WinBench 99 Version 2.0

Business Disk WinBench 99

Thanks to its high USB 2.0 performance, the Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB external hard disk drive was able to deliver much better results than the other USB 2.0 drives. Its performance lead increased even further when we ran it in the USB 3.0 mode.

High-End Disk WinBench 99

While the 500 GB My Passport Essential was not able to wrest the top spot from the Western Digital My Book Home Edition in FireWire mode, it was virtually equivalent in performance. When we tested it in USB 2.0, it was comparable in performance to the older 160 GB My Passport drive.

Transfer Rate Range

This chart shows you the range of platter-to-buffer transfer rates from the innermost track to the outermost track. In other words, it shows you the range of disk transfer rates of the hard drives (from minimum and maximum). However, because these drives are limited by the interface they are using, it actually reflects the performance of the drive's interface.

When used in its USB 2.0 mode, the Western Digital My Passport Essential drive was smack in the middle with the other USB 2.0 drives, with the notable exception of the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex which stagnated at just 20 MB/s.

When we switched to USB 3.0, the My Passport Essential's full transfer rate range was finally revealed. Unfortunately, it looks like Western Digital used an older Scorpio Blue drive with lower areal density platters. Hence, the drive had a much lower transfer rate range than the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex. The My Passport Essential 500 GB drive peaked at 66.5 MB/s, while the FreeAgent GoFlex 500 GB drive was 27.7% faster at 84.9 MB/s.

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