Tag Archives: HDD

4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) Hard Disk Drive Review!

In this review, we are going to take a close look at the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) hard disk drive, and find out how well it performs!

Updated @ 2023-11-09 : Updated with operating temperature results, and minor changes.
Originally posted @ 2023-10-05

 

Synology Plus Series (HAT3300) NAS Drives

The Synology Plus Series (HAT3300) hard disk drives are designed to populate their Network-Attach Storage (NAS)  systems for homes and small businesses.

These Synology Plus Series drives are designed for light-to-intermediate use. Based on the Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) technology, they are similar to the WD Red and Seagate Iron Wolf range of NAS drives, with a 1 million hour MTBF and 180 TB per year workload rating.

The main advantage of these drives is that their firmware can be automatically updated using the DiskStation Manager (DSM) in Synology NAS systems.

 

4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) Price

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) hard disk drive commands a slight premium over comparable drives like the 4TB WD Red (Price Check) and the 4TB Seagate IronWolf (Price Check).

Retailing at about $90 as of 3 October 2023, it works out to a cost of $22.50 per TB. Here are some online purchase options:

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) drive also comes bundled with certain Synology NAS systems.

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4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) Specifications

The Synology Plus series offers storage capacities of 4TB, 6TB, 8TB and 12TB. With the exception of the 12TB model, all drives in this family are air-filled, and have a 5,400 RPM spindle speed.

The baby of this family, which we are reviewing today, is the 4TB Synology Plus drive, which has a model number of HAT3300-4T. Here are its key specifications:

Specifications 4 TB Synology Plus
Model HAT3300-4T
Capacity 4 Terabytes
Form Factor 3.5-inch
Drive Design Air
Recording Technology Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR)
Interface SATA 6 Gb/s
Cache 256 MB
Rotational Speed 5,400 RPM
Max. Data Transfer Speed 202 MB/s
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) 1,000,000 hours
Workload Rating 180 TB / year
Power Consumption Idle : 3.96 W
Random Read : 4.85 W
Random Write : 4.85 W
Operating Temperature 0°C to 65°C
32°F to 149°F
Non-Operating Temperature -40°C to 70°C
-40°F to 158°F
Operating Shock 80 Gs (2 ms duration)
Non-Operating Shock 300 Gs (2 ms duration)
Operating Vibration 10 Hz to 22 Hz: 0.25 Gs, Limited displacement
22 Hz to 350 Hz: 0.50 Gs
350 Hz to 500 Hz: 0.25 Gs
Non-Operating Vibration 5 Hz to 22 Hz: 3.0 Gs
22 Hz to 350 Hz: 3.0 Gs
350 Hz to 500 Hz: 3.0 Gs
Acoustics Idle : 23 dBA
Seek : 27 dBA
Size 20.20 mm high
101.85 mm wide
147 mm long
Weight 490 g
Warranty 3 Years

 

4TB Synology Plus HDD Unboxing + Hands-On

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) hard disk drive comes in a large cardboard box, with a window to let you peek inside.

On opening the box, you will see that the drive is well-protected. It’s sealed in an anti-static bag, placed within a plastic enclosure, and further protected from shock and vibration by two large foam inserts.

Recommended : MSI Users At Risk Of Rogue BIOS / Firmware Updates!

Next Page > 4TB Synology Plus Features + Temperature

 

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4TB Synology Plus HDD Key Features!

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) hard disk drive is designed for the light-to-intermediate usage requirements of personal and SMB (small and medium business) NAS systems. Here are its key features:

Manufactured By Seagate

Synology does not make this hard disk drive, which was manufactured by Seagate. Think of this as a Seagate IronWolf hard disk drive that was customised to Synology’s requirements, and with custom firmware for Synology.

Under The PCB

In the following video, we took a look under its PCB, and here was what we found:

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) comes with a large 256 MB SDRAM cache, courtesy of a Samsung K4B2G1646F memory chip. This is a DDR3-1866 SDRAM chip with 16 memory banks, and a peak transfer rate of about 466 MB/s.

It also uses a Seagate Dillon motor drive controller, which features ST Microelectronics’ proprietary Smooth Drive pseudo-sinusoidal digital drive technology. The drive controller itself has a thermal pad to help keep cool, by transferring heat to the drive chassis.

Finally, this NAS drive has two sensors on its PCB, which allow it to better detect shock and vibration events, and dynamically adjust the flying height of the read/write heads to avoid head crashes.

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Always-On Operation

The 4TB Synology Plus is backed by a million hour MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) rating, and is rated for a workload of 180 TB per year.

That works out to 15 terabytes per month, and is about par for the course for consumer-grade NAS drives.

Easy Firmware Updates

Unlike third-party NAS drives from Western Digital or Seagate, you can easily update the firmware of the 4TB Synology Plus hard disk drive using DiskStation Manager (DSM) in Synology NAS systems.

This is a convenient feature for those who use Synology NAS systems – you won’t need to remove the drive, or use a separate computer, to update its firmware.

Low Power Consumption

Power consumption is pretty low, at just under 5 watts. Even if you run this drive 24/7, it will only consume 42.5 kW per year.

Real world usage will be significantly lower, since NAS systems are designed to power down drives during periods of inactivity.

 

4TB Synology Plus Operating Temperature

We monitored the surface temperature of the three hard disk drives while idle, and during their benchmarks. The following chart shows their operating temperature range, from idle to maximum load.

Please note that instead of giving you the absolute numbers, we are showing the temperature delta, which is the difference between the actual temperature and the ambient room temperature.

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) appears to run slightly hotter than the 4TB WD Red, but significantly cooler than the 6TB WD Red. This is good news, because it can get really hot inside the NAS enclosure!

Next Page > CrystalDiskMark Performance Results

 

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4TB Synology Plus CrystalDiskMark Performance Results

Let’s take a look at the 4TB Synology Plus hard disk drive’s sequential read and write performance, compared to the 4TB WD Red, and the 6TB WD Red drives.

Sequential Read Performance

With a queue depth of 1, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum sequential read speed of 215 MB/s.

This is about 6% over its rated transfer rate of 202 MB/s, and puts it 20% ahead of the 6TB WD Red drive, and 39% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

When queue depth increased to 8, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum sequential read speed of just under 217 MB/s.

This is about 7% over its rated transfer rate of 202 MB/s, and puts it 20% ahead of the 6TB WD Red drive, and 38% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Sequential Write Performance

With a queue depth of 1, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum sequential write speed of 214 MB/s.

This is about 6% over its rated transfer rate of 202 MB/s, and puts it 29% ahead of the 6TB WD Red drive, and 42% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

When queue depth increased to 8, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum sequential write speed of just over 214 MB/s.

This is about 6% over its rated transfer rate of 202 MB/s, and puts it 24% ahead of the 6TB WD Red drive, and 42% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Now, let’s take a look at the 4TB Synology Plus hard disk drive’s random read and write performance, compared to the 4TB WD Red, and the 6TB WD Red drives.

Random Read Performance

With a queue depth of 1, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum random read speed of 670 KB/s.

That puts it 6% ahead of the 6TB WD Red drive, and 15.5% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

When queue depth increased to 32, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum random read speed of 2.08 MB/s.

That puts it on par with the 6TB WD Red drive, and just 4% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Random Write Performance

With a queue depth of 1, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum random write speed of 1.85 MB/s.

That puts it 23% behind the 6TB WD Red drive, but 44.5% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

When queue depth increased to 32, the 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) delivered a maximum random write speed of just over 1.8 MB/s.

That puts it 24% behind the 6TB WD Red drive, but 43% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Next Page > ATTO Results, Conclusion, Where To Buy

 

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4TB Synology Plus ATTO Benchmark Performance Results

Let’s take a look at the 4TB Synology Plus hard disk drive’s peak read and write speeds, compared to the 4TB WD Red, and the 6TB WD Red drives.

Peak Read Performance

The ATTO Benchmark shows that the 4TB Synology Plus drive delivered a peak read speed of just under 205 MB/s, putting it 12% ahead of the 6TB WD Red, and 36% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Peak Write Performance

The ATTO Benchmark shows that the 4TB Synology Plus drive delivered a peak write speed of just over 205 MB/s, putting it 25% ahead of the 6TB WD Red, and 48% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Peak Read IOPS

The ATTO Benchmark shows that the 4TB Synology Plus drive delivered a peak read IOPS of just under 64.75K, putting it 50% ahead of the 6TB WD Red, and 65% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

Peak Write IOPS

The ATTO Benchmark shows that the 4TB Synology Plus drive delivered a peak write IOPS of just over 61.25K, putting it 46% ahead of the 6TB WD Red, and an incredible 81% ahead of the 4TB WD Red.

 

4 TB Synology Plus Review Conclusion

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) is, without doubt, a fast NAS hard disk drive. Our benchmark results show that it consistently outperforms the 4TB and 6TB Western Digital Red drives.

It may be sold at a slight price premium, but its better performance and the ability to conveniently upgrade its firmware (rare as that may be) directly using the DiskStation Manager (DSM) makes it a no-brainer choice for Synology NAS users.

If you are planning to use a Synology NAS system for your home or SMB use, you would be well-served to purchase the Synology Plus drive to populate it. We definitely think it deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award!

 

4 TB Synology Plus : Where To Buy?

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) hard disk drive retails at about $89.90 as of 3 October 2023, it works out to a cost of $22.50 per TB. Here are some online purchase options:

The 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) drive also comes bundled with certain Synology NAS systems.

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

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Hard Disk Pre-Delay from The Tech ARP BIOS Guide!

Hard Disk Pre-Delay

Common Options : Disabled, 3 Seconds, 6 Seconds, 9 Seconds, 12 Seconds, 15 Seconds, 21 Seconds, 30 Seconds

 

Hard Disk Pre-Delay : A Quick Review

The Hard Disk Pre-Delay BIOS feature allows you to force the BIOS to delay the initialisation of your hard disk drives for up to 30 seconds. The delay allows your IDE devices more time to spin up before the BIOS initializes them.

If you do not use old IDE drives and the BIOS has no problem initializing your IDE devices, it is recommended that you disable this BIOS feature for the shortest possible booting time. Most IDE devices will have no problem spinning up in time for initialisation.

But if one or more of your IDE devices fail to initialize during the boot up process, start with a delay of 3 Seconds. If that doesn’t help, gradually increase the delay until all your IDE devices initialize properly during the boot up process.

