500 Gb Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar SE16

Hi, I've read a nice review on the 750 Gb Western Digital WD7500AAKS Caviar SE16 here. I know some of you don't like Tom's Hardware; but I think it is enough to show that, that drive is top of it's class.

My question however, is how well do the 500 Gb Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar SE16's fare against, say the Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB? The reason I ask is because currently only the 750Gb WD AAKS drive has NCQ. The 320Gb, 400Gb and 500Gb drives don't. Does it make that much difference? And is the 500Gb WD drive the fastest in it's class, or should I look to something else?

NCQ practically has no effect in day to day use, unless you're a server ;)
The WD and the Samsung are both great drives. I'd pick the Samsung for it is known for quietness, and is cheaper by whole three pounds :)

I've just bought the Samsung and have been astounded by how quiet it is! Thumbs up from me

I only trust WD these days and mine is totaly silent :mrgreen:

I bought a 320 GB WD drive a couple of months ago. It does around 70MB/sec, an average 12-13ms random access time and is very quiet. I just got a 500GB Seagate 7200.10. Stats are the same except its about 3 times as loud!

Here's some benchmarks for some of the drives you've mentioned. Most are of 500GB capacity with a few others thrown in. Obviously the review in centred more around the Samsung drive though - it's not a group test / review.

Ive Got the 500gb WD drive and its great, fast and silent. saying that the samsung drives are also very good. However I would go for western Digital every time because ive never had one fail on me.

Custom PC LABS group test puts the Samsung above the WD here: http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/60106.../products.html

I bought 4 of the Samsungs :)

Obviously not tested under Vista :D

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Originally Posted by EtheAv8r

Custom PC LABS group test puts the Samsung above the WD here: http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/60106.../products.html

I bought 4 of the Samsungs :)

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Thanks, I couldn't find anything about the 500Gb WD (the AAKS, not YS) anywhere! Guess I overlooked this site as it didn't graphs or something, but provides a real-world standpoint for the drives.

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Originally Posted by CrimsonAvenger

Obviously not tested under Vista :D

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What are you implying?

Vista runs your drives bloody constantly and makes a hell of a racket until its indexed your life.

I have the WD 500aaks and I am delighted with it, very quiet and quick. I dont think there is a great deal in drives to be honest in terms of speed and noise these days, just what brand you trust most with you data.

ive got the 500gb WDAAKS and it is an excellent drive, its fast and quiet and runs pretty cool too.