What replacement hard drive do I need?

January 4, 2021 8:36 AM

So the hard drive (a SATA Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM with 1TB) on my somewhat old desktop died over the holidays. I'm looking to replace the drive, rather than the whole computer, but want to make sure I get the right piece of equipment. Details inside.

So the desktop is a Dell XPS 9100, the drive is as mentioned above. Power supply is 525W.

Thanks to some regular backups and getting my hands on a USB to SATA kit, I have not lost any data - it looks like the sectors of the drive where the boot happens have gotten corrupt, and the computer seems fine otherwise. Not looking to replace the computer largely for budgetary reasons. I'm reasonably technically proficient, but this is a whole new area for me - I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for getting this far, but I don't want to waste a lot of time fumbling about with the wrong drive.

I have found a Western Digital Blue 1TB SATA that I think will do it, but want to make sure, so I'm looking for knowledgeable input from the hive mind.

posted by nubs to Technology (12 answers total)

Best answer: Assuming you're going to have to reinstall the OS and then copy data over, I'd suggest getting a SATA SSD instead of a hard drive. You'll get better speed out of it, and a decent 1TB hard drive isn't that expensive these days.

A 1TB Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB drive is about $110 on Amazon right now, which is more expensive than the 1TB 7200RPM HDD but it'll be so much faster. If you're avoiding replacing the entire computer, this will help it feel more responsive.
posted by jzb at 8:54 AM on January 4, 2021 [4 favorites]

Best answer: The hard drive you link would probably work fine/well, but I would strongly recommend you consider using this as an oppertunity to upgrade to an SSD. Your computer will run much faster and SSDs are not much more expensive than the hard drive you've found. Here are a couple of examples: 1, 2.

Note that both of those new drives are 2.5" drives, whereas your old drive was a 3.5" drive, so if you don't have a space in your case for 2.5" drives, you'll need a bracket.
posted by Betelgeuse at 8:56 AM on January 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Seconding jzb regarding just going with an ssd , though I think you can spend even less on the SSD and get it closer to the price of the WD drive that you have linked. Samsung is one of the top brands in terms of performance, longevity and warrenty so they're certainly a good choice but their price reflects those qualities. WD, Crucial, and SanDisk all occupy a middle tier that are generally solid and cheaper. If you avoid Amazon, you could try Newegg for similar prices on those. The difference between a traditional hard drive and HDD is most certainly worth the difference in price
posted by boredoms at 9:02 AM on January 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

Concurring with others here - get an SSD. They're SO much better that nobody should be buying a regular hard disk unless they have a really good reason to do so.
posted by wotsac at 9:31 AM on January 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all! I did not think an SSD was a possibility due to age; it looks like I may be able to take advantage of a sale and get a 2TB one for about the same price. Not sure I need that much storage, but then...
posted by nubs at 9:43 AM on January 4, 2021

If you can afford an SSD get one. IMO, it's the upgrade with the most impact on user experience.

If you are generally happy with the speed of your computer this will extend it's life and likely save you money in the medium to long run.
posted by jclarkin at 9:44 AM on January 4, 2021

SSD prices have come down a bit, and adding an SSD as your boot drive with the spinning HD as the data drive is not a bad idea. I have both in my system, and I bought it almost 2 years ago. Most mainboards can take up to 4 HD's without additional hardware, though finding places to mount them in your case is a different problem.

Replacing your spinning HD with an SSD of the same size may be a bit pricey.
posted by kschang at 10:28 AM on January 4, 2021

> Not sure I need that much storage, but then...

"I have too much storage space," said nobody ever.

Definitely get an SSD. The form-factor you're looking for is "2.5 inch" which is going to be a plastic box the size of a laptop hard drive, with the familiar SATA connectors, and if your old one was the larger 3.5" drive size, don't worry-- the SSD will likely come with brackets and screws to make it fit where the old one did. (You'll need the screws currently holding the old one in place, too.)

SSD comes in many weird forms designed for compact device internals, so avoid "M.2" SSDs. When in it doubt, look at a picture. If it's a hard-drive-shaped plastic box, you're good.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:49 AM on January 4, 2021

Your computer is old, but it's definitely new enough that a common SATA SSD will work great for you. The new SSDs would be faster on new computers, but all the things that an SSD does to improve performance are there for you.
posted by wotsac at 11:10 AM on January 4, 2021

To set your mind at ease, my 9 year old PC works just fine with the three (!) different SATA SSDs I currently have in it. One is an ancient 16GB Kingston that I keep around because I'm too lazy to move the boot loader over to the 250GB that has Windows installed on it, one is a 250GB Crucial, and the other is a 500GB Western Digital.

As far as the computer is concerned, they're all just SATA drives just like your old hard disk.
posted by wierdo at 11:32 AM on January 4, 2021

Response by poster: Further update - I went out a picked up a 1TB SSD yesterday (the 2TB I was eyeing is actually a SMR(?) I was told, not an actual SSD). Mounted it, reinstalled windows, and am off to the races.

You were all right - it's much faster and I'm also finding much quieter.
posted by nubs at 8:24 AM on January 5, 2021

SMR = shingled magnetic storage, basically squeezes more storage from same media surface through some trick writing. Instead of discrete tracks, the "shingled" tracks actually overlap each other. The trade-offs are unclear, but theoretically a single failure can result in much more destruction of readable data, and writing performance is much slower due to the need for the head to do micropositioning.
posted by kschang at 12:29 PM on January 5, 2021