The internal hard disk, or simply hard disk, occupies a place of choice in a computer. It is the storage medium for all files (system, multimedia, data...). Its capacity (1Tb, 2Tb...), the interface and the size of the bays influence its performance. Buy the right model with our guide to the best internal hard drives.
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Our selection
"Based on its consistent performance in benchmarks, the WD Red Plus 4TB is a better choice for users who want to maximize the storage capacity…"
"At Seagate, the big deal is this 2TB hard drive from the BarraCuda Compute line. In addition to its storage, it offers convincing performance, including…"
"Guaranteed for 5 years, the Seagate Barracuda Pro ST14000DM001 offers 14TB of storage. This internal hard drive is suitable for home and even professional use,…"
"The Crucial BX500 is not a SATA hard drive but a 2.5-inch SSD. It is solid and offers a storage capacity of 2TB. This SSD…"
Based on its consistent performance in benchmarks, the WD Red Plus 4TB is a better choice for users who want to maximize the storage capacity of their desktop computer.
98,40 £ on AmazonWestern Digital's signature Red Plus 4TB internal hard drive expands the manufacturer's current offering with 33% more raw storage capacity than previously available in the same 3.5-inch form factor with a SATA 6Gbps interface. The WD Red Plus lineup also includes 1TB, 2TB and 3TB models, but lambdas and small businesses with one- to five-bay NAS units can now install or upgrade up to 4TB, the most robust storage capacity in the industry.
Other important technical features of the WD Red Plus 4TB include a 64MB cache and WD's Intellipower low power spindle. This Intellipower technology is important because drives in this segment benefit from 24/7 continuous operation and need to consume minimal power in order to reduce costs.
At Seagate, the big deal is this 2TB hard drive from the BarraCuda Compute line. In addition to its storage, it offers convincing performance, including a transfer rate of 210 Mbps.
42,72 £ on AmazonThe Seagate BarraCuda ST2000DMZ08 has a capacity of 2TB or more than 2,000GB. This device is compatible with 3.5-inch bays and can operate on the SATA III interface. The transfer rate can reach up to 210 Mbps internally. On the performance side, we appreciate the speed of 7,200 rpm. In addition, data access is faster thanks to the 64 MB cache.
The BarraCuda Compute line is known for its versatility, as well as its reliability. This drive is built to last and offers increased security for your data storage. This model offers performance worthy of more expensive hard drives, while remaining affordable in terms of budget.
Guaranteed for 5 years, the Seagate Barracuda Pro ST14000DM001 offers 14TB of storage. This internal hard drive is suitable for home and even professional use, with 2 years of data recovery coverage.
640 £ on AmazonThe BarraCuda Pro ST14000DM001 has 14TB of storage. It is a 3.5-inch hard drive, running at 7200 rpm and with 256 MB of built-in cache. It operates on the SATA III 6 Gbps interface and has a drive that uses PMR (Parallel Magnetic Recording) to integrate the bits. It is filled with helium to reduce drag and consumes 6.9 watts when spinning, about 4.9 watts when idle and less than one watt in standby.
The 14TB BarraCuda Pro is a bit faster than its predecessor, which had a 12TB capacity. Notably, the current model has about 10 Mbps more transfer rate if you want precision. RAID 0 interleaving could be useful for video professionals who deal with raw video types. On the other hand, it is expensive.
The Crucial BX500 is not a SATA hard drive but a 2.5-inch SSD. It is solid and offers a storage capacity of 2TB. This SSD is designed for budget-conscious users who want good performance.
140 £ on AmazonThe Crucial BX500 is the third generation of internal SSD from the manufacturer. In addition to the 2TB version presented here, it comes in 1TB, 240GB and 480GB versions. This internal SSD features a simple, no-frills DRAMless design that takes advantage of Silicon Motion 2259XT as well as 96-layer NAND and uses a new SM2258XT 4-channel SSD controller.
