Question What is this??? It can't be... a 2TB *7200 RPM* WD Blue 3.5" HDD???

[VirtualLarry]

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

Since when did they FINALLY introduce 7200RPM Blue drives, larger than 1TB? WD's stance used to be, that if you wanted 7200RPM, and larger than their classic 1TB model, you had to "Go Black".

These had better not be SMR.

$49.99 - $5 promo, limit 2 drives. In for two.

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-blue-desktop-sata-hdd#WD20EZBX

Aww, shoot, these new drives ARE SMR (shingled).

 

[Tech Junky]

I picked up my 8TB Red's for $160/ea and don't have to worry about SMR. They get over 200MB/s throughput on the controller as well. I don't see the fascination with 7K drives since you're likely putting them into an array anyway which doubles the speed per drive in 0 and per pair in 10. In my array the combined speed is considerably higher over 400MB/s which is pushing SATA SSD speeds at that point.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I look at it this way. It's been a serious missed business opportunity for a while now.

I was looking at single Steam game HDDs or SSDs.

WD, until this recent discovery, only offered 7200RPM desktop HDDs in up to 1TB sizes, unless you want to pay triple/quadruple the cost per TB for the extra 5-year warranty of the WD Black drives. The other alternatives, are Seagate, which is IMHO craptastic, or maybe Toshiba.

Consider the plight of the system builder. The whole rig has warranty for 1 or maybe 3 years. Why pay extra for the 5-year warranty of a Black drive, when it's just going to a games drive anyway.

 

[Tech Junky]

I agree with drive options and stick w/ WD for spinners. For flash based options I'm all over the place w/ some I stay away from no matter what from dealing with those companies in the past.

$100/TB is norm now for flash based which is considerably less than it used to be

Though 8TB drives are running a bit more at $1000-$1200/drive ~$137/TB - Gen 3 speeds as well

SATA 8TB options though are just under $100/TB

Most of them sport 5-year warranties at this point as well. If you're hoarding though it's still a spinner game for capacity. I still don't get the 7K drive thing though. They generate more heat for a slight performance boost. Also, if you shuck the right drives you can get them w/o the markup.

I would just get some decent 5.4's and put them in a R0 to capitalize on the speed vs 7K.

 

[Ranulf]

For a gaming drive, I want 7200rpm. I've not heard bad things about the Seagate 2TB 7200 drives. Toshiba ones are ok as well, but not great rep on warranty service.

Good news though that WD is offering a 2TB option now. SMR shouldn't be a problem if its not in raid.

 

[sdifox]

Who cares about 2TB HDD? You either get a ssd or you get a 14TB hdd.

I have five ancient 7200rpm 2TB hdds in my equally ancient PE R710

 

[VirtualLarry]

Who cares about 2TB hdd? You either get a ssd or you get a 14TB hdd.

Don't forget the 64GB RAM, for the budget gaming rig either. Don't want to skimp.

 

[sdifox]

Don't forget the 64GB RAM, for the budget gaming rig either. Don't want to skimp.

You can get a one tb nvme for like 100. That is plenty for budget gamers.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You can get a one tb nvme for like 100. That is plenty for budget gamers.

I actually picked up a few 1TB NVMe 670p Intel drives for $75 ea.

But that's not enough for a decent steam library, and a 2TB 7200RPM is only $45, whereas a 1.92TB SATA SSD (got a couple of those too), were $150.

That's still 3X cheaper for the HDD. And if it's a game that REQUIRES SSD to play, then they still have room on the NVMe for it.

 

[sdifox]

I actually picked up a few 1TB NVMe 670p Intel drives for $75 ea.

But that's not enough for a decent steam library, and a 2TB 7200RPM is only $45, whereas a 1.92TB SATA SSD (got a couple of those too), were $150.

That's still 3X cheaper for the HDD. And if it's a game that REQUIRES SSD to play, then they still have room on the NVMe for it.

You can't be a budget gamer and not able to deal with installing games as you play them. I am definitely using less tham 1TB on my machine even though I have 2TB.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You can't be a budget gamer and not able to deal with installing games as you play them.

Budget gamers not allowed to have a steam library? Because of your fetish for NO mid-sized HDDs? When they're under $50 more cost? Seems silly advocating for all-SSD at that budget level.

 

[Ranulf]

Who cares about 2TB HDD? You either get a ssd or you get a 14TB hdd.

I have five ancient 7200rpm 2TB hdds in my equally ancient PE R710

No I buy 14tb for data storage. I buy 4-8TB HDD for gaming. Namely, 7200rpm drives, mostly WD Black or Toshiba in my case. Budget users might want extra space for games and other things that don't take up ssd space. Games these days are pushing 80-100GB on average with some pushing 150-200GB installs.

 

[sdifox]

Budget gamers not allowed to have a steam library? Because of your fetish for NO mid-sized HDDs? When they're under $50 more cost? Seems silly advocating for all-SSD at that budget level.

You can have a steam library. You can also uninstall games when you run out of space. Biggest challenge is the video card, not the storage.

 

[aigomorla]

You can't be a budget gamer and not able to deal with installing games as you play them. I am definitely using less tham 1TB on my machine even though I have 2TB.

*whistling in the background*





I think i have more physical storage space then @AdamK47 has for a high end gaming PC setup.
(yes i called shots fired!)

