Product Description

WD Caviar Blue16 7200 RPM next-generation SATA hard drives feature 16 MB cache for lightning-fast performance, cool and quiet operation and up to 500 GB of storage for capacity-hungry applications.

Product Details

• Brand: Western Digital
• Model: WD5000KSRTL
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Dimensions: 3.88" h x 7.00" w x 7.50" l, 2.20 pounds
• Memory: 16MB
• Hard Disk: 500GB

Features

• 500 GB SATA 3.5-inch internal hard drive; advanced acoustics and cool operation for high-end computers, multimedia and gaming systems
• 7200 RPM spin rate; 16 MB cache; 300 MB/s transfer rate
• WhisperDrive technology minimizes noise; SoftSeek technology increases operational efficiencies; Data Lifeguard Tools protect data; ShockGuard protects hard drive during operation
• Designed for low-power consumption
• 3-year limited warranty

From the manufacturer
The WD Caviar SE16 7200 RPM next-generation SATA hard drive features 500 GB of storage and a 16 MB cache for lightning-fast performance. Yes, these reliable drives are fast, but they still deliver technologically advanced acoustics and cool operation. Designed for high-performance computers, multimedia and gaming systems.

Key Features

16 MB cache - Bigger cache means faster performance. A massive 16 MB cache combined with up to 300 MB/s transfer rate make these ultra-fast drives the perfect solution for the fully loaded PC with a fast processor.

Cool operating temperature - WD hard drives are designed to have the lowest power consumption of any high-capacity, desktop-class hard drive which lowers the operating temperature for enhanced drive reliability.

Whisper quiet - These highly reliable drives deliver technologically advanced acoustics. With its WhisperDrive and SoftSeek technologies, WD has minimized noise to levels virtually imperceptible to the human ear in home and business environments.

How this WD hard drive protects your data

• Data Lifeguard is an exclusive set of data protection features, including shock protection, an environmental protection system and real-time embedded error detection and repair. WD's Data Lifeguard technology automatically finds, isolates, and repairs problems that may develop over the life of a hard drive.
• Data Lifeguard Tools are software utilities designed for WD hard drives that work with the embedded Data Lifeguard features to make hard drive installation, diagnostics and repair both simple and worry-free. (Download Data Lifeguard Tools)
• ShockGuard instantaneously protects the hard drive against damage from bumps and vibrations while it is running. This technology enables WD Caviar drives to achieve industry-leading shock specifications.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Hard Drive for the Mac Pro
I purchased three of these for my Mac Pro Quad Core desk top which I purchased at Amazon. One 500Gb is set up as stand-alone/backup hard drive and Two 500Gb are set up as a RAID. They installed very quickly without any issues at all, are fast and work well with a Dual Processor Intel system, and are super quiet. I emphasize how quiet they are since I've had many Maxtor brand hard drives which while are quite reliable as well, but, seem to vibrate annoyingly at a frequency that resonates through the PC case. These WDs are in fact much quieter considering that TWO of the 500 GB SATAs plus another stand-alone 250 (comes with the Mac Pro for OS/boot drive) and a 3rd 500 Gb WD SATA drive of the same model (a total of four installed) are all installed and running so quietly. There's no noise or vibration to hint that 4 of these are inside the Mac Pro case. Read and Write performance on both the RAIDS and stand alones has been excellent. Highly recommended.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh....
Not only is this drive much faster than my old IDE drive with 8M cache, it is as quiet as can be. In fact, if I didn't see my screen updating, I'd think the drive was dead it's so quiet! It's almost night and day the difference in noise!!!

Replaced 4 of 4 < 1 year
WD replaced first with WD5000AAKS, second replacement, WD5000KS.. Be sure to register your drives with WD when you get them. One remaining drive (not replacement) making recurrent sound of winding down but no obvious performance problems. Ran WD boot CD diagnostics (short version) on each drive before 2nd drive went bad but nothing showed up. 22-JAN-08 number 3 died today. Still have noise. Mar-08 4th and last drive died. Replacement noiser than ever. Noticed these replacements are "recertified". No more Western Digital for me.