All the best internal hard drives: The perfect HDDs and SSDs for you

Best internal hard drives
(Image credit: Benjamin Lehman)

The best internal hard drives can be a perfect way to give your PC or laptop a little boost. This is especially true for artists, designers and other creatives, who are likely going to have a lot of sizeable project files to store. And this goes double for photographers and video editors, who are going to have even greater storage needs. 

An internal hard drive is also a fantastic way to protect yourself against the utter disaster of a total computer crash. We hear a lot about the importance of backing up, and while the best cloud storage services are great for having your files accessible everywhere, there’s something to be said for having an offline storage solution too. 

There are loads of internal hard drives on the market – and if you’re not much of a computer person (no shame in it) they likely all look the same. So how to choose between them? We’ve picked out the best internal hard drives for our comprehensive buyer’s guide. With models at different price points, boasting various storage capacities and transfer speeds, there should be hard drives to suit all users on the list. If you're looking for an internal hard drive for your new PS5 (or old PS4), check out our guide to the best external hard drives and the best SSD for PS5

If you're after an external hard drive instead, you should definitely check out our best external hard drives post.

The best internal hard drives

Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Best internal hard drives: Seagate’s BarraCuda

(Image credit: Seagate)

01. Seagate BarraCuda

The best value internal hard drive

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 1TB – 2TB
Cache: 256MB
RPM: 7,200 rpm

Reasons to buy

+
Low noise
+
Very fast

Reasons to avoid

-
Not the biggest capacity

Hard drives aren’t like digital drawing tablets or cameras – flashy features aren’t necessarily a selling point. All you really need from a hard drive is for it to do the simple job of storing your data for a good price, and the Seagate BarraCuda passes that test with flying colours.

In terms of gigabytes on the dollar, it’s the best-value hard drive out there. The spin speeds of 7,200 RPM ensure fast enough performance for most purposes, certainly enough to be a time saver. 

As we’ll see, there are hard drives on this list with greater storage, and there are also hard drives with more impressive transfer speeds. But the SeaGate Barracuda wins out because it does a good job of storing lots of data for a reasonable price – and very few people need a hard drive to do anything more than that. 

Best internal hard drives: Western Digital Blue

(Image credit: Western Digital)

02. Western Digital Blue

More storage space for a bargain price

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 3TB – 4TB
Cache: 64MB
RPM: 5,400 rpm

Reasons to buy

+
Lots of storage space
+
Great price

Reasons to avoid

-
Slow read/write speeds
-
Limited cache

The Western Digital Blue is actually on the low end of the firm’s internal hard drive offering – it’s outstripped in terms of speed and capacity by the Black hard drives, which we’ll get to shortly. However, just like the Seagate BarraCuda, the Western Digital Blue is more than enough for most users, and provides great value, too.

Its rotation speed of 5,400 rpm means it’s not the fastest on the block, and then there’s also the limited cache of 64MB. However, in terms of capacity it outstrips the BarraCuda, coming in 3TB and 4TB variations. This is an impressive amount of space for the price, and is likely plenty for handling high-resolution image files or things of that nature. 

As it’s a Western Digital drive, the Blue also comes with free access to the Acronis True Image software, making it easy to copy data between drives. This makes the Blue extra handy to keep as a general-purpose backup drive. 

Best internal hard drives: Toshiba X300

(Image credit: Toshiba)

03. Toshiba X300

Another big drive that's super fast

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 4-16TB
Cache: 128MB
RPM: 7,200

Reasons to buy

+
Huge storage
+
Super fast

Reasons to avoid

-
Short warranty

The Toshiba X300 is both fast and able to carry a lot of storage, so it's well worth your consideration when choosing the best internal hard drive for you. Add to that the Toshiba X300 comes at a reasonable price, and you've got a potential star here. 

Performing at 7,200 rpm, all your secure data can be accessed really quickly –whether that's a large project file that you need to back up, or a quick game save. And there are iterations that go up to 16TB, which is quick frankly massive, and perfect for professional computing, or if you love to rinse your games. 

Best internal hard drives: Seagate FireCuda

(Image credit: Seagate)

04. Seagate FireCuda

The best hybrid drive for the best of both worlds

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 1TB – 2TB
Cache: 128MB
RPM: 7,200 rpm

Reasons to buy

+
Fast speeds
+
Affordable

Reasons to avoid

-
Limited storage for some
-
Not as durable as others

Can't decide between the high speeds (but high cost) of an SSD and the lower cost (but lower speeds) of an external hard drive? This hybrid device offers you something close to the best of both worlds. 

There's 1TB-2TB of hard drive storage for data that you just want to store, and don't need to access quickly. Plus for large files that you might need at a moment's notice, there's a small 8GB of SSD storage. 

The device learns which data you use most, so you can access those files most quickly. It's a very creative solution to keep your costs down, and as long as you don't have more than 8GB of files you might need immediately, it works brilliantly in practice. (It's also worth noting that the main part of the drive, which spins at 7,200rpm, is pretty nifty as it is.)

