All difficult drives die. It'southward normal to purchase a new one every few years, either to supersede an old difficult drive or to use it every bit an additional fill-in bulldoze.

But which hard drive should you buy? What hard drive do I need?!

Hard drive shopping doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, there's a lot of room for error, so don't be anxious! Simply follow these guidelines, and you won't take to worry most ownership the incorrect hard drive.

1. Hard Disk Drive vs. Solid Land Drive

hard-drive-guide-hdd-vs-ssd
Prototype Credit: Hadrian/Shutterstock

The first consideration when deciding to purchase a information storage drive is whether y'all need a solid-country drive (SSD). While SSDs serve the same general function as traditional hd drives (HDDs), they have a few pros and cons.

An SSD is a type of data bulldoze that uses flash memory instead of the spinning metal disks found in traditional HDDs. Recall of an SSD like a massive USB flash drive or SD card.

But how important is that distinction?

  • SSDs read and write information faster.
  • SSDs describeless power, which conserves energy and extends laptop battery life.
  • SSDs have no moving parts, so they brand no noise and accept longer lifespans.
  • SSDs are more expensive per gigabyte, meaning they have smaller data capacities than HDDs at any given price point.

If money is a limiting gene and you need every bit much storage space as you can become, go with a traditional HDD. If you're ownership the bulldoze mainly for data backups and long-term data storage, go with a traditional HDD.

If the bulldoze is going to run an operating organisation or hold a lot of frequently accessed files and programs, then become with an SSD instead. Speed and performance are the master benefits of an SSD over an HDD.

Looking for recommendations? You lot can't go wrong with the Seagate BarraCuda 4TB iii.5-inch Internal HDD or the Samsung 870 EVO 1TB 2.five-inch Internal SSD. Both are solid picks for almost utilize cases.

2. Hard Drive Sizes and Interfaces

hard-drive-guide-form-factor
Epitome Credit: Matee Nuserm/Shutterstock

Once y'all've decided betwixt HDD and SSD, y'all have to selection a form factor. Thankfully, in that location are but ii "real" choices, and your electric current setup mostly dictates the right choice.

Information drives come up in two form factors: the 3.five-inch bulldoze and the 2.5-inch bulldoze.

In HDDs, data is stored on spinning metallic disks, which ways that more than disks are needed for greater data capacity. For this reason, desktop HDDs tend to exist 3.5-inches with a maximum capacity of 10-20TB, while laptop HDDs tend to be 2.five-inches with a maximum capacity of five-10TB (as of this writing).

SSDs don't accept any moving parts, so they can be made smaller than HDDs. As such, virtually SSDs come in the 2.5-inch form cistron. What if you need to fit an SSD into a 3.5-inch enclosure? Some adapters allow you turn ii.5-inch drives into 3.5-inch drives.

As for connections, most modernistic internal drives (both HDD and SSD) utilize SATA connectors. Older internal HDDs that were manufactured before the SATA standard utilize IDE connectors instead. External drives, however, connect to your system through a USB port regardless of whether they're HDDs or SSDs.

Annotation: Not certain what SATA, IDE, or USB hateful? Check out our postal service on common estimator cables.

three. Hard Drive Specifications and Performance

Here'southward what to await for in a mod hard drive:

Storage capacity. HDDs come in a wide range of capacities, capping out at 18TB per bulldoze due to physical limitations. SSDs can't hold as much space, and consumer-grade SSDs currently max out around 5-8TB per drive.

Transfer speeds. Many factors determine the performance of a consumer-course HDD, only revolutions per infinitesimal (RPM) is an important i. Higher RPM ways faster transfer of data to and from the drive.

You can ignore the bulldoze'southward SATA speed. For example, a modern drive might be listed as 3.0GB/s and 7200RPM. That showtime value is the SATA speed, which describes the theoretical maximum speed of a SATA connection. No HDD can transfer information at that kind of speed. However, a 7200RPM bulldoze will always be faster than a 5400RPM drive.

Enshroud infinite. When a hard disk needs to transfer information from one section of the drive to another, it utilizes a special area of embedded memory called the cache (or buffer).

A larger cache enables the data to transfer faster because more information can be stored at 1 fourth dimension. Modern HDDs can have cache sizes ranging from 8MB to 256MB.

Access times. Traditional HDDs have a couple of other factors that impact operation, such as the time it takes for the reader to position itself to read information from or write data to the drive.

