Hard Drives are one of the most important hardware peripherals of any Gaming PC build or console. A good Hard Drive can save you a lot of hassle and loading times. Currently, there are many different hard drives for Gaming PC, PS4, and XB1 in the market but choosing which one is the best can prove to be a daunting task.
Many attributes go into consideration when we talk about what makes a certain brand of Hard Drive stand out from the rest. A key attribute is, of course, the reliability of the hard drive, if your hard drive is prone to data failures and crashes then say goodbye to your peace of mind as no one likes to lose data out of the blue.
The truth of the matter is that mechanical hard drives will go bad eventually, but how soon that will happen is what matters when we talk about a reliable hard drive. Then there are other factors like speed and storage capacity which matter depending on your needs.
To help our readers choose the best hard drives for gaming PC and consoles, we have compiled a list of hard drives that have been put to the test over the course of years. Our choice of hard drives is based on the data published by Backblaze which is a cloud backup and storage service provider. Over the years they have gathered important stats regarding the hard drives that are used in their data centers. These stats are paramount in determining which hard drives tend to be more reliable and which ones fail more often.
Comparing Hard Drives based on the Performance Benchmarks from Backblaze:
Backblaze has recorded and saved an abundance of hard drive statistics from the hard drives that are operational in their data centers since April 2013. This information will help us in determining which hard drives survived for the longest with the minimal amounts of failures. Each entry consists of the date, manufacturer, model, serial number, status (operational or failed), and all of the SMART attributes reported by that drive. Currently, there are about 97 million entries totaling 26 GB of data.
What to look while buying Hard Drives for Gaming PC: The Basics
Before we get into this, readers who are new to hard drives should know that:
The Hard Disk Drive is the mass storage solution. This is a high capacity drive that stores data magnetically on circular platters (hence the “hard disk”), to the tune of up to 10TB (soon even 14TB!)
- Speed
The rotational speed of HDDs is the aspect that will tell you for the most part how fast the component will be. As a general rule, a 7200 RPM hard drive should be preferred to a lower speed drive of identical size, which will be noticeably slower booting up and accessing files. - Capacity
HDD capacity goes up extremely quickly with relatively little investment. A 500GB HDD is currently not priced much lower 1TB drive, with games and other applications increasing in size rapidly, allowing room to beyond your current needs can be helpful. - Physical Size
There are 2 sizes for hard drives: 2.5″ and 3.5″. The bigger size is considered the desktop size, and is generally a little faster than a 2.5″ drive of equal speed (“laptop size”).
Backblaze statistics for First Quarter 2018
| MFG | Model | Drive Size | Drive Count | Drive Days | Drive Failures | Annualized Failure Rate |
| Seagate | ST12000NM0007 | 12 TB | 16,800 | 1,296,465 | 32 | 0.90% |
| Seagate | ST10000NM0086 | 10 TB | 1,220 | 109,738 | 0 | 0.00% |
| HGST | HUH728080ALE600 | 8 TB | 1,045 | 94,024 | 3 | 1.16% |
| Seagate | ST8000NM002 | 8 TB | 9,891 | 888,774 | 21 | 0.86% |
| Seagate | ST8000NM0055 | 8 TB | 14,390 | 1,293,557 | 28 | 0.79% |
| Seagate | ST6000DX000 | 6 TB | 1,881 | 169,017 | 1 | 0.22% |
| WDC | WD60EFRX | 6 TB | 437 | 39,201 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Toshiba | MD04ABA500V | 5 TB | 45 | 4,050 | 0 | 0.00% |
| HGST | HDS5C4040ALE630 | 4 TB | 108 | 123,504 | 0 | 0.00% |
| HGST | HDS5C4040ALE640 | 4 TB | 5,578 | 505,045 | 8 | 0.58% |
| HGST | HDS5C4040BLE640 | 4 TB | 15,339 | 1,363,173 | 16 | 0.43% |
| Toshiba | MD04ABA400V | 4 TB | 146 | 13,090 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Seagate | ST4000DM000 | 4 TB | 30,941 | 2,822,282 | 178 | 2.30% |
| WDC | WD40EFRX | 4 TB | 45 | 4,050 | 0 | 0.00% |
| WDC | WD30EFRX | 3 TB | 180 | 16,200 | 1 | 2.25% |
| Totals | 98,046 | 8,742,170 | 288 | 1.20% |
List of Hard Drives to use in PC, PS4 and Xbox One for Gaming
1) HGST MegaScale HMS5C4040ALE640 4TB Hard Drive
This HGST 4TB hard drive has done an impressive job in the stats published by Backblaze. It is a 5700 rpm 64 MB cache SATA 3 drive. Out of 5,778 total drives, only 8 failed in the readings taken for the first quarter of 2018. It can be purchased from Amazon for 194 USD.
2) Seagate SATA 6Gb/s 3.5-Inch 4TB Desktop HDD (ST4000DM000)
The Seagate SATA 6Gb/s 3.5-Inch 4TB Desktop HDD (ST4000DM000) is a 5900 RPM drive. This particular drive has also been recommended by Backblaze for its cheap price and high performance/reliability. Out of the total 30,941 drives, only 178 failed in the first quarter of 2018. This makes it the best bang for the buck hard drive. It can be purchased for 84 USD from Amazon.
3) Western Digital WD30EFRX 3TB 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch hard drive
The Western Digital WD30EFRX 3TB hard drive is also highly regarded by BackBlaze. It has performed well over the years and according to the first quarter readings from 2018, out of the total 180 drives, only 1 has managed to fail which it makes it very reliable. It can be purchased from Amazon for 114 USD for 3 TB version.
4) Seagate 6TB Desktop HDD 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5-Inch
The Seagate 6TB Desktop HDD 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5-Inch hard drive is very well regarded hard drive for its reliability and performance. If you need an even bigger storage capacity in a reliable package, this is the hard drive for you. According to the stats, out of a total of 1881 drives, only 1 failed in the first quarter of 2018. This drive can be bought on Amazon for 284 USD.
5) Seagate 10TB IronWolf Pro 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch NAS Hard Disk Drive
The Seagate 10TB IronWolf Pro 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch NAS Hard Disk Drive is also a very durable choice if you really need the 10Tb storage capacity. According to the stats, out of a total of 1220 drives, only 3 managed to fail in the first quarter 2018 results. This hard disk can be purchased from Amazon for around 350 USD.
Let us know which hard drives for Gaming PC, PS4, and XB1 are you interested in, in the comments below.