Mechanical hard drives, despite efforts to create new technologies, their days are numbered. They are slow drives, not very efficient and extremely fragile compared to SSD drives. Western Digital was criticized a few months ago for selling SMR units without properly labeling them. Now it turns out that the 5400 RPM Western Digital HDDs may not spin at the marked speed.
After the discovery of the SMR hoax, users have started to analyze mechanical hard drives just in case. Reddit user Amoroko turns out to have discovered something quite curious. Western Digital hard drives marked 5400 RPM are running above these speeds, hitting 7200 RPM.
[amazon box=»B013HNYV8I» title=»WD Blue 4TB 5400RPM» star_rating=»none» template=»table»]Western Digital 5400 RPM hard drives go to 7200 RPM
One would think that if there was a deception it would be that the 7200 RPM HDDs would go slower than marked. For a 5400 RPM HDD to go at higher speeds for much of the time is quite unusual. The truth is that Western Digital continues to insist on HDDs and its SSD units do not stand out from the rest of the solutions.
Notably, this user has relied on acoustic tests to indicate that 5400 RPM HDDs operate up to 7200 RPM. It seems that the affected units are the WD Red and it would be expanded to several series. It should be noted that the sample is not very large and more units need to be analyzed to know if it affects other units.
As if that weren't enough, the WD Reds aren't specifically labeled at 5400 RPM. Turns out these drives are labeled "5400 RPM Performance Class" We don't know what this means, but hey, ambiguous for a bit.
These WD “5400 RPM Performance Class” drives perform acoustically, thermally, and fuel-wise like 5400 RPM drives even when spinning at 7200 RPM. Come on, they can go full blast but the parameters are the same as slower units.
ArsTechnica has investigated it. You have reviewed the technical specifications for the 5400 RPM drives and the “Performance Class”. Notable differences in consumption and loudness have been found, which lead to even more heat being generated. What is not clear since when WD made this differentiation and the reason for it. Come on, Western Digital does not tire of making a fool of itself and being exposed with its questionable practices.
[irp]Source: TH