While it's true that two 7200RPM drives could perform differently (east.g., one of them might be slower at re-positioning the disk reader), in that location'due south no standard way to compare access times. Plus, almost hard drives perform at similar levels these days, so don't worry too much near this particular detail.

For SSDs, look for sequential read and write speeds (likewise chosen sustained read and write speeds). Equally long every bit those speeds are within the SATA connector's max speed, which they nearly probable will be, you should exist fine.

Failure rate. Since HDDs have moving parts, wear and tear are expected over time—but not all HDDs wear at the same charge per unit. Some models are prone to fail within 12 months, while others take boilerplate lifespans exceeding six years. Information technology's your responsibleness to research this on a per-model basis before making a purchase.

On the whole, modern SSDs tend to last longer (average failure charge per unit of 2.0 1000000 hours) than modern HDDs (average failure rate of 1.5 million hours). Yet, for long-term information storage that stays disconnected for months or years, HDDs are more than durable than SSDs.

four. Price and Cost of Hard Drives

When shopping, y'all'll come across a wide range of hard drive prices for devices that all look very similar on the surface. It's up to y'all to make up one's mind which factors and features are most relevant to your needs, so select a difficult bulldoze that fits those needs.

However, one way to make up one's mind value is to separate the bulldoze'due south toll by its storage capacity to go its price-per-gigabyte.

For instance, consider the Western Digital Bluish HDD series.

The Western Digital 1TB Blue HDD is an all-around corking purchase for everyday consumers at $0.03 per GB. Whereas, the WD 4TB Bluish comes in at $0.027 per GB, and the WD 6TB Blue drops to $0.021 per GB.

Which ane of these offers the best value? The 6TB model. The 1TB, 4TB, and 6TB models have price-per-gigabyte values that subtract with larger storage infinite. Other drives that DON'T become more affordable with scale, though, and so you lot have to exist careful: some drives cost more per gigabyte at college capacities.

For instance, the Samsung 860 EVO 250GB Internal SSD is affordable, and the Samsung 860 EVO 500GB Internal SSD grants twice the infinite for less than twice the price, and when y'all get up to the Samsung 860 EVO 1TB Internal SSD, you get the best blindside for your cadet.

But the Samsung 860 EVO 2TB Internal SSD costs way more than than twice the price of the 1TB!

5. External Difficult Drives vs. Internal Hard Drives

Another affair to consider is whether this hard bulldoze will be housed in a desktop case/laptop trunk or used externally to connect to many different devices.

External drives are ideal for storage, backups, and transfers. They typically connect using USB 2.0, iii.0, or 3.ane, which have maximum transfer speeds of 60MB/s, 625MB/s, and 1,250MB/s, respectively. USB iii.ane is preferable, of course, but not essential unless you're transferring hours of data back and forth every single day.

External drives are portable. They tin can be shared between multiple computers without whatever hassle. Just unplug the USB, plug information technology elsewhere, and y'all're done. You can besides plug one into a TV or media eye for directly media playback.

In all other cases, internal drives are preferable.

Note: Whatsoever data drive can be used internally or externally—external drives are substantially internal drives placed in a special protective casing. If you buy an external drive, you can actually take it out of the casing and apply it internally!

How to Choose an External Hard Drive

For external drives mainly used for transferring files back and along, become an SSD with USB iii.1 support for speed and performance. Nosotros really like the Samsung T5 1TB USB 3.1 Portable SSD and take had much success with it.

For external drives mainly used for long-term data storage, get a large HDD similar the affordable WD Elements 4TB Elements Desktop Bulldoze. I use this for personal storage myself, and I won't be running out of infinite any fourth dimension presently!

If information security is your primary business organization, you might consider something like the Transcend 2TB StoreJet M3 External HDD. It comes with war machine-grade shock resistance, an anti-shock rubber instance, an internal suspension system that tin survive drops, and built-in 256-bit AES encryption.

6. Gaming Difficult Drives: PlayStation, Xbox, PC

Your hard drive choice tin can significantly affect the operation of games, which is why we e'er recommend SSDs for gaming.

Since SSD speeds far exceed HDD speeds, games will launch much faster and load much faster betwixt levels, stages, and maps. Seriously, the difference between SSDs and HDDs for gaming is nighttime and day. You'll regret using an HDD!

