How to read PCPartWatch

What does $/TB mean?

Price per terabyte: the price divided by the drive’s capacity. It’s the fairest way to compare drives of different sizes. A 20 TB drive at $300 ($15/TB) is better value than a 4 TB drive at $80 ($20/TB).

Prices include shipping when the seller states it. The table is sorted by $/TB, cheapest first, unless you choose another order.

What do the green and grey trend lines mean?

Green: cheaper now than 24 hours agoGrey: the same or higher

Each small graph shows the lowest Buy It Now price for that drive over the last 24 hours, with a point every hour.

A green line means the price now is lower than it was 24 hours ago. A grey line means it’s higher or unchanged. The line can rise and fall in between; only the first and last point decide the colour.

Hover over (or tap) a graph to see the low, the high and the change. Click it to open the drive’s full price history, where the Price | $/TB switch shows the same history per terabyte.

What does “↓ X% below avg” mean?

↓ 13% below avg

The drive’s lowest Buy It Now price today is at least 10% below its own average over the last 7 days.

It needs at least 3 days of history, so new listings don’t get a badge straight away. All of these drives are listed on the Price drops page, biggest drop first.

What does “90-day low” mean?

90-day low

The drive’s lowest Buy It Now price today is the lowest it’s been in the last 90 days (or ties it). It needs at least 30 days of history, so new listings don’t get one straight away.

A drive can have both badges: “below avg” compares today with the recent average, “90-day low” with the cheapest day.

What does “Featured” mean?

Featured

Featured drives are picked by PCPartWatch and always stay at the top of the list, whatever order you choose.

What do CMR and SMR mean?

HDD CMRHDD SMR

They’re two ways hard drives write data. CMR (conventional) drives keep a steady write speed. SMR (shingled) drives pack data tighter but slow down a lot on long writes and when a RAID array rebuilds, so they’re a poor choice for a NAS.

Use the Technology filter to show only CMR drives. A drive is tagged only when we know: from the maker’s model number for well-known product lines, or when listings say so. Untagged drives are unknown, not CMR.

What do SLC, MLC, TLC and QLC mean?

NVMe SSD TLCSSD QLC

They’re how many bits an SSD stores in each flash cell: SLC 1, MLC 2, TLC 3, QLC 4. More bits per cell is cheaper per TB but wears out sooner and writes slower once the drive’s fast cache fills.

TLC is the usual choice. QLC is fine for storing games and media, less so for heavy, constant writing. The Technology filter picks them on the SSD pages. As with CMR and SMR, a drive is tagged only when we know; most listings don’t say.

Why are some drives tagged U.2, EDSFF or SAS?

NVMe SSD U.2HDD SAS

They’re server formats that need special hardware. A U.2 or U.3 SSD needs a U.2 port or an adapter and won’t fit an M.2 slot; EDSFF (E1.S, E3.S) drives need a server bay; a SAS hard drive needs a SAS controller and won’t work on a normal SATA port.

They’re often cheap per TB, which is why they’re listed. Use the Form factor and Interface filters to leave them out.

What do New, Used and Refurbished mean?

They come from the seller’s own listing. Refurbished includes “renewed”, “recertified” and seller-refurbished drives. The same drive can appear twice, for example once new and once refurbished, because their prices differ a lot.

Why are eBay and Amazon shown separately?

Use the eBay / Amazon switch above the list to choose a store. Each view shows only that store’s prices, so you’re always comparing like with like. Your choice is remembered.

Are eBay prices sold prices?

No. They’re the prices of live Buy It Now (fixed-price) listings: what you could buy the drive for right now. Auctions and sold prices aren’t included.

Why doesn’t the Amazon view have trend graphs or price drops?

Amazon’s rules for sites like this don’t allow showing Amazon price history or price-drop alerts. The Amazon view shows current Amazon prices only.

Why does a button say “Search” instead of a price?

That store has no current listing we could match to this drive, so the button opens a search for it on that store instead.

What do US and CA mean?

US shows Amazon.com and eBay.com prices in US dollars. CA shows Amazon.ca and eBay.ca prices in Canadian dollars, from listings that ship to Canada. Prices are never converted between currencies.

How often are prices updated?

Prices are refreshed automatically, about every 1 hours. The time of the last update is shown under each page title. Prices can change at any time, and the store’s price at checkout is the one that applies.

How do price alerts work?

On any drive’s page, enter a target price and your email. We send one email to confirm, then email you when the lowest Buy It Now price reaches your target. You’re emailed again only if it drops another 5%.

Every email has a one-click unsubscribe, and your address is never shared.

Can I get an alert for a whole category?

Yes. Filter any list the way you want it (for example hard drives, 14–16 TB, CMR), then use “Watch this list” at the bottom. We email you when any drive in that list reaches your price per TB on eBay Buy It Now, with the cheapest matches.

Like drive alerts, there’s one email to confirm first, and you’re emailed again only if the price drops another 5%.

Why is a drive missing, or matched to the wrong listing?

Listings are matched to drives from their titles, using the brand and model number. Lots, bundles, enclosures and for-parts listings are left out on purpose. If a match looks wrong, it will usually be fixed after the next update.

Is there a phone version?

Yes. Phones get a layout made for small screens automatically. Use “Desktop view” at the bottom of the page to switch, and “Mobile view” in the sidebar to switch back.

Are there keyboard shortcuts?

On a computer: E shows eBay prices, A shows Amazon prices, U switches to the US site (USD) and C to the Canadian site (CAD). They don’t work while you’re typing in a box. Hover a switch to see its shortcut.

Do you track visitors?

The privacy page has the full details.

Each page view, and each click on a link to eBay or Amazon, is recorded with your IP address, the approximate city it maps to and your internet provider's name, so we can see where visitors come from, which drives people are interested in, and filter out bots. The lookup happens on our own server, nothing is shared or sold, and full IP addresses are shortened after 365 days. There are no advertising trackers.

Does PCPartWatch earn money from links?

Yes. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, and eBay links are eBay Partner Network links. You pay the same price either way.