# Any good 6TB - 8tb hard drives for gaming PC storage ?



## bluejans (Jun 15, 2019)

I'm sick of running out / worrying about diskspace. What's a good 6TB- 8Tb hard drive specifically for a dedicated gaming PC?

I've been running SSDs but I like to keep/try lots of games and I'm always running out of space, then adding SSDs and having to manage install locations, worry about updates, etc. I know some people use an SSD for some games, and then a hdd for the less important games, but I don't think I want to manage installs anymore, I'd rather just let everything install with default settings automatically.

What is the difference between the WD Colours – Blue, Red, Black, Green, Purple?
from all these 4 which can be used for gaming? what filmware has the red, blue, black and purple?
the filmware of red, blue, and purple? and black is for gaming?


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## cucker tarlson (Jun 15, 2019)

how much space do you need ?
hdds are always going to be slow compared to ssds,even the fastest 7200rpm ones.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 15, 2019)

HGST or Toshiba drives are absolutely awesome.

WD blue are like 'every day' drives - just your average home user affair.
WD Red are usually for RAID or NAS applications but you can use them in a PC no problem. max speed is 5400rpm
WD Black are their super performance drives - they are as fast as a hard drive can go but are loud, power hungry and put out a lot of heat.
WD Green are low power and speed drives - These are normally placed in external USB cases and used as secondary drives for non critical stuff that doesnt require a lot of speed. Due to their nature they 'power down' and have this energy saving mode that puts the drive into sort of a 'sleep mode' till its accessed again.
WD Purple are for things like CCTV and the like - situations where youre writing to the drive 24/7 365 so they are built for maximum reliability.

If for games you want WD Black but a 7200rpm blue will suffice but it just wont be as fast.

Though with hard drive technology over the years. WD Black drives have suffered from a lot of power creep. There are drives available that make use of bigger platters so can access data faster or just as fast as WD Black drives and this has been happening past the last 5-10years now.

Warranty varies on all of the drives - the blue and greens will only come with one or two year warranty while the others can have upto 6 or 7 years warranty.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> I'm sick of running out / worrying about diskspace. What's a good 6TB- 8Tb hard drive specifically for a dedicated gaming PC?
> 
> I've been running SSDs but I like to keep/try lots of games and I'm always running out of space, then adding SSDs and having to manage install locations, worry about updates, etc. I know some people use an SSD for some games, and then a hdd for the less important games, but I don't think I want to manage installs anymore, I'd rather just let everything install with default settings automatically.



I'm like you.  I store all my games on a HDD because I hate managing install locations and moving games back and forth. Though I only need a 3TB right now.  Though with just my Steam folder taking 1.25TB, and all my other games, I'll be upgrading to something bigger soon.

I would suggest you look into a piece of software called PrimoCache.  It allows you to use an SSD as a cache for a large hard drive.  That way, you're most played games, cache onto the SSD, and it is really like they are running off an SSD instead of a HDD.  And if you lose interest in a game and start playing a new game, the cache updates after you play the new game once or twice and that new game gets the benefit of running off the SSD without you having to do anything.



bluejans said:


> What is the difference between the WD Colours – Blue, Red, Black, Green, Purple?
> from all these 4 which can be used for gaming? what filmware has the red, blue, black and purple?
> the filmware of red, blue, and purple? and black is for gaming?



Ok, so this is hard because it has changed over the years but here is what it is currently AFAIK:

Blue: Slow 5400RPM drives meant for low power and storage. Avoid these, they're slow and in my experience tend to be unreliable.
Red: NAS drives with special firmware to enable TLER so the drives work well in RAID.  But they are still slow 5400RPM.
Red Pro: NAS drives with special firmware to enable TLER so the drives work will in RAID.  But these run at 7200RPM, so their faster.
Black: The high performance desktop drives.  These are probably the ones you want for your purpose.
Green: AFAIK, these aren't made anymore.  They were slow 5400RPM drives meant for low power storage, but the Blue drives transformed into that role and the greens were discontinued(or maybe the Greens were just rebranded as Blues and the old Blues were discontinued).
Purple: These are meant for surveillance(camera) systems. I'm not sure how much they differ from the Blue drives other than maybe a special firmware to prevent head parking.