I net all SSD:

14.4TB of R0 storage for Epic + Steam + Origin
1.80TB of R0 storage for my MMO's
3.49TB of nVME storage for anything that will require it in the future or things i need extremely fast load times for.
465GB for Mods + Utilitites i play in games that support them.

I have a aversion and dark phobia to this thing called "delete".
I come from a generation where its not called delete, its called Archive.

Biggest challenge is the video card, not the storage.

id say its more the ISP....
If your blessed in an area with fiber and great coverage its more to you.
But if your in some middle of nowhere, then may God bless your latency score.

 

[sdifox]

*whistling in the background*

View attachment 61976

View attachment 61977

I think i have more physical storage space then @AdamK47 has for a high end gaming PC setup.
(yes i called shots fired!)

I net all SSD:

14.4TB of R0 storage for Epic + Steam + Origin
1.80TB of R0 storage for my MMO's
3.49TB of nVME storage for anything that will require it in the future or things i need extremely fast load times for.
465GB for Mods + Utilitites i play in games that support them.

I have a aversion and dark phobia to this thing called "delete".
I come from a generation where its not called delete, its called Archive.

I don't think you qualify as a budget gamer either.

 

[aigomorla]

I don't think you qualify as a budget gamer either.

no definitely i do not... i am that fat kid on the other side of the sea saw suspending you at ransom from touching the floor.
*Mr. Evil laugh*

Sry, i had to post, you went budget, and the other guy said no way he would have 14tb for gaming library, which i happen to be at. :X

and real budget gamers use WD Black Spinner + Intel Optane i believe.

2TB gamer i wouldn't really say is a budget gamer.
Maybe a 512GB i would say is starting budget gamer, to borderline, i have storage OCD and must be kept clean personality.

As for this drive for budget gaming.. i would advise against it, unless you absolutely needed to save every last dollar in your build.
There is a reason i think WD Black spinners were the recommended minimum paired with Optane Acceleration.

 

[Ranulf]

You can have a steam library. You can also uninstall games when you run out of space. Biggest challenge is the video card, not the storage.

All depends on the games and how often they get patched. AC Valhalla in a year or so has effectively been a 200GB download for me as it has to update itself twice with a full reinstall for a patch. Bandwidth caps matter for some. Despite having 1gig downloads Steam and my ISP don't let me use more than 30-50% of that most of the time. A good day is 70% of max speed for maybe 5-10minutes.

I didn't say I'd never use 14TB for gaming btw just that I don't want to pay for a 7200rpm drive that size. Though maybe some exos or wd gold refurb drives might be worth it.

 

[Shmee]

I have 6 SSDs and an 8TB WD Gold in my desktop, but now all my ports are filled.

 

[Tech Junky]

I have 6 SSDs and an 8TB WD Gold in my desktop, but now all my ports are filled.

Then you need one of these....

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BHZQVP7

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09C4G57PW

Or if you have an open M2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T3RMFFT

 

[Zoozuu]

all my ports are filled.

lol I have one 1tb ssd. you keep 4 sdcards plugged in?
EDIT: oh their sandisk ssds arg

 

[aigomorla]

lol I have one 1tb ssd. you keep 4 sdcards plugged in?
EDIT: oh their sandisk ssds arg

yup, they are pretty excellent value in performance / cost / capacity.

I was tooting them off a while back ago, claiming these are gamer SSD's unless you absolutely need vapor times and have to run it on a
nVME.
Much better price over a Sammy and its TLC over QLC on top.
The only SSD's id pay for more is probably Intel's Optane drives, but now those i wouldn't really use for gaming as they have one of the best fault tollerance protection and well gaming is something fault tollerance is not what is top performance, unless your saving large instances of minecraft world engine.

Having 4 of them in R0 is what gives me 14.4TB in R0 storage.

I didn't say I'd never use 14TB for gaming btw just that I don't want to pay for a 7200rpm drive that size.

Well it was stated if one does go down this route...

1. You want a Optane Accelerated or AMD simular system setup with a nVME cache.
2. Its not really great unless its a Open world with map transitions, where the cache needs to learn the zones your flipping though. It works good on shooters and map transitions after its learned what needs to be saved.
3. Your probably better off grabbing medium capacity budget SATA SSD's and setting them on R0 since your sata ports are probably empty anyhow, and performance difference in RL on 3+ R0 SSDs vs nVME is marginally noticeable. Its like one of those your trying to enjoy ray tracing though the reflection of a NPC's eyeball that you killed. (real difference measure in like the miliseconds to 1-2 seconds for large map transitions)

However i do not advise going 3 x R0 Spinners over even a single SSD solo.
So no, if your wondering if you should grab 3 of these listed at OP and R0 them for a nice gaming drive... No.

Which is why i try to build budget gaming rigs with 3x512GB SSD's in R0 as a dedicated gaming drive.
(this will change to 1TB drives now as the prices have really come down on them)
Its where i found is a VERY sweet spot financially, and performance wise.
Also R0 means spreading out the writes, so essentially the drives last 3 times as long as it would if you were only using 1. Its great for those annoying titles which have to rewrite the entire game each update in a glorious 70gb+ patch/update every week. (looking at you CoD)

 

[Shmee]

Yeah I was considering drives like those to add to my server/NAS, but in 2TB capacity. I ended up getting 4x 2TB Crucial MX500s from someone. They are in a 1+0 ZFS equivalent.