Question Internal HDD for gaming

[Guest_1]

Okay, so it's been a while since I bought an internal HDD (last time was 2010, I think). I've been playing my games from an SSD up until now but games are getting too big and larger SSDs are still too expensive.

Anyway, I decided to buy a 4TB internal HDD for gaming and I thought it would be easy like the old days, just check the RPM and cache and get the brand you want. But after some research I found that the HDD scene has become quite complicated lately especially since manufacturers like Seagate have chosen to obscure the RPM of their drives. Seagate Barracuda also comes in two versions one of which has 64MB cache while the other has 256MB.

I considered the drives usually recommended for gaming, the Toshiba X300 and the WD Black but the reviews for Toshiba X300 are the stuff of nightmares and the WD Black is definitely out of my price range. I have narrowed my options down to either a Seagate Barracuda or WD Blue, none of which come with a 7200 rpm speed.

So, I guess my questions are:

1. Why aren't mainstream 4 TB HDDs available in 7200 rpm? Does RPM just not matter as much anymore due to aerial density and other stuff?
2. Why would manufacturers choose to conceal the RPM rating of their drives?
3. How much does HDD cache matter for gaming? Will I see a noticeable difference in load times if I have a 256MB cache on my HDD vs a 64MB cache?
4. Can I get some comparison benchmarks for 2019 models of 4 TB Seagate Barracuda (64MB & 256MB cache) and WD Blue so I can pick which drive to buy?
5. Why is Seagate Barracuda more expensive than the WD Blue when Seagate is generally considered the cheaper brand?
6. Do you have any other suggestions for a 4 TB drive that'll fit in my budget ($ 90 to 120, slightly flexible)?

 

[popatim]

I've had no issues with my older Toshiba's as well.
The ones replaced by the 4tb WD blue's were 2tb and still work fine. My 5tb is from before Toshiba started making their own drives and is about 4- 5yrs old now. My 3TB drives are another year older with no issues.

My newest drive is a WD 8tb and peaks at over 200MB/s which is impressive for a 5400rpm model. It's used to record videos so I can't comment on its gaming prowess.

 

[Endre]

I've had no issues with my older Toshiba's as well.
The ones replaced by the 4tb WD blue's were 2tb and still work fine. My 5tb is from before Toshiba started making their own drives and is about 4- 5yrs old now. My 3TB drives are another year older with no issues.

My newest drive is a WD 8tb and peaks at over 200MB/s which is impressive for a 5400rpm model. It's used to record videos so I can't comment on its gaming prowess.

 

[Endre]

Well, if you need that much space... Multi-TB HDDs are the answer.
But not for me.
I’m even in the process of getting rid of my SATA SSDs, to replace them with M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSDs, or even Intel Optane 905P drives!

 

[popatim]

I'm a storage hound. Comes from being a hobby video editor where raids ruled. 🤣
I've 6 ssds, 3 hdd's, and two optical drives in my personal system.