1.Quick List2.Best HDD Deals3.Best External HDD Deals4.HDD Shopping Tips
Mechanical hard drives may seem like ancient technology, but they still provide ‘good enough’ performance in many applications, and easily offer the most storage capacity for the price. We’ve collected theBest Hard Drivesdeals here in this constantly updated article.
Be alert when looking at HDDs, as not every drive is born equal and worthy of your money or a place of honor in your PC. Differences in recording technologies, like whether the drive uses conventional magnetic recording (CMR) or shingled magnetic recording (SMR), comes with or without DRAM, and the spindle speeds they offer can all have a tremendous impact on the performance and pricing of your drive. That’s why we’ve listed the best HDDs deals based on our in-depth knowledge, gained from thorough reviews, expansive benchmarks, and extensive historical price analysis.
We list internal drives for PCs, the best HDDs for NAS systems, and external hard drives, with the latter possibly including shuckable drives, meaning you may pry the HDD out of the external casing and use it in your desktop PC. Proceed at your own risk with Shucking, though: Shucking the drive voids the warranty, but you do get a capable drive for far cheaper than you normally would (be sure to do your homework first to determine if the drive can be shucked; not all models can).
Best HDD Deals: Quick Links
Best HDD Deals
Get the low price on this 26TB version of the Western Digital Red Pro NAS, with 7200 rpm speeds, 512MB cache, and SATA 6 GB/s.
$50 off w/ promo code BTSEU28236, limited offer
This speedy 7,200 RPM drive utilizes fast CMR recording technology, features a 512MB cache, achieves a maximum transfer rate of 285MB/s, and comes with an elite five-year warranty.
This drive is specifically for PC use with a 7,200-RPM spindle speed, 512MB of cache, 190MB/s top speed from its fast, desirable CMR tech, and a two-year warranty.
This 3.5" high-performance drive with desirable CMR tech is good for desktop PCs or NAS. It spins at a speedy 7,200 RPM, has 512MB of cache, tops out at 259 MB/s, and has an excellent five-year warranty.
This 3.5" high-performance drive with desirable CMR tech is good for desktop PCs or NAS. It spins at a speedy 7,200 RPM, has 256MB of cache, hits a blistering 270 MB/s, and has an excellent five-year warranty.
This 3.5" high-performance drive with desirable CMR tech is good for desktop PCs or NAS. It spins at a speedy 7,200 RPM, has 512MB of cache, tops out at 267 MB/s, and has an excellent five-year warranty.
This 3.5" high-performance drive with desirable CMR tech is good for desktop PCs or NAS. It spins at a speedy 7,200 RPM, has 512MB of cache, hits a blistering 285 MB/s, and has an excellent five-year warranty.
This 3.5" high-performance drive with desirable CMR tech is good for desktop PCs or NAS. It spins at a speedy 7,200 RPM, has 512MB of cache, tops out at 285 MB/s, and has an excellent five-year warranty.
This drive is designed for NAS specifically but will come in a desktop PC, featuring a three-year warranty, speedy CMR tech paired with a 5,640-RPM spindle speed, and 512MB of cache.
This drive is designed specifically for high-performance PCs, with a top speed of 267 MB/s from its 7,200-RPM spindle speed, fast CMR recording tech, and 256MB of cache. It comes with an excellent five-year warranty.
Best External HDD Deals
This drive uses speedy CMR magnetic recording tech and spins at 5,400 RPM. The drive has a two-year warranty and communicates via the USB 3.0 interface with the host. It also has an included power connector.
This drive features 5TB of spacious storage, a two-year warranty, and communicates via a USB-A connection at 5Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 1). The drive is 4.35 x 3.23 x 0.83" as well, so it’s a nice compact form factor that weighs in at a mere half a pound. It comes wiht a two-year warranty.
Be sure to clip the coupon to get the full discount!
This drive uses speedy CMR magnetic recording tech and spins at 5,400 RPM. The drive has a two-year warranty and communicates via the USB 3.0 interface with the host. It also includes a power connector.
This external storage communicates over the USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface and has a three-year warranty. It also comes with an additional power connector. However, WD doesn’t disclose whether it uses SMR or CMR technology, or its performance specifications.
Get a USB 3.1 external hard drive with 6TB of storage.
HDD Deals: What to Look For
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Paul Alcorn is the Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Hardware US. He also writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage, and enterprise hardware.
