3TB or 4TB Seagate HDDs?

RealitySpeaks

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Sep 30, 2013
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I would like to get two HDDs for my Video Editing/Projects. I plan on using 1 for holding all the recordings I get off of FRAPs Screen Recorder and my Elgato Game Capture software. The 2nd HDD will hold all my renderings, edits in progress, and other projects. I'm also debating on whether i'll get another separate drive for games and downloads and misc. files. Which should I choose? The 3TB Seagate runs at 7200RPM and the 4TB runs at 5900RPM. Is speed the key? Or is storage more important?
 

jbseven

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Dec 2, 2011
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It really depends on whether your current pc usage leads you to believe you'd require more than 3tb and if the cost difference is acceptable to you.

According to HDD charts here on tomshardware, you would only get a 25-30MB/s boost in write speeds by choosing the 7200rpm one over the 5900rpm one.

Refer to these charts to help you make up your mind on a specific model:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2012/-25-IOMeter-2006.07.27-Streaming-Writes,2929.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2012/-24-IOMeter-2006.07.27-Streaming-Reads,2928.html

Do also refer to 4k random read/write charts
 

RealitySpeaks

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The problem I have is indeed the pricing. The 3TB 7200s are $50 less than their 4TB 5900 counterparts. The way I see it. I can get x4 3TB drives for the price of x3 4TB drives. Plus, at that price, I can get the same capacity from 4 of the 3TB drives and the 7200RPM performance for the same price as the slower 4TB drives, and only 3 of them.