Of course, this is the main difference between them, but not the only one.

Types of computer memory

Memory in a computer is the place where data is stored. Memory is divided into ephemeral(for example, RAM or RAM), which retains data only as long as the computer is running, and permanent(non-volatile) that retains data even after power is turned off.

It can also be divided by device, or rather, by type. Can be distinguished magnetic media(e.g. hard drives HDD, SSHD), optical, semiconductor and flash memory.

Differences between HDDs and SSDs

Carrier design

The main difference that first comes to mind is the internal structure.

Hard drives HDD are magnetic storage media. To read them, a special, movable head is used, which moves along the round magnetic plates used for storing data, and thus searches for files.

SSD media is classified as flash memory built only from NAND Flash cells. This allows you to read and write files on the SSD much faster - all due to the fact that reading occurs without the participation of moving elements. Moving parts must arrive at a file location and cannot be present in multiple locations at the same time (which makes reading or writing multiple files even slower).

Loudness during operation and resistance to damage

Movable elements are also responsible for the appearance of noise during the operation of the disk. Without these moving parts, SSDs are silent. In addition, they are also more resistant to damage (again, this is due to the absence of mechanical parts that can move, for example, in the event of a fall).

The AHCI protocol was created for hard drives HDD, at a time when no one was waiting for the appearance of faster media. Later SSDs had a huge potential in terms of data flow, however, it was severely limited by an outdated protocol.

For new fast hard drives, a new NVMe protocol was created. Its capabilities are shown in the table below:

HDD Seagate 1 TB
Read speed: 169 Mb/s Write speed: 186 Mb/s
Uninterrupted and high performance HDD HDD with a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. Thanks to this, the launch and loading of programs is much faster. The drive is also equipped with MTC (Multi-Tier Caching) technology, which optimizes data flow and speeds up writing and reading.
ADATA SSD 128 GB
AHCI protocol Read speed: 560 Mb/s Write speed: 300 Mb/s
128 GB hard drive. Equipped with NAND Flash cells and SMI controller. The DRAM cache and SLC intelligent caching system further enhance its performance.
Solid state drive GOODRAM 240 GB
Reading speed: 550 Mb/s Write speed: 320 Mb/s
One of the most durable and reliable solid state drives. Equipped with features such as SmartRefresh, SmartFlush and GuaranteedFlash that protect data in case of power surges.
Samsung 250 GB 960 EVO Solid State Drive
NVMe protocol Read speed: 3200MB/s Write speed: 1500MB/s
The NVMe interface provides superior read and write speeds. Reading speed is even faster thanks to Turbo technology write. Dynamic thermal protection prevents overheating.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the performance of solid state drives and hard drives. An article has already been presented on our website, which describes in detail the pros and cons of SSD. But this time I would like to focus on comparing the speed characteristics of these devices and tell in detail how great the advantage of solid state drives is.

Quite often we hear that the superiority of SSD in performance is not so significant - "only" 3-4 times. For example, the maximum speed of advanced hard drives is about 160-170 MB / s, while an SSD can show about 550 MB / s. A simple calculation gives a difference of almost 3.5 times. However, the processes that occur when reading information from the media are much more complicated, and can be compared directly. maximum speeds incorrectly.

Test results for SSD Vertex 3 and HDD Seagate 3 TB
(clickable)

Take a look at the test results of two devices obtained using the popular CrystalDiskMark programs. It will allow you to compare both types of drives with different modes work. The first drive is an SSD manufactured by OCZ called Vertex 3, which has very high performance. The second is a modern 3TB Seagate hard drive with very high performance. We can say that some of the best representatives of each market segment are compared.

The top number on the left is the linear read speed when data is read sequentially. In this mode, almost all types of media show their maximum capabilities. The hard disk does not have to constantly move heads, and most of the time is spent reading and transferring data. The solid state drive, in turn, transmits data in large blocks, while using all channels. This behavior of devices is usually observed when copying huge files - movies, archives, DVD images. The speed difference between the two devices is 3.27 times.

The second row of numbers is reading in 512k blocks. The hard drive starts spending more time moving heads looking for each block, so the speed slows down. An SSD has to do more calculations to access different flash memory cells. Please note that the performance of the SSD is 92% of the maximum, while the normal hard drive only 37%. This behavior corresponds to copying a set of small photos and illustrations or audio files.

The next row is reading in very small blocks of 4 KB. It is in this test that the speeds sag the most. A classic hard drive spends the lion's share of time moving heads in search of the right pieces of information, while a solid state drive great amount calculations to find the desired cells. As a result of this, the speed of the hard drive dropped by 220 times, and that of the SSD - only 15 times. The speed difference between the two tested devices on 4K blocks is 52 times. This mode of operation corresponds to the download process operating system, launch applications and copy text documents- that is, the most frequent operations on the PC.