 

Hard Disk Pre-Delay : The Full Details

Regardless of its shortcomings, the IDE standard is remarkably backward-compatible. Every upgrade of the standard was designed to be fully compatible with older IDE devices. So, you can actually use the old 40 MB hard disk drive that came with your ancient 386 system in your much newer Athlon XP system!

However, even backward compatibility cannot account for the slower motors used in the older IDE drives. Crucially, motherboards are capable of booting up much faster these days, initialising IDE devices much earlier.

Unfortunately, this also means that some older IDE drives will not be able to spin up in time to be initialized! When this happens, the BIOS will not be able to detect that IDE drive and the drive will not be accessible even though it is actually running just fine.

This is where the Hard Disk Pre-Delay BIOS feature comes in. It allows you to force the BIOS to delay the initialisation of your hard disk drives for up to 30 seconds. The delay allows your IDE devices more time to spin up before the BIOS initializes them.

If you do not use old IDE drives and the BIOS has no problem initializing your IDE devices, it is recommended that you disable this BIOS feature for the shortest possible booting time. Most IDE devices will have no problem spinning up in time for initialization.

But if one or more of your IDE devices fail to initialize during the boot up process, start with a delay of 3 Seconds. If that doesn’t help, gradually increase the delay until all your IDE devices initialize properly during the boot up process.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Tech ARP BIOS GuideComputer | Home

 

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Multi-Sector Transfers from The Tech ARP BIOS Guide

Multi-Sector Transfers

Common Options : Disabled, 2 Sectors, 4 Sectors, 8 Sectors, 16 Sectors, 32 Sectors, Maximum

 

Quick Review of Multi-Sector Transfers

The Multi-Sector Transfers BIOS feature speeds up hard disk drive access by transferring multiple sectors of data per interrupt instead of using the usual single-sector transfer mode. This mode of transferring data is known as block transfers.

There are a few available options, from Disabled and a few different multiple sectors option to Maximum.

The Disabled option forces your IDE controller to transfer only a single sector (512 bytes) per interrupt. Needless to say, this will significantly degrade performance.

The selection of 2 Sectors to 32 Sectors allows you to manually select the number of sectors that the IDE controller is allowed to transfer per interrupt.

The Maximum option allows your IDE controller to transfer as many sectors per interrupt as the hard disk is able to support.

Since all current hard disk drives support block transfers, there is usually no reason why IDE HDD Block Mode should be disabled.

Therefore, you should disable IDE HDD Block Mode only if you actually face the possibility of data corruption (with an unpatched version of Windows NT 4.0). Otherwise, it is highly recommended that you select the Maximum option for significantly better hard disk performance!

The manual selection of 2 to 32 sectors is useful if you notice data corruption with the Maximum option. It allows you to scale back the multi-sector transfer feature to correct the problem without losing too much performance.

 

Details of Multi-Sector Transfers

The Multi-Sector Transfers BIOS feature speeds up hard disk drive access by transferring multiple sectors of data per interrupt instead of using the usual single-sector transfer mode. This mode of transferring data is known as block transfers.

There are a few available options, from Disabled and a few different multiple sectors option to Maximum.

The Disabled option forces your IDE controller to transfer only a single sector (512 bytes) per interrupt. Needless to say, this will significantly degrade performance.

The selection of 2 Sectors to 32 Sectors allows you to manually select the number of sectors that the IDE controller is allowed to transfer per interrupt.

The Maximum option allows your IDE controller to transfer as many sectors per interrupt as the hard disk is able to support.

Since all current hard disk drives support block transfers, there is usually no reason why IDE HDD Block Mode should be disabled.

However, if you are running on Windows NT 4.0, you might need to disable this BIOS feature because Windows NT 4.0 has a problem with block transfers. According to Chris Bope, Windows NT does not support IDE HDD Block Mode and enabling this feature can cause data to be corrupted.

Ryu Connor confirmed this by sending me a link to a Microsoft article (Enhanced IDE operation under Windows NT 4.0). According to this article, IDE HDD Block Mode and 32-bit Disk Access have been found to cause data corruption in some cases. Therefore, Microsoft recommends that Windows NT 4.0 users disable IDE HDD Block Mode.

Lord Mike asked ‘someone in the know‘ about this matter and he was told that the data corruption issue was taken very seriously at Microsoft and that it had been corrected through the Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2. Although he could not get an official statement from Microsoft, it is probably safe enough to enable IDE HDD Block Mode on a Windows NT 4.0 system, just as long as it has been upgraded with Service Pack 2.

Therefore, you should disable IDE HDD Block Mode only if you actually face the possibility of data corruption (with an unpatched version of Windows NT 4.0). Otherwise, it is highly recommended that you select the Maximum option for significantly better hard disk performance!

The manual selection of 2 to 32 sectors is useful if you notice data corruption with the Maximum option. It allows you to scale back the multi-sector transfer feature to correct the problem without losing too much performance.

 

Recommended Reading

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Go Back To > The Tech ARP BIOS Guide | Home

 

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If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


Tech ARP 20th Anniversary Giveaway Week 7 – Western Digital!

Tech ARP is now 20 years old! To celebrate, we partnered up with many of the world’s TOP BRANDS to thank you all for your loyal support with a TWENTY-WEEK GIVEAWAY! 😲 😲 😲

 

Tech ARP Is 20 Years Old & Going Strong!

Time sure FLIES when you are having fun! Twenty years ago, Ken, Chai and I got together to rebrand Adrian’s Rojak Pot as Tech ARP. We were having trouble explaining what rojak was, and that pot did not refer to marijuana / cannabis! 😂😂😂

That was in the good old days of sawing off pipe end caps to turn into CPU water coolers, and modifying SLAB (sealed lead acid batteries) into the world’s first power bank for our PDAs (remember those?).

Those sure were CRAZY DAYS! 😂😂😂

Somehow, we worked our way to the forefront of motherboard technology with our seminal BIOS Optimization Guide, which later got published as Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier : The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide for PCs.

I don’t know how I did it, but somehow, we did all those crazy stuff while I was still in medical school! CRAZY days indeed!

Over the years, we moved from strength to strength, with Ken hand-developing our own backend, and Chai nurturing our budding forums.

Somehow, we persevered and by the miracle of surviving the passage of time, Tech ARP is Malaysia’s oldest tech website!

Today, we are still pretty much the same team, with FalconeDashkenCarolyn, Hui Xin, Alyssa, Kar Hoe and Brian Chong helping us out here and there. Thank you, guys!

 

The Tech ARP 20-Week Giveaway

To thank you all for sharing our crazy journey over the years, we have prepared a 20-week giveaway contest. Actually, a series of twenty weekly giveaway contests.

We worked with many of the world’s TOP BRANDS to bring you all some goodies. We are also sponsoring some of these giveaways ourselves. Here are some of the brands that will be sponsoring their own giveaways here soon :

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  • Acer – Special Edition Laptop!
  • AMD – AMD Ryzen CPUs!
  • BenQ – MONITOR!
  • Cooler Master – CPU coolers, gaming keyboards and more!
  • Dell – POWER COMPANIONS, speakers and more!
  • Edifier – Headphones!
  • GIGABYTE – Motherboards!
  • TP-LINK
  • Western Digital – SSDs + HDDs!

Where possible, we are opening up the giveaways WORLDWIDE. But where our brand partners wish to restrict their giveaways to certain regions or countries, we will notify you of that.

Week 1 Giveaway by Tech ARP

Week 2 Giveaway by Dell

Week 3 Giveaway by Tech ARP

Week 4 Giveaway by BenQ + Tech ARP

Week 5 Giveaway by Dotty’s + Tech ARP

Week 6 Giveaway by Pocophone!

Week 7 Giveaway by Western Digital!

All we ask is that you use your genuine personal Facebook account in our Facebook contests. We will automatically disqualify anyone who uses a Facebook account that is primarily used for contests.

 

Crowdfunding Tech ARP

As we have been for the last twenty years, Tech ARP is a crowdfunded website. We do NOT charge for our articles. So if you wish to help us out, please feel free to donate to our cause. Thank you!



Next Page > Week 1 Giveaway by Tech ARP

 

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If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 1 Giveaway

To kick things off, we are giving away the following prizes for the first week!

The Awesome Prize : Microsoft Lumia 950 Smartphone + Microsoft Display Dock + Tempered Glass Screen Protector

Cool Prize #1 : TP-Link Groovi Ripple Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Cool Prize #2 : TP-Link Groovi Ripple Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Cool Prize #3 : Olike Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Car Charger with two USB ports

Cool Prize #4 : Olike Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Car Charger with two USB ports

Contest Period : 31 August to 7 September 2018

Eligibility : WORLDWIDE *

* Tech ARP will pay for standard shipping, but you may opt to pay for expedited or express shipping services.

Week 1 Giveaway Rules

  1. Make sure you LIKE the Tech ARP Facebook page.
  2. Everyone definitely wants The Awesome Prize, but we want to know which of the Cool Prizes you prefer – the Groovi Ripple, or the Olike QC 3.0 car charger.
    So post a comment in our official Facebook post on the Week 1 Giveaway, and tell us which you prefer :
    a) TP-Link Groovi Ripple, or
    b) Olike QC 3.0 Car Charger

  1. SHARE our official Facebook post on your Facebook wall. Please make sure it is PUBLIC, so we can verify.

BONUS : Liking and sharing our posts, or commenting and tagging your friends, will give you a higher chance of winning The Awesome Prize or the prize you want!

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select FIVE contestants.
  2. If any contestant fails to meet any of the rules above, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the five verified contestants in the Tech ARP Facebook page will be calculated.
  4. The Awesome Prize winner will be randomly selected from that pool.
  5. The subsequent winners will be randomly selected from that pool, with prize preference given to those who are selected first.
  6. Each contestant may only win one prize, so if his/her number is selected again, it will be discarded and a new number randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

Note On Gaming Accounts : Contestants who use gaming accounts will be automatically disqualified. Please use your personal Facebook accounts.

 

Week 1 Giveaway Winners!

We are very excited to announce the winners for the Week 1 Giveaway!

Mohd Fahmi wins the Microsoft Lumia 950 Smartphone + Microsoft Display Dock + Tempered Glass Screen Protector!

Faridah Akmal wins a TP-Link Groovi Ripple Portable Bluetooth Speaker!

Alister Lok wins a TP-Link Groovi Ripple Portable Bluetooth Speaker!

Mohd Khairul Zaman wins an Olike Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Car Charger!

Ivan Ng wins an Olike Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Car Charger!

Winners, please send your full details to contest @ techarp.com.

Full Name :
Full Address :
Mobile / Contact Number :
Email Address :

LAST CALL : Those who do not submit their details by 12 PM, Friday, 19 October 2018 will forfeit their prizes.

