SOLID STATE DRIVE VS HARD DISK DRIVE

This is a comprehensive data about hard disk drive ( HDD ) and solid state drive ( SSD )

So be ready to grab a high standard knowledge about solid state drive and hard disk drive

So let’s get into the topic

So let’s see what does hard disk drive means

HARD DISK DRIVE ( HDD )

Hard disk drive is a magnetic disk where we store data and recoup the data stored in it

Hard disk drive have mechanical parts in it and as the data is stored in magnetic discs, its also called as magnetic storage devices

This magnetic disk is also called as platter and number of platter  indicate the storage

1TB hard disk  has 1 platter

2TB hard disk has 2 platters

3TB hard disk has 3 platters

The manufacturers usually try to reduce the number of platters in order to reduce the production cost, size, power consumption as well as to make it less heavy hard disk drive.

Hard disk drive capacity ranges from 40gb to 10TB with a hard disk drive rotational speed of 5400rpm and 7200rpm

Rpm represents how many rotations per minute, more the no of rotations then more will be its read and write speed

Hard disks are usually used in desktops and laptop but its also used in CCTV setup, DVR etc

Hard disk drive storage is non-volatile so the data stored in it will be there even if you restart the desktop or laptop but the ram ( random access memory ) is volatile so that data fetched in the ram will be lost when the desktop or laptop loss the power supply

Advantages of a hard disk drive

• Large capacity

As hard disk drive is meant for storing data, its data storage capacity ranges from 40gb to 10TB

For storing large data hard disk drive is more economical, financial and easily available

Hard disk drive is faster than DVD drives in read and write speed

• Hard disk drive ( HDD ) is cheap

Hard disk drive ( HDD ) is cheap when compared with other storage devices such as sd card and solid state drive ( SSD)

• Reliability

Hard disk drives are more reliable than solid disk drive as hard disk drives ( HDD ) don’t have limited number of read and write cycles but solid state drive (SSD ) has the limited number of read and write cycle but this problem is changing over time

• More accessible

Hard disk drive ( HDD ) is more easily available in marketplaces than solid state drives ( SSD ) as it is commonly used in desktops and laptop than solid state drives ( SSD )

Now let’s discuss the disadvantages of hard disk drives (HDD )

Disadvantages of hard disk drive ( HDD )

As we discussed the advantages of hard disks, it has its own disadvantages also

• Speed

The overall speed of hard disk drive in read and write speed is less when compared with solid state drives (SSD)  and other flash memory

Hard disk drive speed reach up to 10 times as compared with a 7200rpm hard disk drive

Real world experience

The solid state drive and hard disk drive used here for checking the speed is Kingston SSD 240GB and Toshiba 1TB Internal 3.5 Hard Drive

windows boot time

HDD Boot time: 1min

SSD boot time: 26sec

Adobe photoshop cc opening time

Opening time HDD: 22sec

Opening time SSD: 8sec

Adobe premiere pro cc opening time

Opening time HDD: 63sec

Opening time SSD: 27 sec

The boot time and opening time may vary with different desktops and laptops

• Movable parts

Hard disk drive ( HDD ) has moving parts inside the enclosure so the chances of crashing the hard disk are higher when compared with solid state drive ( SSD )

Even a slight fall of hard disk leads to corruption but it’s not the case with the solid-state drive ( SSD )

• Not transport friendly

Hard disk drive ( HDD ) is not transport friendly because of its movable parts but now, external hard disks come with a good quality enclosure to prevent shocks

The acceptance of slight shock is less tolerable than solid state drive ( SSD )

For example, if your hard disk fall down from 5m there are 60% chances it will get corrupted but if the same happened with solid state drive ( SSD), the chances of corrupting a solid state drive ( SSD) is very less

• Size of a hard disk drive

Hard disk drive size is much higher than the size of solid state drive, that is 2x the size

Hard disk drive height is 9.5mm whereas solid state drive ( SSD ) height is 4mm which is half the height of a hard disk drive ( HDD )

