Even though SSDs have been around for years, steadily improving in speed, reliability, and capacity, the good old hard disk drive is still worth considering for your gaming PC. That's because when it comes to outright storage per buck, there's nothing that beats an HDD. And in the current situation where DRAM and flash memory are both prohibitively expensive, it's even better value for money.Seagate has been serving this market for a good while now, and it has a big range of external HDD models, covering every possible use and budget.
Joining them is the newly launched FireCuda X Vault: a big HDD packed into an even bigger enclosure, replete with a touch of RGB lighting, that uses a speedy USB connection to hook up to your PC.You have two capacities to choose from—eight or 20 TB—and using it is as simple as you could want: plug it in, wait a few seconds, and enjoy the wealth of extra storage space. Well, it should be super-simple, but there are a couple of potential bumps in the road that could stop it from being as smooth as silk. First, the USB port on the host PC must provide at least 15 W to power the X Vault.Frustratingly, many motherboards and laptops don't actually indicate what power output they support, so you just have to test them out and hope for the best.
At least the X Vault sports a little LED by its USB socket, which flashes red if you don't give it enough juice.FireCuda X Vault specs(Image credit: Future)Capacity: 8 TB (reviewed) / 20 TBInterface: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-CUSB power requirement: ≥15 WSpindle speed: 5,400 rpmCache: 256 MBSupported OS: Windows / macOSDimensions: 200 x 130 mm x 50 mmWeight: 1260 gPrice: $270/£280 (8 TB), $476/£486 (20 TB)The other pothole in the road is the fact that you need to use a 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 port to get the best performance out of the drive. While such sockets are hardly rare on the latest motherboards and laptops, if you have an older gaming PC from a few years ago, you could be stuck with Gen 1 only—or worse still, ports that can't supply enough power.None of this is Seagate's fault, but if you are eyeballing the FireCuda X Vault as a potential buy, you really need to check what your USB ports can do before handing over your cash.You do get some handy extras with the drive, at least.
Seagate's Toolkit app offers incremental backup and real-time folder mirroring, as well as RGB controls (though you can use Windows 11's system, if you prefer), plus you get access to a data recovery service through the warranty period (typically two years).For the performance benchmarks below, I used a gaming PC with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K processor, in an ASRock Z890 Taichi Lite motherboard, with 48 GB of Corsair Dominator DDR5-8000 memory and multiple WD_Black SN850X SSDs to shift data back and forth from the external HDD.To ensure that the X Vault had the best possible chance of reaching its full potential, I used a Thunderbolt 4 port on the motherboard, using USBTreeView to check that it was operating in the correct USB mode (i.e. USB 3.2 Gen 2, 10 Gbps).It's been so long since we've tested an HDD that the only other model we have results for our current benchmark suite is the Adata HD710 Pro.
That external drive isn't aimed at gamers, and it only uses a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) connection. I've included a couple of external SSDs in the charts, so you have a visual guide to how fast spinning platters are compared to NAND flash chips. Previous 1 / 4 Next Seagate FireCuda X Vault benchmarks 3DMark Storage Index Bandwidth (MB/s) Average Access Time (µs) Seagate FireCuda X Vault (HDD) 180 32.89 1056 Adata HD710 Pro (HDD) 63 11.74 3046 Crucial X9 875 152 208 TeamGroup PD20 Mini 934 161.5 194 01,0002,0003,0004,000 3DMark Storage Data ProductValue Seagate FireCuda X Vault (HDD) 180 Index, 32.89 Bandwidth (MB/s), 1056 Average Access Time (µs) Adata HD710 Pro (HDD) 63 Index, 11.74 Bandwidth (MB/s), 3046 Average Access Time (µs) Crucial X9 875 Index, 152 Bandwidth (MB/s), 208 Average Access Time (µs) TeamGroup PD20 Mini 934 Index, 161.5 Bandwidth (MB/s), 194 Average Access Time (µs) Seagate FireCuda X Vault benchmarks CrystalDiskMark SEQ1M Q8T1 Read (MB/s) SEQ1M Q8T1 Write (MB/s) RND4k Q1T1 Read (MB/s) RND4K Q1T1 Write (MB/s) Seagate FireCuda X Vault (HDD) 222.05 212.53 0.65 1.92 Adata HD710 Pro (HDD) 120 117 0.54 0.57 Crucial X9 1028 970 35.56 73.92 TeamGroup PD20 Mini 1999.22 1699.45 26.1 69.94 05001,0001,5002,000 CrystalDiskMark Data ProductValue Seagate FireCuda X Vault (HDD) 222.05 SEQ1M Q8T1 Read (MB/s), 212.53 SEQ1M Q8T1 Write (MB/s), 0.65 RND4k Q1T1 Read (MB/s), 1.92 RND4K Q1T1 Write (MB/s) Adata HD710 Pro (HDD) 120 SEQ1M Q8T1 Read (MB/s), 117 SEQ1M Q8T1 Write (MB/s), 0.54 RND4k Q1T1 Read (MB/s), 0.57 RND4K Q1T1 Write (MB/s) Crucial X9 1028 SEQ1M Q8T1 Read (MB/s), 970 SEQ1M Q8T1 Write (MB/s), 35.56 RND4k Q1T1 Read (MB/s), 73.92 RND4K Q1T1 Write (MB/s) TeamGroup PD20 Mini 1999.22 SEQ1M Q8T1 Read (MB/s), 1699.45 SEQ1M Q8T1 Write (MB/s), 26.1 RND4k Q1T1 Read (MB/s), 6