About a year ago when the hard drive manufacturerbought SanDisk, already it guessed that the intention was tofocus on a trend with increasing force in the internal storage: SSD or solid statedrives.Now Western Digital does not seek placed between competitions, but remain above their new unitsWD Blue and WD Green.
Two lines from the beginning wanted todifferentiate both naming and dedication.Thus, following the traditional allocation of brand colors, green is for a user standard and blue (which already existed in hard disks) becomes the oneof the most demanding users. Developments have not come alone, by theway, as well as presentingnew My Passporthave put the icing in theform of software.
WD Blue and WD Green, technical specifications
WD BLUE |
WD GREEN |
|
FORM FACTORS AVAILABLE | Box 2.5 inches or M.2 2280 | Box 2.5 inches or M.2 2280 |
PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS | Box 2.5 inches x 69.85 x 100.2 mm M.2 2280: 1.5 x 22 x 80 mm |
Box 2.5 inches x 69.85 x 100.2 mm M.2 2280: 1.5 x 22 x 80 mm |
AVAILABLE CAPACITIES | 250 GB, 500 GB and 1 TB | 120 GB and 240 GB |
SEQUENTIAL READ SPEED | 250GB: 540MB / s 500 GB: 545 MB / s 1TB: 545 MB / s |
120GB: 540MB / s 240GB: 540MB / s |
SEQUENTIAL WRITE SPEED | 250GB: 540MB / s 500 GB: 545 MB / s 1TB: 545 MB / s |
120 GB: 405 MB / s 240 GB: 435 MB / s |
RANDOM READ SPEED | 250GB: 97K 500 GB: 100K 1TB: 100K |
120GB: 63K 240GB: 68K |
RANDOM WRITE SPEED | 250GB: 79K 500 GB: 80K 1TB: 80K |
120GB: 37K 240GB: 37K |
NO OPERATING TEMPERATURE | -55 To 85 degrees Celsius | -55 To 85 degrees Celsius |
WORK TEMPERATURE | 0 to 70 degrees Celsius | 0 to 70 degrees Celsius |
INTERFACE | SATA III 6Gb / s | SATA III 6Gb / s |
RESISTANCE | 250GB drive 100 TBW unit 500 GB: 200 TBW unit 1TB: 400 TBW |
Unit 120 GB: 40 TBW unit 240 GB: 80 TBW |
MTTF | 1.57 million hours | 1.57 million hours |
VOLTAGE | Box 2.5 inches :: 5V 5% M.2 2280: 3.3V 5% |
Box 2.5 inches :: 5V 5% M.2 2280: 3.3V 5% |
VIBRATION AT WORK | 5.0 gRMS, 10-2000 Hz | 5.0 gRMS, 10-2000 Hz |
NON-OPERATING VIBRATION | 4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz | 4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz |
REPOSE | 42 – 52MW | Confirmation pending |
DEVSLP | 4.9 – 9,7mW | Confirmation pending |
AVERAGE ACTIVE POWER | 70 mW | 50 mW |
WD Blue: A gamer blue unit
Computers for video games are more technical requirements, which have to withstand the demands of the execution thereof, growing.Storage isno exception to this; neither for space or speed, and WD have wanted to dedicate the Blue line of SSDsto thepublicgamer, as well as content creatorsand other dedications that demand in this regard.So is its data sheet
The availability of different capacities is one of the main differences between the lines
So, WD Blue is an SSD with capacitiesfrom 250 GB to 1 TB, the availability of sizes being one of the main differences with the other line. What about the role stands out is the estimated average life of the units, being 14 to 56 years depending onthe intensity of work and total storage (GB traffic per day, having been calculated from high to low intensity 20GB / day 80 GB / day).
Resistance orenduranceis also something that stands outon paper, since estimated400 TWB(terabytes written) for 1TB drives.This unit refers to the amount of terabytes that the drive can write without making an error, as explainedwhen discussing technical aspects of the SSD.As for the read and write speeds, the WD Blue reaches525 and 545 MB per second, with a SATA III 6 GB per second connection.
Which becomes the jewel in the crown of Western Digital have some graphics based onthe benchmarksthat have been made to the units.These were mounted on computers with ASUS Z170A ATX motherboard, an Intel i7-6700K processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM and Windows 8.1.
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WD Green: The average is dyed green
As mentioned, the various lines of SSDs have differentiated according to the type of public, more specifically according tothe workload of the disc and daily use time.Thus, the WD Green is focused toa much less demanding daily usethan the profile of a gamer or related professions editing multimedia material left for the WD Blue.
Here are actually lower speeds and capacities, since according WD this user profile has sufficient volumes of 120-240 GB.The read and write speed in this case is 540 and 435 MB per second and the resistance is 40 or 80 TMB (depending on capacity), well below the WD Blue.It also lowers the estimated half-life, which according to ability and work is between 2.8 and 11.5 years according to the work.
MODERATE ACTIVITY (20 GB / DAY) | HIGH ACTIVITY (40 GB / DAY) | EXTREME ACTIVITY (80 GB / DAY) | |
120 GB | 5.6 years | 2.8 years | 1.4 years |
240 GB | 11.2 years | 5.6 years | 2.8 years |
An app to evaluate all
The latest developments in the SSD environment was in theform of software, specifically a tool for users who areused to assess the state of the hardware or to encourage start doing those not often.It isWD SSD Dashboard, a fairly simple app that gives us information at the time about the status of the disc.
The idea is that users can arrange to monitor the status of your unit
Applies to any line of WD, and hasa fairly simple and intuitive interface, with tabbed browsing and displaying the content style tables tiles Windows.Thus, we can find parameters such as current temperature, performance or available capacity as well as perform various tests, so that any user can arrange to monitor the status of your unit.
My Passport: as it is external, it is striking
The speed increase capacity and cheaper storage gigas is quite dizzy and this happen tobe yes or yes to the last, but in external storage units steps up another factor as a major complaint:the design.
At least I have seen WD for its new round of external storage units, with the latestMy Passportas acolorful flag.The claim therefore seeks tobe the double finish of the case, being smooth half and half in diamonds, and in the case of My Passport also different tones, featuring yellow, red, blue, orange, white or black.
My Passport for Mac has also been renovated toincorporate this new design in the box but still available only in black.Without forgetting a new model of My Book, the backup option for high volume having nowa model of 8TB, keeping the two -year warranty.
WD Green, WD Blue and My Passport, price and availability
The two units have been launched inboth 2.5-inch box 7 millimeters thick and M.2 format.On the prices of SSD WD Blue currently only known recommended for WD Blue, from $ 79 to $ 299 in theUS and longer they are available for sale.As forthe WD Green, will be available later and go knowing what prices will be in the last quarter of the year.Both are covered by a three year warranty.
The new My Passport part of a recommended retail price of US distributors for$ 79.99 for the My Passport for Mac, and the new My Book the recommended price is from the$ 129.99 (two year warranty).We will update this information when we have more information regarding prices and availability for other locations.