What drive - WD5000AAKS Blue or the WD5002AALX Black

WD Internal Drives Desktop & Mobile Drives
1

Hi, I’m looking for opinions on my new primary drive. Have it narrowed down to two drives. Not sure which one is faster as there isn’t much benchmarks on the new black drives. So I have it down to the WD5000AAKS or the WD5002AALX.

WD5002AALX is 32mb cache and 6gb/s 7200 double platter 5yr warranty

WD5000AAKS is 16mb cache and 3gb/s 7200 single platter 3yr warranty

My PC is old ATA100 so do you think I’d even notice the difference between the two?

Thanks.

2

First check your motherboard SATA build version. If it is SATA I, you can’t use WD5002AALX without a PCI(e) adaptor. As I understand WD drives are one step backward compatible. That means SATA III (6Gb/s) drive can be configured to SATA II (3Gb/S) using an optional jumper.

WD5000AAKS is SATA II drive and can be configured to SATA I using a jumper.

Please note that some old BIOS cannot handle large buffer cache (32-64MB) and create all sorts of issues.

Please see attached for more jumper details. This pix needs approval and it would take few hours to appear on this page.

3

if i werer you i would buy the cheapest one

i have one old WD5000AAKS and its been fine and its great for boot

4

Thanks for the replies folks. My mb is a intell 945gcz which will do sata 2. Its older though wasn’t aware of the buffer concerns. So probably best with the blue?

5

If you have SATA II you can use either of them. Black need a jumper.

6

So I should be ok with the 32mb jumper? Do you think is even notice a performance increase between the two drives? Thanks

7

I believe Caviar Black is a high performer, if you don’t mind the added cost.

8

Its a difference of ten dollars so not a big deal…just wasn’t sure if the single platter blue would be quicker.