Are Hard Drives Still Worth It? 

Anthony is slowly taking over LTT, he started with being amazing and loved by everyone and now he started to drop things and LTT store references are more often than ever

I still have a pc in my house with a mf CD drive and they’re talking about if HDDs are still worth it

"When I was a kid, SSDs barely existed." Welp. Thanks for making me feel old today. When I was a kid, HDDs barely existed. In fact, they didn't exist at all for personal computers. The storage media of choice was a cassette tape.

Hey, I am old enough that when I was a child there were no SSDs at all. I am in my 40s and so you can imagine all of the computer tech that did not exist yet when I was born. Some of the computers back then didn't have 100 MB or more hard drive space. Back then terabyte hard drives were unheard of and were still a thing of science fiction.

4:49 I love little touches like that 😂

Anthony is like that 1 cool guy in your friend circle, who helps you no matter what.

It was worth it in my case. My mom's workplace threw out some old pcs, and I salvaged two 750GB Seagate Barracudas to use in my new build. I have an nvme for my boot drive and art software, but my games are on one HDD and my files and random crap are on the other HDD. Quite a cost-saver, and they work fast enough for my purposes.

Anthony is literally growing in front of our eyes in terms of presentation quality if you look at his first videos and now. Legit enjoying his videos. Go Anthony!

Wow those stutterings at 4:52 are such a nice editing touch.

This man’s so clear, the captions catch every word

Much love for Anthony as a host. He’s calm, warm, clearly spoken and clearly has a wealth of knowledge beyond the levels he’s talking about. I loved the ‘Not an SSD’ as writer and producer in the credits. That’s a nice Easter egg :)

I'd love to see the reliability issue discussed in more depth. Obviously HDDs are more prone to damage from shock and drops, but sat securely in a desktop or a server environment, I always personally feel safer using HDDs for backing up files because they tend to fail in a mechanical fashion whereas SSDs fail instantaneously, at least in my experience. By this, I mean that if a HDD starts to die, it generally gets slower, throws SMART errors, clicks, refuses to spin up but eventually does after some praying and coaxing, but in my experience a dead SSD just... dies. I always feel somehow safer in knowing that in a fire, flood, or normal failure, there's at least some mechanical repairs that can be done to a HDD that might get my data back, but I don't feel so secure about SSDs. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know, but it's for this reason I always use SSDs as primary storage and HDDs for backups. It'd be nice to know if my thought process is actually justified or just superstitious.

Oh Anthony. Thank you for being you during times like this

4:52 was an excellent touch. Had to rewind multiple times to make sure that my phone wasn't acting up..

Anthony should have mentioned that HDDs are better for long term data storage (like photos and videos), despite having a shorter working life. That's because SSD memory can slooowly "leak" over time, leading to data loss, whereas HDDs don't have that problem. Of course, don't put all your file eggs into only one HDD basket, make sure you have at least one other copy of your files on another HDD, preferably separate from your main system!

even 2 years after, an 8Tb hdd costs the same as a 2Tb ssd here in italy

i love how they added the intentional stutter at 4:52-4:55

Wouldn't be an LTT video without something being dropped 😂

What I like about hdds vs ssds is that with ssd's you know that everytime you write to the flash, you decrease the lifespan.

I use a 2TB SSD for my OS and all my files. I also have a 6TB HDD which is used only for system backups with Timeshift, and spends most of its time spun down. The lower speed is tolerable for this purpose, especially for only $120 US, and unless it's actively backing up or restoring, it may as well not be there in terms of heat and noise.

The fact that hard drives are so incredibly cheap now for a TB or so makes it kinda worth it for storing stuff such as games or documents or music

I love that Anthony constantly gets the praise he deserves to this day

I really like the hybrid SSDHDs, but they haven't been progressing. The idea is that you have a large spinning hard drive with a smaller SSD cache, so you get the benefits of both SSDs and HDDs because an algorithm is making sure the most often used files are in SSD cache, while the older files are on the cheaper HDD platter. These drives can also completely spin down when idle unlike pure HDDs.

