I have a WD Black 3TB hard drive that I've been using for almost a year, and while it showed 100% health when I first started using it, it now has only 10% health left. I've stored around 2.64TB of data on it, which mostly includes 40 games. The drive was manufactured in January 2015, and honestly, I can't afford to replace it right now. I want to know how risky it is to keep using it for gaming purposes.
3 Answers
With only 10% health, that's definitely a concerning sign, and while it might still work for now, it's risky. As the mechanical components wear down, you could face hardware failure at any time. If you're just using it for games and not storing important data, that's slightly better, but you could definitely see slower loading times. Just be prepared for the chance that it might fail soon.
If you're tight on cash and can't replace the drive right now, you might keep using it for your games, but steer clear of important files. Drives with low health might still work, but keep in mind they'll eventually fail. Just don’t expect it to last long, and try not to do heavy writing or installing—stick to what you have and wait until you can get a replacement. Plus, if these are mostly Steam games, many have cloud saves, so you won't fully lose your progress if it does fail.
Exactly! Just make sure to back your saves up if you can. That way, when you do get a new card, you won't have to start from scratch.
I get that you're not afraid of losing those files, especially since your graphics card is out of commission right now. Just stay cautious. Even simple tasks like updating or installing games can add stress to the hard drive, increasing the chances of a failure. If it can just hold on until you're ready to upgrade your setup, that'd be perfect.
Yeah, it's definitely a gamble. If you're fine losing the games, then it might not be a huge deal, just annoying if you have to reinstall everything.