Now it's time to talk about the parallel execution of operations. While working on a computer, many processes are running in the system - programs and applications, system utilities, services that can access the drive at any time. It turns out that at one point in time several requests for reading can come. The hard disk is forced to process them one at a time - the heads can only read one file at a time. But the SSD has several memory chips that store information. Therefore, you can process several requests at once, and all of them will be executed in parallel.

The last line just shows the speed of work on 4K blocks with a request queue of 32. That is, the situation is simulated when you need to read 32 files of this size at once. As you can see, the hard drive has almost no differences in parallelization, since it can only receive one file at a time, and the SSD reads data in several streams, which allows you to increase performance by 5.25 times. A small difference in speeds between a hard drive with and without a queue is due to the presence of NCQ technology, which somehow arranges this very queue so as not to “run back and forth 2 times”.

For the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that such a deep queue almost never occurs in real conditions. For example, when the operating system boots, the queue value is approximately four.

In other words, if in theory (according to the documentation) the devices differ by 3.5 times, then in real operations when the computer is running, the difference can reach much larger values.

The right column in the program window is the results of the recording, for which all of the above is true.

Comparison of speed distribution of SSD (bottom) and HDD (top)

But that's not all. Take a look at the other graphics made by HD Tune. They show the distribution of speeds over the storage space (blue line). The left part corresponds to the beginning of the disk, the right part corresponds to the end. If the SSD gives the same speed on almost the entire volume, then by the middle of the space, reading (and writing) seriously sags in the hard drive, and at the end it drops by more than 2 times. In practice, this means that if the operating system was installed on a full disk, or last section on the device, the performance of the drive will be noticeably lower than stated. The same goes for the access time (yellow dots), which grows as you move towards the end of the disk space.

It turns out, the initial superiority of 3.5 times in practice can result in both 100 and 200 times. And this is compared with the best samples of hard drives. There is nothing to say about ordinary disks with average characteristics. So buy an SSD as soon as possible.

Greetings!

HDD vs SSD - how do they differ and which one is better?

Surely, when buying a new PC or laptop, many have noticed that it is the type of storage device installed in it - HDD or SSD - that can have a significant impact on its price. What is their difference?

Is it worth taking an ssd drive for a computer and what are the advantages of such drives? In this article, I will try to answer questions related to choosing a hard drive for various systems and needs.

The main differences between HDD and SSD

To begin with, it should be noted that despite the general purpose, SSD and HDD are completely different technologies. In fact, the difference between them is as big as the difference between a CD and a flash drive. Yes, what is there, by and large, HDD - this is a kind of CD, only made from a different material and installed in its own drive. And an SSD is a large, capacious flash drive, with a particularly fast data transfer rate, increased capacity and, if we are not talking about an external drive, then with a slightly different way of connecting to the motherboard.

Unlike a hard drive, an SSD does not carry any moving parts. HDD devices are old, analog technologies, while SSDs are new, digital.

So what are the advantages of more expensive, modern SSDs compared to older hard drives?

Firstly, SSD has smaller size and weight, which is especially useful when assembling compact systems such as laptops and tablets.

Secondly, SSDs have a much higher data transfer rate than analog drives, because nothing needs to be written or searched out by mechanical actions. The HDD takes time to distribute the data on the platter plane, as well as to find the information already recorded on it. Especially if the search is conducted in parts of the disk that are very distant from each other. For this reason, the operating system is somewhat slower to load, files take longer to open, and programs are less responsive. But saving and reading data from a solid state drive is almost instantaneous.

Speed ​​is usually limited to throughput interface. Gamers may find this useful so that they do not have to wait a long time for downloading and installing games, as well as downloading levels in them.

Thirdly, as mentioned earlier, there are no moving elements in the SSD. As a result, SSDs are quieter and more reliable – they are shock and drop resistant. This means that an SSD is better suited as an external storage device for people who want to use one disk for several systems, or as second hard laptop disk.

Fourth, SSDs tend to consume less power, and there will hardly ever be unnecessary energy savings.

It's time to talk about the disadvantages of these "big flash drives"

First disadvantage, which may seem like a serious problem to many - the limited lifespan of an SSD. The fact is that flash memory has a certain number of rewriting cycles.

The rewrite cycle is the moment when the amount of downloaded data reaches the storage capacity of the drive, or rather, when all the memory cells on it are filled. But not in the literal sense of the word - from the fact that you delete data and leave some space on the disk, nothing will change.

