Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop 3.5" Hard Drive

by Western Digital

• WD Caviar Black high performance 3.5- Inch SATA hard drive combines 7200 RPM, 64 MB cache, and SATA 3 Gb/s interface for the ultimate in power computing.
• High performance electronics architecture features dual processors and bigger, faster caches for maximum read and write speeds.
• StableTrac The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations.
• 5 year limited warranty.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 4 x 1 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0036Q7MV0
• Item model number: WD1002FAEX
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (946 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #4 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Data Storage > Internal Hard Drives
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Size: 1 TB

From the Manufacturer

WD Caviar Black Hard Drives – Maximum performance for power computing.

WD Caviar Black high performance 3.5-inch SATA hard drives combine 7200 RPM spin speed, an integrated dual processor, and dual actuator technology for lightning-fast performance in demanding desktop, workstation, and multi-drive systems. And 1 TB capacity gives you the space you need to hold enormous amounts of photos, videos, and files. Best of all these drives are backed by a 5-year limited warranty.

Why you should choose WD Caviar Black:

WD Caviar Black delivers industry-leading performance that's perfect for hard-core gaming and intensive photo and video editing.

Maximum performance.
Sophisticated performance enhancing features deliver the speed you need to work faster, not longer.

No compromises.
High performance, high reliability, cutting edge technology and a 5-year limited warranty make up WD Caviar Black, the ideal drive for those who demand only the best.

Award winning.
This 7200 RPM speedster is at the top of its class when it comes to performance and reliability.

Features at a glance Industry-leading performance 1 TB of desktop storage SATA 6 Gb/s interface Dual processor technology 5-year limited warranty

Ideal for:

• Power computing applications such as intensive photo or video editing
• Maxed out gaming systems
• Adding lots of storage in desktop PCs
• Adding extra storage space for photos, videos and music

Features:

SATA 6 Gb/s interface - Twice the interface speed with backwards compatibility to legacy SATA standards.

Dual processor - Twice the processing power to maximize performance.

Dynamic Cache - WD's dynamic caching algorithm improves performance in real time by optimizing cache allocation between reads and writes. For example, if there's an overwhelming percentage of read traffic as opposed to write traffic, the drive automatically allocates more cache for read data, which reduces congestion and improves overall drive performance.

NoTouch ramp load technology - The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.

StableTrac - The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations which enables consistently higher performance.

Desktop / Consumer RAID environments - WD Caviar Black Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications. (RAID-0 / RAID-1)*

*Business Critical RAID Environments – WD Caviar Blue Hard Drives are not recommended for and are not warranted for use in RAID environments utilizing Enterprise HBAs and/or expanders and in multi-bay chassis, as they are not designed for, nor tested in, these specific types of RAID applications. For all Business Critical RAID applications, please consider WD's Enterprise Hard Drives that are specifically designed with RAID-specific, time-limited error recovery (TLER), are tested extensively in 24x7 RAID applications, and include features like enhanced RAFF technology and thermal extended burn-in testing.

Upgrading your drive is easy - WD Acronis TrueImage, available as a free download on the WD Support site, enables you to copy all your data to a new drive so you don't have to reinstall your operating system to get all the benefits of a new drive. Note: Bare drive does not include any cables or mounting hardware.

The WD advantage - WD puts our products through extensive Functional Integrity Testing (F.I.T.) prior to any product launch. On average, each new product goes through 600,000 hours of testing. WD also has a detailed Knowledge Base with more than 1,000 helpful articles. You can also call toll-free support 7 days per week in the U.S. and Canada. See the WD Support site for full details.

WD-certified packaging - All WD drives purchased from Amazon.com are shipped in WD-certified hard drive packaging. It is designed and fully tested to provide WD products with the highest of safety while in transit. With WD-certified packaging, you can rest assured that your WD hard drive will arrive safely, fully protected, in a non-descript, easy-open package.

Compatibility
Works with Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000, Mac and Linux operating systems.

