Best 3TB Hard Drive for 2015

Having a huge storage capacity is in demand for enthusiasts who are planning to build a file library. Mechanical drives are definitely a practical choice if you’re seeking for a larger disk space while SSD’s can’t deliver these qualities.

Here are the reviews of the Best 3TB Hard Drive you can have, choose the one that suite your needs the most.

The Seagate Barracuda 3TB ST3000DM001 is the new improved version of the previous XT 3TB. Seagate jump into a 1TB per platter to give you the most out of it as it offer a way better performance than any of its rival.

Advantage Of 1TB Disk

Having a 1TB per platter reduces the number of disc in a drive, from 5-platter with 600GB per platter now down to 3-platter. This gives you the benefits of lower power consumption, lighter and slimmer drive that will suit any computer casing. Seeking time was improved drastically due to the closeness of each track on the disk.

What Makes It Fast?

The Seagate Barracuda 3TB ST3000DM001 spins at 7,200rpm in SATA 6GB/s interface with a whooping 64MB of cache memory that all contributes to its faster performance. That being said, Seagate has their full confidence to write its maximum achievable speed of 210MB/s.

Features

Seagate has pouring some of the best features on the drive such as the SmartAlign technology that assures a full compatibility with the Advanced Format 4K. The Opticache provides a better performance to maximize the usage its 64MB cache. If you’re still using the older system such as the 32-bit OS or a legacy BIOS that doesn’t support more than 2TB drive, the DiscWizard software tool gives you a painless setup.

Performance

The result in its actual test performance was admirable as it reaches the maximum speed of 200MB/s which is by far healthier than the older version with only 149MB/s. In the 2MB sequential transfer speed test using the IOMeter it produces 164MB/s in read and 165MB/s in write while the older version resulted only at 146MB/s and 145MB/s correspondingly.

The Verdict

The new Seagate Barracuda 3TB ST3000DM001 is no doubt an outstanding performer which is far superior to its predecessor. You got more advantage in its speed, power consumption and slimmer drive which are ideal for those who are in need of these qualities. The drive is currently available at a bargain price that brings an excellent value in it, if you’re looking for the best deal this is it!

Performance: 10/10 Features: 10/10 Value: 10/10

The Western Digital Red 3TB WD30EFRX is an outstanding NAS drive, if you’re planning to build one for your small office and home network system this could be a better option. The drive is design to work in a 24x7 environment which is something that a typical desktop hard drives can never give you.

What Is IT In the WD Red 3TB WD30EFRX?

The WD Red 3TB is an enterprise class drive which is made for this type of applications. If you think it’s too pricey, not with this one. The Red’s are the most affordable enterprise class drive you can get from Western Digital. However, it is not applicable for huge and fast servers due to its slower speed but, ideal in any backup storage and RAID applications.

The drive operates at a rotational speed 5,400rpm in SATA 6GB/s interface with 64MB of built-in memory cache that contributes to its faster data access. As a result, Western Digital has given a written spec of 145MB/s transfer speed.

Features

Enterprise class drives such as the WD 3TB Red are made for maximum reliability. This makes it possible with its Intelligent Error Recovery feature that stays your data safe whenever an unusual error occurs. The 3D active balance minimizes the noise and vibration present in the drive to further enhance its performance.

The wonders of NASware firmware in a WD 3TB Red works perfectly in any NAS that totally removes the presumption in configuring your system. It also optimizes its power efficiency that will operate in a cooler environment and saves you more energy.

Performance

The Western Digital Red 3TB NAS drive delivers good results in its large file transfer sequential read with 148MB/s and 136MB/s in write which is typically fast for a 5,400rpm drive. Another area to be admired is its coolness as it measures only 31 degrees during heavy operations which are the lowest temperature you can have in any mechanical drive and consumes relatively small amount of power of only 6.6w during the entire process.

The Verdict

Western Digital has done an excellent job in putting the Western Digital Red 3TB NAS on the market to reach the masses. Performance and feature wise, you got it everything in here. The drive is surprisingly quiet as you can’t hear anything on it even during heavy process. It totally removes the pain in configuring your NAS as it works in any drive on the rack, it will took you less than 10-minutes and you're done. This WD 3TB Red NAS is ideal if you’re seeking for a quiet, cool, energy saver, reliable and affordable NAS drive.

Performance: 9/10 Features: 10/10 Value: 10/10

The Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB WD30EZRX is ideal for buck up purposes. Qualities such as cool, quiet, reliable and affordable drive are admirable for enthusiast with having a large file to be stored in a safer place.

What Do We Expect from The WD Caviar Green 3TB WD30EZRX?

The drive spins at 5,400rpm which is typical in all Western Digital Green drives and coupled in SATA 6GB/s interface with 64MB cache for faster access time. Another compelling feature of the new Green drive if to reduce it power consumption for up to 40% which is good for power saver enthusiasts. Working in a lower temperature environment increases its reliability while delivering optimum quiet operations.

Features

Western Digital has bring in more features in this drive such as the IntelliSeek that establishes to maximize its seeking speed with the lowest possible power consumption. It also lowers the noise level and vibrations that leads to a better performance. Moreover, the NO Touch Ramp technology prevents the wear off on the recording head to contact on the drive’s disk.

Every Western Digital Green drive was fully tested with the greatest number platforms to guaranty its compatibility with your system. The WD Acronis TrueImage feature allows you duplicate your entire files on your old drive that saves you time from reinstalling all your programs.

Performance

If you take into considerations for a 5,400rpm drive perhaps you’re expecting a slow performance but, not with the Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB WD30EZRX. The drive shows an impressive result of 146MB/s in its sequential read speed test and 132MB/s in write. Although, it doesn’t beat the fastest 7,200rpm drive it is too fast for a 5,400rpm drive.

The Verdict

The Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB WD30EZRX shows an outstanding performance that definitely polished in its quiet, cool, reliable and energy saving qualities. The price it offers is absolutely amazing that brings a total value in it. The only drawbacks I can see in here is the warranty department, Western Digital is giving only 2-year which I think is a bit short while its counterpart has 3-5 years.

Performance: 9/10 Features: 9/10 Value: 10/10