What matters is the total weight of the data written to it over its lifetime.

For example, I uploaded a 1 GB file, then deleted it and uploaded a 2 GB file - and that already 3 GB was written to disk, even though some of them were deleted.

Moreover, due to the characteristics SSD work, when counting, you need to multiply the amount of data recorded on it by 9-10 times. Those. 3

A gigabyte is almost 30, almost a quarter of the rewrite cycle of a 120 gigabyte disc. However, these are not exact numbers, I took it with a margin. In fact, it all depends on how the space on the drive was spent.

Do not be scared right away, on average, SSDs are designed for 3 years, or even 5 years of service. Unless, of course, hundreds of gigabytes of data are downloaded to them daily.

Unfortunately, I cannot say with certainty which disk is more durable - SSD or HDD. There are many other nuances that affect their life expectancy. But in terms of resistance to external influences, the SSD clearly wins.

The second disadvantage is the price.

The price of an SSD can be many times higher than the cost of a hard drive of the same capacity. Surely, over time, the situation will change a little, but today it is more profitable to take such a disk for a PC as an additional one, install an operating system and some applications on it, and store everything else on the HDD.

And finally, the last SSD problem, which will probably be solved soon, is the maximum amount of memory. SSDs appeared much later than hard drives, and so far even the best available models cannot hold as much data as will fit into a high-performance HDD. price category. But it is most likely only a matter of time. You can, simply, use several storage devices at once.

This ssd costs $11,000

Here is the characteristic

Conclusion.
On the this moment, I do not think that buying a PC or laptop with an SSD would be a good idea for ordinary user. After all, its price is several times higher than the cost of the good old hard drive. Someone will consider the differences between these two types of drives important for themselves. For example, gamers are very fond of purchasing expensive equipment, even with a slight gain in system performance.

However, on the speed of games, i.e. on the frame rate, the presence SSD drive should not affect.
In general, without much need, buy an SSD as the only internal hard disk, I do not recommend yet. But as a second drive, it may well justify itself.

Write in the comments what did you choose or what are you going to choose for yourself ssd or hdd?

Good afternoon. Computer users have long been accustomed to the fact that internal hard drives called HDD. But, not so long ago, SSD hard drives began to appear on the markets. Many people have a bad idea, but what is it, an SSD drive? Is there a need to replace them with a regular HDD? Are these SSDs really as good as users make them out to be?

What is an SSD drive

An SSD is, as I said, a solid state drive. At this disk NAND memory is used. What is interesting about this memory is that it does not require electricity to store information. I can say in a language more understandable to you, this disk can be compared with a decent-sized flash card. In fact, this is a flash drive.

I already wrote about a flash card for 1 TB, and for 2 TB. The technology is very similar. The only difference is that for 1 and 2 TB flash drives, which I wrote about, these are just flash cards. And an SSD is a hard drive and it has a very decent speed of writing and reading data.

The difference between SSD and HDD and their features

In order for us to be able to identify these differences between solid state drives and drives with spinning mechanisms, let's touch on the theory and operation of these drives.

HDD is a series of round metal plates that rotate on a spindle. Data is written on the surface of the plates with a special small head. If a person starts copying any information to the disk, or simply starts the software, the disk head starts moving to find the place where the information the person needs is located.

Most of all, it resembles the usual records of the Soviet era, which the inhabitants of our country loved so much. But, instead of a needle in this design, there is a head for reading data.

Advantages of SSD over HDD

1. The SSD drive does not have a single part that moves.
2. Based on the first point, the hard drive does not heat up, unlike the HDD, which heats up very much when a complex program or game is running.
3. Since the disk does not move, it works silently. Also, noiselessness is obtained due to a small cooler, which does not have to cool the disk.
4. Due to the absence of moving parts, low power consumption is obtained, about half as much.
5. The most obvious thing is that such a disk very quickly responds to human action. That is, if you install Windows on such a disk, the computer will start very quickly.

I have presented to you the main advantages of SSD drives, which you can check for yourself. But interestingly, people are still asking questions like this and comparing the merits of these Hard Drives:

• Because there are no moving parts, SSDs run silently and have a much longer lifespan. regular discs break most often precisely because of damage from the outside - solid-state drives do not have this problem.
• The temperature of the solid state drive is constantly at the required level, regardless of whether the cooler cools it or not. A moving drive without a fan can overheat. Overheating can lead to malfunctions in the program or its mechanical part.

Disadvantages of SSD drives

The main disadvantage of a solid state drive is its price. It continues to be decent and has a direct relationship with its volume. The second disadvantage of such a disk is a smaller number of write/delete cycles. A movable hard drive can be overwritten and turned on / off a lot of times. Solid state has limitations in this sense. However, these restrictions in records are difficult to achieve in practice.

