While theyre not as fast as the best SSDs, the best hard drives beat them when it comes to price.
Plus, they have an ample amount of storage space, rather than forcing you to break open your piggy bank for a glorified flash drive the best hard drives offer huge amounts of storage without making your wallet cry.
They might not be able to outpace the SSD in the best Ultrabook, but theyre certainly capacious.Of course, the best hard drive is going to vary from person to person.
For a laptop or game console, you may want to check out a 2.5-inch or external hard drive.
For the best gaming PCs, though, the best hard drives are going to have a high capacity and fast speed.
Luckily, weve done all the heavy lifting to put together a list of the best hard drives for gaming, laptops NAS setups and more.
No matter what youre looking for, you can be sure youll find the best hard drive for your needs today.Best hard drive: Seagate BarraCudaHigh RPM and storage at a low priceInterface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 2 3TB | Cache: 64MB | RPM: 7,200Low costFast spinning disksLimited cacheIn the market for hard drives, Seagates BarraCuda lineup rears up as the most identifiable face of HDDs.
Theres a good reason for that.
They offer a great ratio of gigabyte to dollar and performance perks to top it off.
The 2TB model hits a particular sweet spot by balancing high performance and affordability.
Since this drive combines 7,200rpm platters and high density data, computers outfitted with this drive will be able to read data extra fast.
Be sure to double check specifications on each model, as not all BarraCudas hit that high spin speed.Best high capacity hard drive: Toshiba X300Big drives at nimble speedsInterface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 4 8TB | Cache: 128MB | RPM: 7,200Massive storageHigh speedsShort warrantyToshiba is a huge name in computing.
Even if its laptops arent as popular as they once were, it has a lot to offer in the component market.
When it comes to hard drives, the Toshiba X300 is a high-capacity, high-performance champ worth taking a look at.
The X300 drives boast great gigabyte-to-dollar value without sacrificing on the performance side.
These drives all spin at 7,200RPM and include 128MB of cache for fast operation.
The only downside is the warranty only lasts two years, which feels short for a drive meant to store so much important data.This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing.
Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Seagate BarraCudaBest gaming hard drive: WD VelociRaptorFaster spinning, faster gamingInterface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 250GB 1TB | Cache: 64MB | RPM: 10,000Insane HDD speedBuilt-on coolerPriced like an SSDWhen it comes to gaming, speed is king.
So, for anyone resisting the allure of an SSD and looking to find the best hard drive for the job, its time for something that spins faster.
Thats where WDs VelociRaptor clocks in at a blistering 10,000rpm spin speed.
With capacities up to 1TB available, the VelociRaptor drives are ready to store large game libraries, and the super fast platters will help those games launch and load quickly.Best budget hard drive: WD Blue DesktopHeavy on storage, light on price Interface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 500GB 6TB | Cache: 64MB | RPM: 5,400 7,200An option for every budgetFaster option availableLess value from smaller drivesWestern Digital offers a good bargain with its line of WD Blue hard drives.
With a range of storage options from a small 500GB to a massive 6TB, the WD Blue is a viable pick for almost any type of computer build thats sticking to a budget.
The best value comes from the larger drives, as they give increasingly more storage per dollar spent.
The small capacity drives dont come at a bad price, though.
If youre looking for a little more performance, there are also 7,200rpm models available that dont come with a serious price hike.Best hybrid hard drive: Seagate Firecuda DesktopFaster than a HDD, cheaper than an SSDInterface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 1TB 2TB + 8GB | Cache: 64 MB | RPM: 7,200NAND-boosted performanceAn already fast platterNo competitionWhen it comes to hybrid hard drives that include a small amount of solid-state storage to bump up their speed, theres virtually no competition against the Seagate FireCuda.
The FireCuda can fit up to 2TB of data, and then its 8GB of solid-state storage learns and stores the data you use most frequently to make accessing it even faster.
That flash storage speed boost is made even sweeter by the fact the hard drive itself is spinning at a fresh 7,200rpm.
Tack on a 5-year warranty and a reasonable price tag, and its easy to see why this drive is a winner.Best NAS hard drive: Seagate IronWolf NASStorage-galore for the networkInterface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 6 12TB | Cache: 256MB | RPM: 7,200Ready for RAIDFaster than smaller optionsPricier than non-NAS drivesIts a little unfortunate that the Seagate IronWolf NAS drives come at a premium, but they arent priced much more expensively than a standard hard drive at their capacity.
However, their native NAS optimization makes that premium totally worth it.
These drives are capable of running at a fast 7,200rpm spin rate 24/7 without having to worry about drive failure.
Really, if you have one of the best NAS devices for your business or home, the Seagate IronWolf NAS really is your best bet.Best laptop hard drive: Seagate FireCuda MobileAdds more pep to a laptop than an HDDInterface: SATA 6Gbps | Capacity: 500GB 2TB + 8GB | Cache: 64 MB | RPM: 5,400Multiple capacity optionsPerformance above a standard HDDFlash storage comes at a premiumUpgrading the storage in a laptop in a hard drive can be tough, since they typically require a smaller drive to fit.
A lot of the 2.5-inch options arent terribly attractive, as anything fast comes with a serious markup, but Seagates 2.5-inch FireCuda hybrid drive strikes a nice balance.
It offers an easy way to add lots of storage to a laptop while also giving it a speed boost thanks to 8GB of flash storage.
A 5-year warranty on the drive will also help ensure it for as long as almost any laptops lifespan.Best game console hard drive: WD My BookFor when you need to fit all the gamesInterface: USB 3.0 | Capacity: 3 20TBMassive storage optionsSimpler upgrade solutionPotentially slowerGame consoles hard drives fill up fast with massive libraries.
And, like laptops, the upgrade path for 2.5-inch hard drives isnt all that great, but thats where an external drive comes in.
The WD My Book strikes an amazing balance of storage and price, offering enough room for massive game libraries.
Running on USB 3.0, it may not be quite as fast as an internal drive upgrade, but it will run games and offer more storage at a cheaper rate.Best external hard drive: G-Technology G-DriveInterface: USB 3.1 (Type-C) | Capacity: 4 10TBFantastic performanceUSB Type-C V2Bigger than expectedAs time moves on and the best SSDs become more and more ubiquitous, there are many who are quick to declare the death of the best hard drives.
Luckily, devices like the G-Technology G-Drive are here to show these naysayers the life that remains in spinning disks.
Not only does this external hard drive offer huge amounts of storage, up to 10TB, but thanks to Thunderbolt 3 compatibility, it can even charge your laptop while you work.
If you have a MacBook Pro, its hard to think of an external hard drive that would be a better companion.Read the full review:G-Technology G-Drive2oj47GHDZTqKhHzDyPipZL.jpg#