SkyHawk AI 10TB: Specs, Price and Whether You Need It
10TB SkyHawk AI at today's live price, Seagate's own per-capacity spec table, and the honest premium over standard SkyHawk computed at this exact size - not carried down from the 32TB flagship.
Prices updated
Where 10TB sits in the line
Standard SkyHawk still reaches this size in the stock we track, which is why a genuine premium comparison exists at 10TB - the table below shows what paying it actually costs today. That will not hold at every capacity: the standard line's ceiling in our tracked stock is 12TB, so above that size the AI tier stops being a premium option and becomes the only one. Seagate's own current datasheet covers this exact capacity in its live master sheet, which is itself worth knowing before you commit to this size for a multi-year deployment.
Specifications, per Seagate's own 10TB datasheet row
| Standard model number(s) | ST10000VE0008, ST10000VEZ008 |
|---|---|
| Recording technology | unverified |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Spindle speed | 7200 RPM, confirmed for ST10000VE0008 per Seagate's Product Manual (Rev. E) - other part numbers at this capacity not confirmed |
| Cache | 256MB |
| AI channels | 32, per this capacity's own datasheet row |
| HD cameras supported | Up to 64 (Seagate footnote: 1080p, H.265, 25fps) |
| RV sensors | Yes, per Seagate's datasheet |
| Workload rate limit | 550TB/year |
| Warranty | 5 years, limited (units shipped after Jul 3, 2021, per Seagate's own footnote) |
| Load/unload cycles | 600,000 |
| MTBF | 2.0M hours |
Source: Seagate SkyHawk AI Data Sheet, DS1960.15C-2310US (current), read 2026-09-15 — PDF. Spindle speed for ST10000VE0008 additionally per the SkyHawk AI Serial ATA Product Manual (Rev. E, March 2021) — PDF.
2 in-stock listings · specs per part number from the maker's datasheet
Best cost per terabyte in this tier right now: ST10000VE0008 at $32.00/TB ($320 for 10TB, used listing, recording technology unverified).
| Model # | Capacity | Recording | RPM | Workload | Warranty | Condition | $/TB | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST10000VE0008 SkyHawk AI | 10TB | UNVERIFIED | 7200 | 550 TB/yr | 5 yr | USED This offer: sold by ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED ----- · Amazon says Used / Good · ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED -----'s note: 5 YEAR DEALER WARRANTY - 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. | $32.00 | $320 | Buy |
| ST10000VEZ008 SkyHawk AI | 10TB | UNVERIFIED | — | 550 TB/yr | 5 yr | USED This offer: sold by ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED ----- · Amazon says Used / Good · ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED -----'s note: 5 YEAR DEALER WARRANTY - 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. | $32.00 | $320 | Buy |
The AI-tier premium at 10TB, computed live
Three comparators, matched to this exact capacity and interface (SATA vs SATA) - never reaching across capacities to manufacture a number. A comparator with nothing in stock at 10TB is stated as absent rather than filled in from a different size.
The gap above is what 10TB actually costs you to move from the 180TB/year tier to the 550TB/year tier at this exact size, today. Run your own arithmetic against it rather than taking the premium as a verdict on its own: multiply your camera count by your per-camera bitrate to get an annual terabyte figure, then check which side of 180TB it lands on. A number comfortably under 180TB means the premium buys headroom you are unlikely to use; a number pushing past it, or a recorder that reads footage back for analytics while writing, is the case that makes the extra spend defensible.
Only capacities where both sides are in stock in the same condition appear.
| Capacity | Condition | SkyHawk | SkyHawk AI | Gap | Gap % | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10TB | NEW | $485 $48.50/TB · tech unverified | $498 $49.80/TB · tech unverified | +$13 | +2.7% | SkyHawk |
Gap is skyhawk ai minus skyhawk on the cheapest in-stock listing at that capacity and condition, with rows priced far above the line rate excluded from the comparison. Recording technology is shown on both sides because a cheaper drive with an unverified or shingled badge is not the same purchase.
No WD Purple listing is in stock at 10TB right now - no live premium to show against it.
Only capacities where both sides are in stock in the same condition appear.
| Capacity | Condition | WD Purple Pro | SkyHawk AI | Gap | Gap % | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10TB | USED | $320 $31.99/TB · tech unverified | $320 $32.00/TB · tech unverified | +$0 | +0.0% | WD Purple Pro |
Gap is skyhawk ai minus wd purple pro on the cheapest in-stock listing at that capacity and condition, with rows priced far above the line rate excluded from the comparison. Recording technology is shown on both sides because a cheaper drive with an unverified or shingled badge is not the same purchase.
