300     300    300
Idle dBA         25      25     24
Performance seek 29      29     29
Quiet seek       26      26     25

Black = WD6401AALS
Blue = WD6400AAKS
Green = WD6400AACS

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:09 am

Caviar Blue 640 GB and Caviar Black 640 GB have the same dbA specs, but the Caviar Black 1 TB is known to be noisy, while the Caviar Blue 640 GB is known to be quiet, so it could be interesting to know if the Caviar Black 640 GB is quiet like the Caviar Blue 640 GB or noisy like the larger Caviar Black. Platter size should be about the same.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:47 am

ekerazha wrote:Caviar Blue 640 GB and Caviar Black 640 GB have the same dbA specs, but the Caviar Black 1 TB is known to be noisy

640GB = two platters
1TB = three platters

That extra platter = more noise, more power usage, more heat, slower drive ready time, more susceptible to shock damage, and more vibration.

There is no mystery to that. No need to wonder if. Just to be clear let me past the specs again that I posted on another thread.

Code: Select all

Black 640GB vs 1TB comparison

Drive Ready Time 11 sec  13
R/W Power watts  8.3     8.4
Idle Power watts 7.7     7.8
Standby watts    1       1
Max shock        300     250
Performance seek 29      33
Quiet seek       26      29

4 dBA louder on seek and 3 dBA louder at idle is a noisier drive by my standards and that measurement doesn't take into account any difference in vibration induced noise. If you hard mount the drives the difference in noise will be even greater.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you are more concerned about noise, performance, or reliability you are better off with a two platter drive than to go with a 3 or 4 platter drive. If you just have to have the extra capacity you will pay in more ways than just price.

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:16 am

I know, but the question is: is a 2-platters Caviar Black as quiet as a 2-platters Caviar Blue? Reading the dbA specs I'd say yes, but from the "Overview" page of the Caviar Blue I read

Quiet - The technology that Tom's Hardware Guide called "very fast and nearly silent" is used throughout this family of drives. Our WhisperDriveâ„¢ technology minimizes noise to levels near the threshold of human hearing. To cut seek noise, SoftSeekâ„¢ technology streamlines read/write seeking algorithms, resulting in more efficient operation.

while there's nothing like this on the "Overview" page of the Caviar Black (just marketing?).

Probably the Caviar Black 640 GB is quieter than the Caviar Black 1 TB (2-platters vs 3-platters), but is it really as quiet as the Caviar Blue 640 GB? Maybe... maybe yes... maybe not... I still can't found reviews of the Caviar Black 640 GB.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:21 am

Disclaimer: I have a Blue 640GB now, I may get a 640GB Black soon.

The black has more aggressive settings in the firmware so spinup occurs quicker therefore will make more noise. Will you notice a difference at idle or during random access? Will there be no difference in measured noise but a difference in quality of the sound? I don't know but I'm willing to buy the Black on specs and find out.

A couple of the Newegg reviews mention that the black 640GB is noisier than the blue 640GB.

Consider AAM settings on top of the firmware settings you can't change. It may be that changing the AAM on the black could change it to be close to the same as the blue or it could be that the firmware settings mean the end results don't overlap. I don't know but given the numbers from WDC I see it this way:

If you want performance go Black. If you want quiet go Green. The Blue is not the best of both worlds but is alright if you have one.

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:22 am

dhanson865 wrote:If you want performance go Black. If you want quiet go Green. The Blue is not the best of both worlds but is alright if you have one.

Caviar Blue is not the fastest and it's not the quietest, but it's still fast and with a noise level close to the Caviar Green one, so couldn't it be a good compromise between performance and noise?

However, please give us your impressions when you'll receive the 640 GB Caviar Black, it would be very useful. Thanks.

RedAE102 · Post by **RedAE102** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:14 am

I have the WD6400AAKS and the WD10EACS, the RE2-GP's consumer-grade sister. The 640 Blue has a touch more idle noise, than the 4-platter 5400rpm Green, but thanks to having only two platters, the 640 Blue's seeks are noticeably quieter. Indeed, subjectively at least, the 640 Blue's non-AAM seeks seem quieter than the 1TB Green's AAM seeks! Amazing what a difference a couple of platters makes...