The best hard drives aren’t as fast as the best SSDs, but they’re definitely more affordable. Plus, the best hard drives come with huge amounts of space at a lower price, rather than costing a fortune for a glorified flash drive. You won’t find the best hard drives in the best Ultrabooks, but they’re definitely worth looking at as an external hard drive – especially if you have a lot of data to back up.
latest and largest hard drives’s Viccoman for high-end desktops will be available in two models: VC810– VC820
Picking the right hard drive for your needs ultimately boils down to what you need it for. If you’re looking for the best hard drive for game consoles, you’re looking at a 2.5-inch drive, or maybe one of the best external hard drives. If you have one of the best gaming PCs, however, and you just need something for archival storage, you’ll want something big and fast. It’s kind of a lot to take in, but we took the liberty of gathering up the best hard drives on the market in 2018, and listed them here.
Best hard drive: BarraCuda
High RPM and storage at a low price
Interface: SATA 6Gbps |
Capacity: 2 – 3TB |
Cache: 64MB |
RPM: 7,200
BarraCuda lineup is the indisputable face of the best hard drives. And, it’s not without good reason – they offer a great ratio of gigabyte per dollar and speed benefits to top it off. The 2TB model hits a 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.
Best high capacity hard drive: Toshiba X300
Big drives at nimble speeds
Interface: SATA 6Gbps |
Capacity: 4 – 8TB |
Cache: 128MB |
RPM: 7,200
Massive storageHigh speedsShort warranty
Even if its laptops aren’t as popular as they used to be, Toshiba is still a huge name in computing, and has a lot to offer. When it comes to the best 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 performance. These drives all spin at 7,200 rpm and include 128MB of cache for higher speeds. The only downside is the warranty only lasts two years, which feels short for a drive meant to store so much important data.
Best gaming hard drive: VelociRaptor
Faster spinning, faster gaming
Interface: SATA 6Gbps |
Capacity: 250GB – 1TB |
Cache: 64MB |
RPM: 10,000
Insane HDD speedBuilt-on coolerPriced like an SSD
When it comes to PC gaming, speed is everything. So, for anyone resisting the allure of an SSD, and looking to kick it old school with one of the best hard drives, it’s time for something that spins just a bit faster. And, with the VelociRaptor and its insane 10,000rpm spin speed, you’re going to want to pay attention to it. With capacities up to 1TB available, the VelociRaptor drives are ready to store large game libraries, ad the super fast platters will help those games launch and load quickly.
- 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 FireCuda
Best budget hard drive: Blue Desktop
Heavy on storage, light on price
Interface: SATA 6Gbps |
Capacity: 500GB – 6TB |
Cache: 64MB |
RPM: 5,400 – 7,200
An option for every budgetFaster option available Less value from smaller drives.
offering a solid bargain with its line of Blue hard drives. With a wide variety of storage options from a small 500GB to a capacious 6TB, the Blue is a viable pick for almost any type of PC build that’s sticking to a budget. The best value comes from the larger drives – they’ll give you much more storage per dollar spent. And, if you’re looking for a bit more speed, there are also 7,200rpm models available that don’t come with too much of a price hike.
Best hybrid hard drive: Firecuda Desktop
Faster than a HDD, cheaper than an SSD
Interface: SATA 6Gbps |
Capacity: 1TB – 2TB + 8GB |
Cache: 64 MB |
RPM: 7,200
NAND-boosted performanceAn already fast platterNo competition
SSDs are all the rage these days, and it’s not hard to see why. But if you need a lot of fast storage, hybrid hard drives – which contain a small amount of solid state storage to bump of their speed – are a great option. The FireCuda is the best hybrid drive out there, it can fit up to 2TB of data, and then its 8GB of solid state cache storage learns and stores the data you use most to access it faster. That speed boost is even sweeter when you consider this drive spins at a fresh 7,200rpm. With its 5-year warranty and approachable price tag, it’s easy to see why it’s one of the best hard drives out there.
Best laptop hard drive: FireCuda Mobile
Adds more pep to a laptop than an HDD
Interface: SATA 6Gbps |
Capacity: 500GB – 2TB + 8GB |
Cache: 64 MB |
RPM: 5,400
Multiple capacity optionsPerformance above a standard HDDFlash storage comes at a premium
Upgrading 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 aren’t terribly attractive, as anything fast comes with a serious markup, but 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 laptop’s lifespan.
Best game console hard drive: My Book
For when you need to fit all the games
Interface: USB 3.0 |
Capacity: 3 – 20TB
Game consoles hard drives fill up fast with massive libraries. And, like laptops, the upgrade path for 2.5-inch hard drives isn’t all that great, but that’s where an external drive comes in. The 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.
source: techradar