Best internal hard drives: Western Digital Black

(Image credit: Western Digital)

05. Western Digital Black

Impressive speed and capacity, one step up from the Blue

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 500-GB – 6TB
Cache: 64MB – 256MB
RPM: 7,200

Reasons to buy

+
Faster than Blue
+
5-year warranty

Reasons to avoid

-
Correspondingly pricier
-
Outpaced by FireCuda

The Western Digital Black is a little more expensive in terms of bits on the dollar than the Blue that we’ve already included. However, it is both faster and more capacious, making it definitely worth considering if you’re going to be transferring and storing a lot of large files. 

The Western Digital seal of quality assures that the Black drive will be highly reliable – though if you aren’t the trusting sort, it also comes with a five-year warranty that should provide a little extra peace of mind. It can get a little noisy sometimes when the motor really gets going, and the FireCuda is faster, but the Western Digital Black drive is an excellent choice for heavier users than the Blue. 

Best internal hard drives: Toshiba N300

(Image credit: Toshiba)

06. Toshiba N300

Best large capacity drive for computer networks

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 10TB – 14TB
Cache: 256MB
RPM: 7,200 rpm

Reasons to buy

+
Large capacity
+
Network and data protection

Reasons to avoid

-
Expensive
-
Can be loud

If you’re running a business with a small creative team that share project data on a daily basis, then you’ll need a network attached storage (NAS) system. This enables all authorised users in your network to share and access the same data, which makes your team’s project workflow faster and more seamless. Enter the Toshiba N300 14TB NAS internal hard drive, whose 10TB to 14TB storage capacity should be plenty to share among your team members. Yet, the best part is that you essentially have centralising data storage, forgoing the need to constantly ask a teammate to send this Illustrator design or that Premiere project.

With a cache size of up to 256 MB and 7,200 rpm speed, this best internal hard drives pick won’t slow down even with multiple users accessing it. And, because it is your business, this NAS system comes with features to help safeguard your data, making it one of the best internal hard drives if security is a priority.

Best internal hard drives: Seagate Exos X16

(Image credit: Seagate)

07. Seagate Exos X16

The most affordable NAS for budget-conscious users

Specifications

Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 14TB – 16TB
Cache: 256MB
RPM: 7,200 rpm

Reasons to buy

+
Very fast
+
Quiet

Reasons to avoid

-
Setup not as easy as others
-
Not as durable as others

Small businesses with limited budgets will be happy to know that they won’t have to spend the big bucks for their NAS device. The Seagate Exos X16 delivers just as excellent a performance and as fast a speed as its rivals – not to mention, just as much storage space – but at a much lower cost. Plus it comes with a much longer warranty than the more popular NAS drives. 

This internal hard drive has SAS models, which are faster and more reliable, but its hyperscale SATA model has also been tuned for speedy large data transfers. For added protection, Seagate gave its next-generation helium side-sealing, which should protect it from leaks and hard bumps. For added data security, on the other hand, it comes with Seagate’s Secure encryption technology. That’s a lot of features for less.

What should you look for in an internal hard drive?

As we mentioned earlier, the best internal hard drives come in a variety of shapes, sizes and price. They also differ in read/write speeds and connector types. Before you click that buy button, consider these factors when deciding the one that’s best for your needs.

First and foremost, think about the actual space you’ll need. As a creative professional, you might opt for 2TB to 4TB of space, as you deal with very large files. Though if you’re using the internal hard drive as your temporary storage for when you’re in the field or traveling and you’ve got a higher capacity drive at home that serves as your primary storage, a 250GB to 500GB should suffice.

Consider also how fast you need that hard drive to be for your workflow. Especially if you’re a video editor, you’ll want faster read/write speeds as well as a speedy connection. The SATA III connection currently offers the fastest transfer speed.

What is an internal hard drive?

If you’re unfamiliar with computer terminology, a hard drive or HDD is a computer’s storage device. That means that its primary function is to store all your computer files, from Word documents and Excel sheets to images, videos and designs. It also stores a computer’s operating system as well as the applications that run on it.

An internal hard drive is simply a hard drive that exists inside of a computer or laptop, and it acts as its primary storage – unless you specify otherwise. Like their external counterparts, internal hard drives come in many different storage capacities, ranging from as little as 128GB to 8TB – although there are bigger storage capacity ones on hand. 

They also vary in read and write speeds. A hard drive contains a spinning disk whose job is to store and read your data. The speed in which a hard drive’s disk spins determines how fast a hard drive is when reading and writing your data.

Naturally, internal hard drives differ in price tags as well. Typically, the more storage space and the faster the speed, the pricier an internal hard drive is.

If you're also after a new computer, don't forget to check out our best laptops for graphic design.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Los Angeles-based Michelle is a writer and photographer. She regularly writes for TechRadar, Steve's Digicams and Techlicious, and is currently a freelance SEO and Production editor for TechRadar.