I've need more storage for my computer. Currently, I have two Seagate Barracuda 3TB drives in a software mirror configuration for my vital "data." I figured having a level of redundancy would buy me some time before needing backups. Unfortunately, its been reported that Seagate Barracuda 3 TB drives have been failing like crazy. Although I don't own the same exact model reported but what happens if both my drives fail because of a systemic manufacturing flaw? What to do? Go to Micro Center!
I picked up a Toshiba X300 5TB drive for $139.99 which includes a $50 discount. Amazing. I don't think you can get a better deal than that at this moment. I paid $103 for my 3 TB Seagate a little over a year ago.
How well does the Toshiba drive perform compared to my Seagate Barracudas? Pretty darn well. In single queue and thread reads, the Toshiba does well. On multiple queue and threads reads it does worst. On all modes of writes, Toshiba is killing it. Its 62% faster on single queue and thread 4K writes. Toshiba is just killing it.
How well does this Toshiba drive perform against my Intel 730 Series SSD drive. Not well at all. That's to be expected.
Toshiba X300 5TB drive
Seagate Barracuda 3TB drive
Intel 730 Series 480 GB drive