Toshiba N300 vs X300: Same Noise and Power, Different Ratings

Toshiba N300 vs X300: two sheets from the same maker

Both drives come from Toshiba, and both sheets behind this page were published by Toshiba Electronics Europe: the X300 Performance Hard Drives datasheet dated 06/2025 and the N300 NAS Hard Drives datasheet dated 04/2026. Because one maker wrote both, the rows use the same labels and units, so a figure on one sheet can be set directly against the same row on the other. Both sheets have a page for every size from 4 to 20TB in 2TB steps, and the N300 sheet adds 22TB. This page tables 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20TB.

The part numbers tell the lines apart. X300 bulk numbers begin HDWR: HDWR740UZSVA at 4TB, HDWR780UZSVA at 8TB, HDWR51CUZSVA at 12TB, HDWR51GUZSVA at 16TB and HDWR62AUZSVA at 20TB. N300 bulk numbers at 12, 16 and 20TB begin HDWG, with the same endings: HDWG51CUZSVA, HDWG51GUZSVA and HDWG62AUZSVA. At 4 and 8TB the N300 bulk numbers are MN10ADA400ES and MN10ADA800S. Check which prefix a listing carries before you read any row below.

Where the N300 and X300 sheets print the same figures

At 12TB every physical figure in the first table matches: noise, both power figures, buffer, operating shock, error rate and recording technology. The pattern holds at the other tabled sizes. Power is identical on both sheets at 4, 8, 16 and 20TB, as the second table shows. Operating shock is 70 G on both lines at 4, 8 and 16TB and 50 G on both at 20TB. Idle noise is 34 dB typical on both at 4 and 8TB and 20 dB typical on both at 12, 16 and 20TB. The unrecoverable error rate is 1 per 10^15 on both at 4, 8 and 20TB, and 1 per 10^14 on both at 12 and 16TB.

Matching rows on two sheets do not prove two drives are the same inside. We have not found a Toshiba document saying the X300 and N300 share hardware, so this page reports the rows as printed and draws no conclusion beyond them.

Toshiba N300 vs X300: warranty, MTTF, workload and bays

Here the two lines separate at every size. The N300 carries a limited warranty one year longer, 3 years against 2. Its MTTF is 1,000,000 hours at 4 and 8TB and 1,200,000 hours from 12TB, against a flat 600,000 hours on every X300 model, so the N300's rating is between 1.7 and 2 times the X300's. MTTF describes a population of drives, not the life of the one you buy, but it is Toshiba's own signal of which line it rates for longer service.

The N300 sheet also states what the drive is rated to do: 24 x 7 operation, a 180TB/year workload and support for up to 8 drive bays at every size this page tables, and rotational vibration (RV) sensors marked yes at 12TB. We have not found a workload figure, a bay count or a 24 x 7 rating on the X300 sheet. That is the core of the choice: the N300 is rated for an always-on multi-bay box, and we have not found the X300 sheet saying either way.

The X300 sheet prints two rows at 12TB that the N300 sheet does not: 300,000 load/unload cycles and 4.17 ms average latency. They describe the X300 but do not separate it from the N300 on this page.

N300 or X300 in a NAS

If the drive is going into a NAS that runs all day, the N300 is the one whose sheet rates it for that: 24 x 7 operation, a workload figure and a bay range at every size this page tables. We have not found a Toshiba statement that the X300 is or is not suitable for NAS use, so we do not call it unsuitable. What we can say is that, on paper, choosing the X300 for a NAS gives up a year of limited warranty and a good part of the rated MTTF, for drives whose noise and power figures are the same.

• Always-on NAS, two to eight bays: the N300, rated for 24 x 7, 180TB/year and up to 8 bays.
• A performance drive in a PC: the X300 is the line Toshiba titles a performance drive, and its sheet gives the same noise and power figures as the N300 at each size this page tables.
• Longest limited warranty from these two sheets: the N300, at 3 years.

Titles containing Pro are left out of the tables below.

Toshiba N300 and X300 prices on Amazon.co.uk

Each line has its own table of new listings, lowest pounds per TB inc VAT first. When no new X300 is in stock on Amazon.co.uk, its table below shows no rows. Compare rows at the same capacity and read the part number prefix, HDWR or HDWG, in each title.

A lowest price per TB is a level and may come from a different capacity on each side, so we print no percentage between them.

Rows at sizes this page does not table, such as 14 or 18TB, carry price and listing data only. The Recording column prints a technology only where a document ties it to the row's part number.

More Toshiba and NAS comparisons

For the N300 range on its own, see Toshiba N300. Against other makers' NAS drives, see Toshiba N300 vs WD Red Plus and Toshiba N300 vs IronWolf. Seagate's own NAS-versus-desktop question is on IronWolf vs BarraCuda.