The Toshiba X300 is the most attractive affordable desktop hard drive with over 8TB capacity, offering additional storage without the need for an Enterprise or NAS label. Unfortunately, despite its 7200 RPM speed, abundant cache, and versatile conventional magnetic recording (CMR) technology, its performance is lackluster. The price per terabyte of large capacities is also relatively high, bringing the drive’s price closer to that of the more expensive 14TB Seagate IronWolf and 14TB WD Red Plus. Aside from peak write speeds, these two NAS drives generally outperform the X300.
Definitely a great option if you only need 8TB or less on your HDD. WD Blue is a good choice for those on a tight budget, while Seagate FireCuda offers strong performance and great warranty. If you need a drive for your NAS, especially if you want a 5-year warranty, Seagate IronWolf Pro and WD Red Pro. Red Plus is also a quieter and more efficient alternative. However, if your focus is on drives specifically designed for desktop PCs, the Seagate BarraCuda Pro outperforms the X300 in every way, but at a significantly higher price. So if you need a certain amount of capacity on a single drive and can sacrifice general performance, the X300 is the best choice.
specification
| product | Toshiba X300 |
| capacity | 14TB |
| model # | HDWR21EXZSTA |
| Pricing | $245.99 |
| Cost per TB | $17.57 |
| interface | SATA 6Gb/s |
| form factor | 3.5 inches |
| technology | CMR |
| number of revolutions | 7200 |
| Sustained transfer speed | N/A |
| cache | 256MB |
| operating power | 6.77W |
| noise | N/A |
| Workload rate limit | N/A |
| MTTF | 600,000 hours |
| guarantee | 2 years |
The current X300 lineup features capacities up to 18TB and cache up to 512MB. Our old 14TB X300 only has 256MB of cache, but it still uses CMR tech and spins at 7200 RPM. Like the WD Blue and Seagate BarraCuda, the X300 only has his two-year warranty, but the X300 has a higher capacity option.
Excluding enterprise and NAS drives in the 8TB+ space, one of our competitors is the Seagate BarraCuda Pro, which comes with a full 5-year warranty. However, the $245.99 14TB X300 is significantly cheaper than the $330 14TB BarraCuda Pro. If you include the NAS, you’re looking at the 3-year WD Red Plus for about the same price, but its drives are optimized for running in different environments.
Software and accessories
Toshiba’s software support is minimal, but present. Search for your specific model on Toshiba’s website and you’ll find a link to a downloadable Toshiba Storage Diagnostic Tool to inspect the health of your drive.
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The X300 is pretty simple except for the blue PCB. There are not many HDD manufacturers yet. Compare the number of brands with SSDs. However, Toshiba’s drives can fill some gaps and meet your needs. The X300 has similar characteristics to the entry-level WD Blue, but with higher spindle speeds and higher capacity options. It’s not a NAS or enterprise drive, so it’s best described for high-end desktops and workstations.
Here we can see the drive conforms to the standard 3.5 inch form factor and comes with the ubiquitous 6 Gb/s SATA connector.
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