[SOLVED] Need a spinning platter HDD recommendation.

[Landstander]

I've asked this on another thread a few years back, but once again I'm in need of a OG internal HDD and it's time for a refresh of the question.
This time I'm considering a 5-6TB secondary/tertiary drive in my system.
StorageReview.com seems to be defunct, so that sucks.

I call this a gaming system, but I probably do more video editing, but primarily I just need bulk storage for media and backing up date from my other drives.
I last got a Seagate 3TB drive for this purpose, and it has been sketchy from shortly after I installed it, so NO SEAGATE! I don't care what statistics say, I have never had luck with anything from those guys.

I'm sure the Western Digital Black WD6003FZBX is considered the go to solution and I'm okay with that as an answer.
From my previous thread, I'm guessing MadMatt30, if he's still around here, would say the Toshiba x300 HDWR160XZSTA.
I've seen suggestions on other threads for the HGST Ultrastar from Hitachi, but isn't that just a barely rebranded WD drive? I don't understand the difference there.

Also, I will stare angrily at any post suggesting some sort of SSD, so don't bother.
Similarly, I won't install a chocolate cake or a small dog in my computer, so don't suggest something I'm not asking about.

 

[USAFRet]

WD Black or Tosh x300 would seem to fit your bill.

I have a Tosh x300 8TB. One of the members in my NAS box.
Working OK so far.

 

[Landstander]

I was thinking of going with the Toshiba, just because it was strongly recommended a few years back.
My hesitation is that it seems to be $100(?) cheaper based on non-sale prices at NewEgg. I was concerned that performance or longevity had caused a serious gap in price.
In fact, the extra $25 to go to 8TB on the Toshiba is really attractive (while still being $15 cheaper than the WD).

 

[USAFRet]

I was thinking of going with the Toshiba, just because it was strongly recommended a few years back.
My hesitation is that it seems to be $100(?) cheaper based on non-sale prices at NewEgg. I was concerned that performance or longevity had caused a serious gap in price.
In face, the extra $25 to go to 8TB on the Toshiba is really attractive.

FWIW, From my NAS

This is on 24/7 since installation.

 

[Bob.B]

I've asked this on another thread a few years back, but once again I'm in need of a OG internal HDD and it's time for a refresh of the question.
This time I'm considering a 5-6TB secondary/tertiary drive in my system.
StorageReview.com seems to be defunct, so that sucks.

I call this a gaming system, but I probably do more video editing, but primarily I just need bulk storage for media and backing up date from my other drives.
I last got a Seagate 3TB drive for this purpose, and it has been sketchy from shortly after I installed it, so NO SEAGATE! I don't care what statistics say, I have never had luck with anything from those guys.

I'm sure the Western Digital Black WD6003FZBX is considered the go to solution and I'm okay with that as an answer.
From my previous thread, I'm guessing MadMatt30, if he's still around here, would say the Toshiba x300 HDWR160XZSTA.
I've seen suggestions on other threads for the HGST Ultrastar from Hitachi, but isn't that just a barely rebranded WD drive? I don't understand the difference there.

Also, I will stare angrily at any post suggesting some sort of SSD, so don't bother.
Similarly, I won't install a chocolate cake or a small dog in my computer, so don't suggest something I'm not asking about.

Just going by warranty.
Wd......5yrs
Tosh....2yrs

 

[Landstander]

I would take that into account Bob.B, but the comment is frequently made in this forum that extensive testing shows there is nearly no difference in failure rate between manufacturers.
Of course failure between 3-5 years might be an issue across all manufacturers and Toshiba is seeking to make back the price difference int hat window...

 

[SkyNetRising]

I've seen suggestions on other threads for the HGST Ultrastar from Hitachi, but isn't that just a barely rebranded WD drive? I don't understand the difference there.

Get HGST helioseal drive.
Ultrastar DC HC520 12TB - this is my choice. Superior choice for mass storage.
Have several of them.

 

[Landstander]

Isn't the Ultrastar just another name for a WD drive?
Edit: And, wow, those are not cheap.

 

[madmatt30]

Isn't the Ultrastar just another name for a WD drive?
Edit: And, wow, those are not cheap.

Yep I'm still here and would still recommend the tosh drives ;-)

Added another 2 to the collection and all are still running strong so that's reinforced my recommendation in all honesty.

Not going to dismiss the hgst recommendation but they're expensive.