Next Page > Week 2 Giveaway by Dell

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 2 Giveaway

This week, Dell will be giving away prizes worth more than RM 2,000 / $500!

The Awesome Prizes : Dell PW7015M Power Companion (2 units)

Great Prizes : Dell AE215 Speaker System (2 units)

Cool Prizes : Dell WM514 Wireless Laser Mouse (3 units)

Nice Prizes : Dell AX210 USB Speaker System (6 units)

Dell PW7015M Power Companion (12,000 mAh)

Meet the Dell Power Companion – a handy device that powers select Dell notebooks and ultrabooks, as well as up to two smartphones, tablets or other USB-enabled devices, ensuring users can be more productive on-the-go.

Lightweight and compact, and featuring a 12,000 mAh 4-cell battery that provides reliable power, this compact power solution is designed to deliver in-bag charging so you can stay powered without adding bulk to your bag.

Dell 2.0 Speaker System – AE215

The Dell 2.0 Speaker System (AE215) provides high quality sound experience that fits neatly into almost any desktop setup. With premium sound professionally tuned by award-winning Waves Maxx Audio and a compact and modern design, the speakers deliver a surprising amount of full, deep bass without adding clutter to your desk.

In addition, the Dell AE215 speakers also feature a headphone jack so you can plug in your favourite headphones for a private listening experience without interruptions.

Dell WM514 Wireless Laser Mouse

The Dell WM514 Wireless Laser Mouse is a stylish, high-precision wireless mouse with long battery life. Its laser tracking feature allows for smooth tracking on virtually any surface, and provides quick response times and accurate clicking.

There is no greater option for a clutter-free workspace with its compact size, and unrestricted performance that allows mobile professionals to have all of the expected conveniences of a wireless mouse. The WM514 is also designed for comfort, allowing users to work or play for longer periods without the usual stress on the wrists or hands.

Dell AX210 USB Speaker System

Dell’s AX210 offers great sound for a PC desk with little room. These speakers are a true upgrade in audio quality and functionality. Designed to complement any Dell computer, the speakers give users a unified aesthetic at home or in the office.

Whether you’re enjoying the latest movie, playing an action-packed game, or participating in a video conference, you will be at the center of excellent sound.

Contest Period : 8 to 21 September 2018

Eligibility : WORLDWIDE *

* Tech ARP will pay for standard shipping, but you may opt to pay for expedited or express shipping services.

Week 2 Giveaway Rules

  1. Read the description of the prizes above, as well as these Dell articles :
    The 2018 Dell Precision 3000 Series Workstations Revealed!
    Why Dell Precision Is World’s Preferred Workstation!
    Dell S2719DM Ultra-Thin FreeSync HDR Monitor Preview
  2. Answer just five (5) simple multi-choice questions regarding the prizes and the three Dell articles.
  3. Tell us the sequence of the Great, Cool or Nice prizes that you prefer!
  4. If you want a shot at winning the Awesome Prize, you will need to share our contest post in Facebook. If you want more chances to win the Awesome Prize, tag your friends in our our contest post, or comment or like it.

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select 5 contestants who shared our Facebook contest post. [adrotate group=”2″]
  2. If any contestant fails to answer any question correctly, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the five verified contestants to share our Facebook contest post, AND get all five questions correct will be calculated.
  4. Two winners will be randomly selected out of that pool to win an Awesome Prize each.
  5. The subsequent winners will be randomly selected from contestants who correctly answered all five questions, with prize preference given to those who are selected first.
  6. Each contestant may try multiple times but can only win one prize. If he/she has already won, a new contestant will be randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

 

Week 2 Giveaway Winners!

Here are the correct answers :

  1. How many cells are there in the Dell PW7015M Power Companion?
    4 Cells
  2. What kind of sensor does the Dell WM514 wireless mouse use?
    Laser
  3. How many models are in the 2018 Dell Precision 3000 Series Workstation family? See https://is.gd/ZM3mPj
    4
  4. Which Australian university uses Dell Precision workstations for all its engineering requirements? See https://is.gd/Uwpn5w
    Monash University
  5. What Corning technology is used in the Dell S2719DM monitor? See https://is.gd/5YcTTD
    Iris Glass

We are very excited to announce the winners for the Week 2 Giveaway!

Dell PW7015M Power Companion Winners
zy****@gmail.com
forbi****2k@yahoo.com

Dell AE215 Speaker System
– vee***@hotmail.com
– wchian****@hotmail.com

Dell WM514 Wireless Laser Mouse
– radu@*****.ro
– cheok*******@gmail.com
– open*****@gmail.com

Dell AX210 USB Speaker System
– junwah****@gmail.com
– skyline****@hotmail.com
– Tony******@gmail.com
– 
hiz****@hotmail.de
– retro_*****@yahoo.co.uk
– Koo******@gmail.com

Winners, please send your full details to contest @ techarp.com.

Full Name :
Full Address :
Mobile / Contact Number :
Email Address :

LAST CALL : Those who do not submit their details by 12 PM, Friday, 19 October 2018 will forfeit their prizes.

Next Page > Week 3 Giveaway by Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 3 Giveaway

For the third week, Tech ARP will be sponsoring these awesome prizes!

Awesome Prize #1 : honor Band SS smartwatch

Awesome Prize #2 : honor Band SS smartwatch

Cool Prize #1 : VR Box virtual reality glasses

Cool Prize #2 : VR Box virtual reality glasses

Cool Prize #3 : Kaspersky Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard

Cool Prize #4 : Kaspersky Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard

Cool Prize #5 : Honor Tripod Selfie Stick

Cool Prize #6 : Honor Tripod Selfie Stick

Contest Period : 17 September to 30 September 2018

Eligibility : WORLDWIDE *

* Tech ARP will pay for standard shipping, but you may opt to pay for expedited or express shipping services.

Week 3 Giveaway Rules

  1. Make sure you LIKE the Tech ARP Facebook page.
  2. Everyone definitely wants The Awesome Prizes, but we want to know which of the Cool Prizes you prefer :
    – the VR Box virtual reality glasses,
    – the Kaspersky foldable Bluetooth keyboard, or
    – the Honor tripod selfie stick.
    So post a comment in the prize of your choice! If you like, you can post a comment in all three prizes!
  1. SHARE the main contest post, and the prizes you want to win on your Facebook wall. Please make sure it is PUBLIC, so we can verify.

BONUS : Liking and sharing our posts, or commenting and tagging your friends, will give you a higher chance of winning The Awesome Prize or the prize you want!

BONUS : Likesshares, comments or tags on our many Samsung Galaxy Note9 posts will give you a higher chance of winning The Awesome Prize or the prize you want!

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select TEN contestants.
  2. If any contestant fails to meet any of the rules above, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the ten verified contestants in the Tech ARP Facebook page will be calculated.
  4. The two Awesome Prize winners will be randomly selected from that pool.
  5. The subsequent winners will be randomly selected from that pool, with prize preference given to those who are selected first.
  6. Each contestant may only win one prize, so if his/her number is selected again, it will be discarded and a new number randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

Note On Gaming Accounts : Contestants who use gaming accounts will be automatically disqualified. Please use your personal Facebook accounts.

 

Week 3 Giveaway Winners!

We are very excited to announce the winners for the Week 3 Giveaway!

Awesome Prize #1 Winner : Isaac Lee Eng Quin

Awesome Prize #2 : Ken-Boon Teoh

Cool Prize #1 : Yee Mee Chan

Cool Prize #2 : Thomas George

Cool Prize #3 : Jireh Phan

Cool Prize #4 : Spectre Phang

Cool Prize #5 : Vicky Loo

Cool Prize #6 : Ilrelda Koh

Winners, please send your full details to contest @ techarp.com.

Full Name :
Full Address :
Mobile / Contact Number :
Email Address :

Note : Please submit your details by 12 PM, Wednesday, 14 November 2018 or you may forfeit your prize! 😀

Next Page > Week 4 Contest by BenQ + Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 4 Giveaway

For the 4th week, BenQ and Tech ARP will be sponsoring these awesome prizes!

Incredible Prize : BenQ EW277HDR Eye-Care Monitor

Cool Prize #1 : BenQ Travel Adaptor (White)

Cool Prize #2 : BenQ Travel Adaptor (Black)

Cool Prize #3 : Samsung Travel Adaptor (White)

Cool Prize #4 : Intel + Dell Travel Adaptor (Blue)

The BenQ EW277HDR Eye-Care monitor is part of a new range of BenQ Eye-Care monitors that feature the new Eye-Care technologies like Brightness Intelligence Plus and Low Blue Light.

BenQ specifically highlighted these HDR monitors (including the BenQ EW277HDR) as the best choices to be paired with the PlayStation 4 Pro or PlayStation 4. Here are their key specifications :

BenQ EW3270U

  • 4K UHD resolution – 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
  • 31.5-inch VA panel with 95% DCI-P3 colour gamut
  • Brightness Intelligence Plus, Low Blue Light, Flicker-free
  • Price : RM 1,899 (Web | App), US$ 599, £ 442.49

BenQ EL2870U

  • 4K UHD resolution – 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
  • 28-inch TN panel with 72% NTSC colour gamut
  • Brightness Intelligence Plus, Low Blue Light, Flicker-free
  • Price : RM 1,399 (Web | App), US$ 429.31£ 338.57

BenQ EW277HDR

  • Full HD resolution – 1920 x 1080 pixels, HDR
  • 27-inch VA panel with 93% DCI-P3 colour gamut
  • Brightness Intelligence Plus, Low Blue Light, Flicker-free
  • Price : RM 829 (Web | App), US$ 199.99£ 214.95

Would you like to own the BenQ EW277HDR Eye-Care monitor? Here’s how!

Contest Period : 24 September to 25 October 2018

Eligibility : Malaysia Only *

* Because it is large and fragile, we require the winner to collect the monitor from us in Selangor or Kuala Lumpur, with Penang as a possibility too. If necessary, the winner may send a representative. We will require a photo to be taken with the winner or representative, with some social media posts.

Week 4 Giveaway Rules

  1. Make sure you LIKE the Tech ARP Facebook page, and the contest post.
  2. You can then :
    a) Post a comment in the contest post, and tag your friends. Make sure you also use the #BenQPS4Monitor hashtag. You can tell us which Cool Prize you prefer, for example, or why you want to win the BenQ monitor.
    b) Share the contest post on your Facebook wall publicly, and use the #BenQPS4Monitor hashtag. You can tag your friends too for extra credit.
    c) Share the contest post in a relevant group, using the #BenQPS4Monitor hashtag.

