Looking for nice WD HDD for gaming?

[hamada.hosny93]

THREAD UPDATED !! (Check below)

Hi guys, my problem is a little-long subject so please read it carefully.

I need 2TB HDD for my 1st gaming PC, considerations are:
- 7200 RPM.
- 2TB one piece.
- Purpose = Gaming.
- Nice quality and longevity.
- Brand: WD.

Only 2 brands available in my country to buy WD vs Seagate ... but since seagate has bad reputations in the last few years i started to look at WD, that's why WD is within my considerations.

At first i thought to get 2 Pieces of WD Blue 1TB HDD 7200 RPM but the problem is that the case i'm going to buy only supports 2 mounts for HDD which will be a problem if i wanted to expand later for additional space, that's why 2TB one piece is within my considerations.

I have found 4 types of WD HDDs available to buy:
- 2TB black 7200 RPM which is totally away from my budget.
- 2TB blue 5400 RPM, it's in budget but its 5400 RPM and i can't find something blue with 7200 RPM, probably its not produced from the manufacturer's side.
- 2TB purple and 2TB red which i don't know about their spins with a previous knowledge that purple HDDs are used with cameras.

Here i need to ask some questions:

(A) Based on my considerations needed and budget problem, which HDD you mostly recommend for me?? (Ignore the WD Black one).

(B) I know this is maybe a strange question but is there any possibility to create additional mount for 1 more HDD in a computer case generally (regardless of the model name)?? like exploiting 2.5 SSD unneeded mount to be a 3.5 HDD mount ?? i don't know how but i'm just asking and hope for some help.

UPDATE: NEW CONTENT ADDED BELOW:

Which is way way better to go with:

120GB SSD (windows only and programs) + WD Blue 2TB 5400 RPM(gaming and transferring data)
vs
2 HDDs 1TB WD Blue 7200 RPM

ALSO

As my budget is restricted, which SSD is better from those:

- ADATA Ultimate SU650 120GB 2.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
- Kingston A400 120GB Solid-State Drive (SA400S37/120G)

 

[clutchc]

Since gaming only uses the HDD to load the game and when moving to a new map, the 5400 RPM won't be a major hardship if that's all you can afford. But where do you live that the WD Blue 2TB drive isn't available? That is the most common of the 'colors'. What other brands would you accept?

To answer your other question about adapting more HDDs that the case provides, it may help to know the exact make/model of your case.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Honestly, if you cant get a WD Blue, then the Seagate is probably your best option. While they some of the Seagate drive have a bad reputation, you will not be storing "mission critical" work here. If you lose a drive, you wont lose the game, you just download it again from Steam or wherever else. I would go with the cheaper of the 2tb drives you can find because you are using it for gaming.

Too answer you other question, you can get 2.5" HDD. They are used in laptops and can cost a little bit more. A lot of external HDD use 2.5" drives and they are typically cheaper than internal HDD for some reason. Buying external drives and removing the case and installing the drive into the computer is usually a lot cheaper than buying internal HDD.

 

[hamada.hosny93]

But where do you live that the WD Blue 2TB drive isn't available? That is the most common of the 'colors'. What other brands would you accept?

I didn't say its not available, WD blue 2TB is available but only with 5400 RPM speed, no 7200 RPM available for 2TB blue version, i tried to search the WD site for 7200 RPM of 2TB blue but i didn't find anything.

Other brands available here is only Seagate and i don't trust seagate cuz of its bad reputations and short-lifetime of their HDDs.

 

[hamada.hosny93]

Too answer you other question, you can get 2.5" HDD. They are used in laptops and can cost a little bit more. A lot of external HDD use 2.5" drives and they are typically cheaper than internal HDD for some reason. Buying external drives and removing the case and installing the drive into the computer is usually a lot cheaper than buying internal HDD.

I'm sorry i didn't understand that point, do you mean that external HDD can be installed as 2.5 drive in the case ?? sorry but my knowledge about that is little, I know that external HDDs are connected using a USB port 😀 😀 if you can clarify more to me pls 😀

 

[feelinfroggy777]

An external HDD is just an internal HDD in a case. If you open the case, there is a HDD inside. It will have the same SATA and power connections that is used inside a PC. They are jus connected to a small PCB where you hook up the USB.

For some reason that no one can explain, external HDD are a lot cheaper than internal HDD (especially at high capacities). You can even get the same WD RED external HDD that is the same RED internal and in some cases can be half the price.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

For example, here is the US on newegg you can get a WD black 4tb passport for $109. But the same WD black 4tb internal drive is $182. Same drive, one is just in a case. But the case can be taken apart and the drive removed.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822235133&cm_re=external_hdd-_-22-235-133-_-Product

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=234-000G-000W6

It is the biggest scam since hot dog buns sold 12 buns to a package and wieners sold with 8 to a package.

 

[hamada.hosny93]

An external HDD is just an internal HDD in a case. If you open the case, there is a HDD inside. It will have the same SATA and power connections that is used inside a PC. They are jus connected to a small PCB where you hook up the USB.

For some reason that no one can explain, external HDD are a lot cheaper than internal HDD (especially at high capacities). You can even get the same WD RED external HDD that is the same RED internal and in some cases can be half the price.

For example, here is the US on newegg you can get a WD black 4tb passport for $109. But the same WD black 4tb internal drive is $182. Same drive, one is just in a case. But the case can be taken apart and the drive removed.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822235133&cm_re=external_hdd-_-22-235-133-_-Product

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=234-000G-000W6

It is the biggest scam since hot dog buns sold 12 buns to a package and wieners sold with 8 to a package.

