Western Digital 2TB WD Blue PC Hard Drive for $49.99

[trs96]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JC1TQ7N/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

This is the lowest price I've seen for new 2TB HDD. You can use this in a NAS as it's 5400 RPM. Use it for backups in your system or just for storage of excessively large video and photo files. Hard drive prices may be going up soon due to a new form of crypto mining/farming that uses HDDs instead of GPUs. You can google Chia coin or Chia crypto currency to learn more about it. These 50 dollar 2TB drives may end up costing $250 a year from now.

 

[trs96]

NOTE: Before you start thinking about Chia farming and buying up large HDDs, watch the video by der8auer in post #3. It takes a huge hardware investment (not just HDDs) to beat the odds and win even one Chia coin. You will likely burn out/wear out your NVMe ssds very quickly.

Chia is one of the newest cryptocurrencies on the blockchain, and with a current valuation of over $1,000, you might be tempted to put your mining hat on and get to work. Before you do, however, be warned that you'll potentially go through storage drives at a breakneck pace. Due to how Chia operates, you could ruin a 512GB SSD in just 40 days.

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Chia leverages a 'proof of space and time' model, which essentially means you farm it on unused storage space.

It also looks like you will need a very fast CPU and ram to to compete with other "farmers." When you total up the electricity expense along with all the hardware expenses, it's a game you're going to end up losing. You'll spend a lot more than you'll earn doing this because you just can't compete with the mega Chia farms with huge budgets that are getting into this right now.

 

[trs96]

Article about increased demand for hard drives is from newscientist.com

Cryptocurrencies based on owning a large number of hard discs, rather than using computer processors, could offer a less energy-intensive alternative to bitcoin and might even make it cheaper to build data centres – although one is already causing soaring demand for hard discs that is disrupting supply chains.

Bitcoin and several other popular cryptocurrencies are created, or mined, using a concept called proof of work, which involves solving computationally difficult puzzles that consume a large amount of electricity. Bitcoin’s annual electricity consumption is estimated to be 148 terawatt-hours and rising, or around the same amount as Poland’s. Now, rival currencies are emerging that instead make use of large numbers of empty hard discs, a concept known as proof of space.

Because hard drives are less energy-intensive to run than processors, proof-of-space currencies are touted as being more environmentally friendly. However, demand for one such currency, Chia, has become so high that some Asian countries, such as Vietnam, are reporting shortages of hard discs. The same phenomenon occurred with graphics cards, which proved to be extremely efficient at mining certain proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. Currently, around 3 million terabytes of hard disc space are being devoted entirely to mining Chia, enough to store 3 billion movies.

Jason Feist at hard drive manufacturer Seagate says the company is experiencing strong orders and that staff were working to “adjust to market demand”.

He also suggested that these new cryptocurrencies could provide a way for companies building large data centres to offset the cost by turning them over to mining. “Chia, and similar technologies such as Filecoin and Sia, show potential ways businesses can turn their idle infrastructure into ongoing revenue,” says Feist.

Michel Rauchs at the University of Cambridge says that while bitcoin’s proof-of-work approach is well understood, proof-of-space alternatives are still in their infancy.

Also see: https://www.pcgamer.com/chia-mining-can-wreck-a-512gb-ssd-in-as-little-as-6-weeks/

 

[vlad1966]

Seems like the 4GB drive at $72.99 would be more useful & a better deal:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087QTVCHH/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

double the capacity, 50% more cost

 

[trs96]

Seems like the 4GB drive at $72.99 would be more useful & a better deal:

Yes, if someone needs 4TB it's a much better deal to go with one of the 4TB drives instead of two 2TB.
EDIT: Looks like they have already sold out at that price on Amazon.

 

[buffo]

I was just ready to order 2TB drive from Amazon but I checked Newegg first. Same price but no sales tax.

WD Blue 2TB 5400 RPM 256MB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Newegg.com

Buy WD Blue 2TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD20EZAZ with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Newegg shopping upgraded ™

www.newegg.com

 

[trs96]

Same price but no sales tax.

Really ? Which state in the US are you in ?

Newegg will charge me $2.75 sales tax.

 

[buffo]

Missouri Amazon would have cost me >$108 for two drives, due to tax.

 

[trs96]

Missouri Amazon would have cost me >$108 for two drives, due to tax.

Just checked, there appears to be about 6 of the 50 states where newegg doesn't collect sales tax. Other states like Oregon and Florida that have no sales tax for anything are among those 6 states.

Here's the M states that do collect tax. Missouri is not included.

• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Minnesota

Are you going to RAID them together ?

 

[buffo]

Maybe Missouri is to lazy to make Newegg to collect the tax. I know that MO use to call it a Use tax and residents were exempted from the first $2000. I just except the "discount".

I have many needs for the drives and I did read about Chia! BTW, The drives were shipped from IN yesterday and I will get them today with free shipping. Newegg doesn't do the penalty delay for not being a "prime" customer.

From my Invoice
Shipping Information
John *********
2101 ********* Dr
Saint Louis, MO *********
United States

2 22-234-372 WD Blue 2TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD20EZAZ

$49.99 $99.98

Payment Summary:
Subtotal:$99.98
Tax:$0.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
EggPoints:$0.00
Total Amount:$99.98