The typical size of a hard drive for a home computer has increased dramatically over the past couple decades. In the early 1990s, home computer hard drives were typically around 40-120MB. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, 10-20GB hard drives had become common. Nowadays, it’s not unusual for a new home computer to come with a 500GB to 1TB hard drive. Let’s take a closer look at how home computer hard drive sizes have evolved over time.
Hard Drive Sizes in the 1990s
In the early 1990s, home desktop computers like the Apple Macintosh or IBM-compatible PCs typically came with hard drives in the range of 40-120MB. A 40-80MB hard drive was common for lower end models, while 120MB drives were found on higher end computers. For example, the original Apple Macintosh released in 1984 contained a 400KB floppy drive but no hard drive. Later Mac desktops included 40MB and 80MB hard drives. On the PC side, IBM’s original 5150 PC did not contain a hard drive. But by the late 1980s, PCs often included 20-40MB hard drives. By 1990, 80-120MB drives had become more common on new PCs.
Considering today’s multi-terabyte drives, it may be difficult to imagine being content with just a 40 or 80MB hard drive. But during the early 1990s, this size hard drive was sufficient for most basic home computing needs. These small hard drives had enough space to install an operating system, applications like word processors, and store documents. The drives did fill up quickly though if you had a lot of large applications or many files.
Rise of 1-2GB Hard Drives in the mid-1990s
By the mid-1990s, 1-2GB hard drives started to replace the smaller 40-120MB drives as the new standard size for home PCs. In 1994, Western Digital introduced the Caviar line with 1-2.5GB capacities. Other drive manufacturers followed suit with 1-2GB offerings. These new drives offered a dramatic leap in storage capacity compared to previous 40-120MB drives. While pricier than the smaller drives, the 1-2GB variety gave home users far more room for storing documents, applications, games, and multimedia files.
For example, a 1994 Gateway 2000 P5 desktop came standard with a 1.2GB hard drive. And in 1996, an eMachines computer bundled a 1.6GB hard drive. Apple’s Power Macintosh line also transitioned to 1-2GB drives in the mid-1990s. The additional capacity allowed users to install more and larger software packages. Plus, there was ample room left over to store work documents, digital photos, video clips, and downloaded MP3 audio files.
10GB Hard Drives Become Mainstream in Late 1990s
As we moved toward the end of the 1990s, 10GB hard drives replaced 1-2GB models as the new norm for desktop computer storage. 10GB offered a nice bump in capacity from the previous 1-2GB drives. And prices on these larger drives fell over late ’90s, making them affordable for mainstream home PCs.
In 1998, you could buy a Compaq Presario desktop with a standard 10GB hard drive. The original blue and white iMac released by Apple in 1998 included either a 4GB or 6GB hard drive. Within a couple years, 10GB became the baseline hard drive capacity offered in new home PCs. Manufacturers like Seagate and Western Digital offered 10GB drives for under $100, a great deal compared to previous 1-2GB drives that cost over $200 when new.
This ramp up in storage gave people even more space to install software, store multimedia files, and backup data. For example, you could fit around 1500 MP3 songs on a 10GB drive. Or store thousands of photos taken with a lower resolution digital camera. The ample space of 10GB hard drives meant home PC users no longer had to worry as much about running out of room.
20-60GB Drives Provide More Headroom
Moving into the early 2000s, home desktop PCs received yet another boost in hard drive capacities. Now 20GB to 60GB drives became the new standard, providing even more storage headroom for users. Costs continued falling, enabling larger yet affordable drives to be included on home computers.
In 2000, you could find value-oriented PC desktops bundled with 20-30GB hard drives. Within a couple years, 40-60GB drives became more common on new home computer models. Mainstream drives provided ample space for operating systems, software, and files. Power users could store even more with higher capacity 80GB+ drives.
Apple adopted these larger drives also, transitioning from 10GB to 20-60GB drives in the early 2000s. For example, the Power Mac G4 in 2001 contained a standard 40GB hard drive. And by 2005, the Mac Mini shipped with a default 80GB drive.
Higher resolution digital cameras and improved broadband internet access fueled demand for larger hard drives during this period. 20-60GB drives let home users store many more high resolution photos and download large multimedia files without worrying about capacity limits.
200-500GB Drives Go Mainstream in mid-2000s
Just a few years after 20-60GB became the norm, even larger hard drives in the 200-500GB range hit the mainstream. Advancements in hard drive technology enabled radical jumps in capacity thanks to higher areal density and multiple drive platter designs. At the same time, prices continued dropping which brought these much larger drives into home computers.
In the mid-2000s, it became common to find new desktop PCs equipped with 250-320GB hard drives as the included storage. Higher end computers offered 400-500GB drives. And external USB hard drives in the 200-500GB range became a popular accessory for additional storage and backup.
Apple again followed the same trend towards this larger standard capacity. The 2007 iMac model included a 250GB hard drive, which was upgraded to 320GB the next year. The Mac Pro desktop also transitioned from 74GB and 150GB drives to 250-500GB drives during this era.
The abundance of space offered by 200-500GB drives enabled new uses that previously strained smaller hard drives. For example, these larger drives had sufficient capacity to hold entire digital music and video collections. Recording television shows to the PC hard drive using digital video recorders also became practical with this size storage.