Performance echoes the peaks of SATA 6 Gbps connectivity, offering 540 Mbps reads and 500 Mbps writes, with an endurance rating of 720 TBW or 390 GB per day for 5 years. MTBF has been set at 1.5 million hours, while advanced features include SLC write acceleration, TRIM and SMART support.
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The best internal hard drive in 2021
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| TOP OF THE TOP | CHEAP | TOP OF THE LINE | EXCELLENT | |
In accordance with our commitment, this buying guide does not contain any sponsored products. |
9/10 |
8/10 |
8/10 |
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| OUR SELECTION |
WD Red Plus 4Tb
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Seagate BarraCuda ST2000DMZ08 2Tb
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Seagate Barracuda Pro ST14000DM001 14Tb
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Crucial BX500 2Tb
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Based on its consistent performance in benchmarks, the WD Red Plus 4TB is a better choice for users who want to maximize the storage capacity of their desktop computer.
|
At Seagate, the big deal is this 2TB hard drive from the BarraCuda Compute line. In addition to its storage, it offers convincing performance, including a transfer rate of 210 Mbps.
|
Guaranteed for 5 years, the Seagate Barracuda Pro ST14000DM001 offers 14TB of storage. This internal hard drive is suitable for home and even professional use, with 2 years of data recovery coverage.
|
The Crucial BX500 is not a SATA hard drive but a 2.5-inch SSD. It is solid and offers a storage capacity of 2TB. This SSD is designed for budget-conscious users who want good performance.
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Type
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HDD
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HDD
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HDD
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SSD
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Form factor
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3.5 inch
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3.5 inch
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3.5 inch
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2.5 inch
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Capacity
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4 TB
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2 TB
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14 TB
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2 TB
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Interface
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SATA 6 Gbps
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SATA 6 Gbps
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SATA 6 Gbps
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SATA 6 Gbps
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Internal transfer rate
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150 Mbps
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210 Mbps
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260 Mbps
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540 Mbps
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Two formats exist on the hard disk market. The 2.5" format which is the small format, more compact and the 3.5" format, more usual and traditional, found in most desktop computers. Regarding the types, we find the HDD or traditional hard disk, the SSD or Solid State Drive and, finally, the SSHD which is a hybrid type between SSD and HDD. A purchase of an HDD and an SSD is the optimal solution to advise. However, if there are budgetary constraints, you can opt for SSHD.
This criterion has a major influence on the execution of programs and data linkage with the hard drive.5400 rpm is the speed of rotation of a hard drive indicated to store data. For more performance, models with a speed of 7,200 rpm are recommended.
An HDD with an average throughput offers a data transfer rate between 150 to 200 MB/s. SSDs offer a higher throughput. For SSHD, it combines both technologies and embeds both a platter hard drive and flash memory. Its use allows you to launch your usual programs, with half the time.
The most famous manufacturers of internal hard drives are Western Digital, Seagate technology, LaCie, Toshiba, Hitachi, Samsung.
The
higher the amount of cache, the better the performance of the hard disk. The purpose of the cache is to load in advance a portion of the data that will be used. As a result, the data is accessed and read faster. An average hard drive has a cache size of 64 MB.
A hard drive's role is to store digital data. It is therefore essential that it has a large capacity. More storage means more videos, music, and games. To know if a product benefits from a good quality/price ratio, it is necessary to know that currently to have a product sold less than 0,07 euro the gigabyte is a good deal.
Actually, the standard of connectivity used is the SATA III. If you want an optimal performance, make sure that your computer accepts this standard. If it is equipped with an earlier standard, it may reduce the transfer speed considerably. SSDs, on the other hand, have connectors like M2, PCIe and mSATA.
An internal hard disk is a component placed inside the computer. Its function is to save or store digital data for the operation of the computer: operating system, programs and software, but also the user's personal data (work files, music, video, photos, etc.).
