Storage buying guides

The best internal hard drive deal right now is whichever offer on this page has the lowest price per TB from a CMR drive at a warranty length you're comfortable with — the ranking below re-computes live from current Amazon prices.

This ranking includes only new internal hard drives whose listings explicitly state CMR. SMR, conflicting claims, and unknown recording technology are excluded. Specifications come from listing text, not independent verification; confirm the exact model with the manufacturer before buying.

At 4TB, check the recording method before the price: pick a CMR drive for a NAS or RAID, because many 4TB desktop drives and plain WD Red are SMR, then compare price per TB in the ranking below.

Match the drive to the job first: a CMR NAS-class 8TB drive for a NAS or RAID, any 8TB drive for a single PC or backup, and an external of up to 8TB for a PS5, then compare price per TB below.

The best 12TB deal comes down to two kinds of offer: a renewed enterprise-class drive with a seller warranty, or a new NAS-class drive with the maker's warranty — the ranking below puts both side by side by price per TB.

The best 16TB deal depends on where the drive will live: a new NAS-class drive for an always-on array, a renewed enterprise drive for a cheaper second copy, or an external drive used as-is for backups — the ranking below compares all three by price per TB.

A 20TB drive is worth it for the most capacity per bay if your array has dual parity or a real backup — pick a new NAS- or enterprise-class drive for 24/7 use, and use the ranking below to find today's lowest price per TB.

At 24TB, pick on warranty and model reliability as well as price: a five-year-warranty NAS- or enterprise-class drive near the top of the ranking below is often a better buy than the absolute cheapest offer.

The best internal SSD deal right now is whichever offer on this page has the lowest price per TB — NVMe if your machine has an M.2 slot, SATA otherwise — from this live-ranked list of current Amazon prices.

The best gaming SSD deal right now is whichever NVMe offer on this page has the lowest price per TB — check for PCIe Gen4 and 5,500 MB/s+ reads if it needs to work as PS5 storage.

For a boot drive or a first game drive, the cheapest 1TB SSD that fits your slot — a DRAM-less NVMe or a SATA drive — is usually enough; the list below ranks today's new 1TB offers by price per TB.

Pick a TLC drive with a 5-year warranty if you copy large files or write heavily, and a cheaper QLC drive if the 2TB SSD mostly stores and loads games — the list below ranks today's new 2TB offers by price per TB.

For most buyers, a TLC NVMe drive is the right 4TB SSD; choose QLC only if you write little, SATA for the lowest price per TB in an older PC, and a hard drive for pure bulk storage — the list below ranks today's new 4TB offers.

Buy a new PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD rated at 5,500 MB/s or faster — usually 1TB or 2TB — with a heatsink fitted or one added, and pick whichever qualifying drive in the list below costs the least per TB.

The best external drive deal right now is whichever offer on this page has the lowest price per TB — a desktop HDD for shelf backups, a portable SSD if it needs to travel — from this live-ranked list of current Amazon prices.

Buy the largest external hard drive you need as a parking spot for PS5 games and a home for PS4 games; choose an external SSD only if you play a lot of PS4 games from the drive, because PS5 games must move back to console or M.2 storage to run.

Buy the capacity you need at the lowest price per TB, and a 10Gbps drive unless your computer has a 20Gbps or USB4 port — the list below ranks today's new external SSDs so you pay for speed only if your port can use it.

Pick your speed tier first — a 10Gbps 1TB external SSD covers most school, work, and travel needs, and 20Gbps only pays off with a matching port — then buy the lowest price per TB in that tier, and check 2TB, which often costs less per TB.

Buy a 2TB external SSD in a USB speed tier your computer actually supports, check reviews for how it handles long copies, and pick the lowest price per TB among drives that pass — the list below ranks today's new 2TB offers.

The best enterprise SAS drive deal right now is whichever offer on this page has the lowest price per TB — usually a renewed datacenter drive, and only worth buying if you already have a SAS HBA and plan to run it in a redundant array.

A real Black Friday hard drive deal costs less per TB than drives of the same size and condition typically cost today — not just less than a seller's reference price. The list below shows only offers that pass that test, best deal first.

A real Black Friday SSD deal is a new drive priced below today's typical price per TB for its capacity — not a drive with a big percent-off badge. The list below shows only offers that meet that test, best deal first.

A real Black Friday external hard drive deal is priced below today's typical price per TB for its capacity and condition — not just marked with a big percent-off badge. The list below shows only offers that beat that typical price, best deal first.