Last Updated: September 23, 2021
While it may seem redundant to some, there are still budget-focused PC builders that search for the best hard drive (HDD) for gaming. They don’t offer the same read and write speeds as their newer SSD counterparts or the same acoustic performance but they are incredibly affordable and reliable. This makes the best HDDs a viable option for many where speed isn’t the main priority in certain games and where you have a lot of media files/ data that needs to be stored or backed up.
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In the following article, we have chosen five of the best HDDs available, catering to all needs and situations leaving no stone unturned. They range from Hybrid storage solutions to budget options with sizes varying from 500GB up to 14TB!
Without further ado let’s take a closer look.
Best HDD For Gaming: First Look
Seagate really is a name you can rely on when it comes to storage devices. The Firecuda comes packed with the two essential features that every storage junkie requires speed and capacity.
For those that don’t know, the Firecuda is a SSHD. This is a hybrid storage solution that has been engineered to have the features of both an SSD and an HDD in one. The best of both worlds. It has been equipped with 8GB of high-performance solid-state memory which gives it lightning quick loading times whilst still having a total capacity of 2TB.
We couldn’t think of a more fitting champion in the best performance category.
The Seagate Barracuda comes with a solid 3TB of storage space for you to mess around with. That’s enough storage space to accommodate all your steam games, media files, and important files making it the perfect selection for our $800 and $1000 builds. In many situations this still leaves you with a tonne of space to play around with.
Keep in mind that modern games today are starting to require spaces of at least 20-ish GB. With this, you can easily store about 120 25GB games no sweat. It is without a doubt, the best all round internal hard drive for gaming.
This monster of a storage solution is our top pick for the streamers and 4k video editors out there. Even though this was primarily built with NAS in mind, we feel it has a legitimate claim as our large capacity option.
With movements in modern technology becoming ever more frequent it won’t be long before we see the likes of 8k being more and more mainstream. For now however we’re in the ages of 4k, and for those that edit this kind of file, you understand the importance of enjoying a lot of storage.
We’ve named the Western Digital 14TB Ultrastar our top large capacity internal hard drive. It’s 7200RPM, as you’d expect, and comes with a 512MB cache which is much more efficient than any large storage on the market right now.
Like the 2TB FireCuda, you get both speed and storage capacity in one here.
You have 1TB of storage space to play within this model, enough room to store all your primary AAA game titles with ease. Further to this, the Firecuda has the luxury boot speeds and loading times which rival that of the SSD, making it much more effective than your regular HDD storage options.
If you liked the look of the 2TB Firecuda but can’t quite stomach the cost, this is surely the next best option for you. Essentially, this does what the 2TB version can do but only has half the capacity.
When you’re on a really tight budget but you badly need storage space in the meantime, this surely is the best you could get. For an extremely affordable price, you get 500GB storage space with 7200RPM speeds – enough to make sure you get a decent performance compared to what you could find in the price range.
How We Choose
As most will know, modern-day games are becoming much more demanding, for this reason, we decided to do some extensive research online to make sure the products we’re recommending are the best types of hard drive for gaming.
Since SSDs are king when it comes to speeds, we decided to limit our review to the HDD and SSHD boundaries. We didn’t solely rely on what we found on our end but instead, we also checked what our fellow professionals have to say about the hard drives to get a deeper understanding of the features.
Instead of just randomly picking colorful and cool hard drives we could find online, we spent an entire week checking reviews, forums, benchmarks, as well as feedback from manufacturer websites like Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital.
How We Test
Aside from the packaging – which is pretty much straightforward, there’s nothing more we can do but perform an in-depth testing on the hard drives straight away.
Below is a table that shows the results based on the 3 benchmarking tools that we used:
We boiled the results down to five of the best hard drives to save you time and to make it convenient for everyone.
The 5 Best Hard Drive for Gaming (HDD Buying Guide) benchmark
| Name | Sequential | 4K | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read [MB/s] | Write [MB/s] | Read [MB/s] | Write [MB/s] | |
| Seagate Barracuda (3TB) | 175 | 160 | 0.67 | 1.53 |
| Seagate FireCuda (2TB) | 134 | 168 | 0.65 | 5.04 |
| Seagate FireCuda(1TB) | 133 | 165 | 0.71 | 4.9 |
| Seagate Barracuda (1TB) | 168 | 154 | 0.81 | 1.52 |
| Western Digital Caviar Blue (320GB) | 85.4 | 82.7 | 0.5 | 1.64 |
We want to make sure that we’re getting the right numbers so we decided to do the test five times per hard drive. The numbers above were the average results based on the five tests performed.
Since we want to make sure you’re getting the best value for your money here, we want to keep you updated with how each of these performs long-term.
Things To Consider
Like with any piece of hardware, there are always going to be things to consider to ensure you make the correct hard drive purchase for your gaming PC. In this section, we are going to go over a few key factors that you need to be aware of and give you all the help you need to make that all-important final purchase.
Storage Needs
First and foremost, address your storage needs.
If you’re a PC enthusiast and you have a large library of games which you play on a regular basis, a large HDD is a no-brainer. This becomes even more important once you start using game recording software, like Shadowplay, which generates large raw video files on your HDD for you to deal with.
