The difference between HDD and SSD

What is the difference between HDD and SSD? Which one is better? In the following, Matob will provide a complete explanation along with the advantages and disadvantages of each.

If you are still confused about the difference between a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and a Solid State Drive (SSD), don’t worry because Matob will provide a complete explanation of what the differences are, then the advantages and disadvantages of each component, as well as their functions and uses.

What is the difference between HDD and SSD?

The main difference between the two is the mechanism of each component to carry out its function, both of which are used for the need to store data permanently and not just temporarily as in memory / RAM.

Hard disk drives or HDDs use mechanical components, namely electro-magnetic heads that operate when used by attaching to a large disc / disk that rotates quickly. That’s why you will often hear the HDD make friction noises when the component is working.

While Solid State Drive (SSD) is not like that, because it does not use mechanical procedures but uses a semiconductor chip similar to RAM, but the difference is that it is stored in non-volatile memory while the stored RAM is volatile memory .

volatile memory is stored temporarily and will be lost when the component (in this case, RAM) is not receiving power, while the memory is non-volatile is a memory that will remain permanently even though the components (in this case, SSD) do not get supplies electrical power.

This difference makes the SSD not as noisy as the HDD at work, and also has a much faster read and write process so that we will also generally be faster in accessing, opening, editing, or saving files.

Another thing that distinguishes it is in terms of size, where HDD generally have a larger size because they require mechanical components in them, while SSDs that only use chips will have smaller sizes, and are even very small when we talk about M.2 SSDs. .

Advantages and Disadvantages of HDD / Hard disk

hard disk HDD

There are not many advantages of HDD when compared to SSD if we only talk about speed, but that does not mean that it has no advantages at all, at least in the current technology. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of hard disks (HDD) include:

  • The current price is still much cheaper when compared to SSD or SSD M.2.
  • The space capacity offered is still much larger than SSD (currently HDD capacity can reach 10TB while SSDs on the market only reach 4TB at a price that is many times more expensive)
  • The lifespan or age of HDDs is longer when compared to SSDs
  • HDDs are more fragile than SSDs and are prone to damage, especially if there is a problem with the disc and the electromagnetic tape.
  • HDD speeds are much slower when compared to SSDs

Advantages and Disadvantages of SSD

SSD

SSD which is a newer technology than HDD is much superior in almost all factors when compared to HDD. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of SSD include:

  • Much faster when compared to HDD
  • More robust and less easily damaged when compared to SSDs
  • The space capacity offered is still smaller when compared to HDD
  • The price is much more expensive when compared to HDD.
  • SSD life or lifespan is shorter than HDD, with an estimate of around 10 years while HDD is much longer.

Why Use HDD?

The best use for HDD is as a mass storage medium. These types of drives are less expensive than SSDs and are available in some fairly large sizes. Have a lot of games or media to store on your PC? No problem, you can buy several small HDDs or buy one large HDD for example 10TB, at a much cheaper price. If you interseted in android gaming, maybe you need to read this article  android emulator for pc.

For example, an HDD with a 4TB capacity costs less than USD 200 , while a 4TB SSD costs USD 600 .

PC cases also usually have room for more than one HDD, meaning you can stack as much as possible for mass storage if your budget allows.

Why Use an SSD?

One of the best uses for an SSD in a PC or laptop is as a drive to load ( boot ) an Operating System (OS) such as Windows or Linux. By installing the OS on an SSD, the load time will be much faster, and doing anything can also be very fast compared to using an HDD.

But because the SSD works non-mechanically so that the chip will continue to be electrified, the SSD’s lifespan is also shorter than the HDD, so it’s best not to use it to store important data except for OS and Application installation.