  1. BONUS : Likesshares, comments or tags on our many Samsung Galaxy Note9 posts will give you a higher chance of winning The Awesome Prize or the prize you want!

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select TEN contestants.
  2. If any contestant fails to meet any of the rules above, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the ten verified contestants in the Tech ARP Facebook page will be calculated.
  4. The Incredible Prize winner will be randomly selected from that pool.
  5. The subsequent winners will be randomly selected from that pool, with prize preference given to those who are selected first.
  6. Each contestant may only win one prize, so if his/her number is selected again, it will be discarded and a new number randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

Note On Gaming Accounts : Contestants who use gaming accounts will be automatically disqualified. Please use your personal Facebook accounts.

Next Page > Week 5 Giveaway by Dotty’s + Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 5 Giveaway

For the fifth week, Tech ARP and Dotty’s will be sponsoring these awesome prizes!

Awesome Prizes #1 : 5 x iflix Subscription (1 Year)

Awesome Prizes #2 : 5 x Dotty’s RM 100 voucher

Contest Period : 19 September to 29 October 2018

Eligibility : Malaysia Only (for Dotty’s) / Countries that iflix supports *

* The dotty vouchers are only valid in Malaysia. The iflix subscriptions are valid in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Morocco and Uganda.

Week 5 Giveaway Rules

  1. Make sure you LIKE the Tech ARP Facebook page, and the contest post.
  2. You can then :
    a) Post a comment in the contest post, and tag your friends. Make sure you tell us which prize you prefer using these hashtags – #IWantFREEiflix or #IWantFREEDottys.
    b) Share the contest post on your Facebook wall publicly, and use either hashtags. You can tag your friends too for extra credit.
    c) Share the contest post in a relevant group, using either hashtags..

  1. BONUS : Likesshares, comments or tags on any of our many Facebook posts will give you a higher chance of winning one of the Awesome prizes!

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select TEN contestants.
  2. If any contestant fails to meet any of the rules above, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the ten verified contestants in the Tech ARP Facebook page will be calculated.
  4. The Incredible Prize winners will be randomly selected from that pool, with prize preference given to those who are selected first.
  5. Each contestant may only win one prize, so if his/her number is selected again, it will be discarded and a new number randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

Note On Gaming Accounts : Contestants who use gaming accounts will be automatically disqualified. Please use your personal Facebook accounts.

 

Week 5 Giveaway Winners!

We are very excited to announce the winners for the Week 5 Giveaway!

Awesome Prize #1 Winner : Franco Kailsan

Awesome Prize #1 Winner : Liza Lee

Awesome Prize #1 Winner : Mohd Fahmi

Awesome Prize #1 Winner : Siew Hong Go

Awesome Prize #1 Winner : Haqeem Norazli

Awesome Prize #2 Winner : Vee Fah

Awesome Prize #2 Winner : Steven Khoo

Awesome Prize #2 Winner : Chai Ser Loon

Awesome Prize #2 Winner : Falcone

Awesome Prize #2 Winner : Cyrus Varrus

Winners, please send your full details to contest @ techarp.com.

Full Name :
Full Address :
Mobile / Contact Number :
Email Address :

Note : Please submit your details by 12 PM, Wednesday, 28 November 2018 or you may forfeit your prize! 😀

Next Page > Week 6 Giveaway by Pocophone!

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 6 Giveaway

For the sixth week, Pocophone be sponsoring these awesome prizes!

Awesome Prize : Pocophone F1

Cool Prize : Mi Band 2

Contest Period : 1 November to 14 November 2018

Eligibility : Malaysia only for Pocophone F1, Worldwide for Mi Band 2

Week 6 Giveaway Rules

  1. Make sure you LIKE the Tech ARP Facebook page, the Mi Malaysia Facebook page and the contest post.
  2. You can then :
    a) Post a comment in the contest post, and tag your friends. Make sure you tell us which prize you prefer using these hashtags :
    – #FreePocophoneF1 and #XiaomiMY, OR
    #FreeMiBand2 and #XiaomiMY.
    b) Share the contest post on your Facebook wall publicly, and use either hashtags. You can tag your friends too for extra credit.
    c) Share the contest post in a relevant group, using either hashtags..

  1. BONUS : Likesshares, comments or tags on any of our many Facebook posts will give you a higher chance of winning one of the prizes!

Note : Use #FreePocophoneF1 if you are residing in Malaysia. It will qualify you for both the Pocophone F1 and the Mi Band 2. Use #FreeMiBand2 if you are residing outside of Malaysia. It will qualify you for the Mi Band 2.

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select FIVE contestants.
  2. If any contestant fails to meet any of the rules above, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the five verified contestants in the Tech ARP Facebook page will be calculated.
  4. The Incredible Prize and Cool Prize winners will be randomly selected from that pool, with prize preference given to those who are selected first.
  5. Each contestant may only win one prize, so if his/her number is selected again, it will be discarded and a new number randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

Note On Gaming Accounts : Contestants who use gaming accounts will be automatically disqualified. Please use your personal Facebook accounts.

Next Page > Week 7 Giveaway by Western Digital!

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


20th Anniversary Week 7 Giveaway

For the seventh week, Western Digital be sponsoring these awesome prizes!

Awesome Prize : 1 TB Western Digital Blue SSD

Cool Prizes : 8 x 4 TB Western Digital Red HDD

Contest Period : 15 November to 15 December 2018

Eligibility : Klang Valley and Penang only for the HDDs*, Worldwide for SSD

—————-

Week 7 WD Blue SSD Giveaway Rules

  1. Learn about the WD Black NVMe SSD,
  2. Answer these easy questions!

WD Black NVMe SSD

The WD Black NVMe SSD is dedicated for PC gamers who are looking to boost the performance of their gaming rigs.

Featuring sequential read/write speeds up to 3,400/2,800 MB/s, and the innovative Western Digital NVMe SSD storage architecture, it’s where blazing speed and top-tier performance combine to keep up with even the most demanding workloads. Innovative power management and thermal throttling consistently help prevent overheating to deliver smooth, fast performance.

With up to 600TBW, 1.75M hours MTTF and an amazing 5-years limited warranty, the WD Black NVMe SSD is the virtually invincible SSD you can rely on.

Important : Learn more about the 2018 WD Black 3D NVMe SSD here!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will create a pool of those who answered all the questions correct.
  2. If no one managed to answer all of the questions, then a pool will be created of the contestants with the most correct answers.
  3. We will then randomly select the Awesome Prize winner from that pool.

Got it? Go and try it out!

—————-

Week 7 WD Red HDD Giveaway Rules

  1. Make sure you LIKE the Tech ARP Facebook page and the contest post.
  2. You can then :
    a) Post a comment in the contest post, and tag your friends. Please let us know if you can self-collect the HDD using the hashtag #FreeHDD.
    b) Share the contest post on your Facebook wall publicly, and use the #FreeHDD hashtag if you can self-collect the HDD. You can tag your friends too for extra credit.
    c) Share the contest post in a relevant group. Please let us know if you can self-collect the HDD using the hashtag #FreeHDD.

  1. BONUS : Likesshares, comments or tags on any of our many Facebook posts will give you a higher chance of winning one of the prizes!

Collection : Winners of the HDDs must self-collect the WD Red hard disk drives in person, as we want to avoid the risk of damage during delivery. We can arrange to meet with the winners at these locations :

  • Selangor : Mutiara Damansara
  • Kuala Lumpur : TTDI
  • Penang : Seberang Jaya

Warranty : The drives are also provided as-is, without warranty from Western Digital or Tech ARP.

That’s it! It’s THAT simple!

Contest Mechanics

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  1. At the end of the contest, we will randomly select TWENTY contestants who used the #FreeHDD hashtag.
  2. If any contestant fails to meet any of the rules above, another contestant will be randomly selected.
  3. The Likes, Shares, Comments and Tags of the twenty verified contestants in the Tech ARP Facebook page will be calculated.
  4. The Cool Prize winners will then be randomly selected from the pool of verified contestants.
  5. Each contestant may only win one prize, so if his/her number is selected again, it will be discarded and a new number randomly selected.

Got it? Go and try it out!

Note On Gaming Accounts : Contestants who use gaming accounts will be automatically disqualified. Please use your personal Facebook accounts.

Go Back To > First PageContests + Events | Home

 

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If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


How To Choose The Best Drive For Your PC

Western Digital colour-codes their hard disk drives not to make the drives look sexier, or to help sell more hard disk drives. They created the WD drive colours to help users understand the distinct advantages or use of each drive family. In this article, Western Digital will help us show you how to choose the best drive for your PC.

 

Every Drive Has A Purpose

There is no better person than Albert Chang, Senior Manager of Product Marketing at WD Asia Pacific, to explain why every drive has a purpose. He also points out a key point that users often forget to factor when consumers purchase a drive – the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

That’s right. The TCO is often overlooked, because that is ultimately the price you are paying over the lifetime of a drive. So make sure you don’t just buy the cheapest possible drive, because that may result in a high TCO… including the loss of priceless data.

 

Introducing The Five WD Drive Colours

Here is a quick primer on the five WD drive colours, and how they can help you determine the best drive for your PC.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each WD drive colour, and find out what advantages each drive colour boasts!

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WD Blue For Mainstream PCs

The WD Blue (Price Check) family are focused on offering highly-affordable drives with large storage capacities.

The WD Blue family does not just consist of hard disk drives. Western Digital also offers WD Blue SSHDs (solid state hybrid drives) and WD Blue SSDs (solid state drives).

For more information, you can read these WD Blue articles :

 

WD Black For High Performance PCs

The WD Black family (Price Check) is targeted at power users and gamers who want the fastest possible hard disk drives for their PCs.

The WD Black drives offer a much higher spindle speed, a very large cache, and a fast processor. For more information, you can read these WD Black articles :

 

WD Red For NAS Storage

The WD Red (Price Check) family of NAS drives is specifically designed for the “always on” environment of a NAS enclosure. They run cooler and vibrate less, greatly increasing their reliability and lifespan in NAS enclosures.

The WD Red drives are also optimised for NAS usage patterns (80% reads, 20% writes), so you will be able to access your files faster than with a regular hard disk drive.

For more information, you can read these WD Red articles :

 

WD Purple For Surveillance

WD Purple drives (Price Check) are designed to handle the high-temperature, “always-on” environment of the CCTV and DVR systems. Regular drives will fail quickly under such conditions.