Try this: Put a mechanical HD and a SSD with no power on a shelf for 5+ years. I have done it for 10+years. All my mechanical HDs worked even ones from 1995. The 3-5 SSDs did not. They could be reformatted and used but left with no power they degrade. So for long term storage don't put a SSD on a shelf with no power, they don't hold data as well as old fashion but more reliable spinning Hard drives.

Anthony is so chill! Thank you for not yelling and being intentionally obnoxious like so many tech hosts!

Are HDD still worthy? Me, a poor guy from third world country: *You don't need to ask, you already know the answer*

The editing at 4:50 segment was so good holy shit

Hi Anthony, thanks for the video. As I was searching for information on external drives was glad to see you as a choice. I like you and how you present information.

Anthony is now an honorary Sword of Sangheilios. Welcome aboard, Brother!

4:50 Editor appreciation They actually stuttered the video lol

They're great for storage and backups, especially if you record and edit footage. For programs you need to constantly launch or gaming they're completely outclassed by ssd's though.

Still the big problem with all SSD's is that when they die - all your data is gone with zero chance of recovery, and it happens in an instant. HDD's have still the advantage that they tend to die slowly giving you plenty of warning. So I use both - not for speed or economy more for data security - and yes, I back up everything but that's not always 100% foolproof either.

Linus to Anthony - How many ads do you think we can get away with in one 7 min segment??? Anthony to Linus - Give the segment, I'll do 4 and they'll barely notice.

This guys public speaking skills are silky smooth!

I can't put into words how much I appreciate Anthony

As a boot drive for your OS, use an SSD. As additional internal storage for when speed is not as big of a concern, use a HDD. Pros: HDDs are at their best when accessing large files sequentially. HDDs can come in massive capacities for cheap. Much cheaper per GB than an SSD. Nearly unlimited read write cycles through the drive’s lifespan. Modern drives are pretty reliable if they are kept cool and kept in a stationary place. They are obviously not as robust as SSDs. Cons: HDDs are more fragile than SSDs. HDDs tend to not last as long in portable environments where they are tossed around often like external drives and laptops. HDDs are slower than SSDs especially in random access. HDD failures occur due to them being a mechanical device. Mechanical machines will inevitably wear out. They will typically slow down considerably when a drive reaches the end of its life. Failures can be accelerated or caused by overheating, mishandling the drive, sudden impacts, or old age and wear and tear. HDDs make noise while SSDs are silent. However, modern HDDs are pretty quiet but obviously not dead silent like an SSD. HDDs consume more power and produce more heat. For laptops, this is a big deal since battery life and heat is a big factor. SSD pros: Super fast. Great for boot drives or any computer. Considerably faster boot times and game loading. Smaller form factors like M.2 allows for easy packaging them on thinner laptops. SSDs are considerably more robust than HDDs, making them ideal for laptops and external drives that get tossed around in a backpack or something. Low power consumption. Less heat. Ideal for mobile devices using batteries. Using an SSD would increase battery life. Totally silent. No noises from spinning platters and moving heads from an HDD. Cons: High cost per GB compared to HDDs Limited write cycles. After a block has been overwritten so many times, that part of the memory begins to degrade and data can no longer be written to that block. They can be read unlimited times. Luckily, it takes tens of thousands of write cycles to cause any problems. When an SSD drive fails, it will become extremely slow like it went into a “limp mode”, allowing you to backup your information before the drive fails if you are lucky. Higher quality SSDs typically have more write cycles than flash media like flash drives or SD cards. Degradation of the memory chips can cause data loss, corruption, or a complete drive failure. Over time, memory models can degrade until they become nonfunctional. This phenomenon can be attributed to the quality of the modules during and after the manufacturing process. The silicon and other components may decay that in certain chips, depending on how they were made. Fortunately, this phenomenon is largely attributed to old age and is therefore not a great concern. Time will tell. HDDs become slow when accessing hundreds or thousands of little files scattered all over the disk, such as when booting to Windows. For gaming, an HDD will work, but be aware that your loading times won’t be nearly as fast as an SSD. When an HDD is used as a boot drive, the drive is often so preoccupied with seeking all these little files while loading in Windows, and programs or files will be slower since the drive can’t keep up with the demand. SSDs are a clearly superior in this regard.

