WHich 2TB is more reliable: Seagate LP or WD Green?

I need to get a cheap 2TB soon. The non "green" version is rather out of my price range. The Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB and WD Green 2TB is something I can afford.


Out of the two, which is better and more reliable?

The LP and Green 2 TB drives are too new to say for sure which one is more reliable. I have both and both are, so far, working fine. The Seagate LP drives run a little cooler than the WD Green drives.

The WD Green consumes less power than the Seagate LP I believe. One thing that's a bit iffy on the WD Green series is that they park their heads ALOT, after 8 seconds of inactivity to save power. Might be a concern for some, but I havent read anything that proves this could leave to shorter life.

Originally Posted by dydx

The WD Green consumes less power than the Seagate LP I believe. One thing that's a bit iffy on the WD Green series is that they park their heads ALOT, after 8 seconds of inactivity to save power. Might be a concern for some, but I havent read anything that proves this could leave to shorter life.

model           size  read/write  idle   notes

ST32000542AS     2tb    6.8      5.5    Barracuda LP, 5900rpm, 32mb, 3yr

WD20EADS         2tb    6.0      3.7    WD Green, 5400rpm, 32mb, 3yr

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1442303

So, do you guys think I should wait for a few more... months?

I purchased 2 2gig LPs from Fry's for the cheap price of 160ea about a month ago. They're the retail units which come with a 5yr warranty. Today I posted this Seagate Case request:

Having investigate the source of clicking with intervals of 15 minutes I've confirmed through various means of testing that when a SMART query is performed on this drive ST320005N4A1AS-RK, it makes an audible click. The 15 min interval corresponds to the SMART query interval used in iStat Pro OSX widget. By disabling iStat's SMART query and using TechTool Pro 5 to query at will I was able to reproduce the click at will a 100% of the time.

I've read numerous reports citing this 'click' as the "Click of Death", a precursor to failure. I need to know if this drive should be replaced.

Whenever I buy a Seagate drive I feel like I'm gambling. I know this isn't logical as forums are typically filled with complaints potentially inflating perception of problems. Regardless I've never run into issue with WD; I have first gen 74gig Raptors still in use nearing their 5 year warranty, and 400gig RE2 that have lasted ages.

My hope is the click is benign. If not I'm prepared, I always buy a spare, and these drives are data backups.

My recommendation is choose the cheapest or WD.

Originally Posted by lobski2

So, do you guys think I should wait for a few more... months?

For what? Christmas These drives are as good or bad as any other drive out in the wild now. I've had mine for about 6 months. I've not had any problems with any of them, but that's not to say that any one of them could go bad tomorrow. And again, that would not say anything to me about long term reliability of the LP/GP drives in general.

I have the 1TB for each brand but I don't really like the WD green - there's a lot of 'pause' if the drive is not accessed. After that it's fine. It's annoying and it's for what...2 or 3 watts?

My 320GB runs at 39C
The other drives (1tb seagate, wd green, 500gb caviar) all run at 31C.

My vote is on seagate.

What do you plan to use this hard drive for? As a main OS/apps drive, I wouldn't suggest using a Green drive. For storage, the Western Digital Green drives are very good and reliable. I have 2 of the 1TB drives myself.

i have 20 of the WD20EADS - only 1 failed so far (after 1 day of use 4 months ago) and these have been up 24/7 for 4 months.

i have had over 50% failure rate in 12 drives of the WD15EADS, though.

Originally Posted by pgjensen

i have 20 of the WD20EADS - only 1 failed so far (after 1 day of use 4 months ago) and these have been up 24/7 for 4 months.

That's a lot of hard drive space.

Whenever I buy a Seagate drive I feel like I'm gambling. I know this isn't logical as forums are typically filled with complaints potentially inflating perception of problems. Regardless I've never run into issue with WD; I have first gen 74gig Raptors still in use nearing their 5 year warranty, and 400gig RE2 that have lasted ages.

After their firmware fiasco i am in this same boat, i will not buy any Seagate drives until they can prove themselves to be competent again

Originally Posted by MrGuvernment

After their firmware fiasco i am in this same boat, i will not buy any Seagate drives until they can prove themselves to be competent again

Unfortunately, I think Seagate's reputation took a big hit as a result of that. A few years ago, I was constantly regarding Seagate drives as the best-in-class and they were always one of the brands I would look at first when buying a HDD. Now, two factors have come into play: Western Digital (and other brands) stepping up their game and improving drive reliability/segmentation/quality and Seagate's firmware fiasco.

I only own WD hard drives, so regardless of what you're looking for, get the WD Green. :-)

Originally Posted by PC_User

Unfortunately, I think Seagate's reputation took a big hit as a result of that. A few years ago, I was constantly regarding Seagate drives as the best-in-class and they were always one of the brands I would look at first when buying a HDD. Now, two factors have come into play: Western Digital (and other brands) stepping up their game and improving drive reliability/segmentation/quality and Seagate's firmware fiasco.

Same boat, i always bought Segate drives, now i will say their ES2 line is awsome, i have 8 500G in a raid 10 at work and not one has failed in about a years time.,

So what IS the deal with WD's head parking controversy? Has there been real evidence that it can shorten the mean time before failure?

i'll tell you one thing that is interesting...

the drives originally came with an 8s time period for the head park.

now the drives come with 12.8s time period.

doesn't matter for me since i set all of my wd idle times to 25.5s.

Originally Posted by pgjensen

i'll tell you one thing that is interesting...

the drives originally came with an 8s time period for the head park.

now the drives come with 12.8s time period.

doesn't matter for me since i set all of my wd idle times to 25.5s.

What do you mean? Where do you set that time and why?

You need the WDIDLE exe.

^Isnt that designed only for certain models of WD drives? Surely the head parking thing can't be too big of an issue. I would hope that the WD engineers know what they are doing. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can shed some insight on the issue.