Parts Library / Storage / Western Digital 12TB WD Purple Pro Western Digital 12TB WD Purple Pro
Brand Western Digital
Model 12TB WD Purple Pro $408–$451 estimated range · from catalog price Oct 18, 2026
12TB WD Purple Pro (WD121PURP) surveillance HDD: 3.5" SATA, 7200 RPM, 256MB cache, 550TB/yr—ideal mass storage for always‑on NVR/AI systems.
Storage performance rank Top 66% of storage drives Tier Workstation ?GixCore tier What a part was built to do — not what it costs. Entry Budget Mainstream High end Enthusiast Flagship Workstation Workstation parts sit outside that ladder — built for sustained professional workloads rather than a price-for-performance rung. A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which.
Released May 2021
As an Amazon Associate, GixCore earns from qualifying purchases. Pricing note ?This range is based on our last recorded catalog price and is not a quote. Check Amazon for the current price.
Capacity 12 TB
Type HDD
Interface SATA
Read speed 245 MB/s
Write speed 245 MB/s
Form factor 3.5
↳ Find a match 72 compatible motherboards → ⇄ With nearby tiers Compare → + Test compatibility Check it in your build → C GixCore Editorial
Product overview Released on May 18, 2021, the 12TB WD Purple Pro (WD121PURP) belongs to Western Digital’s surveillance‑focused Purple Pro HDD family built for AI‑enabled recorders and analytics backends.
Positioned in the workstation tier, it exists to handle continuous, multi‑stream video with an enterprise‑class 550 TB/year rating and 5‑year warranty. As a 3.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s HDD with 7200‑RPM platters and a 256 MB cache, it’s best used as mass storage for long‑term video retention, NVR/NAS arrays, or other bulk archives where sustained writes and endurance matter more than seek speed. Unique note: it uses AllFrame AI firmware to help reduce dropped frames. Not discontinued as of July 2026.
Official product specifications ↗ Pairing fit
Compatible Motherboards Compatible options ranked for this part's performance class.
Specifications + Add to compare At a glance iEach dot represents a catalog model. Farther right means a higher measured value, not necessarily a better fit. Measured against the storage drives catalog
Capacity 12 TB
Gold S31 500GB Capacity: 500 GB 870 EVO Capacity: 1 TB BX500 Capacity: 1 TB Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 1TB Capacity: 1 TB GAMMIX S70 Blade Capacity: 1 TB Gold P31 1TB Capacity: 1 TB P310 1TB SSD Capacity: 1 TB WD Blue SA510 SATA Capacity: 1 TB WD_BLACK Capacity: 1 TB MP600 PRO LPX Capacity: 2 TB 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 Capacity: 2 TB 870 EVO Capacity: 2 TB 870 QVO Capacity: 2 TB 990 PRO 2TB Capacity: 2 TB BarraCuda 2TB Capacity: 2 TB Crucial T700 PCIe Gen5 NVMe 2TB SSD Capacity: 2 TB KC3000 2TB Capacity: 2 TB LEGEND 960 MAX Capacity: 2 TB MP700 Elite 2TB Capacity: 2 TB MX500 Capacity: 2 TB NM790 Capacity: 2 TB NV3 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Capacity: 2 TB P410 2TB Capacity: 2 TB QN322 2TB Capacity: 2 TB SFYRDK/2000G Capacity: 2 TB T-FORCE A440 Aluminum Heatsink 2TB Capacity: 2 TB T710 Capacity: 2 TB WD Black Capacity: 2 TB WD_BLACK 2TB SN770 Capacity: 2 TB 4TB WD Black Capacity: 4 TB 870 EVO Capacity: 4 TB 990 PRO 4TB Capacity: 4 TB MX500 Capacity: 4 TB Performance Plus Capacity: 4 TB Skyhawk 4TB Capacity: 4 TB Ultra 3D NAND Capacity: 4 TB WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB Capacity: 4 TB IronWolf 6TB NAS Capacity: 6 TB WD Blue 6 TB Capacity: 6 TB IronWolf 8TB Capacity: 8 TB 870 QVO Capacity: 8 TB 8TB WD Red Plus Capacity: 8 TB BarraCuda 8TB Capacity: 8 TB WD BLACK 8TB Capacity: 8 TB 10TB WD Purple Pro Capacity: 10 TB 10TB WD Red Plus Capacity: 10 TB IronWolf 10TB NAS Capacity: 10 TB 12TB WD Purple Pro Capacity: 12 TB This part IronWolf 12TB Capacity: 12 TB Arsenal Capacity: 14 TB Ultrastar DC HC530 Capacity: 14 TB IronWolf 16TB Capacity: 16 TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance HDD Capacity: 18 TB WD Red Pro NAS Capacity: 18 TB WD Red Pro NAS Capacity: 20 TB
500 GB 20 TB
Higher than 87% of storage drives Read speed 245 MB/s