As a rule, the SSD warranty period is in the region of three to five years. But, in ordinary life, such disks work much longer. Hence, do not worry too much on this issue.

The most interesting thing is that there is a hybrid in which part of the solid state drive is involved, and there are moving elements. It's called a hybrid SSHD. Manufacturers in SSHD drive tried to combine the advantages of these two drives. But, high speed work is noticed only during the boot of the computer. The output of information and recording in this model is approximately the same as that of a conventional HDD. Hence, hybrid models are not particularly popular with people.

How to choose the right SSD drive

Let's say you came to the conclusion that you need to replace an obsolete hard drive and purchase an SSD drive. It became clear to you why it is more profitable to take an SSD. But, there is another question, namely, which of the SSD drives is better to choose in this case?

When you go to computer stores, you see drives that have different controllers, form factors, prices. With all this diversity it is difficult to choose a worthy one. Therefore, to make it easier for you to choose among such drives, I will give the parameters by which it is worth buying an SSD.

Disk speed

Every hard drive, including a solid state drive, has two types of speed: reading information and writing. The greater these speeds, the greater the benefits. But, it is worth remembering that in the descriptions of the railway, max speed is most often written.

SSD disk capacity

I have already said that the main disadvantage of solid state drives is its cost. As a rule, it depends on the volume of the disk. The minimum size for today is 60 GB. In modern realities, Windows 10 with all its updates may require 80, 90, 100 GB. Therefore, such a volume may not even be enough for the system.

But, if you like to play games, and are addicted graphic programs like Photoshop, you need to look into discs with a capacity > 120 GB.

Controller and Memory

There are 3 memory variations that differ from each other in the number of bits in a memory cell - 1 bit (SLC), 2 bits (MLC), 3 bits (TLC). Option 1 is outdated and is no longer used. From here, if you notice a similar option in the descriptions of the disc, immediately pass by.

MLC is currently more common than others. We will choose him. Although, it also has its downsides. But, at the moment, there is no replacement for him, because. TLC is just beginning to be introduced on store shelves and its price is appropriate.

The problem is the same for controllers. The most common (popular) technology at the moment is SandForce, which increases the speed of the drive by compressing information before the user writes it.

But, it also has a drawback: when the disk is almost completely filled with data, then, having cleared this disk, the recording speed will no longer return to its previous pace. In other words, now it will be lower. To solve this problem, you need to remember one simple thing: do not fill the disk with data to the eyeballs. In this case, after deleting the data, the speed will be OK.

Of course, there are other, expensive controllers with Indilinx, Intel, Marvell technologies. Analyze your finances, and if they allow, look at SSDs that have controllers from these manufacturers.

Form Factors and Design

Most of the solid-state drives that exist now are made in the 2.5 form factor, which support the SATA 3 design. But, in addition to these, other, more expensive options are possible:

1. SSD external,
2. PCI card that fits directly into the motherboard slot
3. Drive, with mSATA design, which is installed in small PCs and laptops.

If we consider the design, then, all new SSDs have a SATA 3 interface, but when system board if there is an old generation controller (I - th, or II - th), then the hard drive, despite this, can be connected. But, there is a limitation. The data rate will be like the old generation controller. In other words, at SATA connection 3 to SATA 2, speed data will be SATA 2.

If the 3.5-inch form factor is important for a PC, then if you want to install a 2.5-inch SSD, you will need an adapter device called "Sled". This adapter is like a small shelf that needs to be hung where you are going to mount the drive.

Note: using special the adapter has the ability to install the SSD in place laptop dvd. Some users remove the little-used drive now and install an SSD drive in its place. On the new disk Underneath people install Windows. At the same time, the laptop's native hard drive is formatted and used to store personal information.

Which SSD company to choose

This issue requires close attention. Of course, in many forums you will find posts about what is the best Silicon power, others will say Kingston. These companies produce discs of various types.

But it is not so. In reality, there are not many manufacturers that actually produce NAND flash memory, unlike brands.

You can also select companies: Samsung, Crucial, SanDisk.

How to work with an SSD drive

If you successfully purchased and installed an SSD drive, you will start the system and be pleasantly surprised fast work all programs and applications. Also, the system will start very quickly. In order for your computer to continue to work so quickly, remember the requirements for operating SSD drives.

