Storage parts & specifications

Performance Plus

$617–$682

Top 30% Storage2022High end?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. M.2

High-end Inland Performance Plus 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD with DRAM, 3D TLC, and 3000 TBW—great for boot, game libraries, editing, and PS5 expansion.

870 EVO

$988–$1,092

Top 34% Storage2021Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

Samsung 870 EVO 2TB (2021) SATA 2.5-inch SSD with DRAM and 1,200 TBW—reliable SATA-class boot/game drive for systems without NVMe.

870 EVO

$1,966–$2,173

Top 34% Storage2021Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

Samsung 870 EVO 4TB (Jan 2021) is a 2.5-inch SATA TLC SSD with DRAM, 560/530 MB/s and 2400 TBW—ideal for SATA boot drives and big game libraries.

870 QVO

$474–$524

Top 34% Storage2020Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

Samsung 870 QVO 2TB is a 2.5-inch SATA QLC SSD with DRAM cache and 720 TBW, ideal for budget SATA upgrades, boot drives, and large game libraries.

870 QVO

$2,280–$2,520

Top 34% Storage2020Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

Samsung 870 QVO 8TB (2020) is a 2.5-inch SATA QLC SSD with DRAM cache and 2,880 TBW, ideal for massive game libraries and mass storage at SATA speeds.

BX500

$165–$183

Top 34% Storage2019Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

Crucial BX500 1TB is a budget 2.5-inch SATA SSD (540/500 MB/s, 360 TBW) released Oct 2019—best for boot drives and game libraries; still listed by Crucial.

Ultra 3D NAND

$1,477–$1,633

Top 34% Storage2019Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

SanDisk Ultra 3D 4TB SATA 2.5-inch SSD (2019) with DRAM cache and 600 TBW, ideal for boot, game libraries, and bulk SSD storage.

WD Blue SA510 SATA

$170–$188

Top 34% Storage2022Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 2.5

WD Blue SA510 (2022) is a budget SATA TLC SSD; 1TB model rates 400 TBW, up to 560/520 MB/s, now discontinued (2026).

10TB WD Purple Pro

$455–$503

Top 63% Storage2021Workstation?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagshipWorkstationWorkstation parts sit outside that ladder — built for sustained professional workloads rather than a price-for-performance rung. A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

10TB WD Purple Pro (WD101PURP) 3.5" SATA surveillance HDD, 7200 RPM CMR with 256MB cache and 550 TB/yr rating—best for always‑on mass storage.

12TB WD Purple Pro

$464–$512

Top 63% Storage2021Workstation?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagshipWorkstationWorkstation parts sit outside that ladder — built for sustained professional workloads rather than a price-for-performance rung. A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

12TB WD Purple Pro (WD121PURP) surveillance HDD: 3.5" SATA, 7200 RPM, 256MB cache, 550TB/yr—ideal mass storage for always‑on NVR/AI systems.

4TB WD Black

$247–$273

Top 63% Storage2018Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

WD Black 4TB (WD4005FZBX) 3.5-inch 7200RPM SATA HDD with 256MB cache, launched Feb 23, 2018; ideal for desktop game libraries and bulk storage.

BarraCuda 8TB

$245–$271

Top 63% Storage2018Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

Seagate BarraCuda 8TB (ST8000DM004) is a 3.5-inch SATA 5400 RPM SMR HDD for affordable mass storage and game libraries, launched January 2018.

IronWolf 10TB NAS

$418–$462

Top 63% Storage2019Mainstream?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

Seagate IronWolf 10TB (ST10000VN0008) NAS HDD: 7200 RPM CMR, 256MB cache, ~210 MB/s; mainstream 1–8‑bay mass storage with 180 TB/yr workload.

Skyhawk 4TB

$257–$284

Top 63% Storage2016Entry?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

Seagate SkyHawk 4TB (ST4000VX007) surveillance HDD: 2016 launch, SATA 3.5-inch, 64MB cache, 190MB/s OD read, 180TB/yr—good for mass storage and cold game libraries.

Ultrastar DC HC530

$565–$624

Top 63% Storage2018Workstation?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagshipWorkstationWorkstation parts sit outside that ladder — built for sustained professional workloads rather than a price-for-performance rung. A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

WD Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB helium enterprise HDD (SATA 6Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 512MB cache) launched April 2018; ideal for high‑density mass storage.

WD BLACK 8TB

$527–$582

Top 63% Storage2021Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

WD_BLACK 8TB (WD8002FZWX) 7200‑RPM 3.5-inch SATA HDD for game libraries and mass storage, launched in 2022 with 5‑year warranty and 128MB cache.

WD Blue 6 TB

$275–$303

Top 63% Storage2018Budget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

WD Blue 6TB (WD60EZAZ) is a 3.5-inch 5400 RPM SATA HDD from WD’s Blue line, released Feb 2019; SMR design suits bulk storage, not heavy write/RAID.

WD Red Pro NAS

$474–$524

Top 63% Storage2022Workstation?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagshipWorkstationWorkstation parts sit outside that ladder — built for sustained professional workloads rather than a price-for-performance rung. A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which. 3.5

WD Red Pro 20TB (WD201KFGX) is a 3.5-inch 7200 RPM CMR NAS HDD best for high-capacity mass storage in multi-bay arrays.