SSD Vs HDD | 5 Differences between SSD and HDD

Until 2000s people had no much concern about the storage device. But since the advancement of technology, people are looking deeper into the storage driver aspects. The demand for more storage space is under massive increase. 

Today when you are looking for a storage device there are 2 major options, those are the Hard disk drive (HDD) and the Solid state drive (SSD). To choose one you have to know the main differences between them. Introduced in the year 1956, the HDD has a long history as a storage device. No until the introduction of the SDDs. Due to this there is a long rivalry between the 2 in dominating the storage market. In simple SDD is of flash memory meaning it has no any moving parts. While the HDD is of magnetic tape which has moving components. 

Even though the technology differentiates them the purpose between the 2 is almost the same. However sticking on to a old fashioned hard disk drive or upgrading to a modern solid state drive depends upon your needs. But so far the best is using a combination of both the HDD (for mass storage) and the SDD (for booting windows). This approach is known as the Hybrid drive (SSHD). 

In this article, you will get the information on SSD vs HDD | 5 Differences between SSD and HDD. At the end of this post, you will know who is better in many aspects including gaming.

Let's move to the topic,

1. Technology

HDD : Hard disk drives contains a set of platters which is covered by the magnetic coatings. Data on the hard drive is written using a fast moving heads that moves from one place to another. Typically these read/write heads spin at a speed of 5400RPM or 7200RPM. Faster the read/write head moves, higher the hard drive can perform. In fact these types of hard drives are capable of storing large amount of data. But because of the presence of the read/write heads, the hard disk drivers are severely affected by the latency (time take for the data to be delivered). Additionally there is a separate I/O controller and firmware which commands the hard disk drive on how to operate. Altogether in simple form, the entire hard disk drive is mechanical. Due to its mechanical nature, the hard disk drives require high amount of power for its functioning. 

SSD : On the other hand, Solid state drives functions similar to a USB memory stick but more complicated than that. Rather than any moving components the informations are directly stored in the memory sticks. This is the reason why SSDs are so much faster and power efficient. But still the read/write functions are performed using the controller called as the Controller. To make the data stored inside the SSD permanently, the SSDs use a memory known as NAND. With NAND the data will be still present in the SSD even when it is turned off. Additionally the NAND memory has an impact on storage capacity. More the NAND memory, more the storage capacity will be. Latest type of SSDs today use a interface known as the Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) which delivers the fastest speed.  

Winner : SSD

2. Speed

HDD : The ultimate requirement for any PC is the hard drive speed. Both the speed of the hard disk drive and the Solid state drive is measure using Megabytes Per Second (Mbs). PCs those have only hard disk drives will experience constant slowdowns. Especially in terms of boot time. The reason for this is its mechanical nature. As mentioned earlier hard disk drives contains magnetic disks which spin at very fast rate. Speed of the disk depends on the Revolutions Per Minute (RPM). As the HDD gets filled with data, the data gets scattered throughout the disk. This process is known as the Fragmentation. Fragmentation can drastically reduce the reading time of the hard drive. 

SSD : But fragmentation is not an issue in the SSDs since there is no any moving parts ; the data is directly stored in the microchips. Therefore in terms of speed the SSDs have major advantages and the speed difference is significantly bigger. The speed difference can be clearly seen while read/write operations. This is one of the reasons why SSD is used as a boot drive. Perhaps SSD as a boot drive means that the operating system is installed on them so that it can be loaded whenever the computer is started.

Winner : SSD 

3. Capacity

Hard disk drives are known for offering 16TB of storage space maximum. While SDDs are popularly offering storage capacities in the range of 500GB, 1TB and 4TB. Even though both the storage mediums provide different capacities, hard disk drives tends to provide more for a cheaper price. Compared to a hard disk drives, the solid state drives are too expensive for the same capacity.

Winner : HDD 

4. Reliability

SSD : Hard disk drives and Solid state drives both excel at different aspects in terms of reliability. Hard disk drives are manufactured for a higher storage capacity with good durability. But in the case of a Solid state drive, performance is solely kept in mind. Compared to a HDD, the lifespan of a SSD is not that longer. In theory SSDs have a limited read/write cycles. Therefore the lifespan of a SSD depends on the amount of data written. More the data written, faster it move towards failure. 

HDD : On the other hand, no matter how much of data is written on a HDD, it still functions longer. But you have to be careful in handling hard disk drives since they are sensitive to mechanical shocks and physical damages. Hard disk drives contains read/write heads those are few nanometers away from the drive platters. Due to this it can cause instant failure if handled roughly. In this type of instance, Solid state drives have clear advantages.

Winner : HDD 

5. Price

SSD : It is an undeniable fact that when the performance increases of a component, automatically the prices increases as well. Same applies to the Solid state drives. Generally a Solid state drive costs more than a Hard disk drive of the same capacity. Even though the prices of the SDDs have come a lot down in recent times, but still the SSDs are expensive. Therefore SSDs are not a good option for the budget users. 

HDD : On the other side, Hard disk drives are the best option if you are looking for more storage space for a low amount of money. Hard disk drives are a way cheaper compared to a Solid state drives. But still investing in a SSD is worthy because of their speed and performance.

Winner : HDD