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While SSDs are a necessity, HDDs are equally important and might even be more useful now than ever before. PC game sizes have increased significantly and can fill up your SSD. In fact, the newly announced COD: Black Ops 6 supposedly requires 300+ GB of storage space. An SSD is best for gaming, but a hard drive is perfect for storing movies, music, pictures, and more. You can even archive games on it.
With that in mind, this article presents the list of the best 2TB HDDs for gaming in 2024.
Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions
List of the best 2TB HDD you should buy
1) WD_Black 2TB Performance Internal Hard Drive
Price: $99.99
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Western Digital sells three types of HDDs: Black, Blue, and Green. The Black ones are the best, and the Green drives are the cheapest. The Blue ones generally perform better than the Green ones. This WD_Black 2TB hard drive comes with a Dynamic Cache system designed to deliver the best performance in gaming.
However, the cache memory is quite low on this 2TB drive, but if you get its 4TB variant, the cache memory increases to 256MB. This should significantly boost the drive's performance and help it deliver sustained peak speed.
Pros
- It has better gaming performance since it uses Dynamic Cache and StableTrac.
- The magnetic disks have a higher RPM, which leads to better peak speeds.
- It has a 5-year warranty.
Cons
- The cache memory is lower on the 2TB model.
2) WD_Black 2TB P10 Game Drive - Portable External Hard Drive
Price: $79.88
The WD_Black 2TB P10 Game Drive is a portable/external drive you can use on almost all your devices, including Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles. Most HDDs are not certified as compatible with these systems, which makes this a perfect recommendation for such devices.
It is also supported on the Mac. This allows you to archive all your games in this Game Drive instead of deleting and reinstalling them again. The Black P10 is compact and one of the most portable drives on the market.
Pros
- It has decent performance for the price.
- It's compatible with PC, Xbox, Mac, and PlayStation.
- It is small and extremely portable.
Cons
- Due to the incredibly portable nature of the drive, it has a lower RPM.
3) Seagate Portable 2TB External Hard Drive
Price: $79
The Seagate Portable 2TB external hard drive is a portable/external HDD that offers better performance than WD's Black P10 Game Drive. However, this product isn't as portable since it's larger.
It has faster Read/Write speeds, which would lead to better gaming performance. It also has a large cache memory to keep the peak R/W speeds longer. This HDD costs under $80, making it a value-for-money portable drive.
Pros
- It is portable in nature.
- It's compatible with PCs, Macs, and game consoles.
- It offers a more-than-decent performance in games.
Cons
- It is a bit large and not as compact as other portable drives.
4) Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD
Price: $64.99
This 2TB internal HDD from Seagate can be the perfect addition to your PC's storage. This drive has higher speeds and lower latency. Even games like Cyberpunk 2077 run pretty well on a hard drive like this.
The HDD is also backed by five years of warranty. Seagate is one of the primary innovators of hard drive technology, so you can trust it to provide a reliable service. This 2TB drive is available for less than $65, which makes it very appealing.
Pros
- It's among the fastest drives on the market.
- Its lower latency will boost your gaming performance.
- It has a large cache size that will provide a higher peak speed.
Cons
- The spinning magnetic drives inside can be a bit noisy for some people.
5) Western Digital 2TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive
Price: $62
The WD Blue 2TB internal hard drive is the cheapest HDD on this list, yet it has enough performance to go toe to toe with other, more expensive drives. Costing just $62, it offers high RPM and cache memory. These things are usually reserved for HDDs that cost significantly more.
Western Digital is an established manufacturer of hard drives and has gained a massive reputation over the years, thanks to its HDDs' stellar performance and endurance. The company provides a two-year warranty and bundles Acronis' True Image cloning software with this drive.
Pros
- It has an excellent performance in both gaming and transfer speeds.
- It has higher cache memory.
- It comes bundled with disk management software.
Cons
- Its warranty period is lower than those of others on the market.
These are the five best HDDs that you can buy in 2024. Whether you need an internal or a portable hard drive, this list has them all. For an internal drive, I recommend the Western Digital 2TB WD Blue internal HDD since it features the best price-to-performance ratio.
However, if you're looking for something you can carry around, Seagate's Portable 2TB external hard drive is what you should go for.