You might also consider:

3.5-inch Internal Comparison Chart WD Caviar Blue WD Caviar Green WD Caviar Black WD VelociRaptor Value and reliability for every day computing. Cool, quiet. Maximum performance for power computing. The fastest SATA hard drive on the planet.   Ideal for Family and business computing. Desktop PCs, external drives and NAS devices. Photo and video editing, and maxed out gaming systems. Performance enthusiast systems and workstations.   Capacity range 80 GB – 1 TB 320 GB – 3 TB 500 GB – 2 TB 150 GB – 600 GB   Interface SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 3 Gb/s PATA 100 MB/s SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 3 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 3 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s   Form factor 3.5-inch 3.5-inch 3.5-inch 3.5-inch   Cache 8 MB – 32 MB 16 MB – 64 MB 32 MB – 64 MB 32 MB   Limited warranty 2-year 2-year 5-year 5-year   Highest capacity         Highest performance         Photo/video editing

Product Description

WD Caviar Black high performance 3.5-inch SATA hard drives combine 7200 RPM spin speed, 32 MB or 64 MB cache, SATA 3 Gb/s interface, and up to 2 TB capacity with an integrated dual processor for lightning-fast performance in demanding desktop, workstation, and multi-drive systems. Rock solid mechanical architecture and enhanced reliability features help protect the drive and the data stored on it. Backed by a 5-year limited warranty.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

379 of 395 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great drive -- Amazon packaging AOK March 7, 2010

By pluto1999

Size Name:1 TB|Amazon Verified Purchase

First, this is a state of the art, newly introduced drive from WDC. In my opinion it is the best general-use drive you can get at this price point.

Prior to my purchase, I read several negative reviews from prior customers who voiced dissatisfaction with Amazon's packaging of OEM drives. Any chance of damage in shipping would indeed be reason to shop elsewhere for such a sensitive item, but on one such page of ranting and frustration I saw a note from Amazon that they had recently addressed these concerns, so I proceeded to order the drive.

Here's the latest and I hope final word on this issue: Problem solved. The drive arrives sealed in an anti-static bag, secured by two end-mounted shock absorbing plastic caddies, then double-boxed with the usual sealed air padding. The redundant packing system appears to be well-designed and the drive has been working like a champ.

So buy with confidence and kudos to Amazon for responding to customer reviews and ensuring appropriate, safe packaging for this product.

195 of 220 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast but coffee pot loud! July 15, 2010

By A. D. Minton

Size Name:1 TB

I've been using Western Digital hard drives since getting into computers in 1998. In fact I've never owned anything but WD hard drives (from 4.3gig to 1TB). In all my years of using them I've only had 2 go bad, though they never "completely" failed. This speaks of Western Digital's consistency in reliability.

With that said I love the Caviar Blacks and have 3 of them in my system - 500, 750, and now the new 1TB SATA 3 (64Meg cache).

While there is a noticeable speed gain over my previous 1TB Caviar Black (32Meg), the previous version was/is extremely quiet! This new SATA 3 drive is LOUD! It sounds like a percolating coffee pot at its highest boiling point, especially during boot-up or accessing files. Very annoying, especially if it's the noisiest part of your system!

I just put an i7 system in a Cooler Master HAF X case which has 4 fans - 1 Front bottom 230mm 700RPM 19dBA (Red LED), 1 Top 200mm 7000RPM 19dBA, 1 Rear 140mm 1200RPM 19dBA. My Noctua CPU cooler fan tops out at 1200RPM load at 19dBA as well. At idle my ATI 4890 video card fan runs around 27 percent, making it in-audible above the other fans.

My point.... My case is extremely quiet.... Save for WD's new Caviar Black SATA 3 HD!!! Because of this I'm seriously considering going back to my previous 1TB 32meg cache Caviar Black HD.

BTW this is a replacement drive as I thought the first drive was faulty due to the same noise. With that I called Western Digital about this issue.... and to make a long story short, they say this is normal and that drive wasn't designed with noise in mind, that if you want a "quieter" drive, get the Caviar Blue.

Make of that what you will.......

All I know is that the older 32mge cache Caviar Black drives ARE quieter than their 64meg cache cousins.

Those looking for quieter WD drives might consider looking elsewhere (Blue or Green series) if noise is a factor over speed.