They are also designed to handle multiple video streams without dropped frames, or gaps in recorded footage… and do this 24/7 without rest!

For more information on the WD Purple, and why it is the best drive for surveillance and CCTV systems, please read :

 

WD Gold For Datacenters

Qualified for nearline storage use in datacenters, datacenter hard disk drives like WD Gold (Price Check) are designed to offer high storage capacities at maximum performance and reliability while operating continuously 24 hours a day in large drive arrays.

So if you want nothing but the best drive to secure your company’s data, there can be no doubt that the WD Gold (Price Check) is the ultimate storage solution.

For more information, you can read these WD Gold articles :

 

What Is The Best Drive For YOU?

The WD drive colours make it extremely simple for you to choose the best drive for the job.

If you want the best hard disk drive for your gaming PC or laptop, the WD Black drives are your best options.

If you just need to store a large amount of data at very low cost, the WD Blue drives are your best bet.

If you have a NAS enclosure, you will not want to use any other drives but WD Red drives for better performance and reliability.

If you have a CCTV system, you will not want to use any other drives but WD Purple drives for stutter-free recording and a long lifespan.

If you are running a server, you will want the high performance and exceptional reliability of the WD Gold drives.

See? The WD drive colours make it extremely easy for you to find the best drive for the job!

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Disclosure

This post was sponsored by Western Digital.

Go Back To > Guides | Home

 

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WD Introduces MAMR Technology For 40TB & Beyond!

October 13, 2017 — Western Digital just announced a breakthrough innovation for delivering ultra-high capacity hard disk drives (HDDs) to meet the future demands of Big Data with proven data center-level reliability. They also demonstrated world’s first microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) HDD and presentations from company executives and the inventor of MAMR technology, Professor Jimmy Zhu from Carnegie Mellon University.

Western Digital also showcased advancements in micro actuation and Damascene recording head technology. Western Digital expects to begin shipping ultra-high capacity MAMR HDDs in 2019 for use in data centers that support Big Data applications across a full range of industries.

 

The MAMR Technology

MAMR is one of two energy-assisted technologies that Western Digital has been developing for years. They recently innovated a breakthrough in material and process that provides the required reliable and predictable performance, as well as the manufacturability to accelerate areal density and cost improvements to an estimated average of 15% per year.

Developments in the other energy-assisted technology, specifically, heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), present new material science and reliability challenges that are not a factor in MAMR. Only MAMR demonstrates the reliability and cost profile that meets the demands of data center operators.

At the heart of the company’s innovation breakthrough is the “spin torque oscillator” used to generate a microwave field that increases the ability to record data at ultra-high density without sacrificing reliability. Western Digital’s innovative MAMR technology is expected to offer over 4 terabits-per-square-inch over time. With sustained improvements in recording density, MAMR promises to enable hard drives with 40TB of capacity and beyond by 2025, and continued expansion beyond that timeframe.

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Western Digital’s MAMR technology is the latest innovation to significantly improve areal densities. It builds upon a number of other leading innovations from the company. In addition to HelioSeal helium-filled drive technology, MAMR also builds upon the company’s micro actuation and recording head manufacturing technologies.

Western Digital’s advanced micro actuation technology for data center applications enables hard drives to accurately and reliably position magnetic heads for writing and reading at ultra-high densities. Their head manufacturing operations are the only internal supplier to utilize Damascene processing to manufacture heads with the precise tolerances and complex structures required for reliable and cost-effective recording at ultra-high densities.

The Damascene process also provides the capability to embed the spin torque oscillator that enables the manufacturing of MAMR heads. The combination of these technologies deliver superior total cost of ownership (TCO) across all sizes of cloud and enterprise data centers.

Go Back To > News | Home

 

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10TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) Hard Disk Drive Review

In this review, we are going to look at the first helium-filled WD Red model – the 10TB WD Red (Lowest Price) NAS drive!

 

The WD Red Family

The popularity of Network-Attached Storage (NAS) systems has fuelled a surge in demand for large capacity hard disk drives. This interest led Western Digital to create the WD Red NAS-optimised family of hard disk drives.

The WD Red family of NAS-optimised hard disk drives, with storage capacities from 750 GB all the way to 10 TB. Here is a specification comparison of the five key models:

Specifications10TB WD Red8TB WD Red6TB WD Red5TB WD Red4TB WD Red
ModelWD100EFAXWD80EFZXWD60EFRXWD50EFRXWD40EFRX
HelioSeal TechnologyYesNoNoNoNo
Advanced Format TechnologyYes (512-byte emulation)Yes (512-byte emulation)Yes (512-byte emulation)Yes (512-byte emulation)Yes (512-byte emulation)
Spindle Speed5400 RPM5400 RPM5400 RPM5400 RPM5400 RPM
Cache256 MB SDRAM128 MB SDRAM64 MB SDRAM64 MB SDRAM64 MB SDRAM
Maximum Read / Write Speed210 MB/s178 MB/s175 MB/s150 MB/s147 MB/s
Average Read / Write Power Consumption5.7 W6.4 W5.3 W4.5 W4.1 W
Idle Power Consumption2.8 W5.2 W3.4 W3.3 W2.7 W
Acoustics (Seek / Idle)29 dBA / 20 dBA29 dBA / 20 dBA28 dBA / 25 dBA28 dBA / 25 dBA24 dBA / 23 dBA
MTBF (hours)1 million1 million1 million1 million1 million
Rated World Load (Per Year)180 TB180 TB180 TB180 TB180 TB
Warranty3 Years3 Years3 Years3 Years3 Years

They all share the following common features :

  • NAS Compatibility – Advanced firmware technology built into every WD Red drive, enables seamless integration, robust data protection and optimal performance for systems operating in NAS and RAID environments.
  • Exclusive NASware 3.0 Technology – WD’s exclusive NASware 3.0 technology further optimizes the WD Red for the NAS environment, allowing the WD Red to support small NAS systems with up to 8 bays!
  • 3D Active Balance Plus – This enhanced dual-plane balance control technology significantly improves the overall drive performance and reliability. Hard drives that are not properly balanced may cause excessive vibration and noise in a multidrive system, reduce the hard drive lifespan, and degrade the performance over time.[adrotate group=”2″]
  • Enhanced Reliability – With a 35% MTBF improvement over standard desktop drives, the WD Red drive is designed and manufactured to be a more reliable and robust solution.
  • Energy Efficient – Innovative technology reduces power consumption and lowers the operating temperature, resulting in a more reliable and affordable solution for always on 24×7 NAS environments.
  • Premium Support – Exclusively for WD Red drive customers, a free dedicated 24/7 support line is available in English. Other regional support hours vary.
  • Longer Warranty Coverage – The WD Red drive is backed by a 3-year limited warranty for greater peace of mind.

Now, let’s check out the 10TB WD Red (Lowest Price) hard disk drive!

 

A Quick Look At The 10TB WD Red

The 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) hard disk drive came in a sealed antistatic plastic pack. Notably, it lacked the usual sachet of desiccants. That’s because the drive is hermetically-sealed in the factory, and filled with helium. Also notable is their use of two gold-coloured screws to lock the PCB in place.

To remove the drive, just tear off the top or cut it open, and slide out the drive. Be sure to ground yourself before removing and handling the hard disk drive as static can damage it. In particular, you should try to avoid touching the exposed PCB located on the lower underside of the drive.

Next Page > Key Features, HelioSeal, SATA 6 Gb/s

 

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The 10TB WD Red NAS Drive

Despite featuring a hermetically-sealed chassis, the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) drive looks deceptively like any other 3.5″ hard disk drive. In fact, it even sports the same printed label on the top plate, with an uncovered PCB on the underside.

The label has a lot of important information, like the hard disk drive model, storage capacity as well as its date and place of manufacture. This particular drive was manufactured in Thailand on the 1st of April, 2017. You can also see that the drive uses the Advanced Format Technology to achieve its high storage density.

 

HelioSeal Technology

The 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS-optimised drive is one of the few hard disk drives in the market to feature the revolutionary HGST HelioSeal technology. It is hermetically sealed at the factory, and filled with helium.

Instead of a breather hole that is present in all “air-filled” hard disk drives, it has two sealed ports that are used to extract air from inside the chassis, and replacing it with helium.

Because helium is only 1/7th the density of “regular air”, it allows for less friction conferring the following benefits :

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  • The lower friction reduces the amount of power required to spin the platters, reducing both energy costs and thermal output.
  • Internal turbulence is greatly reduced, which makes tracking more precise and reliable. This indirectly allows for greater areal density.
  • The lower power requirement and internal turbulence allow more platters and heads to be added in the same volume of space.
  • The completely sealed environment eliminates reliability issues that can occur if breather filters get clogged up with dirt.

The only things stopping helium-filled drives from becoming mainstream are the relatively high cost of helium, and the difficulty in sealing the drive.

 

SATA 6 Gb/s

This is a Serial ATA drive, with native support for SATA 6 Gb/s. However, it is backward-compatible so you will have no problem using it with older SATA 3 Gb/s controllers.

The SATA 6 Gb/s interface is necessary for optimal performance since the 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) NAS drive boasts a maximum sustained internal (platter-to-buffer) transfer rate of 210 MB/s, and a large and fast DDR3 SDRAM cache.

Like all Serial ATA drives, it comes the standard SATA data (left) and power (right) connectors and is hot-pluggable. That means you can connect and disconnect this hard disk drive to the server, computer or NAS while it’s still running.

Next Page > Under The PCB, Testing The Drive

 

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What’s Under The PCB?

Western Digital has a penchant for keeping all surface-mounted components on the reverse side of the PCB – to prevent static damage and to allow for better cooling. The PCB is protected by a thin foam cutout on the chassis side, with a thermal pad to help transfer heat from the HDD controller to the hard disk drive chassis.

Unfortunately, we can’t make out the hard disk drive controller Western Digital used, but we can see that it uses the ST Microelectronics L7232 motor drive controller, which features their proprietary Smooth Drive pseudo-sinusoidal digital drive technology.

The 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) NAS drive boasts a large 256 MB SDRAM cache, courtesy of an EtronTech EM6GD16EWXC-12H chip. This is a DDR3-1600 SDRAM chip with 8 memory banks and timings of 11-11-11. This gives it a peak transfer rate of 400 MB/s.

Finally, the 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) NAS drive has two shock sensors that allow it to better detect shock and vibration events, and dynamically adjust the flying height of the read/write heads to avoid head crashes.

