The Best 500gb Hard Drive For 2024

Piers Anthony By, Piers Anthony
Updated
Best 500gb Hard Drive
Best 500gb Hard Drive

The Rundown

1. Best Of The Best: Toshiba 500GB Hard Drive

Toshiba 500GB Hard Drive is the perfect upgrade for your laptop. It's a high-speed hard drive that delivers seamless performance with its SATA 3Gbps interface. This Hard Drive can also be installed in compatible laptops without reformatting your system. Read Review

2. Runner Up: Seagate 500GB Hard Drive

Seagate 500GB Hard Drive meets the storage needs of nearly every PC application, so you can store more, build a powerhouse, and confidently rely on it. Read Review

3. Best Capacity: Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive

The Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive is a big-capacity hard drive for portable computing. With a 5400RPM spindle speed, this offers high performance for digital devices of all kinds. It is ideal for use with any PC or Mac that requires a large storage capacity. Read Review

4. Best Technology: Caraele 500GB Hard Drive

Caraele 500GB Hard Drive is the ultimate storage solution for your PC. It’s a fast and reliable external drive that has an impact-resistant aluminum design. This external hard drive is compatible with all PCs, laptops, and Macs, for a plug-and-play experience. Read Review

5. Best Quality: UnionSine 500GB Hard Drive

The UnionSine 500GB Hard Drive is the perfect choice for your system. With a sleek and ultra-thin design, this drive provides reliable, fast data transfers - up to 7200 rpm. It's compatible with SATA III and has double anti-interference. Read Review

Hard drives are one of the most common and important types of computer storage. While they’re mainly used to store data, they’re also used as secondary storage in computers. Without it, you won’t be able to install programs, store files or even save your work. This means that hard drives help your operating system access data stored on them faster than if the data were not stored on the drive.

When it comes to choosing the best hard drive for you, there are many factors that you need to take into account so that you end up with the perfect model for your needs. Some factors you should think about include how much space you need, how often you access your files, and how fast you want your hard drive to be. To make things easier for you, we’ve created this guide with all the information you need to know about finding the best hard drives for your needs.

You can count on our team of experts who have spent over 15 hours conducting results through 2,751 real customer reviews. So, We think that the best 500gb hard drive is Toshiba 500GB Hard Drive. This  500GB Hard Drive is the perfect upgrade for your laptop. It's a high-speed hard drive that delivers seamless performance with its SATA 3Gbps interface. 

It can also be installed on compatible laptops without reformatting your system. And Seagate 500GB Hard Drive is another choice for you while keeping the product's quality and functionality.

Our Top Picks

TOP Choice #1 Toshiba 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
9.7
Toshiba

500GB SATA laptop 2.5-inch hard drive

AF Advanced Format feature

Thickness 9.5mm

5400rpm and 8MB cache

SATA 3Gbps interface

TOP Choice #2 Seagate 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
9.6
Seagate

The go-to SATA hard drive solution for nearly every PC application—from music to video to photo editing to PC gaming

Store more, compute faster, and do it confidently with the proven reliability of BarraCuda internal hard drives

Build a powerhouse gaming computer or desktop setup with a variety of capacities and form factors

Enjoy long-term peace of mind with the included two-year limited warranty

Confidently rely on internal hard drive technology backed by 20 years of innovation

TOP Choice #3 Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
9.4
Western Digital

500GB, 5400RPM 16MB Cache, 2.5inch Laptop Hard Drive

Ideal For Portable digital devices of all kinds, including PS3 & PS4 Gaming Console, notebook computers, external storage, and digital media players

Fast and Efficient - With 5400 RPM spin speed and 12 ms access time and up to 3 Gb/s SATA interface speed

1 Year Warranty from Reseller

Big capacity for portable computing! Laptop & Notebook

4 Caraele 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
9.3
Caraele

Package and Warranty : 1 x Portable Hard Drive, 1 x USB 3.0 Cable, Gift-type shell packaging, 1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty

System Compatible : Compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Chromebook, and TV, PC, Laptop, PS4, Xbox series consoles and so on

Latest Model : Applying high-quality USB3.0 data cable, this portable hard drive enables you to backup massive data in seconds, delivering ultra fast transfer speed to improve your PC performance

Plug and Play : This external drive is ready to use without external power supply or software installation needed. Ideal extra storage for your computer and game console

Ultra-fast Data Transfers : USB 3.0 Super speed 10Gbps transfer rate ultra slim and light weight Portable external hard drive.Runs straight from a usb 3.0 or usb 2.0 port no external power source needed

5 UnionSine 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
9.2
UnionSine

【Ultra-Fast Data Transfers 】- The external hard drive works with the USB 3.0 thickened copper core cable to provide super fast transfer speed. The theoretical read speed is as high as 110MB/s-133MB/s, and the write speed is as high as 103MB/s.

