SSD's and HDD's

[Oldgamer]

I am reading a number of books, and am trying to teach myself on the components and other PC technical issues with PC's, so bare with me while I ask some noobish questions.

What are the advantages of SSD's for a desktop? as compared to the HDD's for a desk top?

Will a PC system load the OS onto a SSD? Does this give faster performance?

What I am understanding is that the SSD is more like a memory chip and does not have a spinning magnetic disk, its like a USB flash drive.

Do SSD's last longer than traditional HDD's? Is it worth investing in them for better performance and reliability?

 

[Oldgamer]

From what I am reading thus far it looks like SSD's may speed up an OS significantly. But I found other articles online talking about issues with SSD's and so my question is are you sacrificing stability for speed on an SSD?

 

[JackMDS]

SSDs in any way possible are superior to HDs.

However 512GB is sort of the max. available on consumer level.

Most Enthusiasts (like most people in this forum) use a combination of 128GB SDD for the OS and core applications in combination of large HD (1-2 TB) for data Storage.


In general - http://www.storagereview.com/ssd_vs_hdd

 

[piasabird]

Try buying a terrabyt SSD???

There was also an article claiming that when power failures occur it is more likely for a SSD to fail compared to a Hard Drive.

The prices are coming down a bit. Still if a Hard Drive is fast enough for you what good is an SSD? I mostly stream videos and even if my computer booted in 1 second the video would still stream at the same speed.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The main advantages are: speed, no noise (silent), safe from being dropped in laptops.

Disadvantages: cost, maximum size of 512 GB, drive controller firmware issues with some vendors. (The "wearing out" issue with flash memory is not an issue at all for normal use.)

If all you do is watch videos then the only reason to pay for a small SSD would be if your platter hard drive is too loud. My home theater PC has a WD scorpio blue laptop drive with a really annoying click sound either from seeking or un-parking, I'm not sure which.

 

[Oldgamer]

ah ok, thanks again for the information it helps me understand this better. Yea, I have 2 old HDD and was contemplating getting an SSD as well, but it might be cost effective to just get a 1TB new HDD. But I was interested in speed as well as stability with the SSDs. Again thank you for the information!

 

[Zap]

What are the advantages of SSD's for a desktop? as compared to the HDD's for a desk top?

Will a PC system load the OS onto a SSD? Does this give faster performance?

An SSD can make your system feel "snappier." Things that you are accustomed to having the HDD rattle and the HDD LED flicker constantly will be sped up considerably with an SSD.

 

[xfilos]

Will a PC system load the OS onto a SSD? Does this give faster performance?

What I am understanding is that the SSD is more like a memory chip and does not have a spinning magnetic disk, its like a USB flash drive.

Yes. As of now the main purpose everyone buys SSD is to load OS and other programs which will speed up their loading. You can have a read of them in the following link explained much better about installting and optimizing OS on ssd.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds

 

[TapWater]

SSD is night and day difference with HDD in terms of speed.. unfortunately its the same situation with the price tag.

You can typically find a 1TB HDD pretty easy these days, where in a SSD an average is probably a 120Gb or 240GB.

Reliability I havent had any issue with either ever.

If its for a laptop, some say SSD offers some power saving.

If its for a laptop, SSD offers better robustness on the move, as it doesn't have moving parts.

On SSD, typically your boot up, shut down speeds will be quicker, as will your applications opening. It truly is awesome, especially after you have had HDD for a long time.

 

[scragnoff]

Get an SSD. You won't be disappointed.

 

[TechZuru]

I used to install RAID 0 with 2 HDDs for all my PCs in the past. NOT ANYMORE! After been through 2 RAID 0 failures I then had to look for an alternative. Luckily at the time SSDs were just coming out. And the first time I used an SSD (for the OS) alongside a regular HDD (for mass storage), that combo works way better than a RAID 0 with regular HDDs.

You then make sure that all the programs you want to load up quickly, just put them on the SSD, and put like videos, pictures and other high GB stuff on the HDD.

Bottom line, SSDs are awesome, get one, you will be happy you did.