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Testing The 10TB WD Red NAS Drive

Processors Intel Core i7-2600K
Motherboard Intel DP67BG
Memory Four Kingmax 2 GB DDR3-1333 modules
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
Hard Disk Drives 10 TB Western Digital Red
8 TB Western Digital Gold
6 TB Western Digital Black
6 TB Western Digital Red
6 TB Western Digital Green

4 TB Western Digital Red Pro
4 TB Western Digital Re
4 TB Western Digital Black Gen. 2

4 TB Western Digital Red

3 TB Western Digital Red
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit

 

Testing Methodology

Next Page > Usable Capacity, Platter Profile, Operating Temperature

 

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10 TB WD Red Usable Capacity

The 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS drive has an official formatted capacity of 10 terabytes. We checked that out by formatting it in NTFS using Microsoft Windows 7.

The actual formatted capacity was 10,000,695,029,760 bytes, which is about 695 MB higher than the official storage capacity. With about 494 MB allocated to the NTFS file system, the actual usable capacity was slightly above 10 TB.

 

10 TB WD Red Platter Profile

The platter profile of the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS drive was pretty good. There appeared to be some use of replacement sectors, but nothing particularly significant.

We also compared its platter profile to that of the 6TB WD Red, which was the last WD Red drive we reviewed. We can see right away that the 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) uses higher density platters, which gave it a very high throughput.

In fact, the outermost tracks of the 6 TB WD Red only equalised the 10 TB WD Red at the 6.5 TB point. Even at its slowest tracks, the 10 TB WD Red was as fast as the 6 TB WD Red at its 5 GB point.

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Maximum Surface Temperature

We monitored the surface temperature of seven hard disk drives during their benchmarks. The following chart shows their operating temperature range, from idle to maximum load. Please note that instead of giving you the absolute numbers, we are showing the temperature delta, which is the difference between the actual temperature and the ambient room temperature.

Despite packing 2 additional platters than the 6 TB WD Black, the 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) drive was significantly cooler at full load. It ran a little warmer than the 8 TB WD Gold – another helium-filled drive, but was cooler at idle.

This reduced thermal output (and power consumption) is a key advantage of helium-filled hard disk drives like the 10 TB WD Red drive. When used in large NAS systems with up to 8 drives running non-stop, the lower energy costs of running them, and keeping them cool, will be very significant.

Next Page > Transfer Rate Range, WinBench Results

 

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Transfer Rate Range

This chart shows you the range of platter-to-buffer transfer rates from the innermost track to the outermost track. In other words, it shows you the range of disk transfer rates of the hard disk drives (from minimum to maximum).

The 10 TB WD Red NAS drive has an official peak throughput of 210 MB/s, which was confirmed by our tests. In fact, it actually peaked at 217 MB/s. While it was still slightly slower than the 6 TB WD Black, that puts it ahead of most of its competitors.

Both the 8 TB WD Gold and the 10 TB WD Red have 7 platters. The 10 TB WD Red (Lowest Price) use higher density 1.43 GB platters to compensate for the 8 TB WD Gold‘s higher 7200 RPM spindle speed. This proves yet again that HDD performance is not always about the spindle speed… 😉

 

Business Disk WinBench 99

Even though it’s not optimised for desktop applications, the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS drive did very well in this benchmark, coming in faster than even the 6 TB WD Black.

Hard Disk Drive Model Capacity Business Disk
WinMark 99
Difference Useful Links
Western Digital Red 10 TB 32.5 MB/s Baseline Lowest $
Western Digital Black 6 TB 26.1 MB/s – 19.7% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Green 6 TB 25.6 MB/s – 21.2% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Black 4 TB 24.0 MB/s – 26.2% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red Pro 4 TB 23.4 MB/s – 28.0% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Gold 8 TB 23.3 MB/s – 28.3% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Re 4 TB 20.4 MB/s – 37.2% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red 6 TB 19.4 MB/s – 40.3% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red 4 TB 17.5 MB/s – 46.2% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red 3 TB 16.1 MB/s – 50.5% Review Lowest $
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High-End Disk WinBench 99

The 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS drive was top in this benchmark too, edging out the very fast 6 TB WD Black.

Hard Disk Drive Model Capacity High-End Disk
WinMark 99
Difference Useful Links
Western Digital Red 10 TB 150 MB/s Baseline Lowest $
Western Digital Black 6 TB 143 MB/s – 4.7% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Green 6 TB 140 MB/s – 6.7% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Black 4 TB 138 MB/s – 8.0% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red Pro 4 TB 137 MB/s – 8.7% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Gold 8 TB 133 MB/s – 11.3% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Re 4 TB 121 MB/s – 19.3% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red 6 TB 121 MB/s – 19.3% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red 4 TB 118 MB/s – 21.3% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Red 3 TB 107 MB/s – 24.0% Review Lowest $

Next Page > IO Meter (Random Access) Performance

 

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IO Meter (Random Access)

We compared the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS drive to the 6 TB WD RedFor more performance comparisons, please take a look at The Hard Disk Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

 

Random Throughput

The small random reads and writes are the most important tests for applications that make a lot of random accesses, so those would be key performance indicators for drives that are used as boot or system drives, but not very important for NAS systems.

With the exception of small reads, the 10TB WD Red (Lowest Price) was far superior than the 6 TB WD Red in all other aspects. Most impressively, it was 3X faster at small writes, most likely due to its large, fast cache.

Test  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
512 KB Read 27.92 MB/s 18.70 MB/s + 49.3%
512 KB Write 31.65 MB/s 20.81 MB/s + 52.1%
4 KB Read 0.27 MB/s 0.26 MB/s + 3.8%
4 KB Write 0.76 MB/s 0.24 MB/s + 216.7%

 

Random Access Time

Test  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
512 KB Read 18.78 ms 28.04 ms – 33.0%
512 KB Write 16.56 ms 25.19 ms – 34.2%
4 KB Read 15.24 ms 15.81 ms – 3.6%
4 KB Write 5.36 ms 17.29 ms – 69.0%

The access times dropped significantly across the board. The small decrease in the 4KB read access time is more than compensated by the incredibly large decrease in the 4KB write access time.

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Random CPU Utilisation

Test  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
512 KB Read 28.79 % 0.41 % + 6922%
512 KB Write 29.07 % 0.44 % + 6507%
4 KB Read 28.83 % 0.38 % + 7487%
4 KB Write 28.82 % 0.39 % + 7290%

We are not sure what HDD controller Western Digital used for the 10TB WD Red (Lowest Price) NAS drive, but they appeared to have decided to focus on performance at the expense of CPU utilisation. This is not a problem for NAS systems because they have a processor that is dedicated to such operations. Such high CPU utilisation though means the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) would not make for a very good desktop drive.

Next Page > IO Meter Sequential Access Performance

 

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IO Meter (Sequential Access)

We compared the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) NAS drive to the 6 TB WD RedFor more performance comparisons, please take a look at The Hard Disk Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

 

Sequential Throughput

Test  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
512 KB Read 215.25 MB/s 172.71 MB/s + 24.6%
512 KB Write 215.45 MB/s 173.09 MB/s + 24.5%
4 KB Read 84.70 MB/s 51.64 MB/s + 64.0%
4 KB Write 71.53 MB/s 50.09 MB/s + 42.8%

This is the most important test for the NAS drives because it shows their ability to read and write files sequentially. The large sequential transfer performance is particularly important since many NAS system deal with large files (larger than 512 KB in this context).

Without a doubt, the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) is much faster than the 6 TB WD Red in all aspects. The biggest boost was in small sequential reads.

 

Sequential Access Time

Test  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
512 KB Read 2.43 ms 3.03 ms – 19.8%
512 KB Write 2.43 ms 3.03 ms – 19.7%
4 KB Read 0.05 ms 0.08 ms – 39.2%
4 KB Write 0.06 ms 0.08 ms – 30.0%
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Sequential CPU Utilisation

Test  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
512 KB Read 29.84 % 0.96 % + 3008%
512 KB Write 29.49 % 1.14 % + 2487%
4 KB Read 35.77 % 8.52 % + 319.8%
4 KB Write 35.17 % 9.15 % + 284.4%

Even in sequential accesses, the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) took up an excessive amount of CPU utilisation. Again, this is not a problem for NAS systems, but will be an issue for those who choose to use this drive in their desktop systems.

Next Page > IOPS Scaling (Random) Performance

 

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IOPS Scaling (Random)

We tested the drive’s ability to tackle multiple input/output operations, comparing the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) to the 6 TB WD Red. For more performance comparisons, please take a look at The Hard Disk Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

Although we don’t know what hard disk drive controller used in the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX), we can see that it is significantly faster than the Marvell 88i1047-NDB2 controller used in the 6 TB WD Red. Its performance was particularly impressive in the 4 KB random write test.

 

4 KB Random Read

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 66 IOPS 63 IOPS + 3.7%
8 112 IOPS 98 IOPS + 14.1%
32 142 IOPS 136 IOPS + 3.7%

 

4 KB Random Write

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 186 IOPS 58 IOPS + 222.3%
8 192 IOPS 58 IOPS + 228.7%
32 186 IOPS 57 IOPS + 224.2%
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512 KB Random Read

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 53 IOPS 36 IOPS + 49.3%
8 72 IOPS 37 IOPS + 96.2%
32 76 IOPS 47 IOPS + 61.4%

 

512 KB Random Write

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 59 IOPS 40 IOPS + 52.1%
8 57 IOPS 40 IOPS + 43.6%
32 60 IOPS 40 IOPS + 47.5%

Next Page > IOPS Scaling (Sequential) Performance

 

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IOPS Scaling (Sequential)

We tested the drive’s ability to tackle multiple input/output operations, comparing the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) to the 6 TB WD Red. For more performance comparisons, please take a look at The Hard Disk Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

The 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) was much faster than the 6 TB WD Red in all aspects. Its performance was particularly impressive in the 4 KB sequential read test.

 

4 KB Sequential Read

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 20,680 IOPS 12,608 IOPS + 64.0%
8 52,847 IOPS 37,207 IOPS + 42.0%
32 52,441 IOPS 36,793 IOPS + 42.5%

 

4 KB Sequential Write

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 17,463 IOPS 12,228 IOPS + 42.8%
8 46,286 IOPS 38,668 IOPS + 19.7%
32 46,609 IOPS 38,560 IOPS + 20.9%
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512 KB Sequential Read

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 411 IOPS 329 IOPS + 24.6%
8 411 IOPS 329 IOPS + 24.8%
32 414 IOPS 329 IOPS + 25.5%

 

512 KB Sequential Write

Outstanding I/Os  WD Red
(10 TB) 
 WD Red
(6 TB) 
Difference
1 411 IOPS 330 IOPS + 24.5%
8 412 IOPS 331 IOPS + 24.5%
32 411 IOPS 330 IOPS + 24.6%

Next Page > Our Verdict & Award, Full Specifications

 

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Our Verdict & Award

This is our second review of a helium-filled hard disk drive (after the 8 TB WD Gold), and we continue to be impressed. Even from its specifications alone, we can already see a significant reduction in power consumption and noise levels. These are not minor either.