Should you be that way inclined it's probably cheaper to buy the WD d10 external 12tb and strip it down - it's the same drive in there albeit with WD branding.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-12TB-D...d10+12tb&qid=1615183518&sprefix=WD+d10&sr=8-1

 

[Landstander]

If that's true about the D10 External, that's pretty crazy. For one thing, it means the Ultrastar is intentionally overpriced. I know the WD Black probably has better performance, but I can sacrifice a little of that for Toshiba's bigger size, better price and (possible) better longevity.

My one hesitation remaining is I've been completely unable to find a performance review of Toshiba's current series.

The thing about HDD warranties is they're pointless.
If the drive dies completely, the data is lost, which is worse than any money lost. Replacing it yourself would gain you a faster/larger drive.
If the drive slowly dies, you can probably get the data off of it, but at that point you need a replacement ASAP and don't have time to screw around with exchanges, even if the manufacturer will cross-ship.

Besides, I don't recall ever using a warranty replacement on any drive in my 25 years of using internal HDDs. When my Seagate went screwy under warranty, I didn't have the luxury of exchanging and waiting for a replacement to ship.

 

[madmatt30]

If that's true about the D10 External, that's pretty crazy. For one thing, it means the Ultrastar is intentionally overpriced. I know the WD Black probably has better performance, but I can sacrifice a little of that for Toshiba's bigger size, better price and (possible) better longevity.

My one hesitation remaining is I've been completely unable to find a performance review of Toshiba's current series.

The thing about HDD warranties is they're pointless.
If the drive dies completely, the data is lost, which is worse than any money lost. Replacing it yourself would gain you a faster/larger drive.
If the drive slowly dies, you can probably get the data off of it, but at that point you need a replacement ASAP and don't have time to screw around with exchanges, even if the manufacturer will cross-ship.

Besides, I don't recall ever using a warranty replacement on any drive in my 25 years of using internal HDDs. When my Seagate went screwy under warranty, I didn't have the luxury of exchanging and waiting for a replacement to ship.

It's absolutely true, the actual drive model is this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HGST-Ultrastar-HE12-12TB-HUH7-21212ALE604-24x7-8-9-3-5-Inch/dp/B071W4BVVT

Which is EXACTLY the same drive as the Hitachi helioseal one recommended.

I have a d10 12tb , purchased direct from Western digital which I paid £204 for delivered - nearly half the price of the bare drive.

The only thing is you're kind of destroying the warranty stripping it out, although it's easy to disassemble and reassemble without damaging the casing if you're practical.

I buy the tosh drives regularly now si.t because they've been I credibly reliable for me.

Seagate drives I had loads of issues with, literally every seagate drive I've owned has died well before it's time.

Wd I've steered clear of since the blue drives became rebadged green 5400rpm models.

On a reliability level I have no issue with them but on a performance level I do.

 

[faalin]

I have a WD red 6TB that holds all of my steam games since 2013 still going strong. The other 2 6TB red drives i picked up a few years later. My backup and storage server runs Seagate Ironwolf 8TB drives, those have only been running for a year now but no issues there ether.

 

[fzabkar]

StorageReview.com is still alive.

WD6003FZBX is a rebranded HGST model with native HGST firmware.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/xf8AAOSwwSpfzDVB/s-l600.jpg

The WWN is 5000CCA, which is HGST. The R/N is US7SAN6T0 which is WD/HGST Ultrastar DC HC310, model HUS726T6TALE6L1/4.

https://documents.westerndigital.co...t-manual-ultrastar-dc-hc310-sata-oem-spec.pdf
https://documents.westerndigital.co...t/cert-agency-approval-ultrastar-dc-hc310.pdf

I'm wondering if the HDWR160XZSTA Toshiba drive may be an SMR model, but it doesn't appear in the following list, though.

https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/toshiba-hard-drives-smr-list-slower

... and there is no mention of SMR or CMR in the datasheet:

https://www.toshiba-storage.com/products/toshiba-internal-hard-drives-x300/

It's sold as a high performance drive, so it shouldn't be SMR.

"Ultrastar" is a HGST brand. WD are rebranding native HGST Ultrastar models, not the other way round. All the design work was done by HGST engineers, not WD's. WD typically takes a 7200 RPM HGST model and detunes its firmware to produce a "5400 RPM class" WD model. These Westachi drives still spin at 7200 RPM even though they are marketed as 5400 RPM models.