Since 2019, games are becoming heavier and heavier meaning it’s important to invest in a storage device with at least 1TB of space, if possible.
If you’re a gamer who isn’t trying to play every game under the sun, however, a smaller drive may be better-suited for you. Console gamers can probably make full use of the 1TB SSHD option we’ve provided since your storage will only be mainly used for games and not media files.
If you’re just squeezing in a budget, our Western Digital drive may be your best bet. While we’d highly recommend updating your storage at some point in the future, buying PCs in the $300 and under price range often means sacrificing storage for performance.
Does Hybrid Actually Matter?
Hybrid HDDs are an amazing compromise between an SSD’s speed and HDD’s raw storage and are often just the compromise people need.
If you wanted the absolute best performance in all your gaming and applications, a 2TB SSD would get that job done and then some. Unfortunately, SSDs cost way more per GB than HDDs do, and having space for all your games on an SSD simply isn’t feasible for most.
Meanwhile, a 2TB HDD is more than enough space for most people to store their games and media. I’ve been using a 2TB HDD for years now and I still haven’t quite filled it up, despite all the downloads and video recording I’ve done on my PC!
However, an HDD can sometimes become subject to slower loading times. As my HDD has aged, I’ve noticed its performance drop, meaning I’m left sitting on loading screens much longer than my contemporaries are.
A Hybrid HDD balances the benefits of both storage types but doesn’t quite replace either of them.
Brand
When it comes to HDDs, brand is extremely important.
Fortunately, Western Digital and Seagate are some of the best HDD manufacturers out there, with consistently high reviews and solid build quality.
If, for some reason, you decide to buy an HDD that isn’t on this list, make sure you’re buying it from a reputable manufacturer. A few other good manufacturers include Toshiba and Samsung.
A Note On SSDs
We do need to address the elephant in the room here, though: SSDs exist.
With an SSD, you can install your OS, programs and a few of your favourite games for rapid-fire loading and response times. SSDs are one of the most highly recommended user-experience upgrades that you can get on your PC.
If you’re okay with sacrificing storage space for speed, we highly recommend you get an SSD instead. It’s also worth noting that if you have the money, this isn’t necessarily an either-or situation.
You could buy a small SSD to enjoy its benefits with your OS and a few of your favorite games, then buy an HDD for your other games and your media storage. At least, you can do this with desktop PCs.
This usually isn’t possible on laptops and gaming consoles.
Read more: What Is The Best SSD For Gaming?
Which HDD is Right For You?
Hardcore gamers should get the 2TB Seagate FireCuda. Period. It’s the best gaming hard drive. It is literally the only hard drive in this list that has the features of both an SSD and an HDD. While the 1TB FireCuda is enough, the 2TB FireCuda should give you a fair amount of breathing time to save up and spend on other hardware components. Overall, this is great for long-term use or future-proofing as well.
Even though the Barracuda 3TB doesn’t have the hybrid features that the 2TB FireCuda boasts, it does have solid real world speeds, it’s actually faster in quite few situations. So, not only do you have the speed you need for a quality gaming experience but you also have a hefty 3TB at your disposal.
If you’re a casual gamer, however, we highly recommend you get the 1TB Seagate FireCuda. If you have the cash, by all means, go with the 2TB version. This should give you the speeds you need to enjoy the quality gaming experience we all crave, with no compromise in space.
If you’re a gamer who does a lot of video editing and streaming, our natural recommendation is the 14TB Ultrastar from Western Digital. It not only boasts an enormous 14TB of space, it also has a 512mb cache which is great for all-round usage. Combining these 2 features gives you a really efficient, powerful hard drive solution. It is also ideal for NAS setups.
If you’re a console gamer or perhaps you want to upgrade your laptop storage, we strongly recommend you either get the 1TB or the 2TB FireCuda SSHD since these are 2.5-inch drives that should fit perfectly well.
Lastly, if you’re on a really tight budget, make sure you get the Western Digital Blue 500GB. Compared to the rest of the HDDs in this price range, this has a speed of 7200 RPMs.
Related Storage Pages
If you are still looking for guides on the best storage devices for gaming, check out some of our other guides below.
Final Words
Ultimately, everything comes down to what fits your budget and your needs. We have covered the best hard drives (HDD) for gaming here and tried to ensure we cater to everyone’s specific requirements.
If you’re squeezing performance-per-dollar to the max with a budget build, go with the Western Digital Blue (500GB).
If you’re still performance-per-dollar oriented but want some decent storage, go with the Seagate FireCuda(1TB). It offers a reliable 1TB of storage for under $50.
If you want faster loading times without severely sacrificing storage space, opt for one of the two Hybrid drives. Seagate FireCuda 2TB and Seagate FireCuda 1TB will both serve you well in that regard.
If budget isn’t a concern and you just want room for all of your games, buy the Seagate Barracuda 3TB. It’s a massive 3TB drive and should suit your needs fine.
Lastly, if you need large amounts of storage space, there is no better choice than the Western Digital 14TB Ultrastar.
Our pick is the Seagate FireCuda 1TB.
What’s yours? Let us know down in the comments or head over to the WePC community and share!
