Suggest me a HDD for my gaming PC

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

I am looking to purchase a HDD for my PC. For windows I am already using a Samsung 850 Evo 120GB. Now I just need a reliable HDD.

I heard that 4TB ones are not much reliable which is just opposite to this.
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/what-hard-drive-should-i-buy/

Thus I am looking for some expert opinions which HDD should I buy cosidering their worth, 2TB, 3TB or 4TB. I am currently looking at the following:

Seagate 4TB ST4000DM000 - $140
Seagate 3TB ST3000DM001 - $101
Seagate 2TB ST2000DM001 - $76

Toshiba 3TB DKTIN3TB7200 - $101
WD 2 TB Purple - $83

I was thinking to get a Seagate 4TB or 3TB. Looking now for opinions.

EDIT- WD Blue and Black series are not available here in India. And WD Red 2TB costs equal to Seagate 3TB ones. So I am not sure if I should consider them, that's why I am here looking for suggestions.

basroil · Oct 12, 2015

Skip seagate, they have too many issues (even had factory installed viruses in the disk at one point!). Go with WD (Blue, Black, or even Red/Purple )or HGST

RCFProd · Oct 12, 2015

basroil :

A lot of Seagate HDD's are good. Usually only their 3TB drives are questionable.

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

basroil :

And where did you hear this information at?

From what I have read the Seagate 4TB is one of their best drives currently. I personally have never had any issues with Seagate and have used them for 13 years.

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

basroil :

The problem is that WD Blue and Black, both are not available here in India.

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

Same here. Been using Seagate since my childhood. But I am now here asking as I have now built a PC after almost 6-7 years.

geofelt · Oct 12, 2015

Here is some nice info on the wd "rainbow"
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Understanding-the-WD-Rainbow-674/

Whatever you buy. it always has a chance to fail.
If you are at all concerned, make a plan for EXTERNAL backup of whatever you value.

basroil · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

http://www.pcworld.com/article/139576/article.html <-- remember that?

Other than that, I've had about half my seagate drives (~20 of them) fail or develop serious read/write issues (not quite failure level, but soon will be dead) in about 6 years, while I've had just two (of a dozen) WD drives fail in the same time period, and one failure was actually the enclosure not the disk itself. And of course you have empirical data from backblaze too (though they tend to abuse their drives and drive failure rates up quite a bit)

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

basroil :

jimmysmitty :

http://www.pcworld.com/article/139576/article.html <-- remember that?

Other than that, I've had about half my seagate drives (~20 of them) fail or develop serious read/write issues (not quite failure level, but soon will be dead) in about 6 years, while I've had just two (of a dozen) WD drives fail in the same time period, and one failure was actually the enclosure not the disk itself. And of course you have empirical data from backblaze too (though they tend to abuse their drives and drive failure rates up quite a bit)

And so which series of WD you use?

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

Also, are NAS and Surveillance series supposed to be more reliable that basic series? As they are meant to be running continuously all the time, I guess.

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

basroil :

That was due to a subcontractors mistakes on one of Seagates subsidiary products. It sucks but then again how many other products that come from China also have issues?

I don't fault them for an issue that they didn't make.

And you have a personal failure issue yet I have not. So who is right? And statistics can be skewed. I saw one test with more drives of one brand and less of another. That can easily skew the results. Should always use a similar sample size to eliminate variables.

I have had a very bad time with HGST desktop drives yet everyone now recommends them (after WD bought them). Another drive I see a lot of failure are the 7mm Toshibs 2.5" drives. But I might be the only one.

OP, do they have the ST4000DX001 4TB available in India? If so that one is probably the best 4TB drive to get.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/desktop-hdd.15-st4000dm000-4tb,3494.html

The one you linked is also not bad. In some areas it keeps up with the HGST 4TB 7200RPM HDD.

basroil · Oct 12, 2015

Akr706 :

The Red line from WD and most of the other NAS drives are a bit more reliable than entry level drives for normal use. The surveillance ones though are optimized for sequential operations.

I've personally had mostly Green/Red drives, but blue and black as well. All are fine, though green is better for infrequent access.

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

Akr706 :

Yes NAS/WD Reds are designed for 24/7 use so camera systems or NAS based servers. Much like the Seagate Constellation series of server drives.

If I had to buy a WD I would not go lower than a black. The Greens are low power based drives. They can go between 5900 and 7200RPM and turn off when not in use to save power. The Blues are standard 7200RPM drives, sort of middle of the road. The Blacks are high performance 7200RPM drives. Top of the line for consumer WD drives.

I have used all drives and so long as you buy WD or Seagate they will be fine as long as you don't plan to throw them around. I am currently running 2 Seagate 2TB ST2000DM001 in a RAID0 that I have had for probably 4 years now. They are my media/gaming drives and I have installed/uninstalled tons of games and loaded/deleted tons files on them.

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

basroil :

That was due to a subcontractors mistakes on one of Seagates subsidiary products. It sucks but then again how many other products that come from China also have issues?

I don't fault them for an issue that they didn't make.

And you have a personal failure issue yet I have not. So who is right? And statistics can be skewed. I saw one test with more drives of one brand and less of another. That can easily skew the results. Should always use a similar sample size to eliminate variables.

I have had a very bad time with HGST desktop drives yet everyone now recommends them (after WD bought them). Another drive I see a lot of failure are the 7mm Toshibs 2.5" drives. But I might be the only one.

OP, do they have the ST4000DX001 4TB available in India? If so that one is probably the best 4TB drive to get.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/desktop-hdd.15-st4000dm000-4tb,3494.html

The one you linked is also not bad. In some areas it keeps up with the HGST 4TB 7200RPM HDD.

Nope. Couldn't find that one. But there are 4TB versions of WD Purple and Seagate SV35 available here at around $22 more cost that the basic 4TB Seagate.

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

The SV35 is designed, like the WD Reds, for 24/7 operation but also constant writes. It will probably last longer in a lower use situation.

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

Thanks! Btw any second preference ? I will first try to look for WD black somewhere else because right now on ebay they are priced at about 1.5 times of the basic Seagate 4TB.

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

As I said the Seagate 4TB is not a bad drive either. It should be fine for what you want to do if you cannot find a WD Black, which I see no reason to over pay by that much for a drive.

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

Just one more thing. Legacy bios support max 2TB or 3TB HDD ?

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

Legacy BIOS, if you have a really old system, is 2TB but if you have a newer system then it can support larger drives.

What you need to watch for is MBR vs GPT. If you install Windows in legacy and use a MBR partitioning format you will be limited to 2TB total size. If you want more than 2TB in a single partition then you need to install it in a GPT partitioning type.

Akr706 · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

Can I run my windows in legacy with my SSD in MBR partition, while this new HDD in GPT ?

jimmysmitty · Oct 13, 2015

Is it a newer motherboard? If so then yes. I have done that before many times. Although if you are using Windows 8 or 10 it is better to run in UEFI mode.

Suggest me a HDD for my gaming PC

Reputable

Glorious

Expert

Champion

Reputable

Reputable

Titan

Glorious

Reputable

Reputable

Champion

Glorious

Champion

Reputable

Champion

Reputable

Champion

Reputable

Champion

Reputable

Champion

Share this page