It's so good to see Anthony grow in confidence and ability in front of camera. He's my fave member of the team these days. Knowledgable, eloquent, funny, and genuine. Keep up the awesome work and more Anthony content please!!!

4:52 I see what you did there.... I thought it was my internet lol

I so love your voice and how you present, Anthony. Keep it up

Thanks, you helped me a lot Mikel. You are the best

I like Anthony because he gets straight to the point. He really explains what he is talking about in a compact and easy to understand way.

My pre-opinion at the title card: Yes, how else am I going to store my 15tb of... media... in a cheap manner?

Love the way you introduce the ads. Gets me everytime, haha

Anthony's voice is so soothing, I feel like I'm in a cocoon of wholesomeness.

The fact the there is literally a stutter added at 4:54 goes to show the commitment LTT has to its content

love the difference in confidence from anthony's first videos compared to now

Andrew just explain things so good I love it

Anthony’s voice so soothing didn’t even skip through the sponsor spot

A couple of things they didn't mention in this video. 1. The cost savings only increase as you the drive size goes up. You can get 8TB HDD's for about a quarter of the price of a good 4TB SSD and if you're storing movies, images, music or even any game made before about 2013 there's almost no performance to be gained from SSD storage. 2. Noise can also be easily mitigated by using a NAS setup and sticking it in a closet, with the added bonus that you can access the files from any device you own and even over the internet without worrying about whether your data is being sold to advertisers. There's a reasonably compelling argument that your desktop or laptop shouldn't contain an HDD in current year, but HDD's still have a useful niche because most files don't benefit from an SSD's increased speeds. Using an SSD to store music, images or even 4K video is simply a waste of money. As always with PC building, there's no such thing as a bad product, only a bad price, and HDD's are still well priced for many jobs.

4:52 I saw what you did there ....quite clever and effectiiiivvvvve!!! (i was cussing my machine out (been here before) then i realized, he seems tricky enough to do something ill 😜...lol) - very nice editing, informative and entertaining. Don't let my name fool you, i have had the most challenging time trying to add SSD to my computer, finally got it there and it took so long, I don't remember why I was updating it...huh boy...that's why I'm here🤓😁Be safe and take care😎

That sip from the water bottle as he slid into that plug was smooth

Me: Looks over at my PC with 7 TB of HDD storage and hundreds of games, “yeah, it’s worth it.”

4:52 the fact the editor stuttered it is amazing

just bought new 2TB HDD bc my last one was just 500gb and was already dying, i have my windows on SSD but i need games and movies and everything else to storage somewhere so i got the 2TB and i really like it.

Love what y'all did at 4:53. Had me worried for a second lol

"A drop of just a few feet could be enough to render it inoperable" Jokes on you my hard drive doesn't have feet

Anthony: "Are HDDs still worth it?" /r/DataHoarder: "Am I a joke to you?"

My tower has about 10 terabytes or so of total storage, and 6 more in the external backup setup I've got going with it. SSDs are still far more expensive per unit capacity than platter drives, so yes, actual disks do still have a place.

I love to see that the legacy of tips on how to drop stuff was passed on :')

Whenever Anthony is in a video, my day is getting better

No seriously Anthony does such a good job of hosting an episode, he has a very welcoming voice and personality

always good to see you doing vids anthony

This was such an informative video. I’m in the process of shopping for a new system and am set on everything, BUT the whole ‘Do I include a HDD?’ of it all. I was going to have 3 SSDs. But a friend was like, ‘maybe one of those should be a HDD’. And I was like ‘Hmm... Maybe it should.’ And now I’m here.

That added in stutter while he was talking about it was a decent touch, had to replay it just to make sure it wasn't random.

literally bought a hard drive yesterday. Hey man, not all of us can afford to store videos and back ups we'll never touch on a sdd.

The stuttering effect at 4:50 was a good touch lol

Haha actually thought it was my Internet 😂🤣 @4:50

I haven't had a spinner in my pc since 2011 when I bought my first intel 520, I took it out to see how quiet it was and then I realised I never wanted to put it back in ever again

Got addicted to Anthony I thought there was more after the Microcenter ad.