The 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) boasts 11% lower power consumption than the air-filled WD Red models at peak loads, and an astounding 46% lower power consumption during idle! It accomplished this despite packing 2-4 more platters than the other WD Red drives.

The platters of the 10 TB WD Red (WD100EFAX) still spin at a relatively sedate 5400 RPM, but they have a very high areal density, boasting a storage capacity of 1.43 GB per platter. This high areal density gave it a very high throughput, allowing it to beat even the 8 TB WD Gold, which has a spindle speed of 7200 RPM.

Our benchmarks show that it is one of the fastest hard disk drives in the market, beating even high-performance drives like the 6 TB WD Black. This is very impressive performance for a 5400 RPM drive that is optimised for NAS systems.

The downside though is its high CPU utilisation. This is not a problem if you intend to use it in a relatively new NAS system, but it may be a problem if you pack more than two of them in an old NAS system with a slow processor. The high CPU utilisation will also be an issue if you intend to use this drive in your desktop PC.

Despite the high CPU utilisation, its stellar performance deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Western Digital!

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The 10TB WD Red Specifications

Specifications10 TB WD Red NAS Hard Disk Drive
ModelWD100EFAX
Form Factor3.5 inch
Platter And Head Count7 Platters with 14 Read/Write Heads
Advanced Format TechnologyYes (512-byte emulation)
Formatted Capacity10 TB
Native Command QueuingYes
InterfaceSATA 6 Gb/s
Spindle Speed5400 RPM
Sustained read / write performance210 MB/s (maximum)
Cache256 MB DDR3-1600 SDRAM
Average Power ConsumptionRead / Write : 5.7 W
Idle : 2.8 W
Temperature Rating0 to 65 °C (Operating)
-40 to 70 °C (Non-Operating)
Shock RatingOperating : 65 G (half-sine wave, 2 ms)
Non-Operating : 250 G (half-sine wave, 2 ms)
AcousticsSeek : 29 dBA (average)
Idle : 20 dBA
Load / Unload Cycles600,000
Non-Recoverable Read Errors per Bits Read<1 in 1014
MTBF (Maximum Time Before Failure)1,000,000 hours
Rated Workload (Per Year)180 TB
Warranty3 Years
Physical Dimensions101.6 mm (4.0") wide x 147.0 mm (5.787") long x 26.1 mm (1.028") high
Weight650 g (1.43 lbs)

Go Back To > First PageReviews | Tech ARP

 

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32-bit Transfer Mode – The BIOS Optimization Guide

32-bit Transfer Mode

Common Options : On, Off

 

Quick Review

This BIOS feature allows you to command the IDE controller to combine two 16-bit hard disk reads into a single 32-bit data transfer to the processor. This greatly improves the performance of the IDE controller as well as the PCI bus.

Therefore, it is highly advisable to enable 32-bit Transfer Mode. If you disable it, data transfers from the IDE controller to the processor will only occur in 16-bits chunks.

 

Details

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This BIOS feature is similar to the 32-bit Disk Access BIOS feature. The name 32-bit Transfer Mode is actually a misnomer because it doesn’t really allow 32-bit transfers on the IDE bus.

The IDE interface is always 16-bits in width even when the IDE controller is on the 32-bit PCI bus. What this feature actually does is command the IDE controller to combine two 16-bit reads from the hard disk into a single 32-bit double word transfer to the processor. This allows the PCI bus to be more efficiently used as the number of transactions required for a particular amount of data is effectively halved!

However, according to a Microsoft article (Enhanced IDE operation under Windows NT 4.0), 32-bit disk access can cause data corruption under Windows NT in some cases. Therefore, Microsoft recommends that Windows NT 4.0 users disable 32-bit Disk Access.

Lord Mike asked ‘someone in the know’ about this matter and he was told that the data corruption issue was taken very seriously at Microsoft and that it had been corrected through the Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2. Although he couldn’t get an official statement from Microsoft, it’s probably safe enough to enable 32-bit Disk Access on a Windows NT 4.0 system, just as long as it has been upgraded with Service Pack 2.

Because it realizes the performance potential of the 32-bit IDE controller and improves the efficiency of the PCI bus, it is highly advisable to enable 32-bit Transfer Mode.

If you disable it, data transfers from the IDE controller to the processor will only occur in 16-bits chunks. This degrades the performance of the IDE controller as well as the PCI bus.

As such, you should disable this feature only if you actually face the possibility of data corruption (with an unpatched version of Windows NT 4.0).

You can also find more information on the Windows NT issue in the details of the IDE HDD Block Mode feature!

 

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IDE HDD Block Mode – The BIOS Optimization Guide

IDE HDD Block Mode

Common Options : Enabled, Disabled

 

Quick Review

The IDE HDD Block Mode BIOS feature speeds up hard disk drive access by transferring multiple sectors of data per interrupt instead of using the usual single-sector transfer mode. This mode of transferring data is known as block transfers.

When you enable this feature, the BIOS will automatically detect if your hard disk drive supports block transfers and set the proper block transfer settings for it. Depending on the IDE controller, up to 64 KB of data can be transferred per interrupt when block transfers are enabled. Since all current hard disk drives support block transfers, there is usually no reason why IDE HDD Block Mode should be disabled.

Please note that if you disable IDE HDD Block Mode, only 512 bytes of data can transferred per interrupt. Needless to say, this will significantly degrade performance.

Therefore, you should disable IDE HDD Block Mode only if you actually face the possibility of data corruption (with an unpatched version of Windows NT 4.0). Otherwise, it is highly recommended that you enable this BIOS feature for significantly better hard disk drive performance!

 

Details

The IDE HDD Block Mode BIOS feature speeds up hard disk drive access by transferring multiple sectors of data per interrupt instead of using the usual single-sector transfer mode. This mode of transferring data is known as block transfers.

When you enable this feature, the BIOS will automatically detect if your hard disk drive supports block transfers and set the proper block transfer settings for it. Depending on the IDE controller, up to 64 KB of data can be transferred per interrupt when block transfers are enabled. Since all current hard disk drives support block transfers, there is usually no reason why IDE HDD Block Mode should be disabled.

However, if you are running on Windows NT 4.0, you might need to disable this BIOS feature because Windows NT 4.0 has a problem with block transfers. According to Chris Bope, Windows NT does not support IDE HDD Block Mode and enabling this feature can cause data to be corrupted.

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Ryu Connor confirmed this by sending me a link to a Microsoft article (Enhanced IDE operation under Windows NT 4.0). According to this article, IDE HDD Block Mode and 32-bit Disk Access have been found to cause data corruption in some cases. Therefore, Microsoft recommends that Windows NT 4.0 users disable IDE HDD Block Mode.

Lord Mike asked ‘someone in the know‘ about this matter and he was told that the data corruption issue was taken very seriously at Microsoft and that it had been corrected through the Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2. Although he could not get an official statement from Microsoft, it is probably safe enough to enable IDE HDD Block Mode on a Windows NT 4.0 system, just as long as it has been upgraded with Service Pack 2.

Please note that if you disable IDE HDD Block Mode, only 512 bytes of data can transferred per interrupt. Needless to say, this will significantly degrade performance.

Therefore, you should disable IDE HDD Block Mode only if you actually face the possibility of data corruption (with an unpatched version of Windows NT 4.0). Otherwise, it is highly recommended that you enable this BIOS feature for significantly better hard disk drive performance!

 

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WD Gold – The Gold Standard In HDD Technology

Hard disk drives have evolved into many distinct families to cater to different requirements – performance, low cost storageNAS, surveillance, etc. They often emphasise one attribute over others, to meet the requirements of their target market, while keeping costs low. But what if you wanted nothing but the best in hard disk drive technology? That’s where datacenter-grade hard disk drives like WD Gold come in.

Qualified for nearline storage use in datacenters, datacenter hard disk drives like WD Gold (Lowest Price) are designed to offer high storage capacities at maximum performance and reliability while operating continuously 24 hours a day. Virtually no expense is spared in making these drives the gold standard in HDD technology. That is likely why Western Digital gave their datacenter drives the WD Gold moniker.

Let’s take a quick look at why the WD Gold drives are the best hard disk drives in the industry.

 

Industry-Leading Storage Capacity

The WD Gold (lowest price on Amazon) is available in storage capacities from just 1 TB, all the way to the industry-leading storage capacity of 10 TB.

 

Constant Peak Performance

Unlike desktop-grade performance hard disk drives, the WD Gold (Lowest Price) is designed for peak performance at all times. While they may be classified as datacenter hard disk drives, the WD Gold drives can certainly be used in any desktop or consumer system.

On top of a 7,200 RPM spindle speed, the WD Gold also boasts a large (128 MB or 256 MB) SDRAM cache, and the HGST Media Caching Technology. They both help to sustain a high read and write throughput from the WD Gold drives.

 

Less Noise & Vibration, Lower Power Consumption

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The WD Gold (Lowest Price) is built around the revolutionary HGST HelioSeal technology, which seals the drive and fills it with helium. Because it is only 1/7th the density of “regular air”, helium imparts the following advantages to the WD Gold drives :

  • less friction for the spinning platters, reducing power consumption and thermal output
  • less internal turbulence, allowing for more reliable head-to-platter tracking
  • more capacity because more platters and drive heads can be fitted in the same volume of space
  • the completely sealed environment eliminates reliability issues from outside contaminants

 

24×7 Reliability

The WD Gold (Lowest Price) drives are designed to handle high workloads (up to 550 TB per year) continuously for years. They boast a phenomenal mean time before failure (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours. That is partly due to vibration control technologies like the Enhanced RAFF (Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward) technology, and extensive testing.

To ensure the best possible 24×7 reliability, the WD Gold (Lowest Price) drives undergo rigorous tests in the factory before they are certified for use. They are also extensively tested with a wide variety of systems, controllers and adapters to ensure maximum compatibility and ease-of-installation into any storage system.

