This site is powered by its users. When you purchase something through our links, we may earn a commission.
Best HDDs 2023
1. Toshiba Enterprise Capacity 16 TB
Specifications
-Capacity 16T B/14T B/12 TB/10 TB/8 TB/6 TB/5 TB/4 TB/ 3 TB/2 TB/ 1 TB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 7200 RPM
-Cache 512 MB
Best overall. With the models of the MG series from Toshiba, i.e. hard drives with the model name MG08ACA, you have an extremely reliable HDD in front of you, which is especially suitable for continuous operation in a server, but it is also suitable for private use due to the price per gigabyte.
Pros
+ Protects data during power failure
+ High performance
+ Very low heat generation
+ Very high storage capacity
+ 5-Year Warranty
Cons
- Nothing
2. Toshiba X300
Specifications
-Capacity 14 TB/12 TB/10 TB/8 TB/6 TB/5 TB/4 TB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 7200 RPM
-Cache 128 MB/256 MB (depending on the model)
Best high capacity HDD. The Toshiba X300 is a very good desktop hard drive with an excellent price-performance ratio and very good transfer rates. You can't go wrong with the X300.
Pros
+ Quiet write access
+ Large cache
+ Fast
+ Economical
Cons
- Nothing
3. Western Digital WD Blue
Specifications
-Capacity 6 TB/4 TB/3 TB/2 TB/1 TB/500 MB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 7200 RPM/5400 (depending on the model)
-Cache 64 MB
Best value HDD. The 3-and 4-TByte models are affordable in terms of capacity, but at speed the Blue does not come close to the top models due to the low speed of 5400 rpm except 1 TB model which has speed of 7200 RPM. The Blue series is quite quiet.
Pros
+ Low power consumption
+ Very good Gigabyte price
+ High capacity
Cons
- Not very fast
4. Seagate BarraCuda
Specifications
-Capacity 12 TB/8 TB/6 TB/4 TB/3 TB/2 TB/1 TB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 7200 RPM/5400 (depending on the model)
-Cache 64 MB/256 MB (depending on the model)
Best budget HDD. Those who focus on the budget can do little wrong with the Seagate BarraCuda. With Seagate BarraCuda you get a solid speed and a lot of storage space for little money.
Pros
+ Low energy consumption
+ Very quiet
+ Cheap
Cons
- Lower random read / write speeds
5. Western Digital WD Black
Specifications
-Capacity 10 TB/8 TB/6 TB/4 TB/2 TB/1 TB/500 MB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 7200
-Cache 64 MB/256 MB (depending on the model)
Best gaming HDD. The black series delivers more performance than the Blue series with 7200RPM on all models. With up to 10 TB, you will have more than enough space for all the games. WD Black delivers high-speed transfers and read rates of your files with cache sizes of up to 256 MB.
Pros
+ Short write access.
+ Very fast transfer rates
+ 5-year warranty
Cons
- High power consumption
6. Western Digital VelociRaptor
Specifications
-Capacity 1 TB/500 MB/250 MB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 10000
-Cache 64 MB
Fastest HDD. The Velociraptor is by far the fastest 3.5-inch drive, and it raises the pace of ferromagnetic hard drives to a high level. This makes the drive particularly suitable for professional video editing, where high speed and high capacity are equally in demand.
Pros
+ Extremely fast
+ Very good read access
+ Good thermal properties
+ Use in raid arrays easily possible
Cons
- Somewhat high operating noise
7. Seagate IronWolf Pro
Specifications
-Capacity 18 TB/16 TB/14 TB/12 TB/10 TB/8 TB/4 TB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 7200
-Cache 128 MB/256 MB (depending on the model)
Best NAS HDD. Seagate IronWolf Pro drives are capable of running at 7,200rpm spin rate 24/7 without having to worry about drive failure. Helium drives have managed to reduce idle energy consumption slightly compared to the previous model. Only when writing noticed that the electrical power consumption has increased.
Pros
+ 3 years rescue service
+ 5 Years Warranty
+ Little more economical than its predecessor
+ Huge capacities
Cons
- Higher power consumption when writing compared to the predecessor
8. Seagate FireCuda SSHD
Specifications
-Capacity 2 TB/1 TB
-Interface SATA III (6Gb/s)
-RPM 5400
-Cache 64 MB
Best 2.5" SSHD. SSHDs are the best compromise between capacity, price and performance. 2.5-inch, 7 mm form factor means it is ideal for laptops. The drive will learn from your and your operating system habits, and it will cache the most frequently used files onto the NAND part of the drive. This will significantly boost your Windows boot-up times all the way to SSD levels, and it will also help with programs and games that you load often.
Pros
+ Great boot times
+ High compatibility with 2.5-inch 7 mm form factor
+ Very quiet
Cons
- Somewhat expensive
- The performance falls back to HDD level in normal file operations