HGST HDS723020ALA640 3.5″ hard drive with a storage capacity of 2 TB and featuring a SATA interface. HGST HDS723020ALA640 Deskstar 7K3000 2 TB 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive Serial ATA-600 7200 RPM 64 MB Buffer.
All information about the HGST HDS723020ALA640 hard disk drive: technical parameters, failure symptoms, frequently asked questions, reviews, HDD repair and data recovery.
HGST HDS723020ALA640 Technical Details:
Note: The HGST HDS723020ALA640 is part of the Deskstar 7K3000 series, HGST’s high-performance desktop hard drive line released around 2011-2012. The “7K” designation indicates 7200 RPM spindle speed for maximum performance. This series was designed for power users, gamers, and RAID enthusiasts who needed fast access times and high throughput. The 7K3000 series featured 64 MB cache and Advanced Format 4K sectors, delivering excellent sequential read/write speeds for its time.
HGST HDS723020ALA640 Hard Drives:
- HDS723020ALA640 – 2 TB SATA 3.5″ Performance Hard Drive, Deskstar 7K3000 series
- Model code breakdown: HDS72 (Deskstar 7K3000 series) + 3020 (2 TB capacity) + ALA640 (specific variant identifier)
- Common firmware revisions: 5C0, 5C1, 5E0, 5F0
- Capacity in LBA: 3,907,029,168 sectors
- Also known as: Hitachi HDS723020ALA640 (pre-acquisition branding)
- Recommended usage: Desktop performance, gaming, RAID arrays, NAS
HGST HDS723020ALA640 Failure Symptoms:
Electrical Failure Symptoms:
- Drive is powered, but shows no sign of function;
- Disk knocking as the motor fails to spin;
- Clicking sound as the heads search or initialize;
- Burnt components on PCB – particularly TVS diodes or the motor controller IC.
Mechanical Failure Symptoms:
- Clicking, grinding sounds (head/media damage);
- Completely quiet due to “motor freeze” (bearing seizure);
- Drive spins but produces rhythmic clicking – typical of head failure;
- Occasional “scraping” sound indicating platter damage;
- High-pitched whine indicating spindle motor issues.
Logical Failure Examples:
- Accidental deletion, accidental format, file corruption, software bugs;
- File system corruption, viruses and malware;
- Partition table loss or MBR/GPT corruption;
- “SMART” failure warnings from BIOS or RAID controller.
Firmware Failure Symptoms:
- Drive powers up but is not recognised by the computer/RAID controller;
- Drive powers up but is recognised wrongly, sometimes with nonsensical characters;
- Drive freezes during booting up;
- Drive detected with 0 MB capacity (service area corruption);
- SMART attributes showing unusual values (e.g., 65535 or 0).
Bad Platter Area Symptoms:
- Hard disk still accessible but appears to “hang” or be “sluggish”;
- Constant Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) errors;
- Unable to access folders or files which could be seen;
- Gradual increase of reallocated sector count in SMART data;
- Pending sector count increasing over time.
Complex Failure Model
(A combination of two or more of the above failure types)
HGST HDS723020ALA640 Data Recovery & HDD Repair:
When it comes to data recovery, one of the most common problems the HGST HDS723020ALA640 hard drive experiences is PCB failure due to power surges, followed by firmware corruption and head failure. This drive has a separate ROM/NVRAM chip that stores drive-specific adaptation data.
PCB Replacement Information:
To replace a faulty PCB on a HGST HDS723020ALA640, you need to match the following:
- Model number: HDS723020ALA640
- PCB part number: Common numbers include 0A87090, 0A87091, 0A87092
- Main controller IC number: Often 88i9146 or similar (Marvell)
- Firmware revision: e.g., 5C0, 5C1, 5E0, 5F0
⚠️ Critical Note: The HGST HDS723020ALA640 has a separate ROM/NVRAM chip (usually 25P10VP or similar) on the PCB. When replacing the PCB, you MUST transfer the original ROM chip from the old PCB to the new donor board, or use a programmer to copy the ROM contents. Without this, the drive will not function correctly.
Symptom Analysis Based on User Reports:
Repair & Data Recovery Options by Failure Type:
Comparison with Related HGST Models:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Q: Is the HGST HDS723020ALA640 a 3.5″ or 2.5″ drive?
A: It is a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive.
Q: What is the capacity of the HDS723020ALA640?
A: 2 TB (2,000,000,000,000 bytes). The formatted capacity is approximately 1.81 TB.
Q: What is the RPM and cache size?
A: 7200 RPM and 64 MB cache.
Q: What interface does the HDS723020ALA640 use?
A: Serial ATA (SATA) with SATA-600 (6 Gb/s) support.
Q: What is the Deskstar 7K3000 series?
A: The Deskstar 7K3000 series was HGST’s high-performance desktop hard drive line, released around 2011-2012. Key features include:
– 7200 RPM for maximum performance
– 64 MB cache
– 1 million hour MTBF
– Advanced Format 4K sectors
Q: What does the model number HDS723020ALA640 mean?
A: The model number breaks down as:
– HDS72 = Deskstar 7K3000 series
– 3020 = 2 TB capacity
– ALA640 = SATA 6Gb/s, 64 MB cache
Q: My drive is dead and doesn’t spin. Can I replace the PCB myself?
A: Yes, but you MUST transfer the original ROM chip. A donor board alone will not work.
Q: My HDS723020ALA640 clicks rhythmically. What’s wrong?
A: This is likely head failure requiring a cleanroom head swap by a professional recovery service.
Q: Is this drive good for gaming?
A: Yes, the 7200 RPM speed and 64 MB cache made it excellent for gaming in its era. However, modern SSDs are vastly superior for game load times.
Q: What is the power consumption?
A: The HDS723020ALA640 typically consumes:
– Read/Write: ~7.5 W
– Idle: ~6.0 W
– Standby: ~1.0 W
User Reviews & Summary:
Pros:
– 7200 RPM – excellent performance
– 64 MB cache – good for buffering
– 1 million hour MTBF – reliable
– SATA 6 Gb/s – modern interface
– Excellent for RAID and NAS
– One of the fastest consumer HDDs of its time
Cons:
– 2 TB capacity is modest by modern standards
– Power consumption higher than 5400 RPM drives
– Discontinued – only available used/refurbished
– May run warm – requires good cooling
Final Verdict:
The HGST HDS723020ALA640 (Deskstar 7K3000, 2 TB) was a top-tier performance drive in the early 2010s. While now surpassed by SSDs and larger HDDs, it remains a capable storage device for legacy systems and RAID arrays.
Pro Data Recovery Tip: The 7K3000 series is generally reliable, but power surges often damage the PCB. Always use a quality surge protector. If the drive clicks, power off immediately.