What’s an SSD?

 

An SSD, or Solid-State Drive, is similar to that of a USB flash drive. A much larger and more refined form of a USB flash drive. An SSD contains no moving parts, unlike its counterpart – the HDD, or Hard Drive Disk. The HDD stored memory by transcribing the read and write in a mechanical way, with an arm adjusting from the proper location on the storage device. Alternately, the SSD stores the information in microchips which have no mechanical parts making the process of retrieving information much more efficient. Let’s use baseball as an analogy. It would be akin to the difference between hitting a ball and running to 1^stbase (HDD), or hitting the ball and teleporting to 1^stbase in a split second (SSD). Which one would you prefer?

 

 

What’s an HDD?

 

HDDs/Hard Drive Disks are usually found in older models of laptop computers or cheaper computers. One of the upsides to HDDs is that they are cheaper. However, if managing your time is one of your core values then an HDD is not a great choice.

 

HDD vs. SSD

 

Let’s go through the attributes of both to see how they compare to each other and your needs.

 

Battery Life

 

The SSD wins as it does not draw as much power as the HDD. The SSD averages at 2-4 watts which can result in a 25+ minute boost in battery life. In contrast, the HDD averages at 6-8 watts which means it uses more of your battery life.

 

Cost

 

The SSD is generally more expensive in terms of monetary cost. In this aspect, the HDD wins – on a monetary level. But SSDs typically crash less than HDDs so you are also purchasing them less. Combined with drawing electricity, the HDD and SSD may break even. It’s hard to precisely tell.

 

Operating System Boot

 

The SSD boots, on average, a whopping 10-15 seconds while the HDD boots approximately 30-45 seconds. The SSD wins.

 

Failure Rate

 

SSDs generally fail approximately 2 million hours whereas HDDS fail around the 1-1.5 million hour mark.

 

File Opening Speed

 

SSDs also take the cake when it comes to opening files in a time-effective manner. SSDs are up to 30% faster than HDDs.

 

Heat Production

 

Ever notice your computer getting hot and your fans spinning at breakneck speed? It might be because you are using a Hard Drive Disk. Though HDDs also do not have much heat production, Solid-State Disks do not have any “moving parts” while a Hard Drive Disk does.

 

Write Speed

 

One of the most important aspects of copying files is the write speed. SSDs, once again, win in this category at 200+ MB/s. Some higher end drives even topping out at 550 MB/s. The HDD ranges between 50 – 120 MB/s for comparison.

 

Overall, the SSD is the clear winner. We recommend getting your SSDs installed by computer professionals. Currently, we are offering a special on Operating System Installs/Reinstalls so it may be in your best interest to get it done all at one time.

 

If you need assistance, visit our location at 1331 S. Beckham Avenue in Tyler, TX or call us at 903-858-4383!