HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB vs Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB

HGSTUltrastar 7K6000 6TB6000 GB · 7200 · 128 MB · 3.5-inch
Western DigitalWD Black HDD 6TB6000 GB · 7200 · 256 MB · 3.5-inchLeads on Cache
In short

The site holds no current price for at least one of these, so what follows compares specifications alone.

SpecificationHGSTUltrastar 7K6000 6TBWestern DigitalWD Black HDD 6TB
Capacity (GB)60006000
Current best price
Price per TB
RPM72007200
Cache (MB)128256better
Form factor3.5-inch3.5-inch
Warranty (years)55

How these two compare

Sequential throughput

HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB holds the higher sequential rate. HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB is rated 245 MB/s read and 245 MB/s write, Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB 227 MB/s read and 227 MB/s write; a spinning disk's throughput rises with platter speed and density and barely differs between reading and writing.

Spindle speed

Both turn at 7200 RPM. Spindle speed sets how quickly the head reaches data and how much power and noise the drive makes, and at an identical RPM the two land in the same place on all of it.

Cache

HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB carries 128 MB of onboard cache and Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB carries 256 MB — the buffer the drive uses to absorb bursts of writes and hold recently read data, smoothing over the mechanical delay of moving the head. More cache helps most under bursty, mixed workloads; for one long sequential transfer it barely matters.

Warranty

HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB carries a 5-year warranty and Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB a 5-year one — how long the maker will replace a failed drive, and a rough read on the confidence it has in the mechanism.

Which to buy

With a price missing for at least one side, there is no cost verdict to give. What separates two otherwise-similar drives is up in the sections above — how fast the platters spin, how much cache each carries, the form factor and the warranty — so weigh those against what your build needs.

Common questions about this pair

Which is faster, HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB or Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB?
HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB holds the higher sequential rate. HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB is rated 245 MB/s read and 245 MB/s write, Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB 227 MB/s read and 227 MB/s write; a spinning disk's throughput rises with platter speed and density and barely differs between reading and writing.
Should you buy HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB or Western Digital WD Black HDD 6TB?
With a price missing for at least one side, there is no cost verdict to give. What separates two otherwise-similar drives is up in the sections above — how fast the platters spin, how much cache each carries, the form factor and the warranty — so weigh those against what your build needs.
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