Page 1 of 1

WD5000LPVT (blue 2.5) vs WD5000AZRX (green 3.5) for 2nd HDD?

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:47 pm
by gabedamien
Hello all! This is my first topic on SPCR. Thanks for all the great info so far, it’s been really helpful.

I am going to be building a Hackintosh, and my first computer build ever, this fall. I am still in the planning / researching stage, but I wanted your input on the storage. Given that my primary drive will be an SSD, which would you choose as a secondary drive:
  • 1. The WD Blue 500GB LPVT single-platter 2.5” 5400 RPM drive with 8MB cache that was reviewed so well here (official specs 17-22 dBA), or
    2. The WD Green 500/750GB AZRX 3.5” “IntelliPower" RPM drive with 64MB cache (officially 21-22 dBA)?
Obviously the seek noise is supposed to be similarly low in both cases, but given that the SilverStone FT03 case has the drives mounted directly to the case backplate, what about idle noise / vibration? What about performance? Will the Green 3.5 noticeably outperform the Blue 2.5? Keep in mind the Blue uses a single platter, but the Green has eight times the cache. Does speed really matter for a secondary drive anyway? What about heat / power in a relatively small case without much airflow, will the Green produce that much more heat or are such considerations somewhat trivial when it comes to HDDs?

I can see so many arguments, pros, and cons for each that I’m really not sure which I like more. Help me out people!
My goal is a relatively small (mATX), decently powerful (4.2 GHz OC, NVidia 670, 16GB RAM), quiet (unlikely to be noticed, not necessarily inaudible) system — one that does well in each of those categories without going overboard in any one (and thus negating the others).

This will be my primary machine, used for general computing / work, RAW photo editing through Aperture, and some gaming. The current parts list is here, but of course it is subject to change:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler ($69.70 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Corsair Force Series GT 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($96.94 @ Adorama)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 750GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.99 @ eCost)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($419.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone FT03S MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($160.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Silverstone 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($166.29 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7690H-01 DVD/CD Writer ($35.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1818.83
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)