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## R-T-B (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> baracuda pro are  faster  from  black  drives?
> also   do you believe that WD Black drives have suffered from a lot of power creep. ?
> also for gaming which is better black drives or blue drives?  or  baracuda pro  drives?



Black Drives and Baracuda Pro drives occupy approximately the same market segment, and fill approximately the same role performance wise.  It's a brand preference thing.

Blue drives tend to be cheaper/slower than the above.


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## cucker tarlson (Jun 15, 2019)

really,all you need is a backup drive.
all clients support backup
gog,origin,uplay,blizzard,steam - you just move the folder and find the installation
I use 2tb of ssds and 4tbs of hdds,whenever I feel like playing sth I just move it to a ssd

as far as your original question,the new seagate high capacity lines are the fastest









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aviod toshiba.I've got p300 myself - it's slower and louder than my old ass 1tb barracuda,and the spin up time is just ridiculously long.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 15, 2019)

newtekie1 said:


> I'm like you.  I store all my games on a HDD because I hate managing install locations and moving games back and forth. Though I only need a 3TB right now.  Though with just my Steam folder taking 1.25TB, and all my other games, I'll be upgrading to something bigger soon.
> 
> I would suggest you look into a piece of software called PrimoCache.  It allows you to use an SSD as a cache for a large hard drive.  That way, you're most played games, cache onto the SSD, and it is really like they are running off an SSD instead of a HDD.  And if you lose interest in a game and start playing a new game, the cache updates after you play the new game once or twice and that new game gets the benefit of running off the SSD without you having to do anything.
> 
> ...



WD has 7200RPM Blue drives afaik WD10EZEX & WD5000AZLX though youre right. Most of the blue line up are 5400rpm

The 6TB one is 5400RPM though So i suppose youre right in a sense.


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## Bones (Jun 15, 2019)

Just a suggestion:
If simply needing a drive for backup/archivial use but not expecting to have it in use all the time you may want to look at an external drive instead.
If so, be sure to get one that you can switch on and off whenever you want, that will save wear on the drive and the power needed for it to run for times when you don't want it "On".

The ones I have have a switch I simply turn on or off as I need and because they remain hooked to the PC I can access these anytime I want with a simple flick of the switch.
Another good thing about these is when you power it on the system automatically mounts it and to dismount/eject...... Just turn the powerswitch back off - Done.

Yet another good thing is as long as it's powered down a bug can't get in which could possibly save all the files on it if you happen to get hit with such. I use mine to archive everything I want backed up in some form.
Of course you can just leave it on too and use it that way as if it were an internal drive.
Downside is the interface they use, normally USB but there are different ones with different interface configs - You'd have to look them over to see what has what and if one in the size you need has the interface you use.

I've had good luck with Fantom drives, have one that's close to ten years old now with two more alongside it and yes, you can get them in the size you are asking for.
Example of what I have: https://www.newegg.com/black-fantom-drives-g-force-8tb/p/N82E16822204151
Not all of mine are exactly the same in size or interface but they all have the USB interface which is what I use.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> what  you mean when  you say  that  WD Black drives have suffered from a lot of power creep. ?



Im saying that WDs claim of their Black line of hard drives being the 'fastest on the planet' are very dated. There are 3TB Toshiba and HGST hard drives with better technology that run as fast or faster than the WD blacks because the increase in platter size.

So youre paying a premium on what WD claims to be gold dust  but other manufacturers have come up with a more refined gold dust that has a higher percentage of gold per gram and selling it for less.


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## cucker tarlson (Jun 15, 2019)

Bones said:


> Just a suggestion:
> If simply needing a drive for backup/archivial use but not expecting to have it in use all the time you may want to look at an external drive instead.
> If so, be sure to get one that you can switch on and off whenever you want, that will save wear on the drive and the power needed for it to run for times when you don't want it "On".
> 
> ...


or get a docking station.best thing ever.


