Can i get a new hard drive pre tested for "click of death" before I install them in my server?

Short answer: Yes — you can buy server hard drives that are pre‑tested for failure indicators (including early click‑of‑death symptoms), but only from certain enterprise refurbishers and server‑grade resellers. Big retail stores (Amazon, Newegg, Walmart) do not perform this kind of testing.

The key is knowing which vendors actually run full burn‑in diagnostics — because most don’t.

🧰 What “pre‑tested” actually means in the server‑drive world

Enterprise refurbishers and server‑part specialists often perform:

SMART extended tests

Bad sector scanning (full surface scan)

Vibration/noise anomaly detection (this is where click‑of‑death shows up)

Power‑on‑hours verification

Firmware consistency checks

Multi‑hour burn‑in cycles

These tests will catch early mechanical failure, including the classic Seagate/WD “click” head‑parking failure.

🏆 Vendors that actually do pre‑testing (the ones you can trust)

These companies explicitly advertise burn‑in testing and failure screening:

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1. ServerPartDeals (SPD)

Every drive is tested with multi‑hour burn‑in
They reject drives with any abnormal noise
They provide SMART logs on request
3‑year warranty on many drives


Seagate Exos 7E8 3.5'' Enterprise Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $259.00
$259.00
This product has a rating of 4.2 stars from 10K+ reviewers
4.2 (10K+)
Details
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Seagate Exos 7E8 3.5'' Enterprise Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $259.00
$259.00
This product has a rating of 4.2 stars from 10K+ reviewers
4.2 (10K+)
Details
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2. ServerSupply

Known for Dell/HP pulls that are tested before resale
Offers 1‑year warranty


Seagate Exos 7E8 3.5" SAS Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $445.00
$445.00
This product has a rating of 4.0 stars from 656 reviewers
4.0 (656)
Details
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Seagate Exos 7E8 3.5" SAS Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $445.00
$445.00
This product has a rating of 4.0 stars from 656 reviewers
4.0 (656)
Details
Track price

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3. Memory4Less

Sells Dell/HP OEM drives with testing
Good for SAS drives


Dell 8TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gbps 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $278.62
$278.62
This product has a rating of 4.3 stars from 217 reviewers
4.3 (217)
Details
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Dell 8TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gbps 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $278.62
$278.62
This product has a rating of 4.3 stars from 217 reviewers
4.3 (217)
Details
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4. ServerOrbit

Specializes in HPE pulls
Burn‑in tested, warranty included


HPE 12TB 3.5'' Internal SAS Server Hard Drive

Current price: $570.00
$570.00
Free shipping
This product has a rating of 4.5 stars from 1K reviewers
4.5 (1K)
Free shipping
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HPE 12TB 3.5'' Internal SAS Server Hard Drive

Current price: $570.00
$570.00
Free shipping
This product has a rating of 4.5 stars from 1K reviewers
4.5 (1K)
Free shipping
Details
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These vendors are the closest thing to “pre‑tested against click‑of‑death” you can get.

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🚫 Vendors that do not pre‑test drives

Amazon (unless buying from a refurbisher storefront)

Newegg retail

Walmart retail

Best Buy

MicroCenter (unless buying refurbished enterprise pulls)

These sell new drives, which are factory‑tested but not burn‑in tested. Click‑of‑death can still appear in the first 10–100 hours.

🔧 If you want guaranteed pre‑testing

Ask the vendor for:

SMART extended test logs

Surface scan results

Power‑on hours (POH)

Acoustic anomaly test results (some refurbishers do this)

Burn‑in duration (minimum 4–8 hours is good; 24 hours is ideal)

ServerPartDeals and ServerSupply will provide these if you request them.

🛡️ My recommendation for your server (based on your past hardware questions)

Since you run enterprise gear (Dell/HPE servers) and care about reliability:

Best pick: Dell/Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB SAS from ServerPartDeals

Enterprise SAS
Burn‑in tested
Low DOA rate
Cheap for SAS


Seagate Exos 7E8 3.5'' Enterprise Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $259.00
$259.00
This product has a rating of 4.2 stars from 10K+ reviewers
4.2 (10K+)
Details
Track price

Seagate Exos 7E8 3.5'' Enterprise Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $259.00
$259.00
This product has a rating of 4.2 stars from 10K+ reviewers
4.2 (10K+)
Details
Track price
Runner‑up: Dell 8TB SAS from Memory4Less
OEM Dell

Tested pulls


Dell 8TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gbps 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $278.62
$278.62
This product has a rating of 4.3 stars from 217 reviewers
4.3 (217)
Details
Track price

Dell 8TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gbps 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive

Current price: $278.62
$278.62
This product has a rating of 4.3 stars from 217 reviewers
4.3 (217)
Details
Track price

📌 Want me to tell you which vendor gives the most thorough testing or find the cheapest pre‑tested SAS/SATA drives for your exact server model?

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