1. Do not fill the drive to the brim, to the eyeballs, otherwise, as I said, the data writing speed will decrease and, the saddest thing, it will not be able to recover. This is especially true for SandForce.
2. Operating systems that support TRIM are: Widows 7, 8.1, 10, Linux 2.6.33, Mac OS X 10.6.6.
3. It is worth storing personal information on HDDs. You should not quickly get rid of such a disk if it is in excellent condition. Insert two discs, and record video, audio, photos, and other information on the HDD that does not need high speed.
4. It is advisable to increase the capacity of the operational card and, if possible, do not use the swap file.

By following these recommendations, you have a chance to extend the life of your SSD without damaging it or slowing it down. You can buy it on Aliexpress. Disks on the page from 120 to 960 GB, i.e., actually 1TB. You can buy from the link.... Judging by the description, the disc is suitable for both Computers and (laptops).

From the screenshot you can see the volumes of the disks. If you need to install the system exactly, it is enough to purchase a disk with a capacity of 120 GB. If, however, as a full-fledged hard drive, then, at your discretion, from 480 to 960 GB. Why do I recommend installing Windows on a solid state hard drive? Your system will boot in seconds! If you purchase a 1TB disk, all your programs will fly!

What is SSD vs HDD? Of course, these are beautiful numbers in various test applications, an opportunity to brag to friends and interlocutors. It has been proven by practice: solid-state drives really allow you to “revive” the system quite well. However, there are very few real "live" values. In principle, it is understandable: it is convenient to fix the difference in applications specially tailored for this, and not in games and so on.

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SSD models are different: slow and fast, cheap and expensive. And it is far from always possible to equate the pairs “cheap” and “slow”, “expensive” and “fast”, it is enough to compare, for example, the prices for the Samsung 850 EVO 1 TB and the Kingston V310 960 GB. But is there a difference between SSDs of different categories in practice? The question is quite interesting and sometimes causing a lot of very heated debate on various Internet forums.

So, our task today: no "synthetics". At all. Well, so that life does not seem like sugar, the specified condition will be supplemented with one more: the processor in the test bench will operate in two modes - at the standard frequency of 3.3 GHz (fixed, turbo boost disabled) and overclocked to 4.5 GHz. As a result, thanks to our partner, the Regard company, we will not only compare different models drives, but also check the dependence on CPU overclocking.

Test participants

Several different drives were selected for practical testing. First of all, hard drives, where without them? The final list of participants consisted of two HDDs and four SSDs.

• HDD western digital Red 4TB (WD40EFRX-68WT0N0). Of course, the choice is not the most representative, but in general it may well illustrate the situation with most modern hard drives;


• HDD Toshiba MQ01ABD050 500 GB. Quite old, but still quite relevant model of the "laptop" class. It is generally believed among users that a 2.5" form factor HDD is slower than its 3.5" "desktop" counterparts. Its testing, apparently, is complicated by the presence of BMG car parking, which is not disabled by the usual settings of the operating system: during measurements, “outliers” were found much more often than usual - indicators that differ significantly from the average, and for the worse;


• SSD GK K3 120 GB. The so-called "Chinese" SSD: one of those that can be found on sale at the well-known trading platform AliExpress and the like. Extremely tempting price tags: about 2600-2700 rubles for 120 GB, while more eminent brands "start" from the bar of 3100 rubles and above (at the time of writing this material). But the level of its performance is very upsetting, judging by the tests we conducted. At that time, the conclusion was made about suitability only for a user who does not operate with large amounts of data, let's see how true it is;


• SSD Kingston V300 120GB (SV300S37A/120G). This drive is known to the general public much better and not least because of the scandal. On various Internet forums, the V300 is still taunted by everyone and sundry to this day. However, it is one of the cheapest SSDs on the market and is therefore in high demand. But how much it is inferior in reality, or is it more unfounded fears, it will become clear in the course of the review;


• SSD OCZ Vector 180 240 GB (VTR180-25SAT3-240G). This is a solution of a class above: the latest model, new algorithms in the microcode of the controller for data protection, an updated platform in the hardware part, high speed characteristics even in those conditions where the rest are losing ground. More details can be found in the corresponding review;


• SSD Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB (SHPM2280P2H/480G). His review was released under the heading "Shaking the Foundation": unexpectedly for the masses, Kingston turned away from its beloved SandForce platform and in January of this year released a high-speed M.2 NGFF drive with PCI-Express interface on a Marvell controller. Yes, not anyhow, but 88SS9293. And it is unique: the only solution on this controller that is on sale.

  And let Plextor show its M7e at various exhibitions for a long time, but that's all. By latest rumors, M7e will be sold in the fall - when no one needs it anymore: demand will be covered by HyperX Predator and launched at retail just a month and a half ago even more fast samsung SM951 (on Russian market not yet available).