Hard drive space is a precious commodity to gamers, particularly since pricing skyrocketed around October 2011 due to flooding in South Asia. The good news is that like the flood water levels, hard drive prices are receding, and while they’re not as good as they were a year ago, they are the best they’ve been in 2012 so far.
Below are the cheapest 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 3TB hard drives from South African online retailers including LandmarkPC, Sybaritic, Rebeltech, Wootware, Prophecy and Takealot. Hard drives used were the cheapest of their respective capacities available from the store irrespective of brand or speed.
| 500GB | 1TB | 2TB | 3TB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LandmarkPC | R665.76 (Western digital green) | R831.06 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,152.54 (Seagate and WD) | R1,629.06 (Western Digital green) |
| Sybaritic | R643.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R772.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,123.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,599.00 (Seagate barracuda) |
| Rebeltech | R636.00 (Western digital green) | R752.00 (Seagate Barracuda) | R1,100.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,555.00 (Western digital green) |
| Wootware | R691.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R850.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,153.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,579.00 (Seagate barracuda) |
| Prophecy | R682.18 (Seagate barracuda) | R845.20 (Seagate barracuda) | R1,146.16 (Seagate barracuda) | R1647.76 (Western digital green) |
| Takealot | R734.00 (Seagate barracuda) | R816.00 (Western digital) | R1,144.00 (Western digital green) | N/A |
Seagate dominate the table, with the vast majority of the cheapest drives belonging to the Seagate barracuda SATA 6 3.5 inch. Western Digital has the only other option in the table, their range of green series low power energy efficient drives.
Rebeltech offer the best prices on all drives compared, undercutting the competition on every model. However there wasn’t much variance on the prices between stores.
500GB drives can be had for 15.5 percent cheaper by shopping around, while different stores can save you up to 13 percent.
The difference is lower for the higher capacity drives. 2TB drive prices vary by just under 5 percent, while 3TB prices change by around 6 percent between stores.
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