This element is literally the computer's memory. Its capacity is measured in bytes, but nowadays data are increasingly voluminous, the size is expressed in multiples of this unit, namely, the megabyte (MB), the gigabyte (GB) and the terabyte (TB). For example, video files take up more space than word processing or spreadsheet files.
The hard drive connects to the computer's motherboard usually via SATA interfaces. A hard disk controller acts as a link between the disk and the computer's processor to interpret the command between these elements.
Internal hard drives are divided into 3 main categories: HDD, SDD and SSHD.
The HDD is the traditional type of hard drive. It consists of mechanical parts and magnetic platters that rotate at high speeds. This type of hard disk currently uses SATA III technology, with speeds of up to 600 MB/s. This type of hard drive provides increased storage capacity, but offers less transfer speed compared to an SSD device.
Advantages:
Disadvantages :
Who is it for?
HDDs are intended for people who want to benefit from storage space for their digital data.
This
type of storage embeds flash memories, unlike HDDs which are composed of magnetic platters. SSDs offer more transfer speeds with a rate of up to 3 GB/s. They are less fragile and allow to access data and launch programs with a very high speed. They are rather intended to contain the operating system and the programs of the computer.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Who is it for?
SSDs are indicated for computer users who want more speed and performance for accessing data and launching programs.
This type of hard drive is a hybrid or fusion between HDD and SDD. It is a conventional hard drive combined with an SSD storage unit, with a capacity of 8 or 16 GB. This storage unit serves as a cache for the hard disk and does not store any data. This type of hard disk is more powerful than a classic HDD and is currently more accessible financially speaking.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Who is it for?
SSHD is ideal for large storage space with significantly improved access speeds compared to HDD.
The SSDs in the comparison are available in different formats such as M.2, mSATA and PCIe. They connect directly to the motherboard without a cable.
Although these two storage solutions are similar, they differ in several ways.
SSDs are recommended to improve the speed of execution of the operating system and programs installed on the computer. This type of storage is also quieter and uses less energy. They are also less fragile. Nevertheless, SSDs have only a small capacity compared to an HDD.
HDDs have a large storage space and are more affordable at the price per gigabyte. They are very convenient for backing up large data. They are also suitable for RAID storage and also for NAS storage. HDDs are also suitable for use in game consoles, allowing them to have more storage space to hold more games.
In summary, HDDs offer more storage space but less speed and SDDs have less capacity but have a high transfer and access rate.
Never fill an SSD to more than 60% of its capacity.
For optimal performance, it is recommended that you fill the storage space of an SSD hard drive to less than 60% of its capacity so that the storage controller can effectively manage the data distribution.
Reset cells marked as erased with TRIM.
Use
this command to reset cells marked as erased on SSDs. This is to ensure more durability of the cells as they degrade over time, thanks to the repeated rewrites they undergo.
Take advantage of the SSD and HDD at the same time.
An
SSD is fast but deteriorates over time, due to the rewrites performed on this media. For more durability of it, it is advisable to back it up with a conventional HDD. Specify the location of the operating system and programs on the SSD and user data on a traditional HDD.
SSDs don't defrag.
An
SDD doesn't defragment. They don't need this process because they have flash memory and not trays like a traditional HDD. Especially since this operation will result in several rewrites to the SSD cells and will only shorten its lifespan.
Fix and mount HDDs with care.
HDDs are very fragile. These computer components are very sensitive to shocks and drops. Proceed to their transport and handling with care.
The best internal hard drive depends on your needs and your budget. Read our buying guide for the best products out there.
An
internal hard drive is a storage device that is located inside the computer. Its role is to store and back up digital data permanently.
The
internal hard drive can be installed in different devices such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, game consoles or NAS servers
.
The
internal hard drive can come in 3 different types, namely HDD or traditional hard drive, SSD containing flash memories and SSHD which merges the properties of the first 2 types
.
The
internal hard drive contains the operating system and programs, but also the user's personal data
.
According to the
model, the capacity of an internal hard drive varies. This size can go up to several terabytes (TB).
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