@4:25 Mechanical drives don't need to be parked anymore since the 80s. The heads are physically designed to go to the parking spot as soon as they lose power. The shutdown option (along with the ATX standard) was introduced in Windows 95 so services and programs get a shutdown signal so they can close the files they were using at the time (or gracefully close network connections)

im currently in the process saving and purchasing parts to build a pc what im doing is a mix of all 3 storage options. 1tb m.2 for os, programs, and games i want to load and run fast (especially rust), 2tb hdd for other games and bulk storage, and 250 gb ssd for storing important files although i’ll probably buy a 1tb instead. i think with all that storage ill be good for a long time but in the case that its not enough solving is as simple as buying an extra storage device

Anthony: *segues to sponsor* Me: “fuck, he’s good”

Damn his voice is so soothing man. Even the ad announcement seems almost like genuine content. Maybe its just me.

Thanx for the video. I recently update my desktop and wife's laptop to SSD and now they're like new PCs. However SSDs are great for system drives but at present I'll stick to HDD for storage and video editing drives.

I just recently bought a 2tb Gen 4 NVMe drive for my games on my PC but still also have a 4tb HDD for movies, music, and documents. It's about half full and is just a place to kinda put stuff I wanna keep

Give Anthony his own higher tech spot on LTT regularly. His knowledge on tech is truly Jedi Grade. I love this guy.

4:51 that stuttering effect 😂 I had to check my internet connection after seeing that lol

That water bottle segue at 3:02 was smooth af.

the stutter editing was a nice touch

Anthony: are HDD worth it anymore. poor college student trying to decide to eat for the next month or buy an ssd

The 2x price rule works for lower capacity builds, SSDs are typically much more expensive as you rack up the Tbs...

I keep an HDD as a backup drive in case I have an SSD failure. Works a treat, and no cloud service fees.

I just came here to say that I love Anthony, he is just the very best.

Anthony has gone from... "Somewhat quiet smart tech guy in the background" to "Fun and Informative host who is legitimately soothing to listen to". I am happy to have been around to see the transformation into this beautiful tech wizard butterfly.

"When I was a kid, SSDs barely existed. When I was in college, they were prohibitively expensive" *Remembers how it was a game changer when he finally convinced the tech department of his college to allow students to use those new fangled usb flashdrives so they would not be restricted to floppies and zip disks* Welp, I feel old....

Love Anthony, Let him have his own segment!

Anthony is a master at injecting ad messages between his content.

Me who can't afford an ssd: Yes

"Are Hard Drives still worth it?" Yes.

I recently bought a new laptop that has only an M.2 slot and no SATA slot. It shipped with a 500GB M.2 SSD, but I was able to find a 1TB M.2 SSD for just under $100.00 and for what all I do it suits me fine. I do still have some of my older HDDs in external enclosures and use them for storage.

4:52 Very well done on the stuttering effect.

Linus with like 17 petabytes of hard drives: Y E S

Building my computer right now, not even paying attention to what he is saying, just enjoying the sound of his voice.

Hey Anthony, Always a pleasure watching your vids. I suspect in 5 - 10 years Mechanical drives will fade away pretty much in the same way as cassettes did, There is no stoping technology and we will eventually have no choice but to adapt and learn to appreciate it. Always a pleasure my friend god speed!

Have 1 tb of movies on internal and 1Tb of movies on external hd. Paid big money then, cant believe how cheap m.2 storage is now.

For Desktops i see not many problems with an HDD as Datastorage if it is for Media. But the SSDs are getting into the right direction now. More MLC is coming back which is awsome and they are getting cheaper and cheaper. I got one SLC Drive from the SSD start days for Windows as of now. I never liked TLC and espacially the low Grade QLC. But i plan to get an large MLC as soon as possible for Dataread Hungry games.

Newegg has HDD for 1/4 the price of the equivalent capacity SSD. They're still worth it.

Anthony is a pleasant treat for videos. You can tell he worked really hard to feel natural on camera over the years and its really awesome. MORE ANTHONY THANKS LINUS

i still using all my old harddrives which i could plugin into my pc its just nice to have 10 TB and more in one system even if its private

Anthony is such a cool guy and a good person that everyone comments that he’s a cool guy and good person.