【Plug and Play】 - With no software to install, just plug it in and the drive is ready to use.The hard disk chip is wrapped with an aluminum anti-interference layer to increase heat dissipation and protect data

【Double anti-interference】-The external hard drive chip adds a signal shielding layer, the transmission speed of the hard disk will be faster than other hard disks, stable and undisturbed

【Compatibility】Compatible with PS4/xbox one/Windows/Linux/Mac/Android / stable and fast loading on game consoles no difference from fast transmission when using on PC

【Ultra-thin and quiet】-The motherboard adopts JMicron 578 noise-free solution, giving you a quiet working environment. Lightweight and portable size designed to fit in your pocket for easy portability.

【What You Get 】- 1 x Portable Hard Drive, 1 x USB 3.0 Cable, 1 x User Manual, Gift-type shell packaging ,Three-year manufacturer's warranty and free technical support services

6 Maxone 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
9.1
Maxone

✔ A Reliable Game Drive: This PS4 external hard drive features fast and stable performance for PS4, PS4 Pro, and Xbox One, does not refuse or delete a game. Compatible with Microsoft Windows and Mac OS(10.6.5 and above) in the meantime

✔ Ultra Slim and Sturdy Metal Design: Merely 0.4 inch thick. All-Aluminum anti-scratch model delivers remarkable strength and durability, keeping this portable hard drive running cool and quiet

✔ What's Included: Portable external hard drive, 19-inch(48.26cm) USB 3.0 hard drive cable, user's manual, 3-Year manufacturer warranty with free technical support service

✔ Improve PC Performance: Powered by USB 3.0 technology, this USB hard drive is much faster than - but still compatible with - USB 2.0 backup drive, allowing for super fast transfer speed at up to 5 Gbit/s

✔ Plug and Play: This external drive is ready to use without external power supply or software installation needed. Ideal extra storage for your computer and game console

7 GoHardDrive 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
8.9
GoHardDrive

1 Year Warranty from Reseller, Worry free Return! 100% Full Refund

Zero Bad Sector, Zero Power on Hours (POH), Sealed in Bag

Quiet, Low Power & Heavy Duty, Designed for 24/7, works for Any Security CCTV DVR

3.5" Internal Surveillance Hard Drive

500GB Capacity, 16MB Cache, 5400RPM, SATA II 3.0Gb/s

8 Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
8.7
Western Digital

Best for Desktop PC/Mac or all-in-one PCs, Surveillance CCTV DVR

Low Power & Temperature, Quiet & Reliable - Designed for 24/7 Operation

500GB Capacity, 5400RPM, 32MB Buffer Size, 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

1 Year Warranty from Reseller, Worry free Return! 100% Full Refund

Bare Drive Only, Brown Box, Single Pack (No Screws, Cable or accessories included) - Friendly Reminder - Please FORMAT HDD on system in order to be detected or shows on OS.

9 MaxDigitalData 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
8.5
MaxDigitalData

2 Years Warranty from Reseller, Worry Free Return, 100% Full Refund

Designed for 24/7 Operation, Enhanced for Video Stream, Optimized for Surveillance

500GB Capacity, 5900RPM 8MB Cache 3.5in Surveillance HDD

Quiet Operation, Low power consumption, cool temperature

Estimate Record : 15 Days (30FPS, 720P)

10 Caraele 500GB Hard Drive
Our Score:
8.3
Caraele

System Compatible : Compatible with Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Chromebook, and TV, PC, Laptop, PS4, Xbox series consoles and so on. A reliable game drive

Package and Warranty : 1 x Portable Hard Drive, 1 x USB-C to USB-A Cable, 1-Year warranty with free technical support service

Plug and Play : Without external power supply, software installation, or any network, Just plug it in and the drive is ready to use

Impressive Performance : USB 3.1 Super speed 10Gbps transfer rate ultra slim and light weight Portable external hard drive.Runs straight from a usb 3.0 or usb 2.0 port no external power source needed

Super Fast Type-C/USB3.1 HDD : Applying USB-C and USB-A ports, this portable HDD really stands out from its kind, Guarantee a longer life. Aluminum Hard Drive, Shock-resistant solid state core for greater durability

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What to Look For in a best 500gb hard drive?

