Seagate, WD, or...?

Octopuss · Nov 30, 2014

I haven't bought a HDD (for myself) in over 5 years. I assume it's still mainly WD and Seagate people are buying the most. Too bad Samsung is no more, I love my Spinpoints.
Anyway, what should one buy these days when performance and reliability are the key requirements? I was thinking WD Black, but that might have changed over the years...

FordGT90Concept · Nov 30, 2014

WD Black (7200 RPM) is good.
WD RE (7200 RPM high reliability) are good.
WD VelociRaptor (10,000 RPM) is good.
Seagate Barracuda (7200 RPM) is good.
Seagate Constellation ES (7200 RPM high reliability) are good.

The rest be garbage.

Frick · Nov 30, 2014

FordGT90Concept said:
The rest be garbage.

The Toshiba drives are pretty good too afaik. I think they're Hitachi drives, which has proven reliable, under certain conditions that dose not apply to home users.

FordGT90Concept · Nov 30, 2014

Toshiba is the only other manufacturer out there besides Seagate and Western Digital. I have no experience with them so I can't comment. Judging by reviews on Toshiba's website, I wouldn't be inclined to buy.

Quantum -> Maxtor -> Seagate
IBM -> HGST (Hitachi) -> Western Digital

Jetster · Nov 30, 2014

There all about the same nowadays. What ever is on sale

mroofie · Nov 30, 2014

Octopuss said:
I haven't bought a HDD (for myself) in over 5 years. I assume it's still mainly WD and Seagate people are buying the most. Too bad Samsung is no more, I love my Spinpoints.
Anyway, what should one buy these days when performance and reliability are the key requirements? I was thinking WD Black, but that might have changed over the years...

Don't buy Seagate well at least not the cheap ones trust me my 1TB is on life support didn't even last a year without running into problems!
I'm so disappointed with Seagate we have only used them nothing else :|

jboydgolfer · Nov 30, 2014

Barracuda.3TB drives are 89 U$D.I've had good experiences with WD 4 the most part, but Never have I had drives keep kicking ass like Seagate Barracuda's.I just uninstalled a barracuda I installed for one of My customers about 3 or so years ago, and found it had a broken data port, that had been fixed with using several zip ties to hold the 6GB/s cables in, and was STILL holding it's own.

Aquinus · Nov 30, 2014

mroofie said:
Don't buy Seagate well at least not the cheap ones trust me my 1TB is on life support didn't even last a year without running into problems!
I'm so disappointed with Seagate we have only used them nothing else :|

I have a Seagate Constellation ES.2 drive that works flawlessly, however I would expect nothing less than perfection from a Constellation ES or WD RE(1,3, or 4) drive considering those are all enterprise-class drives.

I've used several seagate drives and none of them have failed, same with Hitachi. However I have had a number of WD drives fail on me but WD was always very fast about RMAs (I do advance RMAs and I'll have a new drive in 2 days.) So any drive can fail, it doesn't need to be made by a particular vendor. There is no substitute from proper testing of a drive before you start relying on it.

jboydgolfer said:
I've had good experiences with WD 4 the most part

I would expect nothing less from enterprise class drives from any vendor.

I have 4 WD blacks in my RAID 5. They're all solid but when I bought the last two, both were defective (failed within 24-hours of each other,) but once again, WD's support was super fast and responsive.

I should also note that I've never gotten a re-certified drive back from WD that has failed.

mroofie · Nov 30, 2014

Aquinus said:
I have a Seagate Constellation ES.2 drive that works flawlessly, however I would expect nothing less than perfection from a Constellation ES or WD RE(1,3, or 4) drive considering those are all enterprise-class drives.

I've used several seagate drives and none of them have failed, same with Hitachi. However I have had a number of WD drives fail on me but WD was always very fast about RMAs (I do advance RMAs and I'll have a new drive in 2 days.) So any drive can fail, it doesn't need to be made by a particular vendor. There is no substitute from proper testing of a drive before you start relying on it.

I would expect nothing less from enterprise class drives from any vendor.

