Ever since humans built the first computer, storage was always one of their major priorities and in the past few years, with the exponential advancements in the field of Computers two types of hard disks have emerged on the surface: “Solid State Drive” and “Hard Disk Drive”. So, what are these two types, which should one prefer, and for what reason? We will be comparing multiple factors like HDD vs SSD storage access speed, HDD and SSD price and more. We shall be going through all these points but first, let us understand each of these briefly and get the final verdict for HDD Vs SSD, best one for Gaming Laptop.
What is an SSD?
A solid-state drive or SSD is a storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently with the help of a single memory chip called NAND Flash memory. They lack the physical spinning disks and movable read-write heads used in hard drives and have no moving parts resulting in almost instant access times and, hence the name “solid-state” drive.
What is an HDD?
A hard disk drive or HDD is an electro-mechanical storage device that utilizes magnetic storage for storage and retrieval of digital data using one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic material. It is similar to a turntable record player and has an arm that moves the heads(“transducers”) across the surface of the disk to access different data. It is a non-volatile storage device meaning it can store data even after power is switched off. Hard disk drives have been around for almost 50 years and their technology is well-known and well-tested.
Now coming to the bigger question, “Which one is better?”. Here we have compared SSD and HDD on the basis of 8 parameters in order to get the answer to this question.
So if you are opting for a hardware upgrade on your existing storage device, we suggest you surely go through the comparison shown below in terms of speed, capacity, cost, and many more factors so that you can make an educated decision.
- Access times:
A disk access time is a total time required by the system in processing a read/write request and fetch the required data from the disk. When it comes to access times, SSD surely dominates HDD due to the fact that they use flash memory instead of spinning disks.
SSD: SSD has access speeds ranging from 35 to 100 microseconds, which is nearly 100 times faster than HDD. Faster access speed means that programs can run more quickly, which is very crucial for programs that access large amounts of data often such as the operating system.
HDD: A typical HDD requires about 5,000 to 10,000 microseconds of data access time which is very large as compared to SSD.
- Random I/O performance:
The performance of storage devices is usually measured in IOPS i.e. Input/output operations per second which is similar to “revolutions per second” in an automobile engine. Random I/O performance is derived from the average number of random read and write I/O operations per second performed by the system. The compact and efficient structure of an SSD allows it to perform more IOPS.
SSD: Approximately 6000 IOPS
HDD: Up to 400 IOPS
Reliability:
The reliability of a disk drive depends on many factors such as the amount of data written over time, how you handle the drive, environmental conditions, usage statistics, etc. Due to the moving parts in an HDD, their reliability decreases over the years because they are in constant motion and these parts eventually wear out with time. Thus, an SSD has an edge over an HDD in terms of reliability.
SSD: An SSD has no moving parts since it uses flash memory to store data. This provides better performance and reliability over an HDD.
HDD: The HDD consists of various moving parts and magnetic platters, which means the more they are used, the faster they wear down and fail.
Energy Savings:
Since SSD’s don’t make use of any mechanical moving parts (magnetic spinning arms and heads) like HDD’s do, they use less power. SSD’s are about 5.4 times more energy-efficient than HDDs. So, by using a solid-state drive one can save more than 225% in power consumption which I could have a significant impact if you are using a mobile machine.
CPU Power:
When it comes to CPU power consumption, SSD has an upper hand over HDD.
SSD: Due to faster access times and no moving parts, an SSD takes lesser time to perform operations and thus consume less CPU power. For example, an SSD of 5V 1000mA takes about 0.833watts of power per hour of use.
HDD: With all the spinning magnetic parts, the access time is large and an HDD takes more time to perform a certain operation thereby consuming more CPU power. For example, an HDD of 5V 500mA takes about 1.875watts of power per hour of use.
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Input/Output Request Times:
One of the major operations that any storage device performs is Input/output request and the time taken for each request is a major factor in deciding the speed of the device. Though the difference between I/O request times of SSD and HDD is not huge, still SSD has a comparatively higher performance speed than HDD. The SSD can perform 3.4 times the read IOP requests as compared to HDD. Although the large file sequential write IOPS and speeds are mostly similar to the reads, the SSD is about 3.5 times faster than the HDD.
SSD: Average Service time 20ms
HDD: Average time is 400-500ms
Backup Rates:
Since SSD’s have higher data access speeds they take less time for backup resulting in a faster backup rate. Also, since they are free from any magnetic influence or any wear and tear due to lack of moving parts, SSD’s have become a popular choice for a backup storage device nowadays. The backup rates for both types of storage devices are mentioned below:
SSD: 5-6 hours
HDD: 20-24 hours
Price:
The SSD price is higher per MB than an HDD because its market is volatile, and varies based on supply and demand.
Although SSD is ahead of HDD in other terms pricing is a factor where HDD has a large edge over SSD. A hard disk drive is available in larger sizes at a cheaper cost as compared to an SSD. HDDs of sizes as large as 20 TB are available at affordable prices but SSD’s come in a smaller size and higher cost. In our research, we found out that you can get the best deals at BestBuy 9/10 times on ssd price.
SSD: 1 TB SSD costs in the range of $114.99 and above
HDD: 1 TB HDD costs in the range of $47.99 and above
So, there you go, now we have shared all the important aspects of HDD Vs SSD. If you are looking for larger storage capacities within an affordable price range, then surely HDD is the way to go, but if you are looking for premium performance from your storage device, then no doubt SSD is the best choice.
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