Some of you may be reluctant to select one of the best 500gb hard drive, to be honest. The main reason is that you didn’t study that before. There are pretty lots of factors that must be considered when investing in best 500gb hard drive. You are expected to count on our expertise in best 500gb hard drive to make the right choice. 

So now we move on to the significant factors related to best 500gb hard drive you must keep in mind:

Cache Memory

This is a cache that functions much like Computer RAM Memory. It stores important files temporarily so that it takes less time to access them on the disk. The larger the cache size, the faster the hard disk will be. However, the difference is not major, and as such, this should not be the biggest determiner.

Reliability

All hard drives eventually die, and there’s no definitive answer on when that day will come. We recommend replacing your backup drives between the third and sixth years of use, if possible. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get metrics on which hard drive models are more reliable over the long run, and even so, there will always be outliers and failures that occur sooner than expected.

Performance

Transfer speed is the feature that most people notice on a daily basis. We evaluated each drive with tests that replicated different real-world uses, and we focused on the drives that consistently outperformed the other contenders. Drives that did well on some tests but failed others were unreliable and not worth purchasing.

External Vs. Internal HDD

The main advantage of external hard disks is their portability. Which also makes them perfect backups in case your PC is compromised. Desktop PCs allow you room to add extra hard disks, but if you are using a laptop or other gaming device, you will have to replace your existing hard drive.

Size Of The Disk

I understand that you are buying the hard disk in order to eliminate the need to delete some files when you install a new game or add modifications. Also, at a time when a single game can take up to 100GB, Call of Duty WWII is 90GB; it only makes sense that you select the hard disk that will allow you sufficient storage space.

Rotation Speed

Did you know that hard drives store information on spinning magnetic plates? The faster these plates spin, the faster the load and access time. The rotation is measured in RPM (Rotations per Minute), and although we recommend hard disks with 7200RPM, 5400RPM is still a good option.

Speed

HDDs, or hard drives, contain spinning disks that read and write your data. The faster these disks spin—rated in rotations per minute (RPM)—the faster the drive can access data and transfer it to your computer.

FAQs

How much data can a 500GB hard drive store?

A 500GB hard drive can store up to 500 gigabytes of data. This is equivalent to 500 million bytes or 500,000,000 bytes of data.

How long does it take to transfer data to a 500GB hard drive?

The amount of time it takes to transfer data to a 500GB hard drive will depend on the speed of the connection that is being used. Generally, the transfer rate of a 500GB hard drive is around 100 megabits per second, which means it should take around 5 minutes to transfer 1GB of data.

What type of interface does a 500GB hard drive use?

Most 500GB hard drives use either SATA or PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) interfaces. SATA is the most common interface used in modern computers, while PATA is an older interface that is still found in some older systems.

What is a 500GB hard drive?

A 500GB hard drive is a storage device that stores data in the form of magnetic particles on a spinning disk. It is capable of storing up to 500 gigabytes of data, which is equivalent to 500 billion bytes.

How do I install a 500GB hard drive?

Installing a 500GB hard drive is fairly straightforward. First, make sure you have all the necessary hardware and software components. Then, shut down your computer and unplug the power cord. Open the computer case and install the hard drive into an available drive bay. Once the drive is secured, connect the data cables and power cables to the hard drive. Finally, secure the data and power cables to the case, and close the case.

What is the average lifespan of a 500GB hard drive?

The average lifespan of a 500GB hard drive depends on how it is used and cared for. Generally, a 500GB hard drive can last up to 5 years with proper care and maintenance. Factors such as temperature and humidity can also affect its lifespan.


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About Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony is a freelance writer and computer expert who enjoys helping others get the most out of their technology. He has written extensively about laptops, soundbars, and other computer-related topics, and he currently serves as the editor of The Audio Insights website. When he's not writing or tinkering with his gadgets, Piers can be found spending time with his wife and family.