HardwareGraphics CardsHard drives aren’t dead yet as Seagate demos new multi-layer 3D magnetic tech with potential for 240TB capacitiesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
HardwareGraphics CardsHard drives aren’t dead yet as Seagate demos new multi-layer 3D magnetic tech with potential for 240TB capacitiesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Seagate)
As SSDs have gotten ever cheaper, the appeal of traditional magnetic hard drives has waned. Well, for gamers if not some industrial scale storage applications. That’s remained trueeven with flash memory prices on the up of late. But if you want maximum capacity, there’s still no substitute for a spinning platter. Which is why Seagate has been demoing new hard drive tech that’s expected to extend capacities to as much as 240TB per drive in the next 10 years or so.
Incidentally, if you happen to be a material science PhD, you cancheck out the full research paper here. For everyone else, the Cliff Notes go something like this:
If so, you’d be looking at a 10-platter hard drive with a rough capacity of about 240TB. Which should just about cover installation ofone or two of the latest data-munching games on Steam.
Your next upgrade(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
Your next upgrade
(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
(Image credit: Future)
Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
To put that into context, Seagate’s current BarraCuda line of desktop drives tops out at 8GB, while its enterprise class HDDs extend to 24GB. So there’s potential for 10x the capacity versus Seagate’s current largest offering.
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As for when, exactly, this technology will hit the PC, that’s a bit of an open question. While the technology appears to be proven, it is also looking like it will be very costly, at least initially. Apparently, the multi-level material will require a new design of read/write heads.
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