Which Games Storage Hard Drive Upgrade to Buy for My Dell Inspiron 5680 (2018)

grang on 18/03/2020 - 13:03
Last edited 18/03/2020 - 15:04 by 1 other user

Q1: What is the sweetspot size ($/TB) for 3.5" drives for use with games
Q2: What is a good deal now on such a drive?

(original post below)

In 2018 I bought a gaming upgrade system to better suit my Vive VR headset:
* Dell Inspiron Gaming 5680 (1TB 3.5" + 256 GB M2SSD, Intel Core i7 8th Gen., 4.6 GHz, 16 GB) Tower Desktop - B210102AU
(Wish I paid a few $ more for the XPS that had 2TB storage).

When I got the PC, I immediately added a 2TB WD Black I had lying around to give it 3TB + boot drive. I used the 1TB for steam and epic games and the 2TB as primary storage for docs, pictures, movies, applications etc.

Running out of space, and needed to store games on 2TB drive, and that is getting full now…. We're casual gamers, and my kids have started going up the games food chain, Minecraft, to Fortnite and now want ARK evolved which is 60Gigs and I am starting to delete movies etc.

Opening up the Dell Inspiron case, it looks like there is 2x 3.5" slots (used by 1TB drive and 2TB drive), an empty 1x 2.5" slot and an empty 1 x 5.25" slot under DVD optical drive.

So, two questions.
What is the pricing sweet spot to buy now? Any suggestions with EBay discount codes (I have Plus)

My hunch is I should migrate everything off the 1TB drive and replace it with a bigger high performance (say) 4TB drive, and which one? That way I have less spinning noise stuff and lower Power consumption on the PSU.

Don't think I can justify the super large SSD for this I think?

I have a 8TB Synology NAS for backups and movies etc. Proficient with a screwdriver.

• 

  spackbace on 18/03/2020 - 13:33

  +1

  1) Buy an SSD for the boot drive, you'll thank me later Just saw it has a 256GB. Consider upgrading it to 1TB while SSD pricing is relatively low
  2) Whatever budget can afford. 8-12TB have been on special via Amazon for good money

  and I am starting to delete movies etc.

  If you have a NAS, why do you need any crazy storage on the PC? Let the NAS handle movies etc, and the PC just has game files

  My hunch is I should migrate everything off the 1TB drive and replace it with a bigger high performance (say) 4TB drive

  Yep, but can go more than 4TB if need be

  • 

    grang on 18/03/2020 - 14:22

    thank you. updated post to make it clearer. So 8 GB. Any recommendations? WD Black? Seagate?

    • 

      spackbace on 18/03/2020 - 14:23

      Everyone has their preferred brands of choice. I've had a Seagate die, and my parents' Seagate drive died, while no WD drive has ever died on me. But others could be in the opposite boat.

      Again, depends on budget. WD Red drives are a lot more reliable, but WD external 8/10/12TB drives can be had for cheaper than their internal drive counterparts

      Check deals here and here

      • 

        grang on 18/03/2020 - 14:32

        Thank you.
        (I typed this whilst you replied)

        I updated my post to make it clearer. So 8 GB. Any recommendations? which models in WD Black or Seagate?

        When I search eBay for 6 or 8 TB 3.5" drives, I get exclusively
        * NAS
        * Surveillance

        styled drives.

        I then searched 7200 RPM to push above 5400, but still get WD purple (Surveillance), or NAS. and Seagate iron wolf (NAS) or Seagate Skyhawk.

        Or is the 7200 NAS drives the same ones to use in the PC? Man, I am getting a bit dated on the drives!

        noted on the M2 upgrade to say 1TB. Just don't know how to transfer the Operating System on these guys.

        • 

          spackbace on 18/03/2020 - 14:34

          @grang: I don't think there's as much of a need for 7200rpm these days, from what I've seen

          Many guides online on transferring O/S between drives

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  grang on 18/03/2020 - 17:26

  So going with this one then 313 bucks after 15% code

  https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8TB-Seagate-3-5-7200rpm-SATA-Iro…

  Seagate Ironwolf NAS drive 8TB