When choosing a bulldoze, y'all take to stick to the parameters of the device:

  • For PCs: Any hard bulldoze will work as long as you know the grade factor of the hard drive trophy in your case and the connectedness types on your motherboard. Again, it's most likely iii.v-inch for desktops and ii.5-inch for laptops and nearly likely SATA connections.
  • For Xbox 360: The original Xbox 360 uses ii.v-inch difficult drives prepare inside custom cases. To upgrade or supersede, you'll need to buy 1 of Microsoft'south overpriced replacements. Tertiary-party drives can be used but need to exist practical with Xbox-compatible firmware, which is far beyond the scope of this article.
  • For Xbox 360 S and E: The hard drives used in Xbox 360 South and E consoles are incompatible with the original Xbox 360, and vice versa. The 4GB models have internal flash memory that can't be removed or replaced. The 250GB models can be upgraded to 500GB by purchasing i of Microsoft's overpriced replacements.
  • For Xbox I: The Xbox One supports external drives through USB 3.0, which means you can utilise pretty much whatever SSD. Unfortunately, there'due south no piece of cake way to supersede the internal drive. Learn more in our article on taking reward of Xbox One external drives.
  • For Xbox One X: The Xbox I X as well supports external drives through USB iii.0 with a minimum size of 256GB. Unfortunately, there's no piece of cake way to replace the internal drive, and doing so will void your warranty.
  • For Xbox Series X and S:The Xbox Series X and S comes with an expansion bay, suitable for the 1TB  Seagate Expansion Card. The Seagate Expansion Menu is optimized for employ with the Xbox Series X/S, but y'all can too employ USB 3.0 or 3.1 external drives with the consoles.
  • For PlayStation 3: All PlayStation 3 models take 2.five-inch SATA drives that tin exist replaced and upgraded by users without hassle.
  • For PlayStation iv: All PlayStation 4 models, including Slim and Pro, have ii.5-inch SATA drives that tin be replaced and upgraded past users without hassle. They as well support external hard drives through USB 3.0.
  • For PlayStation 5:At the time of writing, PlayStation 5 users can utilise external USB iii.0 drives (or faster).

7. Internal and External Difficult Drives for Mac

If you're using a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, or iMac, then at that place are a handful of actress considerations you should keep in mind when ownership a hard drive.

Internal Mac Hard Drives

The most important thing is that Mac hard drive upgrades are pretty much DIY projects. You lot accept to tear your device autonomously merely to reach the internal drive, carefully replace information technology, and and so put everything back together. Even the easiest replacement tin have at least an hour. This also voids your warranty and any AppleCare insurance yous might take.

All MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac models 2012 and later utilise an internal 2.5-inch grade factor (except for 27-inch iMacs, which use an internal 3.5-inch form gene). Fortunately, iii.5-to-two.5-inch adapters practise be.

Things go a flake murky every bit far as SATA, PCIe, NVMe, and AHCI are concerned. For instance, 21.5-inch iMacs in 2017 only have a PCIe slot if the device was initially fitted with a Fusion Drive. You won't know which connections are available in your verbal device unless you lot specifically look information technology up.

External Difficult Drives for Mac

For external drives, y'all have several connection options, listed in order of increasing information transfer speeds: USB 2.0, USB three.0, USB 3.1, Thunderbolt two, and Thunderbolt 3 (also known as USB Blazon-C). Nosotros recommend USB 3.0 every bit the absolute lowest y'all should go.

Mac devices use Apple'due south unique file systems, so external hard drives ought to exist formatted in either HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) or Apple File System (APFS) for maximum operation.

But notation that most non-Apple devices won't be able to read HFS+ or APFS drives! In that location are ways to read HFS+ on Windows, simply APFS is and so new that compatibility is severely limited. The just format that cleanly works with both Mac and Windows is FAT32 (just it's old and has several downsides).

Have Care of Your Difficult Drives

If you take care of your difficult drives and other storage solutions, they'll take care of you. At least, for as long as they tin. Hard drives aren't indestructible, but if you lot continue them secure, they should protect your data for a long time.

Image Credits: AH Images/Shutterstock

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About The Writer

Gavin Phillips (1047 Articles Published)

Gavin is the Inferior Editor for Technology Explained, a regular contributor to the Really Useful Podcast, and a frequent product reviewer. He has a caste in Contemporary Writing pillaged from the hills of Devon, and more than a decade of professional person writing experience. He enjoys copious amounts of tea, board games, and football.

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