Each storage device has unique characteristics and deciding on one will depend on the use you make of your computer and other important aspects.
hard drives are a fundamental element in any computing device and, of course, their designs have evolved over time, thanks to advances in technology. And it is that, in more than 50 years of history, these storage units have changed a lot.
And precisely, this time we want to compare two of today’s most popular storage devices. In this article we will show you the differences between an SSD and an HDD, so we recommend you keep reading until the end.
HDD vs. SSD
The truth is that both HDDs and SSDs perform the same tasks and they look almost similar in their physical specifications. However, they work differently and each has its own characteristics. That is why, before discussing the difference between the two, it is important to get some information about these two storage devices.
What is a HDD?
An HDD is a data storage device which is made up of a magnetic tape and consists of mechanical parts inside it. Its operation is based on a rotating disk or a metal platter with a magnetic coating to read and write data. There, a read/write head floats above the turntable (thanks to a motor) to access the data.
The faster the platter spins, faster reads and writes data to the HDD. The common size of hard drives is 2.5 inches for laptops and 3.5 inches for desktops. HDDs predominantly use the SATA interface, which stands for “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment” or “Serial ATA”.
What is SSD?
Technically, SSDs perform almost the same functions as HDDs, but use interconnected flash memory chips to store the data. These are solid state drives, which means there are no moving parts in it. Also, without the spinning disk, head, and arm, SSDs can shrink in shape and size, making them more flexible for smaller devices. They also come with SATA ports and a 2.5-inch form factor so they can be easily installed in place of a conventional hard drive.
There are smaller SSDs with mini-SATA (mSATA) that are used in the mini PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express slots. Most modern laptops come with SSDs installed in a PCI Express expansion slot or mounted directly on the motherboard, both of which use a form factor known as M.2. Apart from this, there are upgraded SSDs that employ the NVMe interface which allows them to offer much faster than normal data read and write speed.
Differences between SSD and HDD
Both storage devices have advantages and disadvantages and your choice will depend on the user, their needs and the available budget. Next, we will review some key aspects to define the difference between SSD and HDD.
price is important
This is one of the main differences between HDD and SSD. SSDs cost more per gigabyte than traditional HDDs, and SATA-based solid state drives are cheaper than M2 and PCIe. SATA SSDs are not that expensive compared to a traditional hard drive.
Taking into account that SSDs use new technology, will continue to be expensive for the foreseeable future, even after the price has dropped for years.
What about capacity?
In terms of capacity, a hard drive has little advantage over solid state drives because; although you can have a lot of space at a cheaper price, more physical space will be used to store your information.
On the other hand, SSDs are very expensive if you want to buy one larger than 1TB. But nevertheless, they are much smaller in size if you get several terabytes, but, this is really unusual because of the price you would have to pay for so much capacity.
Durability and resistance
When we talk about durability, there is no doubt that SSDs are more durable. Because there are no moving parts, if you accidentally bump or drop your laptop, for example, your data and storage drive are more likely to be protected.
Hard drives are more susceptible to physical damage because they are made of mechanical parts. If you drop a hard drive or your laptop, there is a greater risk of losing your data, as there is a high probability that all the moving parts inside the HDD could be damaged.
The useful life
We’ll start by saying that since each cell in flash memory supports a limited number of read and write cycles, the lifespan of HDDs is said to be longer than that of SSDs. However, this is not a serious concern today due to TRIM command technology. This technology dynamically optimizes the storage device’s read or write cycles.
As usual, an SSD will last for decades until it can start to fail; even if someone writes data to a drive 24 hours straight. A person will usually upgrade the SSD due to the desire to have more storage before their current drive fails or breaks down.
Which is faster?
This is one of the most important factors that can distinguish SSDs from HDDs. The speed on a hard drive is usually calculated in RPM (revolutions per minute), and the higher the RPM, the faster the device can run.
Today hard drives typically spin at 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM for personal computers and laptops, however some server based platters can spin up to 15000 RPM. In general, drives with 5400 RPM can deliver speeds of 100MB/s, while those of 7200 RPM can reach up to 150MB/s
On the other hand, SSD speed is measured in MB/s. Typically, a SATA-based SSD can reach speeds of up to 550MB/s, which is roughly three times larger than a traditional HDD. Also, the average speed of M.2/PCIe SSDs can go up to 2.2 GB/s. Therefore, SSDs are much faster than HDDs.
What gamers need to know
When your computer’s storage drive has better read and write speeds, the gaming experience is greatly improved, what makes SSDs the best choice for those games that require more resources. Video games can carry many GB of data, as they are made up of elements such as high-resolution textures, audio, characters, models, and more. This data is loaded in parts or when needed.
Typically, games that take three to four minutes to load on an HDD might take a minute or two on an SSD. In summary, SSDs change the rules of the game and they definitely offer you faster, better quality and an above average experience.
Energy consumption
It is a fact that HDDs use more battery power than SSDs. This is because there are moving parts inside hard drives, which require power to spin up from a standstill. Consequently, the energy consumed by HDDs is also wasted in the form of friction or noise.
SSDs are energy efficient and they can add extra hours of battery life when you’re working on a laptop or tablet.
Now that you know the main differences and benefits of both devices, you just have to consider and take them into account when choosing the right one for you. A solution could be use a combination where the SSD would be the main unit to store operating systems and software, and the HDD the secondary unit to store your data or multimedia files. In this way, you will get a computer with a perfect balance between price, performance and space.
Related topics: Technology
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