FreedomEclipse said:


> Im saying that WDs claim of their Black line of hard drives being the 'fastest on the planet' are very dated. There are 3TB Toshiba and HGST hard drives with better technology that run as fast or faster than the WD blacks because the increase in platter size.


ironwolf,barracuda pro,skyhawk,red/red pro,hgst he - all better choices than wd black


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## Bones (Jun 15, 2019)

That'll work too. 
However they want to go, it's all up to the OP of course.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> you dont believe that baracuda pro and  blacks are the fastest  drives  for  gaming?



Every manufacturer will claim that their products are the best. Read some reviews and decide for yourself


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## cucker tarlson (Jun 15, 2019)

what freedom said is pretty much all that matters,platter size.









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do note that even the crappiest planar tlc drives read and access data at speeds that are impossible for hdds.


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## Bones (Jun 15, 2019)

Cache size of a platter style drive matters too if going with those.
The more the merrier.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 15, 2019)

You seem to be tunnel visioned on WD or Seagate  - so just flip a coin for which ever and call it a day.

Ive mentioned Toshiba and HGST multiple times with 3TB drives outperforming or performing close to WD black drives because of bigger platters but you seem to ignore it.


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## 64K (Jun 15, 2019)

For gaming a WD Black is fine. Splitting hairs is what is happening here.


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## EarthDog (Jun 15, 2019)

64K said:


> For gaming a WD Black is fine. Splitting hairs is what is happening here.


yep... not going to notice much difference between 7200rpm hdds and gaming. Don't go down a rabbit hole.

Toshiba, host, wd, Seagate....choose your poison..


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> I'm sick of running out / worrying about diskspace. What's a good 6TB- 8Tb hard drive specifically for a dedicated gaming PC?
> 
> I've been running SSDs but I like to keep/try lots of games and I'm always running out of space, then adding SSDs and having to manage install locations, worry about updates, etc. I know some people use an SSD for some games, and then a hdd for the less important games, but I don't think I want to manage installs anymore, I'd rather just let everything install with default settings automatically.
> 
> ...


For gaming purposes you want a black. They have the largest cache and fastest speeds among WD drives.  I still don’t have a single game on SSD, because of the size versus cost factor. It doesnt really affect my gaming experience negatively at all.

They are the most power hungry, but even that is minimal as far as system components go.  My blacks run pretty cool, staying in the 30’s when under use, and I rarely hear them.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> why  blacks are the most power hungry?
> 
> what  you mean when  you say  that  blacks are the most power hungry?



They use the most power and put out the most heat.  But overall, when you consider how much power a gaming computer uses, any hard drive uses a tiny amount of power compared to the other components.


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 15, 2019)

Well the reds and blues are tailored toward power efficiency and thus run slower and quieter.  Honestly, its only a few watts difference.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> the  filmwares  from blacks and baracudas pro can be  updated?



The firmware on all of them can be updated, if the manufacturer thinks there is a big enough of a problem with the drive to release an update.


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## Deleted member 158293 (Jun 15, 2019)

HGST 7200 NAS drives are absolutely fantastic for desktop use, which is what I use in my rigs.  Unfortunately WD discontinued them after buying them out and they are getting hard to find.

Since then I've started migrating to Seagate Ironwolf 7200 drives, I like the extra build quality of their NAS drives.

Too many past issues with WD Blacks for me.


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## Deleted member 158293 (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> what  you mean  Too many post issues with WD Blacks?
> what problems have  blacks?



Ninja'd...      ..  I meant "past" issues.   I might just be unlucky, but 2 out of 3 WD Blacks dead in under 5 years.  I now just go for NAS class drives everywhere, seem to be very reliable so far.


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## Deleted member 178884 (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> can the enterprize drives to be use for destop use? like blacks?


Yes they can.


bluejans said:


> do you believe that the ultrastar western are faster from blacks for gaming and home use?


They'll tend to be 5400rpm drives and they won't justify the cost difference.


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## Tatty_One (Jun 15, 2019)

Sorry guys, it's our little Greek friend asking the same questions for 9 months with his 104th alias, closing the bar early sorry.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 15, 2019)

bluejans said:


> do you believe  that the  ultrastar western  are faster  from blacks for  gaming and  home use?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



£200 for 6TB and  £270 for 8TB. I hope you got enough money


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