Thank you so much bro for that info, really was so helpful, anyways just 2 more questions if you can help:

(1) those external HDDs, are they available with higher speeds like 7200 RPM or they are limited only to 5400?

(2) Regarding point (A) in my main question and my considerations mentioned there, which HDD would you recommend more for gaming ??

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Yeah, I think you can get a 7200rpm external HDD. Like I said, the drives inside are all the same. But for gaming, you are not going to see a huge difference in 7200 vs 5400. In some games with a lot of map loading and whatnot, then there will be a difference. But not a lot of games.

I would definitely go with a SSD for the OS and go with the 5400rpm HDD. You will have a much better experience with windows loaded on a SSD vs a HDD. Kingston makes a good SSD, so I would go with that.

 

[spellweavergeneziso]

Getting 2 TB HDD for gaming is a bad idea honestly. You don't need to have 50 games installed at once because you would still only play few of them once in a time. The most bottlenecking factor in terms of gaming is slow data storage. If you want GAMING data drive, then go for low capacity, but high speeds like SSD or M.2 SSD. You can still put the rest of the games on the HDD. But you should always have games that you paly on faster drives. It will greatly reduce loading times. No matter how fast CPU/GPU/ RAMs you've got there, if you will have games installed on slow data drive, there will be still lags and stuttering.

 

[hamada.hosny93]

Yeah, I think you can get a 7200rpm external HDD. Like I said, the drives inside are all the same. But for gaming, you are not going to see a huge difference in 7200 vs 5400. In some games with a lot of map loading and whatnot, then there will be a difference. But not a lot of games.

I would definitely go with a SSD for the OS and go with the 5400rpm HDD. You will have a much better experience with windows loaded on a SSD vs a HDD. Kingston makes a good SSD, so I would go with that.

Again so thanks for your reply, but sorry again still have a couple of questions:

(1) You just said for gaming 7200 vs 5400 RPM will not have a huge difference, but what about data transfer ... is it good enough? and if it bad, will the SSD for OS will add some speed for data transfer ??

(2) Regarding Seagate drives:

Its well-known that seagate has a bad reputations for their HDDs like bad sector problems and short-lifetime.

But i heard about some seagate HDD model is good one but still not sure about that so need some help to rate it:

Model Name: "Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM006 2TB 64MB SATA 6Gb/s HDD" ... I'm going to use it for high-end gaming as i said before ... what do you think about that model ??

 

[seagate_surfer]

hamada.hosny93, thanks for considering Seagate! Please feel free to ask if you run into any questions on the hard drive. Also, here is the data sheet and manual of that drive in case you need it.

Also, here is some more information on some recent tests.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Yeah, I think you can get a 7200rpm external HDD. Like I said, the drives inside are all the same. But for gaming, you are not going to see a huge difference in 7200 vs 5400. In some games with a lot of map loading and whatnot, then there will be a difference. But not a lot of games.

I would definitely go with a SSD for the OS and go with the 5400rpm HDD. You will have a much better experience with windows loaded on a SSD vs a HDD. Kingston makes a good SSD, so I would go with that.

Again so thanks for your reply, but sorry again still have a couple of questions:

(1) You just said for gaming 7200 vs 5400 RPM will not have a huge difference, but what about data transfer ... is it good enough? and if it bad, will the SSD for OS will add some speed for data transfer ??

(2) Regarding Seagate drives:

Its well-known that seagate has a bad reputations for their HDDs like bad sector problems and short-lifetime.

But i heard about some seagate HDD model is good one but still not sure about that so need some help to rate it:

Model Name: "Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM006 2TB 64MB SATA 6Gb/s HDD" ... I'm going to use it for high-end gaming as i said before ... what do you think about that model ??

Data transfer for a HDD to another HDD will be slower, that is for sure. But if you are using the HDD to store games, you wont be transferring data from one HDD to another. Even when you download a game from steam, you will be limited by the download speed of the internet more than you will the write speed of the drive.

I would go with the Seagate drive. WD drives fail, Seagate drives fail, Toshiba drives fail, etc. What is the common thread? They all fail. So I would not get hung up on bad reputation. Because you will find people here that will tell horror stories of WD, Seagate and Toshiba.

Again, you are storing games, not mission critical data. All of these games can be downloaded again from steam and saves are stored to the cloud. If a drive fails, you just download the game again from Steam. It is not lost forever. So I think you are thinking a little too hard about this one.

 

[hamada.hosny93]

Data transfer for a HDD to another HDD will be slower, that is for sure. But if you are using the HDD to store games, you wont be transferring data from one HDD to another. Even when you download a game from steam, you will be limited by the download speed of the internet more than you will the write speed of the drive.

I would go with the Seagate drive. WD drives fail, Seagate drives fail, Toshiba drives fail, etc. What is the common thread? They all fail. So I would not get hung up on bad reputation. Because you will find people here that will tell horror stories of WD, Seagate and Toshiba.

Again, you are storing games, not mission critical data. All of these games can be downloaded again from steam and saves are stored to the cloud. If a drive fails, you just download the game again from Steam. It is not lost forever. So I think you are thinking a little too hard about this one.

Yes, all drive brands have a probability of fail, but to be honest, seagate has the highest probability of fail, but since almost 1 year they launched a new model of barracuda, i don't know much about its probability of fail, that's why i have asked you about it.

I'm not going to store games only but also going to play games on the hard drive if you misunderstand this, also going to transfer data from my drive to another drive or from my drive to a USB flash memory. Anyways i got your idea, thanks sooooo sooo much for your time