External or internal drives?

[PaulRhimes]

I'm not really the best when it comes to computers. Is it better to have an external or an internal hard drive?

 

[lopri]

Internal drives are faster in general, in terms of latency and bandwidth. There is, for example, no external interface that matches SATA 6.0 standard on consumer desktops.

But unless you spend on a few large capacity SSD, mechanical hard drives vibrate and the noise can be quite annoying. Having external drives for less accessed data or backups is not a bad habit.

 

[Blain]

I'm not really the best when it comes to computers. Is it better to have an external or an internal hard drive?

You have given us zero information about the PC needing a HD, so I must default to "internal".

 

[VirtualLarry]

Internal drives are faster in general, in terms of latency and bandwidth. There is, for example, no external interface that matches SATA 6.0 standard on consumer desktops.

Well, except for eSATA, which is still an option on many higher-end desktop motherboards (ASRock comes to mind).

Granted, the number of external HDs with an eSATA interface (pre-built ones) is diminishing with the popularity of USB3.0, but there are still plenty of enclosures that you can build yourself that have it.

Not to mention, those HDD dock units.

 

[WilliamM2]

Even if the motherboard has no eSATA port, it can be easily added with an eSATA bracket. One has been included with every eSATA enclosure I've bought.

 

[tracerbullet]

You have given us zero information about the PC needing a HD

Agreed.

Q: Should I buy a car or a truck?

A: What do you need to do?

 

[jkauff]

Even if the motherboard has no eSATA port, it can be easily added with an eSATA bracket. One has been included with every eSATA enclosure I've bought.

You have to do your research if you go eSATA. There are three flavors, just like SATA, and the vendors often don't specify which they use.

A SATA 2/3 drive in an enclosure with an eSATA 1 interface is going to run slowly. I'm just beginning to see enclosures and interfaces that use eSATA 3. I doubled the performance of my external eSATA 2 drive/enclosure by upgrading to an eSATA 2 add-in card that fits a PCIe slot (my SATA ports are all in use, so a bracket won't do it). My old adapter was PCI, which can't support more than eSATA 1.

That said, I have four 3TB WD My Book drives (SATA 2) that are USB 3.0, and they perform a little better than my eSATA 2 drive. Since I use them strictly for storage, I feel I hit the price/performance sweet spot ($129 each on sale at Staples). I run them on a USB 3.0 hub, so I'm only using one 3.0 connection on my MB.

For the OP, I would recommend an internal SSD drive for the primary boot drive. Externals are too easily bumped/dropped/kicked, and some of those enclosures and their interfaces are fragile.

 

[Baked]

My 3 SSDs for OS drive and gaming drive are all internal, connected to the Intel SSD ports. The HDD I use for weekly system image/backup is ext, connected using USB 3.0 docking station. Works well for me.

 

[datarecovery]

I prefer external hard drives as they are flexible and portable.You can port your data anywhere you goes.
Thanks

 

[Red Squirrel]

Internal if it's meant for permanent storage for that one machine, portable if it's for archiving/moving data around.

I like drive docks as you can just pop a regular internal drive in it. I use em mostly for backups.

External drives are a great way to share files with people too. Safer than torrents.

 

[maniac5999]

External drives are a great way to share files with people too. Safer than torrents.

With 64gb USB3 memory sticks going for under $40, what are you sharing that needs to be carted around on an external HDD?

 

[Old Hippie]

I'm not really the best when it comes to computers. Is it better to have an external or an internal hard drive?

That question doesn't make any sense.

It makes little sense to have an external drive unless all your internal SATA ports are full.

There's just too many unanswered questions about your situation to make any suggestions.

 

[MoInSTL]

I like drive docks as you can just pop a regular internal drive in it. I use em mostly for backups.

Ditto on drive docks. I have mine hooked up to eSATA and like you it's mostly for backing up. I have a bunch of HDDs and took it one step further. I decided last Spring to eliminate any 3.5" internal drives. I have a small Samsung 830 and a 2.5" 7,200 RPM drive from my laptop (that now has an Intel SSD) that gets the frequent writes. Keeps everything pretty cool & quiet too.

 

[Coup27]

Internal drives are better if the drive is going to stay inside a computer.

External drives are better if you want to move around a lot.

A thread about this... really?

 

[tracerbullet]

Answers to a several week old thread from an OP that hasn't been back, BTW.