Here is a review of Toshiba's X300 drives:

https://www.kitguru.net/components/hard-drives/simon-crisp/toshiba-x300-6tb-hdd-review/

 

[Landstander]

fzabkar - Dang that's a lot to absorb. I'm not sure what information to take away from that. It sounds like it's possible to get a higher end WD/HGST if you know what you are looking for. I'm hoping to stay under $200 with 6-8TB. Do you have any specific suggestions?

The Toshiba review is helpful, but it is of an older model that was 4-6TB with 128MB cache. The current model is 6-14TB with 256MB cache.

Edit: I would have preferred Hitachi while it was still Hitachi, and I have nothing against WD except their pricing (and their Blue drives, which weren't very good BEFORE they merged with the Green line).
I didn't take madmatt30's advice a couple years ago, and that was a mistake. I'm not going to do that again. $175 for 8TB Toshiba is hard to refuse.

 

[madmatt30]

fzabkar - Dang that's a lot to absorb. I'm not sure what information to take away from that. It sounds like it's possible to get a higher end WD/HGST if you know what you are looking for. I'm hoping to stay under $200 with 6-8TB. Do you have any specific suggestions?

The Toshiba review is helpful, but it is of an older model that was 4-6TB with 128MB cache. The current model is 6-14TB with 256MB cache.

Edit: I would have preferred Hitachi while it was still Hitachi, and I have nothing against WD except their pricing (and their Blue drives, which weren't very good BEFORE they merged with the Green line).
I didn't take madmatt30's advice a couple years ago, and that was a mistake. I'm not going to do that again. $175 for 8TB Toshiba is hard to refuse.

At that price I don't think you can go wrong.

Like you I've never actually claimed on warranty for any harddrive, infact I'd be loathe to use the same model twice if the first one died in the warranty period.just be aware (I know you already are) that any hard drive can go down suddenly without warning theoretically, backups of anything important are always going to be a necessity.

I still have working maxtor drives from nearly 20 years ago that are fine, I've had new seagates take a dump within 3 months of new.

There's no real consistency in that respect.

 

[Landstander]

Of course there is also the issue of how much you trust the people that will have their hands on your returned drive and whatever data might still be on it.
Warranties on HDD are useless.

 

[Landstander]

And a quick follow up Q. Testing the new Toshiba, CrystalDiskInfo gives the Health Status as Good.
Thought I'd try HDD Guardian and it gives me a warning that the Disk Shift is 100 (even though CDI doesn't seem to care about it.)
A problem? Recommended initial driving testing method?

 

[madmatt30]

And a quick follow up Q. Testing the new Toshiba, CrystalDiskInfo gives the Health Status as Good.
Thought I'd try HDD Guardian and it gives me a warning that the Disk Shift is 100 (even though CDI doesn't seem to care about it.)
A problem? Recommended initial driving testing method?

Disk shift doesn't report properly on Toshiba drives so you can ignore that.

Your best way of testing in all honesty is to do a full format not a quick format.

 

[Landstander]

Yeah, running a full format now... still. It's so very slow and the drive temp is now at 51 degrees, even though it is sitting outside of the PC case. CrystalDiskInfo IS concerned about that and honestly, so am I.
In a closed case (in Florida) that'll be pretty dang hot for a HDD.

Edit: It looks like my WD Black WD1003FZEK never broke 48 degrees in a closed case. Need to find operational temps for this drive.

2-1/2 hours later, still formatting. About 25% done. Yikes that is slow.

 

[Bob.B]

Yeah, running a full format now... still. It's so very slow and the drive temp is now at 51 degrees, even though it is sitting outside of the PC case. CrystalDiskInfo IS concerned about that and honestly, so am I.
In a closed case (in Florida) that'll be pretty dang hot for a HDD.

Edit: It looks like my WD Black WD1003FZEK never broke 48 degrees in a closed case. Need to find operational temps for this drive.

2-1/2 hours later, still formatting. About 25% done. Yikes that is slow.

Grab a couple of plastic pens and put them under the hdd so as to create a space.
See if it helps the temp.

 

[Landstander]

So far the temp peaked at 53 but on pens it has fallen to 46. That sounds better.
I couldn't tell you the last time I did a full format of a large drive, but over 9 hours now and still going.

 

[madmatt30]

So far the temp peaked at 53 but on pens it has fallen to 46. That sounds better.
I couldn't tell you the last time I did a full format of a large drive, but over 9 hours now and still going.

Me neither but the fact is a full format checks every single sector/surface area and puts the drive under extreme duress.

Tosh drives rated at 60c max operating temp, anything under is fine, drive failures are more prone at lower temps than higher temps, below 20c is more of a risk than above 50c.