With up to 14TB(1) of capacity to store your growing game libraries and HD content, you can keep all your creations without worrying about running out of space. Whether you’re a PC gamer, video editor, or graphic designer, the X300 hard drive offers the capacity and performance that the pros demand. Discover details in Toshiba X300 12TB review.
Specification – Toshiba X300 12TB
- Capacity1: 12 TB
- Interface: SATA 6 Gbit/s
- Form factor5: 3.5 inch
- Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
- Cache size: 256 MB
- MTTF6: 600,000 hours
- Limited Warranty3: 2 years
Toshiba X300 12TB video review
Compare Toshiba X300 12TB review vs Seagate BarraCuda
| Toshiba X300 12TB Gaming Internal Hard Drive | Seagate BarraCuda 8TB Internal Hard Drive HDD | Western Digital 6TB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cache Memory Installed Size | 256.00 | 256.00 | 256.00 |
| Digital Storage Capacity | 12 TB | 8 TB | 6 TB |
| Hard Disk Rotational Speed | 7200 rpm | 5400 rpm | 7200 rpm |
| Hard Disk Size | 12 TB | 8 TB | 6000 |
| Hard Disk Form Factor | 3.50 inches | 3.50 inches | 3.50 inches |
| Hardware Interface | SATA 6.0 Gb/s | SATA 6.0 Gb/s | SATA 6.0 Gb/s |
| Item Dimensions | 5.79 x 4.00 x 1.03 inches | 5.79 x 4.00 x 0.79 inches | 5.79 x 4.00 x 1.03 inches |
| Size | 12TB | 8TB | 6TB |
Toshiba X300 12TB review
Design
The 12TB and 14TB models utilize a Helium-Sealed design to deliver increased storage density and lower operating power profile*. This helps maximize the storage capacity and improve the power efficiency of your gaming system*. The helium-filled X300 models run more efficiently than a standard air-filled model, delivering a smoother drive performance for a responsive game play. The helium models reduce acoustic output (in idle mode) by up to 40%* and operating power consumption by up to 30%*.
RPM and data transfer limit
The X300 NAS models include rotational vibration (RV) sensors and are made to deliver sustained data transfer speeds up to 260 MB/s for 14 TB or up to 253 MB/s for 12 TB. With support for up to 8 HDD multi-RAID systems, the new X300 models are highly scalable to the users’ NAS configurations as their data storage needs evolve and large amounts of data need to be efficiently stored and accessed daily.
The new 12 TB and 14 TB models operate at 7,200 rpm and come with an ultra-high 256MB data buffer. The N300 NAS and X300 models use Toshiba’s advanced Stable Platter Technology to minimize vibrations by stabilizing the motor shaft at both ends for improved tracking accuracy and maximum performance during read and write operations.
Low noise
Toshiba Group’s laser welding technology ensures that the helium remains securely sealed inside the drive enclosure. With the environment in mind, the helium-filled X300 models minimize acoustic output to just 20db (typical) in idle mode.
Secure data
The X300’s design includes an internal shock sensor, ensuring no data is lost. In addition, ramp loading technology means that when the hard drive or desktop PC are being transported, the drive slider does not make contact with the disk, minimising the risk of wear or data loss.
Toshiba X300 12TB performance review
When reading or writing big files the drives scores a very respectable 200+ MB per second. That is of course no where near aa fast as a Samsung 970 PRO or comparable NVME SSD drive, but isn’t far off the performance you can expect from a basic SATA SSD. For reference, my WD Blue M2 SSD (that uses a SATA interface) goes up to about 525 MB/s reading and 325 MB/s write speed.
Alternate of Toshiba X300 12TB
One of the easiest ways to narrow down the search for a suitable hard drive is to look at the target market of each family. The table below lists the suggested target market for each hard drive family we are considering today.
| Drive Family | Target Markets |
| Seagate BarraCuda Pro | Desktops and All-in-Ones Home Servers Creative Professionals Workstations Entry-Level Direct-Attached-Storage (DAS) Units |
| Seagate IronWolf NAS | NAS Units up to 8 bays (Home, SOHO, and Small Business) |
| Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS | NAS Units up to 24 bays (Creative Pros, SOHO, and Small to Medium Enterprises) |
| Seagate Exos Enterprise | Datacenter and Bulk Cloud Storage |
| Toshiba N300 | NAS Units up to 8 bays |
| Toshiba X300 | Professional Desktops, Home Media or Gaming PCs |
| WD Gold | Datacenter and Bulk Cloud Storage |
| WD Red | NAS Units up to 8 bays, Read-Intensive and Archival Workloads |
| WD Red Plus | NAS Units up to 8 bays |
| WD Red Pro | NAS Units up to 24 bays |
After filtering out models that don’t apply to your use-case (as an example, for usage in a 4-bay NAS enclosure, one could rule out the Tosiba X300 straight away), we can then take a look at how the specifications of various drive families compare.
The desktop storage market is a straight shoot-out between the Seagate BarraCuda Pro and the Toshiba X300. The capacity for this market segment tops out at 14TB. Toshiba consistently beats Seagate’s pricing at every capacity point. That said, the higher capacity versions of the Toshiba X300 use 9 platters, and consume more power compared to the corresponding BarraCuda Pro. The Seagate pricing also includes data recovery service during the warranty period. For the extra cost, we get a much higher workload rating, better reliability, and three extra years of warranty. So, this is a case where the benefits outweigh the cost, and our recommendation goes to the costlier of the two drives – the Seagate BarraCuda Pro, though the X300 might also be considered if one has hard budget limitations.
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