What 10TB suits, in camera-count terms
Seagate rates this capacity for up to 64 HD cameras and 32 AI channels - the same line-level maxima as every other SkyHawk AI capacity. Retention is the real per-capacity variable. At a continuous 4 Mbps per camera:
Roughly how many days one drive holds at a constant bitrate. Real usage varies with codec, resolution, frame rate and how much movement is in frame, and most recorders write far less than their peak rate. Treat these as an order of magnitude.
| Capacity | at 2 Mbps | at 4 Mbps | at 8 Mbps | at 16 Mbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10TB | ~58 days | ~29 days | ~14 days | ~7.2 days |
days = (TB × 1,000,000 MB) ÷ (Mbps ÷ 8 MB/s) ÷ 86,400 s
worked example, 4TB at 4 Mbps: 4,000,000 MB ÷ 0.5 MB/s = 8,000,000 s ÷ 86,400 = ~92.6 days
Decimal terabytes are used because that is how drives are sold and how a recorder usually reports remaining space. A drive formatted by the recorder will show slightly less.
Retention scales down directly with camera count and bitrate - doubling either roughly halves the days above. At 8 Mbps per camera (higher resolution or more motion), the same 10TB drive holds roughly 14 days across 8 cameras. Most installs run far below this drive's rated ceiling on cameras alone; see NVR channel-count pages to size the recorder side against your actual camera plan.
Which exact part number to buy at 10TB
More than one SkyHawk AI part number sells at 10TB right now: ST10000VE0008, ST10000VEZ008. Seagate's own current datasheet does not always treat these as identical hardware - where cache and the other fields we could source match across all of them, the difference is more likely a running production revision than a functional one, though we do not assume that without a datasheet confirming it part-for-part. The live listings table above shows price against each part number - check which one you are actually being sold before assuming a single "10TB SkyHawk AI" spec applies uniformly to every listing at this size.
Multi-drive systems
Seagate states RV (rotational vibration) sensors on every SkyHawk AI capacity, a vendor fact aimed specifically at multi-bay NVR chassis where adjacent drives induce vibration into each other. This is Seagate's own stated feature, not a performance claim we are making. For actual bay-count and vendor-list compatibility, see the UniFi drive gate and NVR pricing by channel count.
If a standard-tier SkyHawk at 10TB is part of your comparison, check its recording technology on the specific part number before buying: Seagate's own SkyHawk datasheet states SMR against the ST4000VX013 and ST2000VX015 family specifically, in the same document block where other parts at neighbouring capacities are stated CMR. Every SkyHawk AI part number we track at 10TB is stated CMR in the datasheets we read, so this particular risk sits entirely on the standard-tier side of the comparison, not here - but it is worth checking the exact part number regardless, since a badge that is correct today can change if the seller substitutes a different one tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
Is SkyHawk AI worth it over standard SkyHawk at 10TB?
At 10TB, standard SkyHawk runs $48.50/TB against SkyHawk AI's $49.80/TB - a +2.7% premium for three times the rated workload and 32 AI channels. Buy standard SkyHawk instead if your camera count sits well under 180TB/year and your recorder does not run analytics on the drive.
How many cameras will 10TB hold?
At a continuous 4 Mbps per camera, 10TB holds roughly 29 days across 8 cameras or roughly 7 days across 32 cameras - arithmetic, not a measurement, and real usage varies with codec, resolution, motion and how much of the frame is active. See the retention table below for more camera counts and a higher 8 Mbps bitrate.
Does it work in a NAS?
We have not found a Seagate document stating NAS compatibility for this line. One measured data point: Ubiquiti's own UniFi storage requirement for a 3.5-inch bay is a 1TB+ CMR drive at 7200RPM, and Seagate's own Product Manual states 7200RPM specifically for ST10000VE0008 - so that exact part number clears the published gate. Other part numbers at 10TB are not covered by that citation - check the specific part number before assuming it applies.
What is SkyHawk AI 10TB's workload rating?
550TB/year per Seagate's own datasheet - flat across the entire SkyHawk AI line from 8TB to 32TB. Cache is the one field that genuinely varies by exact part number rather than by capacity - see the spec table above.
Is this drive CMR or SMR?
Recording technology for this exact listing is not confirmed from the datasheets we read - do not assume CMR without checking the specific part number.
What's the warranty on SkyHawk AI 10TB?
5 years per Seagate's current datasheet (DS1960.15C-2310US), which states plainly: "5-year limited warranty applies to product shipped after July 3, 2021." An older 2020 datasheet for this same capacity states 3 years - not a capacity split, a since-superseded shipment-date cutoff. Any unit sold today falls under the 5-year term.
Sources checked: Seagate SkyHawk AI Data Sheet (DS1960.15C-2310US, current), SkyHawk AI Serial ATA Product Manual, Rev. E, UniFi Storage Requirements and Compatibility.