SSD VS HDD: Which One Should You Choose for Your PC?

Today a lot of users go for Solid State Drive (SSD) instead of Hard Disk Drive (HDD) when installing Windows operating system. Why they choose SSD? In this post, you will learn their difference in the following aspects:

• dimension
• capacity
• speed
• lifespan
• price

SSD VS HDD Dimension

The main shapes of SSD in the market today can be categorized into 2 kinds: 2.5 inches SSDs (like SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD) and more slender ones (such as Samsung 970 EVO with the max dimension of 80.15*22.15*2.38mm). 

Meanwhile, most HDD dimensions keep traditional 3.5 inches.

From this perspective, SSD has a smaller size which means it is more portable and takes less space in the computer case.

SSD VS HDD Capacity

Today both SSD and HDD have large capacity. Generally speaking, SSD and HDD vary their disk capacity from hundreds gigabytes to several terabytes. Overall, HHD has a larger collection of hard drives with large capacities such as 2TB/3TB/4TB.

SSD VS HDD Speed

The most dominant difference of HDD VS SSD is the read write speed they brought to users. SSD runs faster than HDD and it usually consumes less power.

HDD composes of a number of spinning magnetic platters for data storage, and a number of read/write heads on mechanical arms moving over the platters’ surface. To read or write data at a specific location, the head has to move to the appropriate position, and then wait for the sector to pass underneath it as the platter rotates.

SSD works totally different. It uses a solid state storage medium, typically NAND to save data. So actually data is written to or read from the NAND by a controller, which is the brain of the device. A standard SSD can read and write at 500MB/s while a standard HDD can read and write at 125 MB/s around.

Due to the fast speed of SSD, many users prefer to install Windows and games on an SSD to get a better experience on the performance.

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SSD VS HDD Lifespan

Since HDD has moving parts, it has a relatively shorter lifespan, which is around 5-6 years. SSD can serve for 10 years by contrast. We can also draw a conclusion from their warranty information: usually 3 years for HDD and 5 years for SSD.

However, if not properly used, both the HDD and the SSD can invoke errors, such as partition disappears, data lose, hard drive goes bad, etc. so, it is important to form the proper disk usage behavior.

Bonus: [Solved] External Hard Drive Not Showing Up or Detected in Windows

SSD VS HDD Price

SSD is more expensive than HDD, especially when you are purchasing an SSD with large capacity such as 2TB. This is the main cause that a lot of users insist on using HDD. Today SSD prices keep falling down, and it is good chance for you to select a 500GB SSD to improve your computer performance.

Our Recommendation

Use SSD to install the operating system, you will see a fast boot within 10-15 seconds. If you have enough storage, it is also a good idea to move some large applications to the SSD.  But if you rarely care about the responsive speed, HDD costs less and provides you much more capacity for data saving.