WD Black Read speed: 164 MB/s WD Blue 6 TB Read speed: 180 MB/s 8TB WD Red Plus Read speed: 185 MB/s BarraCuda 8TB Read speed: 190 MB/s IronWolf 6TB NAS Read speed: 190 MB/s Skyhawk 4TB Read speed: 190 MB/s 4TB WD Black Read speed: 202 MB/s IronWolf 8TB Read speed: 210 MB/s IronWolf 10TB NAS Read speed: 210 MB/s IronWolf 12TB Read speed: 210 MB/s IronWolf 16TB Read speed: 210 MB/s 10TB WD Red Plus Read speed: 215 MB/s BarraCuda 2TB Read speed: 220 MB/s WD BLACK 8TB Read speed: 238 MB/s 12TB WD Purple Pro Read speed: 245 MB/s This part 10TB WD Purple Pro Read speed: 265 MB/s Ultrastar DC HC530 Read speed: 267 MB/s WD Red Pro NAS Read speed: 268 MB/s WD Purple Pro Surveillance HDD Read speed: 272 MB/s WD Red Pro NAS Read speed: 272 MB/s BX500 Read speed: 540 MB/s 870 EVO Read speed: 560 MB/s 870 EVO Read speed: 560 MB/s 870 EVO Read speed: 560 MB/s 870 QVO Read speed: 560 MB/s 870 QVO Read speed: 560 MB/s Arsenal Read speed: 560 MB/s Gold S31 500GB Read speed: 560 MB/s MX500 Read speed: 560 MB/s MX500 Read speed: 560 MB/s Ultra 3D NAND Read speed: 560 MB/s WD Blue SA510 SATA Read speed: 560 MB/s 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 Read speed: 2200 MB/s QN322 2TB Read speed: 2300 MB/s Gold P31 1TB Read speed: 3500 MB/s P410 2TB Read speed: 5000 MB/s Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 1TB Read speed: 5150 MB/s WD_BLACK Read speed: 5150 MB/s WD_BLACK 2TB SN770 Read speed: 5150 MB/s NV3 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Read speed: 6000 MB/s KC3000 2TB Read speed: 7000 MB/s T-FORCE A440 Aluminum Heatsink 2TB Read speed: 7000 MB/s MP600 PRO LPX Read speed: 7100 MB/s P310 1TB SSD Read speed: 7100 MB/s Performance Plus Read speed: 7200 MB/s SFYRDK/2000G Read speed: 7300 MB/s WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB Read speed: 7300 MB/s GAMMIX S70 Blade Read speed: 7400 MB/s LEGEND 960 MAX Read speed: 7400 MB/s NM790 Read speed: 7400 MB/s 990 PRO 2TB Read speed: 7450 MB/s 990 PRO 4TB Read speed: 7450 MB/s MP700 Elite 2TB Read speed: 10000 MB/s Crucial T700 PCIe Gen5 NVMe 2TB SSD Read speed: 12400 MB/s T710 Read speed: 14900 MB/s
164 MB/s 14900 MB/s
Higher than 25% of storage drives Write speed 245 MB/s
WD Black Write speed: 164 MB/s WD Blue 6 TB Write speed: 180 MB/s 8TB WD Red Plus Write speed: 185 MB/s BarraCuda 8TB Write speed: 190 MB/s IronWolf 6TB NAS Write speed: 190 MB/s Skyhawk 4TB Write speed: 190 MB/s 4TB WD Black Write speed: 202 MB/s IronWolf 8TB Write speed: 210 MB/s IronWolf 10TB NAS Write speed: 210 MB/s IronWolf 12TB Write speed: 210 MB/s IronWolf 16TB Write speed: 210 MB/s 10TB WD Red Plus Write speed: 215 MB/s BarraCuda 2TB Write speed: 220 MB/s WD BLACK 8TB Write speed: 238 MB/s 12TB WD Purple Pro Write speed: 245 MB/s This part 10TB WD Purple Pro Write speed: 265 MB/s Ultrastar DC HC530 Write speed: 267 MB/s WD Red Pro NAS Write speed: 268 MB/s WD Purple Pro Surveillance HDD Write speed: 272 MB/s WD Red Pro NAS Write speed: 272 MB/s BX500 Write speed: 500 MB/s MX500 Write speed: 510 MB/s MX500 Write speed: 510 MB/s WD Blue SA510 SATA Write speed: 520 MB/s Gold S31 500GB Write speed: 525 MB/s 870 EVO Write speed: 530 MB/s 870 EVO Write speed: 530 MB/s 870 EVO Write speed: 530 MB/s 870 QVO Write speed: 530 MB/s 870 QVO Write speed: 530 MB/s Arsenal Write speed: 530 MB/s Ultra 3D NAND Write speed: 530 MB/s 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 Write speed: 1600 MB/s QN322 2TB Write speed: 1800 MB/s Gold P31 1TB Write speed: 3200 MB/s P410 2TB Write speed: 4500 MB/s WD_BLACK 2TB SN770 Write speed: 4850 MB/s Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 1TB Write speed: 4900 MB/s WD_BLACK Write speed: 4900 MB/s NV3 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Write speed: 5000 MB/s GAMMIX S70 Blade Write speed: 5500 MB/s P310 1TB SSD Write speed: 6000 MB/s WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB Write speed: 6300 MB/s NM790 Write speed: 6500 MB/s MP600 PRO LPX Write speed: 6800 MB/s LEGEND 960 MAX Write speed: 6800 MB/s Performance Plus Write speed: 6800 MB/s 990 PRO 2TB Write speed: 6900 MB/s 990 PRO 4TB Write speed: 6900 MB/s T-FORCE A440 Aluminum Heatsink 2TB Write speed: 6900 MB/s KC3000 2TB Write speed: 7000 MB/s SFYRDK/2000G Write speed: 7000 MB/s MP700 Elite 2TB Write speed: 8500 MB/s Crucial T700 PCIe Gen5 NVMe 2TB SSD Write speed: 11800 MB/s T710 Write speed: 13800 MB/s
164 MB/s 13800 MB/s
Higher than 25% of storage drives
Capacity 12 TB
Type HDD
Read speed 245 MB/s
Write speed 245 MB/s
Form factor 3.5
Hardware Interface SATA III 6 Gb/s
Data Transfer Rate 600 MB
Interface SATA
Tdp 6 W 
