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Hi, great in-depth analysis of the drives. I am wondering if you could give me a quick idea why my 2 new WD 18tb Red Pro drives have varying scores from week to week even after a reboot.
I posted to r/pcmasterrace with screenshots running CDM
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1etx3kh/comment/ligbc8a/?context=3
Thank you.
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That’s quite a noticeable difference in speeds—100MB/s to 240MB/s is a big jump. Here are some possible reasons why you might be seeing such varying results:
Background Processes: As I mentioned before, background tasks can significantly affect HDD performance. Things like system updates, antivirus scans, backups, or even just other applications accessing the disk can slow down your read and write speeds. If these tasks are running during your tests, it could explain the drop to 100MB/s.
Drive Caching: WD Red Pro drives use caching to improve performance. The first few reads or writes might be much faster due to data being cached in the drive's memory. However, once the cache fills up, the drive has to write directly to the platters, which is slower and can cause speeds to drop.
Fragmentation: Although less of an issue with modern drives and operating systems, file fragmentation can still impact performance. If the files being accessed are scattered across the disk, the drive has to move its read/write heads more, which can slow down access times and overall speed.
Connection Interface: Check if there are any issues with the cables or the ports you're using. A loose or faulty SATA cable or using a SATA II port instead of a SATA III port can restrict your speeds. Ensuring all connections are secure and using the highest speed ports available can help maintain consistent performance.
Drive Health: While your drives are new, it's still good to check their health using SMART diagnostics. Look out for any errors or warnings that might indicate issues with the drives themselves.
Drive Power Management: Some hard drives enter power-saving modes when idle. If your drive has just come out of a low-power state, the initial speeds might be slower until it ramps up to full speed. This can cause variations in performance, especially if you're not using the drives continuously.