I have 4 WD blacks in my RAID 5. They're all solid but when I bought the last two, both were defective (failed within 24-hours of each other,) but once again, WD's support was super fast and responsive.

I should also note that I've never gotten a re-certified drive back from WD that has failed.

yes but there was a report on Seagate high cripple rate

Frick · Nov 30, 2014

mroofie said:
yes but there was a report on Seagate high cripple rate

I assume you mean this:

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-update-september-2014/

Some models have problems, when used that way. The last bit is important.

Blue-Knight · Nov 30, 2014

I am afraid to buy seagate drives again because I just added one more to my "dead" hard drive collection (RECENTLY)...

All of them started to fail in less than 3 years of light/home usage...

Now I bought an used WD Blue with 3 years of usage, let's see if it survives.

Can you confirm if it's normal a hard drive to die in less than 3 years of light/home usage?

Thank you!

RCoon · Nov 30, 2014

Hitachi has the lowest failure rate when ran within an inch of their life(unrealistic usage), that being said, the failure rate of all hard drives are within tenths of a percentile of each other. There really is no reason to buy any drive specifically unless it's cheaper than the rest. Get whatever is on offer. WD and seagate aren't much different anymore, they're all made in similar factories anyway.

FordGT90Concept · Nov 30, 2014

I suspect BackBlaze isn't taking heat into account. There is a direct connection between a drive's lifespan and the thermal environment it operates in. Enterprise drives tend to run hotter than consumer drives (often have more platters requiring more watts out of the motor) so when you put both in the same environment and don't account for the extra heat, the enterprise drives fail more frequently.

They admit their high failure rate of drives may be related to pulling drives from external enclosures. I concur with that theory because external drives have a specific thermal envelop to operate in and that envelope is likely exceeded when the drives are racked.

Blue-Knight said:
Can you confirm if it's normal a hard drive to die in less than 3 years of light/home usage?

Infant mortality (manufacturing defect).

Blue-Knight · Nov 30, 2014

FordGT90Concept said:
Infant mortality (manufacturing defect).

Sad.

And the sadder part is that I can't activate warranty because it is an imported product.
Why? Because shipping costs are so high that will probably exceed the hardware price... :banghead:

Just correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for replying!

mroofie · Nov 30, 2014

Blue-Knight said:
I am afraid to buy seagate drives again because I just added one more to my "dead" hard drive collection (RECENTLY)...

All of them started to fail in less than 3 years of light/home usage...

Now I bought an used WD Blue with 3 years of usage, let's see if it survives.

Can you confirm if it's normal a hard drive to die in less than 3 years of light/home usage?

Thank you!

well depends on the usage but I think its okay

P4-630 · Nov 30, 2014

I would say Seagate and Hitachi, quiet.

Octopuss · Nov 30, 2014

I noticed the WD RE drives do not have the advanced format feature, which is a bit surprising.

FordGT90Concept · Nov 30, 2014

They're meant to be in a RAID and ran until they die; thus, data recovery is extremely limited if even possible.

They're also more likely to be shredded by the business that bought them:

mroofie · Nov 30, 2014

FordGT90Concept said:
They're meant to be in a RAID and ran until they die; thus, data recovery is extremely limited if even possible.

They're also more likely to be shredded by the business that bought them:

Seagate?

FordGT90Concept · Nov 30, 2014

That's a commercial metal shredder. Those two round drums counter rotate and everytime they go around, they take a bite out of whatever is between them. The result is tiny little chunks of metal/plastic--data 100% unrecoverable. I bet BackBlaze has one to dispose of dead and obsolete drives.

Octopuss · Nov 30, 2014

FordGT90Concept said:
They're meant to be in a RAID and ran until they die; thus, data recovery is extremely limited if even possible.

Is that a reply to any of my posts? I don't understand.

newtekie1 · Nov 30, 2014

The only drives I avoid are WD Blues and Greens. I've got a stack of them sitting on my desk dead, all after less than 2 years.

Frick said:
I assume you mean this:

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-update-september-2014/

Some models have problems, when used that way. The last bit is important.

The Blackblaze study has absolutely no use for home users. Their operating conditions and what they consider a "failure" are totally different from home use.

