Hard Drive Cost/GB Chart for February 2010
Posted February 5, 2010 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
This is a comparison of desktop computer 3.5" SATA hard drives. Prices were obtained at Newegg and include shipping and instant rebates where applicable (mail-in rebates not included). All drives shown have a 70% or greater 5/5 Egg rating. I consider the ratings to be a good indicator of how many people are receiving drives DOA or are having drive failures. I chose the best priced and rated drive in each size category. The Ratio is the number of gigabytes each dollar purchases, so naturally the higher the better.| Drive | Size | Cache | RPM | Price | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seagate Barracuda | 250 GB | 8 MB | 7200 RPM | $44.99 | 5.6 |
| Western Digital Caviar Blue | 320 GB | 8 MB | 7200 RPM | $47.99 | 6.7 |
| Samsung Spinpoint F3 | 500 GB | 16 MB | 7200 RPM | $49.99 | 10.0 |
| Western Digital Caviar Blue | 640 GB | 16 MB | 7200 RPM | $69.99 | 9.1 |
| Western Digital Caviar Black | 750 GB | 32 MB | 7200 RPM | $79.99 | 9.4 |
| Samsung Spinpoint F3 | 1000 GB | 32 MB | 7200 RPM | $89.99 | 11.1 |
| Samsung Ecogreen F2 | 1500 GB | 32 MB | 5400 RPM | $109.99 | 13.6 |
| Samsung Spinpoint F3 | 2000 GB | 32 MB | 5400 RPM | $179.99 | 11.1 |
Currently there are no 2 TB (2000 GB) or 1.5 TB (1500 GB) 7200 RPM drives that have good enough ratings to be considered for this comparison. I have listed the 5400 RPM Samsungs, which do have good ratings. They are energy efficient, but will be a little slower than an equivalent 7200 RPM drive.
The Samsungs did well in this comparison. The 500 GB Spinpoint F3 is currently $5.00 off at Newegg (original price $54.99) making it an excellent deal and fairly inexpensive. It is only bested by its 1000 GB bigger brother in the 7200 RPM drives. If you're ok with a 5400 RPM drive, the Samsung Ecogreen F2 1500 GB drive provides the most gigabytes for the money. The Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB is also a good choice. The "Black" line is Western Digital's higher performing line (Blue are mainstream drives and Green are low power 5400 RPM drives).
If you are making a buying decision on one of these hard drives right now, I recommend either the 500 GB or 1000 GB (1TB) Samsung Spinpoint F3's.
| Series | Hard Drive Cost Charts |
|---|---|
| Tags | newegg hard drive |