1TB Drives Go Mainstream in late 2000s
Just as home users were getting settled with 200-500GB hard drives, the march upward continued into the 1 terabyte range. By 2007, 1TB desktop hard drives landed on the market. And by 2009, 1TB drives became common as the default in new home PCs thanks to their continuously falling costs.
When new, a 1TB drive held an immense capacity compared to past desktop hard drives. Users now had ample room for even giant collections of photos, music, videos, games, and HD movies. Recording hours of HDTV programming to these massive 1TB drives was easy.
External 1TB USB hard drives also grew popular for adds-on storage and backup purposes. And Apple continued adopting the latest capacities in their computers. The Mac Pro desktop transitioned from 500GB default drives to 1TB drives by 2009.
Hard drive manufacturers also introduced advanced format drives with larger 4KB data sectors at this time. This improved drive capacities along with increasing areal densities to enable the debut of cost effective 1TB and larger consumer drives.
2-4TB Drives Go Mainstream from 2010-2020
The leap to 1TB hard drives ushered in the era of multi-terabyte storage to mainstream home computers. During the 2010s, 2TB to 4TB hard drives replaced 1TB as the new common capacities for desktop PCs and external storage drives.
By 2010, 2TB became a popular standard capacity for new desktop computers. Also, external 2TB USB 3.0 hard drives flourished for adding high capacity storage. Later in the decade, 4TB drives gained momentum as a new high capacity choice thanks to improving areal densities and lower per-gigabyte costs.
Apple computers also adopted 2TB and larger hard drives during this period. For instance, the 2013 Mac Pro shipped with a 1TB hard drive but offered 2TB and 3TB upgrade options. And in 2020, the latest 27-inch iMac came standard with a 1TB hard drive, upgradable to 8TB.
For home PC users, roomy 2TB and 4TB hard drives allow virtually unlimited storage for photos, videos, games, media libraries, documents, and applications. Only users doing extreme tasks like editing 8K video or 3D modeling typically require more than 4TB capacity on their home desktop computer.
6-10TB+ Drives Available Today
For home desktop PCs, 5400 RPM hard drives in the 2-4TB range remain the sweet spot for capacity versus price. However, data storage demands continue increasing. This makes even larger 6-10TB+ hard drives enticing options for home power users wanting maximum capacity.
Today, every major hard drive brand like Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba offer high capacity 6TB+ internal drives aimed at performance PCs. These higher capacity drives utilize cutting edge technologies like Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) and Helium-filled enclosures to maximize density.
External USB hard drives offer another option for attaining massive 6-10TB(+) capacity. For example, the Seagate Backup Plus Hub desktop drive scales up to 10TB for under $200. These external drives provide easy plug-and-play extra storage for any PC. Portable USB hard drives are also available in capacities over 5TB.
While not yet mainstream, these 6-10TB+ monster hard drives create nearly unlimited storage for home users. You can easily build up enormous media libraries with these high capacity drives. Creative pros have ample space for massive photo, video, and 3D project files that quickly outgrow smaller 4TB drives.
Solid State Drives Offer High Performance
Alongside large mechanical hard disk drives, solid state drives (SSDs) have risen to prominence for home computers. SSDs store data on flash memory chips rather than magnetic platters found in hard drives. This gives SSDs much faster read/write speeds and lower latency compared to traditional hard drives.
Today, many new desktop PCs ship with smaller yet much faster 128-512GB SSDs as the boot drive instead of large capacity mechanical hard drives. Users then augment the smaller SSD with an additional larger mechanical hard drive for extra storage capacity.
External SSD Thunderbolt/USB drives for PCs and Macs are also now widely available. While more costly per gigabyte compared to mechanical drives, external SSDs provide extremely fast transfer rates perfect for tasks like photo/video editing and gaming.
For home users focused on optimal performance, a smaller 250GB+ SSD boot drive paired with a larger 2-4TB mechanical drive offers the perfect combination of both speed and substantial storage capacity.
Hard Drive Size Recommendations
When buying a new home desktop computer, what hard drive capacities make the most sense for typical needs?
Here are some general guidelines for home PC hard drive sizes:
- Entry-level use (web, email, documents) – 256-500GB HDD
- Mainstream home use – 1-2TB HDD
- Enthusiast home use (large media files) – 3-4TB HDD
- Creative pro use (video editing, photo editing, 3D modeling etc) – 4-6TB+ HDD
Adding an external USB 3 hard drive also gives you unlimited capacity for archiving old files and performing backups. When choosing an internal hard drive, aim to get a capacity fitting your needs and budget. Going too small limits your ability to install applications and store files. But you don’t want to over-buy on capacity since unused space wastes money.
Conclusion
Over the past 30+ years, incredible growth in hard drive capacities accommodated our seemingly insatiable appetite for digital storage. Hard drives ballooned from just megabytes in size during the 1980s and early ’90s to multi-terabyte behemoths today.
Current 2-4TB hard drives offer ample capacity for most home users needs. External USB hard drives provide easy add-on storage too. For extreme power users needing maximum capacity, internal 6-10TB+ hard drives or multi-drive RAID arrays satisfy virtually unlimited storage demands.
With the rise of high capacity solid state drives and cloud storage, mechanical hard drives have become somewhat less essential in brand new PCs. But traditional hard drives continue providing the most economical bulk data storage compared to pricier solid state and cloud options.
For the foreseeable future, roomy 1-4TB hard drives will remain the storage backbone of desktop computers used for work, play, and entertainment at home.