4 stars.

Edit. Went back to my previous drive because of the noise. If you want a caviar black that's quiet, go with the 1FALS (32meg) vs the 2FAEX (64meg) Read more ›

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 100% compatible with 3 Gb/s drive interface March 30, 2011

By Daniel Chapman

Size Name:2 TB|Amazon Verified Purchase

I almost didn't purchase this drive because I thought it might not be compatible with the cabling and connectors of a 3 Gb/s drive. I also thought that it wouldn't work due to the higher throughput of this drive. I was wrong on all accounts. I installed this next to my other 2 TB 3 Gb/s drive and it works perfectly. It has been installed for weeks and multiple test programs give it perfect ratings. Bonus....when you're ready to upgrade to a system that fully supports 6 Gb/s [SATA 3 & USB 3] then you're all set. Since the 2 TB 6Gb/s drive [Western Digital WD2002FAEX] is less than the 2 TB 3Gb/s drive [Western Digital WD2001FASS] it's a no-brainer. Go for it!!!

89 of 107 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars WD 1TB 64MB Drive Great until it Failed 6 weeks later August 11, 2010

By Chris H.

Size Name:1 TB|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this drive to store pictures, music and files on as replacement for an older WD drive that failed. I went with the Black series for it's speed and reliability. Amazon's packaging was fine (see pics that I added to product above) and installation, initialization and formatting went without a hitch. The drive performed very well; was fast and pretty quiet (especialy compared to the OEM WD Blue drive in my PC). I did notice that the drive would get rather warm when I still had the computer case open but, I have three fans spinning in there so didn't think much of it. Six weeks later, I received a "drive not accessible" error and after running the WD Data LifeGuard diagnostics, determined that the drive had multiple bad sectors and failed the SMART test. I tried to recover the sectors but, it wouldn't work. A call to WD tech support confirmed that it was toast and they sent me out a replacement. The interesting part was that the replacement was shipped in nothing more than a small corrugate box with just the drive and the plastic end caps inside. The new drive has been in for two days now and so far it's OK. I gave this 3 stars for failing after 6 weeks but, still think it's a good drive for the money and believe that I had some bad luck. If I write back in 6 weeks with another failed drive, I wont be so charitable.

102 of 124 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Incorrect product description February 27, 2010

By C. Crain

Size Name:1 TB|Amazon Verified Purchase

Amazon's product review of this product is incorrect. This is not an Advanced Format drive as stated. "WD Advanced Format technology increases media format efficiency, thus enabling larger drive capacities. WD Advanced Format drives are specifically optimized for Mac and the latest Windows operating systems such as Windows Vista and Windows 7"
The advanced format is only available currently on the "Caviar GREEN drives" All "BLACK" drives are 512kb sector drives not 4k. Check description on Western Digitals web site using product WD1002FAEX or under Caviar Black drive description. I confirmed this via WD tech support.
In the future, WD and other manufactures will be going to 4k sector drives.
Having said that, this appears to be a nice drive. You might see some speed increase due to 64mb cache but not from SATA 6Gb transfer, no drive can read/write that speed. 5 year warranty, 1tb capacity, makes a nice boot drive. I will purchase a "Green" drive as a data and back-up drive for less heat, noise, and power consumption.
I purchased this from Amazon and I ordered the factory packaged drive, not the bare, less packaging drive, and I'm glad I did. The package shipped via UPS arrived smashed in on one end on the outer box. Had this been the minimal packaging I think the drive would have been damaged. Amazon needs to fully wrap shipments in better protective packages to survive transport.
I erased, zeroed and reformatted this drive to use in a MacPro. For Mac boot drives, do not use as it comes, reformat to Apple Partition Map(APM) journaled for PowerPC (G3,G4,G5) and as GUID journaled for all Intel Macs. Time Machine likes GUID, but you do not need to journal if using only for back-up or data storage.... Western Digitals web-site gets this wrong as well, and says to use APM for Intel Macs. Intel macs will not boot from APM drives, but can read/write to them.
Hope Amazon corrects the product description.
Hope WD corrects knowledge base on partition/format for Macs. Read more ›