I have a 4TB HDD that I use to store music, films, images, and text files. I have a 250GB SDD that I use to install my OS and video games. So far I didn't have any problem with this setup, obviously it's a bit slower when it reads the HDD but nothing too serious, but lately it's gotten way worse, where it just lags too much when I try to access files on that disk, and specially when it comes to listening to music, it's super annoying. I'm using Elisa music player and it just takes ages to load the albums.
Below is my system and HDD information. I think I'm supposed to use hardlinks or something to access those files, could that be a reason? I've never even fully filled my HDD and it's only 3 years old.
System Details Report
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Hardware Information:
- Hardware Model: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME A320M-K
- Memory: 16.0 GiB
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600G with Radeon™ Graphics × 12
- Graphics: AMD Radeon™ Graphics
- Disk Capacity: 4.2 TB
Software Information:
- Firmware Version: 6042
- OS Name: Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)
- OS Build: (null)
- OS Type: 64-bit
- GNOME Version: 45.5
- Windowing System: Wayland
- Kernel Version: Linux 6.7.11-200.fc39.x86_64
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Iirc with time mechanical drives do slow down significantly due to wear and tear so it kinda sounds its on its way out. If speed is a must maybe look at how much storage capacity you're using and switch to appropriate sized ssd/s. You can keep the mechanical drive as a cold backup.
Edit: not sure if you already done this and I usually don't recommend it if you don't have backups but benchmarking would show you the read and write speeds. Also depending on warranty status, you also have the option of doing a manufacturer replacement. Not sure what info Toshiba asks for but doesn't hurt to look into if you do decide to replace it.