What is the difference between SSD and HDD? If you are considering upgrading your computer or buying a new external hard drive, there are many things to consider first. One of these considerations is the type of hard drive you want. A hard drive is where the operating system and data on your computer are stored.
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You can also get an external hard drive that allows you to store your data and take it with you wherever you go. But should you choose a traditional hard drive or are you better off with a solid state drive? Here’s everything you need to know about the difference between an HDD and an SSD in terms of speed, performance, and price.
What is the difference between SSD and HDD?
What is an HDD?
What does an HDD look like inside? A hard drive (HDD) uses magnetic (or flat) disks to store data. An arm sits above these platters and reads and writes data as the discs spin at speeds of thousands of RPMs (revolutions per minute). The speed of rotation of these platters, among other factors, will affect the performance of the hard drive.
Typically, HDDs can hold from 40GB (gigabyte) to 16TB (terabyte) or more. Many hard drives in computers nowadays connect to the computer motherboard with a SATA III connection. This type of connection also affects the performance of a hard drive.
What is an SSD?
What does an SSD look like inside? Unlike an HDD, an SSD has no moving parts. It is made up of flash memory chips, which only have a limited amount of write cycles. This means that data can only be stored on an SSD between 3,000 and 100,000 times. The more chips an SSD has, the greater the storage capacity and the longer it will last.
Solid state drives can hold terabytes of storage, but typically only have between 120GB and 512GB, especially internal drives. SSDs can also use a SATA III connection, but many also have PCIe or M.2 connections to the computer motherboard.
SSD vs HDD speed
Hard drive speeds are measured in megabytes per second or MBps. There are several factors that affect SSD vs HDD speed. The RPM of an HDD platter determines the speed at which data can be read and written. The higher the RPM, the faster the hard drive will be.
The RPM speed of most hard drives ranges from 5,400 to 15,000. A SATA III data connection is capable of achieving a maximum transfer rate of 600 Mbps, but the RPM of the HDD determines the final output. A hard drive with 5,400 RPM will have a speed of around 100 Mbps. On the other hand, an HDD with 7,200 RPM will have a speed of around 150 Mbps.
This means that it would take you anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour to transfer 50GB of data using an HDD
An SSD, on the other hand, has no RPM to consider since it has no moving parts. With a SATA III connection, an SSD can read data at 550 MPbs and write at 520 Mbps. Speeds, however, will peak at 600 Mbps as this is the maximum transfer capacity of a SATA III connection.
This means it would only take about 15 minutes to transfer 50GB of files with an SSD.
If, however, you are using an M.2 or PCIe connection between the SSD and the motherboard, the speed can go up to 1.4GBps. This means you could transfer 50GB of data in less than 5 minutes.
SSDs are also faster when it comes to application opening hours. For example, you can open a 400MB TIF file on Photoshop CS5.1 in 8.4 seconds with an SSD. If you have an HDD, it will take 25.9 seconds, more than three times longer, according to GamingScan.
Is SSD better than HDD?
While an SSD is faster than an HDD, a traditional hard drive is cheaper and lasts longer. So, it all depends on what you want to use them. It is preferable to use an HDD to back up all your documents, movies, photos, and other files. So you can use an SSD to run the operating system and programs as fast as possible.
While HDDs may not be as durable due to their moving parts, they tend to last longer until you drop them. While an SSD can last up to 5 years, an HDD can stay operational for 10 years or more.
Also, when we consider the cost, an HDD is easier in the pockets than an SSD. A 1TB HDD will only cost you $ 40 to $ 75. An SSD with the same capacity will set you back $ 100 to $ 200, depending on which model you choose.