This difference in the width won’t be a great thing for many but still, it can be a disadvantage for tech guys

• Power consumption is high in a hard disk

Hard disk power consumption is high due to its magnetic platter, number of cycles etc

An average 3.5 HDD consumes energy between 6.5w  to 9w but SSD consumes only between 0.6 to 2.8w which is very less when compared with the HDD

Due to advancement in technology 2.5 HDD consumes only between 0.7w to 3w

So the problem of high power consumption by hard disk drive is changing over time

• hard disk drive produce sound 

we all know

hard disk drive works on magnetic platters mechanism

due to the continuous cycle of magnetic platters, hard disk drive produce sound whereas solid state drive ( SSD) don’t produce sound

Now let’s see the advantages of hard disk drive ( HDD )

Advantages of hard disk drive ( HDD )

• Easily available

As hard disk drive ( HDD ) is most used storage device in desktop and laptop

hard disk drive is easily available in the market and various  computer accessories shops

So it won’t be a hectic task to buy a hard disk but it’s not the case with  SSD

Availability of SSD is less due to its low sales but now SSD sales are increasing due to proper knowledge about hard disk and solid state drive

• High storage capacity

Storage capacity in the hard disk drive ( HDD ) is very high when compared with solid state drive

If you have a huge amount of data to store in a limited budget but can compromise on data transfer speed, then hard disk is best for you

• Hard disk drive ( HDD ) is cheap

Usually, Hard disk storage comes with 500gb and ranges between 1TB to 10TB

A 240gb solid state drive ( SSD ) cost is equal to the cost of 1TB hard disk drive ( HDD )

Now you will be knowing,

How costly is SSD when compared with HDD

Check out the price of this hardware from Amazon store

240gb SSD  cost

1tb hard disk drive

• The hard disk drive is easily available in the market

As we mentioned above hard disk is easily available than ssd due to its large sales

Now let’s check,

what is solid state drive ( SSD )

solid state drive ( SSD )

solid state drive ( SSD ) is a hardware used to stored data and SSD use the integrated circuit to store data, whereas  HDD uses magnetic platters to store data

SSD is more reliable, faster and efficient than hard disk drive ( HDD )

solid state drive ( SSD ) is of two types m.2 SSD and SATA SSD

m.2 SSD is about 1.5 times cost the price of SATA SSD but m2 SSD has 10 times the performance of a SATA SSD

so choose wisely among these 2 types of SSD

advantages of solid state drive ( SSD )

advantages of solid state drive ( ssd ) is same as disadvantages of hard disk drive ( hdd )

disadvantages of solid state drive ( ssd )

disadvantages of solid state drive is same as advantages of hard disk drive ( hdd )

Now we will answer a few questions which you would have in your mind

1. Which one to choose, hard disk drive ( HDD ) or solid state drive ( SSD )

This is the most common question come in your mind after reading this post

For this, you should analyse the purpose of your desktop or laptop

If you are an editor or graphic designer

Having a solid state drive ( SSD ) is necessary

The opening time of photo and editing software like photoshop cc and premiere pro cc increased drastically after replacing a hard disk drive ( HDD ) with a solid state  drive ( SSD )

You can also check the opening speed stats mentioned in the above section

If you don’t have enough budget buy a 128gb SSD and 1tb HDD

store the windows files and working media files and software files in SSD and save the processed and less used data to HDD

this is the most efficient method used by editors

If you are a common user who wants to increase the performance of desktop or laptop

Just don’t hesitate to buy an SSD

If you are in a budget, upgrading HDD to SSD is the best choice

2. Suggest me the best SSD in the budget

Solid state drive: Kingston 240gb SSD

3. Suggest me the best SSD

Samsung 500gb SSD

4. Suggest me the best 1tb internal HDD

Western Digital 1 TB hard disk ( blue)

If you have any suggestions or queries

Just comment below

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