FordGT90Concept · Nov 30, 2014

Octopuss said:
Is that a reply to any of my posts? I don't understand.

It was in reply to:

Octopuss said:
I noticed the WD RE drives do not have the advanced format feature, which is a bit surprising.

WD anticipates people that buy RE drives knows how to sanitize data.

Octopuss · Nov 30, 2014

How is sector size related to erasing the data? :confused:

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2014

6 of one half dozen of another to me. Failure rates on most MFG drives are low quite low

Frick said:
I assume you mean this:

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-update-september-2014/

Some models have problems, when used that way. The last bit is important.

I hate that link popping up... that is an enterprise environment where they are beat on CONSTANTLY. Not exactly something to hang your hat on comparison wise considering how most use their PC.

Processor	Ryzen 5800X
Motherboard	Asus TUF-Gaming B550-Plus
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S
Memory	32GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC
Video Card(s)	Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Nitro+
Storage	HP EX950 512GB + Samsung 970 PRO 1TB
Display(s)	Cooler Master GP27Q
Case	Fractal Design Define R6 Black
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster AE-5
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650W Gold
Mouse	Roccat Kone AIMO Remastered
Software	Windows 10 x64

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard	MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1TB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Dell SK3205
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

System Name	Juliette // My HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// ASUS RTX 4060 OC
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	G903 and a Master Mouse MM710/No mouse, MS game copntroller
Keyboard	EVGA / Logitech K400
Software	Windows 11 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

Seagate, WD, or...?

Octopuss

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Jetster

mroofie

jboydgolfer

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

mroofie

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Blue-Knight

RCoon

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Blue-Knight

mroofie

P4-630

Octopuss

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

mroofie

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Octopuss

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Octopuss

EarthDog

System Name	Mroofie / Mroofie
Processor	Inte Cpu i5 4460 3.2GHZ Turbo Boost 3.4
Motherboard	Gigabyte B85M-HD3
Cooling	Stock Cooling
Memory	Apacer DDR3 1333mhz (4GB) / Adata DDR3 1600Mhz(8GB) CL11
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gtx 960 WF
Storage	Seagate 1TB / Seagate 80GB / Seagate 1TB (another one)
Display(s)	Philips LED 24 Inch 1080p 60Hz
Case	Zalman T4
Audio Device(s)	Meh
Power Supply	Antec Truepower Classic 750W 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Meh
Keyboard	Meh
VR HMD	Meh
Software	Windows 10
Benchmark Scores	Meh

System Name	Americas cure is the death of Social Justice & Political Correctness
Processor	i7-11700K
Motherboard	Asrock Z590 Extreme wifi 6E
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A
Memory	32GB Corsair RGB fancy boi 5000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Reference
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb + Samsung 970 Evo 500Gb
Display(s)	Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC x2
Case	Fractal Design Meshify-C
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502 spectrum
Keyboard	AZIO MGK-1 RGB (Kaith Blue)
Software	Win 10 Professional 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	the MLGeesiest

System Name	Apollo
Processor	Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard	Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory	64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage	1TB Apple NVMe, 2TB external SSD, 4TB external HDD for backup.
Display(s)	32" Dell UHD, 27" LG UHD, 28" LG 5k
Case	MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s)	AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply	Display or Thunderbolt 4 Hub
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software	MacOS 15.3.1

System Name	BlueKnight
Processor	Intel Celeron G1610 @ 2.60GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PH (rev. 1.0)
Memory	1x 4GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz (Kingston KVR13N9S8/4)
Video Card(s)	Onboard
Storage	1x 160GB (Western Digital WD1600AAJS-75M0A0)
Display(s)	1x 20" 1600x900 (PHILIPS 200VW9FBJ/78)
Case	μATX Case (Generic)
Power Supply	300W (Generic)
Software	Debian GNU/Linux 8.7 (jessie)

System Name	HP Omen 17
Processor	i7 7700HQ
Memory	16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060
Storage	Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s)	1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s)	Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply	230W
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD+
Software	Win 10 Pro

System Name	AlderLake
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window
Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64