Quick Answer
The ideal hard drive capacity depends on your specific needs. For general home computing, a 1TB to 2TB hard drive is typically recommended. For gamers and media professionals, a larger 4TB+ drive may be preferable. The largest consumer hard drives today are around 18TB.
What factors determine ideal hard drive capacity?
Several key factors determine how much hard drive capacity you need:
- Operating system and software – Windows, MacOS, games, creative suites, etc. require varying amounts of storage space.
- Media files – Photos, music, videos consume large amounts of storage. HD and 4K media require more space.
- Games – Modern games often require 50GB+ of storage each. Gamers need larger drives.
- Productivity files – Documents, spreadsheets and other work files also take up capacity over time.
- Future growth – It’s best to get more storage than you need today to accommodate future data growth.
- Budget – Hard drive prices decline as capacities increase. Higher capacities cost proportionally more.
OS and Software Requirements
The operating system and key software you run determine your base storage needs:
Windows OS Storage Needs
- Windows 10: Minimum 32GB, Recommended 128GB
- Windows 11: Minimum 64GB, Recommended 128GB
Windows itself takes up a fair amount of drive space. Software and files quickly add to the base OS footprint.
MacOS Storage Needs
- MacOS Monterey: Minimum 64GB, Recommended 128GB
Recent versions of MacOS similarly call for at least 128GB for a comfortable experience. Creative professionals running Macs will want larger drives.
Common Software Storage Requirements
- Microsoft Office: 3-5GB
- Adobe Creative Cloud: 10GB+
- Video editing suites: 5-20GB+ each
Productivity, creative, and media software can quickly consume substantial storage capacity. Video projects in particular require large scratch disk space.
Media Storage Needs
Personal media files like photos, videos, and music are a major storage factor:
Photo Storage Needs
| Photo Type | Size Per Photo |
| Camera phone JPEG | 1-3MB |
| DSLR JPEG | 5-20MB |
| RAW (DSLR) | 20-60MB |
| PNG/TIFF | 25-100MB |
A few thousand photos from phones, DSLRs and other devices can quickly consume 10GB+ of capacity.
Music Storage Needs
| Format | Size Per Song |
| MP3 | 3-5MB |
| Uncompressed WAV | 30-50MB |
| FLAC Lossless | 25-50MB |
A music library of a few thousand songs in lossless quality can take 100GB+. Streaming services reduce local music storage needs.
Video Storage Requirements
| Format | Size Per Minute |
| 1080p MP4 | 10MB |
| 4K MP4 | 30-80MB |
| ProRes 422 HQ | 218MB |
| RED 8K RAW | 6GB |
Video consumes huge storage relative to other media types. Just a few hours of 4K/8K video can require terabytes of capacity.
Gaming Storage Requirements
Gamers need substantial drive space for modern game installs:
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019): 175GB
- Red Dead Redemption 2: 150GB
- Flight Simulator 2020: 170GB
Leading games routinely break 100GB install sizes. Downloading or keeping just a few of these games installed can require 500GB+ capacity.
Recommended Hard Drive Sizes
Here are suggested capacities for different users:
Basic Computing
For office work, web browsing, and general home use, a 256GB to 512GB SSD boot drive is recommended. This can be complemented by a 1TB to 2TB hard drive for additional storage.
Enthusiast Users
For moderate gaming, media storage, creative work and power use, consider a 512GB+ boot SSD with a 4TB to 6TB hard drive. 8TB+ offers plenty of growth room.
Media Professionals
Video editors, photographers and artists working with large media files should look at 1TB+ NVMe SSD boot drives and 8TB or larger storage hard drives. Multiple drives help improve performance.
PC Gamers
Serious PC gamers should run Windows and top games off a 1TB NVMe SSD. This can be paired with one or more large 8TB+ capacity hard drives for game libraries and media storage.
External vs. Internal Hard Drives
For additional storage, external hard drives are simpler to add and manage than internal drives:
Benefits of External Hard Drives
- Easily add extra capacity as needed
- Portable for use with multiple devices
- No need to open up computer to install
- Allow for drive upgrades without reinstalling OS
The plug-and-play design of external drives makes adding terabytes of extra storage straightforward.
Downsides of External Hard Drives
- Slower transfer speeds vs internal SATA/NVMe drives
- Require cables and power adapters
- More potential points of failure
External hard drives are a great supplementary storage option, but aren’t as fast or seamless as internal drives.
Hard Drive Cost Per GB
Larger capacity hard drives offer lower storage costs, but are proportionally more expensive upfront:
| Drive Capacity | Average Cost | Cost Per GB |
| 4TB HDD | $90 | $0.0225/GB |
| 8TB HDD | $139 | $0.0174/GB |
| 16TB HDD | $309 | $0.0193/GB |
Doubling capacity decreases the per GB cost, but the drive price increases. There are diminishing returns on higher capacities.
Ideal Capacity for Specific Uses
Recommended minimum hard drive sizes for certain uses:
Family Personal Computer
- OS Drive: 256GB SSD
- Storage: 1TB HDD
Provides fast boot drive with room for photos and media storage.
Gaming PC
- OS Drive: 1TB NVMe SSD
- Game Storage: 2x 8TB HDD in RAID 0
Ideal for minimizing game load times off a large NVMe drive, with massive RAID storage.
Photography and Video Editing
- OS Drive: 1TB NVMe SSD
- Media Drive 1: 8TB HDD
- Media Drive 2: 8TB HDD
- Backup: 8TB External HDD
Superfast NVMe system drive, with 16TB+ of storage using HDDs in tandem. Extra backup protection.
Business File Server
- RAID 5 with 4x 10TB HDDs
provides 40TB+ in fault tolerant storage for multiple users to share high-capacity files and databases.
New Larger Hard Drive Options
As data storage needs increase, new high capacity hard drives are becoming available:
- 16TB – Recently became available for consumers. Ideal for dense video and media storage.
- 18TB – Enterprise focused today, but hitting consumer PCs over the next 1-2 years.
- 20TB – On the horizon based on new HDD technologies like SMR and EAMR. Will be affordable in 2-3 years.
- 40TB – In development using next gen HAMR and MAMR tech. Will provide huge capacities once cost effective.
Hard drive capacities will continue growing over 5-10TB per year, bringing affordable petabyte personal data storage within reach this decade.
Ideal vs. Minimum Hard Drive Capacity
When determining your ideal hard drive size, consider both your current storage needs and expected future growth. While a minimum capacity drive may work today, your needs will expand over the drive’s usable life. Investing in extra capacity now can save you from running out of space later and help avoid costly upgrades down the road. For many users, choosing a drive double their minimum required size results in a more future-proof and cost-effective storage solution.
SSD vs. HDD Capacities
For primary storage, Solid State Drives are recommended over Hard Disk Drives for their speed advantage:
| SSD | HDD | |
| Speed | Much Faster | Slower |
| Noise | Silent | Audible |
| Shock Resistance | Better | More sensitive |
| Max Capacities | Currently up to 8TB | Up to 18TB+ |
SSDs are ideal for OS, programs, and active projects. But HDDs offer much higher capacities for cheaper data storage.
Conclusion
Choosing your ideal hard drive storage capacity requires balancing your current and anticipated future needs against drive costs. Typical sweet spots today are:
- General home computing – 1 to 2TB HDD storage
- Power users – 4 to 8TB HDD storage
- Media pros – 8TB or higher HDD storage
- Gamers – 1TB NVMe + multiple large HDDs
Look for drives offering at least double your minimum capacity requirements for optimal long-term value and performance.