 

Our Choice

The WD Gold (lowest price on Amazon) is designed for the most arduous and demanding conditions in the datacenter, but it doesn’t mean you can’t use it in a less-demanding desktop environment. In fact, tech enthusiasts who want nothing but the best hard disk drive and can afford to pay for the bespoke quality, can buy and use the WD Gold in their desktops or even NAS systems!

We tested the WD Gold extensively in our 10-page review, and came away very impressed with its performance. It was not just fast, it was also quiet and it ran really cool. That is why we awarded it our Reviewer’s Choice Award.

Now, the lower cost of ownership may not matter much for a desktop user with a couple of WD Gold drives, but it matters a great deal if you are running a datacenter with tens of thousands of servers. The WD Gold (Lowest Price) drives will not just reduce downtime from drive failures, they will greatly reduce the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

For more information, you can take a look at our in-depth review, or visit the official WD Gold product page.

 

Disclosure

This post was sponsored by Western Digital.

 

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Mainstream Hard Disk Drives Keep Getting Better

Hard disk drives have become so commoditised that most users assume that one hard disk drive is no different from another. That’s not true, of course, because there are performance-grade drives, NAS-optimised drives, and even surveillance hard disk drives. Even mainstream hard disk drives have seen remarkable improvements in reliability and performance over the years.

 

Mainstream Hard Disk Drives In The Past

The hard disk drive industry is highly competitive, with many manufacturers competing for the same piece of pie. Hence, mainstream hard disk drives tend to be developed with cost in mind.

As a general rule, they tend to use older technologies, have lower storage capacities, lower performance, and shorter warranties.

 

Less Competition, But Better Drives

Over the years, hard disk drive manufacturers have fallen, merged, or been bought up by their rivals. Today, only three hard disk drive manufacturers remain – Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba.

Paradoxically, the reduced competition was actually good for the consumer. There was less pressure to compete solely on price. This allowed better mainstream hard disk drives to be developed.

 

Mainstream Hard Disk Drives Today

Today, mainstream hard disk drives are at the forefront of hard disk drive technologies. Even the most basic models feature the latest interface, platter technology and come with large caches for higher performance.

The newer SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive) models integrate flash memory technology to offer SSD-like performance, with large storage capacities and much more affordable prices.

Mainstream hard disk drives are also more reliable, boasting the latest data protection features. That’s why manufacturers offer longer warranties today, with most offering 2 years warranty, instead of just 1 year.

 

WD Blue Mainstream Hard Disk Drives

The most popular mainstream hard disk drives in the market today are arguable the WD Blue hard disk drives from Western Digital. Designed for mainstream usage patterns, the WD Blue drives are highly affordable yet boast features like :

  • NoTouch Ramp Load Technology : The drive heads are kept off the disk surface when the drive is idle or not running, to prevent damage to the platters if the drive is dropped or knocked.
  • Data LifeGuard : Advanced algorithms in the firmware that monitor your drive continuously to alert you of any impending failures.
  • IntelliSeek : The drive automatically adjusts its optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.

Western Digital offers the WD Blue hard disk drives in a wide variety of storage capacities to suit every need and budget.

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For users who want a boost in performance without paying top dollar for a solid state drive, Western Digital even offers two WD Blue solid state hybrid drive (SSHD) models :

These WD Blue SSHDs are basically WD Blue hard disk drives enhanced with a flash memory cache :

  • NAND Flash Technology : WD Blue SSHDs come with 8 GB of NAND flash memory to perform up to 4-5X faster than traditional 5400 RPM hard disk drives.
  • Self-Learning Technology : Using an advanced set of algorithms, WD Blue SSHDs continuously track data usage to prioritise frequently-used data. It can adapt, learn and optimise itself as new applications and data requests change over time.

Thanks to the flash memory cache, the WD Blue SSHDs offer SSD-like performance, with a large storage capacity at much lower prices than solid state drives.

 

 

Disclosure

This post was sponsored by Western Digital.

 

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High Performance PCs Need High Performance Drives

In the early days of personal computing, hard disk drives were just a place to store our applications and files. Our requirements were simpler back then, and so were the hard disk drives. Over time, our personal computers became more powerful, and the way we use them changed.

We no longer just use them to run word processors and spreadsheets, but to edit photos, create and manipulate 3D models and even play games. This created the need for faster hard disk drives. Hard disk drive manufacturers responded by developing high-performance hard disk drives.

Many users make the common mistake of focusing too much on CPU and graphics card performance while ignoring the performance of their hard disk drives. Today, we are going to show you why high performance PCs need high performance drives.

 

Higher Spindle Speed

Traditionally, hard disk drives spin at 4,200 RPM. Today, most desktop hard disk drives spin at 5,400 RPM. High performance drives achieve better performance by spinning their platters at a higher speed – 7,200 RPM or even 10,000 RPM.

The higher spindle speeds not only deliver better transfer rates, but also greatly reduces seek times – how long it takes to move from one location on the drive platter to a different location.

Transfer Rate : The speed at which files are read from, or written to, the hard disk drive. Usually measured sequentially.

Seek Time : How fast the drive head can move from one location to another location on the platter. Usually measured randomly, the shorter the better.

A high transfer rate is useful when you are copying a lot of files off the drive, or writing a lot of files to it. It also helps to load applications and games faster.

However, the greatest advantage of high-performance drives is their low seek times. The operating system and any application or game you are running will feel faster because there is less delay in the data they request from the drive (which tend to be all over the platter).

 

Larger Cache

All hard disk drives have a SDRAM cache that keeps a copy the latest data or the most frequently-used data from the hard disk drive. If the data requested is in the SDRAM cache, then it is instantly accessed. If not, then it has to be read off the hard disk drive’s platter.

The larger the SDRAM cache, the more data can be stored in it, and the more likely the data you are requesting is in it. That’s why high performance drives have large SDRAM caches. While regular hard disk drives have 16 MB or 32 MB caches, a high performance drive come with 64 MB or 128 MB caches.

 

Faster Processor

All modern hard disk drives use a small (usually ARM-based) processor to handle all sorts of tasks – encoding data, performing error correction checks, Native Command Queuing (NCQ), power management, etc.

High-performance drives boast faster dual-core processors so they can perform these tasks faster. This ensures that the raw data being read from, or written to, the hard disk drive is never delayed even under the heaviest loads.

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Performance Advantage

To demonstrate the difference, here is a comparison of a 6 TB Western Digital Black hard disk drive against the 6 TB Western Digital Green hard disk drive. Both are hard disk drives from the same manufacturer – Western Digital. The difference is the Black drive is a high-performance drive, while the Green drive is an energy-efficient drive.

As you can see, the 6 TB WD Black drive is 32-60 MB/s faster than the 6 TB WD Green drive. That is a 36-42% boost in transfer rate. To put this into perspective, if you copy out 6 TB of data from each drive, it will take the WD Black drive just under 10 hours, but the WD Green drive will take almost 14 hours.

Now, let’s take a look at how fast they perform with small random reads and writes that happen when the drive is used by an operating system and applications.

The 6 TB WD Black drive is 62.5% faster in random writes, and 23% faster in random reads than the 6 TB WD Green drive. The WD Black drive’s significantly better small random write performance is due to the faster processor and larger cache.

 

WD Black High Performance Drives

The Western Digital Black family is a great example of high-performance drives for power users and gamers who want the fastest possible hard disk drive. We have been using them for years because they are not just fast, but very reliable. In fact, we have WD Black drives that are still running more than 8 years after we first spun them up!

Western Digital offers their Black drives in both 3.5″ desktop models, and 2.5″ laptop models. They offer the following advantages over regular hard disk drives :

  • Higher 7,200 RPM spindle speed, which gives higher transfer rates and faster random access times
  • A much larger cache : Up to 128 MB for desktop models, up to 32 MB for laptop models
  • Faster dual-core processors to better handle multiple, simultaneous accesses
  • A much longer 5 years warranty for greater peace of mind

For more information, you can read about the latest WD Black desktop hard disk drives that we tested here at Tech ARP :

And here are the WD Black mobile hard disk drives that we reviewed here at Tech ARP :

It is said that once you try a WD Black high-performance drive as a boot drive, you will never want to go back to a “regular” hard disk drive. They are available in all major IT malls, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to get your hands on one for your PC!

 

Disclosure

This post was sponsored by Western Digital.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

ARMD Emulation Type – BIOS Optimization Guide

ARMD Emulation Type

Common Options : Auto, Floppy, Hard Disk Drive

 

Quick Review

ARMD is actually short for ATAPI Removable Media Device. It refers to devices that use removable media. Examples include the LS-120, Magneto-Optical (MO) and Zip drives.

To boot up any operating system from these drives, it is essential for them to emulate a floppy drive or a hard disk drive. This is especially true for older operating systems like DOS.

This BIOS feature allows you to select the type of emulation used during the boot sequence.

When set to Auto, the BIOS automatically sets the emulation type used by ARMD drives.

When set to Floppy, ARMD drives will emulate a floppy drive at boot up.

When set to Hard Disk Drive, the ARMD will emulate a hard disk drive at boot up.

To be safe, this BIOS feature should be set to Floppy. It is the safest emulation type, and the one that most accurately describes ARMD drives. They are, after all, more like large-capacity floppy drives than hard disk drives.

 

Details

ARMD is actually short for ATAPI Removable Media Device. It refers to devices that use removable media. Examples include the LS-120, Magneto-Optical (MO) and Zip drives.

To boot up any operating system from these drives, it is essential for them to emulate a floppy drive or a hard disk drive. This is especially true for older operating systems like DOS.

This BIOS feature allows you to select the type of emulation used during the boot sequence.

When set to Auto, the BIOS automatically sets the emulation type used by ARMD drives.

When set to Floppy, ARMD drives will emulate a floppy drive at boot up.

When set to Hard Disk Drive, the ARMD will emulate a hard disk drive at boot up.

Emulating the hard disk drive may provide better performance, if the operating system supports a disk cache. However, that may introduce data synchronization problems should you eject the media before the disk cache has a chance to write to the media.

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Emulating a floppy drive does not normally present with this problem. Only reads from floppy drives are normally cached, thereby avoiding this problem. In addition, certain operating systems (e.g. Windows XP) will only load drivers from a floppy drive during the installation process.

If you desire better performance, you should set this BIOS feature to Hard Disk Drive. However, you must treat the device like a hard disk drive and refrain from ejecting the media unless you are sure the cached data has been written to it.

To be safe, this BIOS feature should be set to Floppy. It is the safest emulation type, and the one that most accurately describes ARMD drives. They are, after all, more like large-capacity floppy drives than hard disk drives.

Go Back To > The BIOS Optimization Guide | Home

 

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If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!