WD Black vs WD Red vs Seagate FireCuda as my game drive

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AuroraSCII

AuroraSCII

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Oct 18, 2016
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Specifically looking for a drive to store my games on, with keeping need for large storage in mind.

My current setup includes:
1x 250 GB Samsung 850 EVO, system drive and productivity software
1x 1TB WD Blue from 2015, primary gaming drive
1x 5TB Toshiba MD04ACA50D, multi media and backup storage device

Not having all of my games installed currently, only the ones I play on a regular basis, I have a little less than 500 gigs of storage in use for games (488 to be exact).

Only very few of these games are on my system SSD (about 10%) because I need the space for productivity software (Office, Ableton, Photoshop etc.).

Out of my total 6,25 TB of space I currently only have about 500 gigs left free.

I am looking for:

A faster drive to store my games on. Debating between:
- Crucial MX 300 525 GB (ssd) (146€)
- Mushkin Triactor 480 GB (ssd) (130€)
- FireCuda 2 TB (sshd) (100€)

1 TB ssd's are not really in my ballpark currently, and while ~ 500 additional gigs of ssd storage are certainly very fast, they are barely enough for my storage needs when it comes to game files.

The FireCuda would leave me with plenty of room to expand on, and give me the option to use some of it's space for media and productivity files.

Another option would be to go for a cheap-ish 256 Gig SSD with 3D NAND like the

- ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB for about 80€
and one
- Toshiba P300 High-Performance 3TB for another 80€

The problem here is, that I could only store half my games on the ADATA SSD, and it's not the best space/€ ratio, which I would get with a ~ 500 GB ssd.

Further drives I am thinking about are:
- 4TB WD red for 145€
- 4TB WD blue for 128€

Any thoughts?
Is the FireCuda any good as a gaming drive?
Or should I go with SSD and HDD sperated?


fondest regards


Edit.
I don't switch around a lot between the games I playing.
Usually I will focus on one game, and after I'm done with it won't touch it again for a long time.
 
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R
You don't even need identical drives for RAID 0, but yes if data integrity isn't a concern, plenty of people have RAID in their own PCs. I would argue a "regular consumer" wouldn't have multiple HDDs or even a boot SSD + HDD so it's really all just a matter of perception. Do whatever suits your own needs.

A RAID 0 of 2x 3TB BarraCudas will perform better than a FireCuda. If you care more about data integrity on the RAID, you can get 3x identical drive (2TB BarraCudas for example) and put them in a RAID 5. Not quite as fast as a RAID 0 (still faster than a single FireCuda) but much more reliable.

Unless budget and space limitations are really a huge factor, I would generally recommend against getting a hybrid drive. I just don't trust...
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faalin

faalin

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Feb 22, 2012
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I run all my games off a WD 6TB red pro drive. Standard Reds run at 5400RPMs while the pro's run at 7200RPMs. Ive actually swapped games between my SSD and Red drive and other then load time cant tell a difference when in game what drive the game is on.
 
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Rookie_MIB

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Jul 27, 2013
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If you're not worried about security of the data and you're looking to get faster speeds and you have enough space for it, get a pair of identical and moderately fast HDDs and put them in a RAID0 (striped) setup.

Advantages: by utilizing two SATA channels you can effectively increase the read/write speeds of HDDs because you're utilizing two channels and if one HDD is waiting for the head to move the other one can still be writing. You can also get smaller drives cheaper. Stringing two small drives together can be cheaper than a single larger drive.

Disadvantages: Uses more power, space issues, and introduces more failure points. That's why you don't want to use it for critical data.

Good example: I can get a pair of HGST 2TB drives for $54 each (New, not refurbished. I can get refurbs for $34 each). A single 4TB HGST (non-refurb) is $150 - or 50% more expensive. For that $150 price point, I can actually get two 3TB drives (new, enterprise grade!) and get 6TB of space for the same price as that 4TB option. If it's not mission critical, and you're looking for faster speeds and more space, getting the twin drives and raiding them might be better way to go.

 
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AuroraSCII

AuroraSCII

Commendable
Oct 18, 2016
13
0
1,520
I have 4 potential slots left for 3,5 inch drives and one more 2,5 inch slot on the back of my motherboard tray.

@Rookie_MIB
I never looked into RAID setups because I always thought they're not worth it for regular consumers (for the disadvantages you mentioned).

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm now thinking about 2x 3TB Seagate BarraCuda's to put them into RAID 0, and use my 5 TB drive as a backup.

Are the BarraCuda's alright for RAID 0?

Toshiba P300's would be a little cheaper a the same size, any thoughts on those?
 
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R

rkzhao

Respectable
Mar 8, 2016
183
1
1,860
You don't even need identical drives for RAID 0, but yes if data integrity isn't a concern, plenty of people have RAID in their own PCs. I would argue a "regular consumer" wouldn't have multiple HDDs or even a boot SSD + HDD so it's really all just a matter of perception. Do whatever suits your own needs.

A RAID 0 of 2x 3TB BarraCudas will perform better than a FireCuda. If you care more about data integrity on the RAID, you can get 3x identical drive (2TB BarraCudas for example) and put them in a RAID 5. Not quite as fast as a RAID 0 (still faster than a single FireCuda) but much more reliable.

Unless budget and space limitations are really a huge factor, I would generally recommend against getting a hybrid drive. I just don't trust them as much for the somewhat situational gains in performance.
 
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