Difference Between Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and Solid State Drive (SSD)

Yeah! The difference between Hard Disk Drive and Solid State Drive is what most people want to know. I suggest that you first get to know both drives well and how they work.

SSD and HDD

Hard Disk Drives (HDD)

HDD

Hard Disk Drives are mechanical drives that uses magnetic storage to store data on a rotating platter. I know you would be wondering what a platter is and what it does. You can just say: A platter is a revolving disk that is positioned around a spindle. You are also wondering what a spindle is, haha, I know. A spindle is an actuator arm with a read/write head for each platter.

There are also motors to spin the platters which in turn store and retrieve the data, at a speed ranging from 4200 rotations per minute to 15,000 rotations per minute which will actually result in a faster performance.

Solid State Drives. What about it?

Solid State Drives don't have moving parts and that is why they are said to be non-volatile storage drives that stores data on a solid-state (as the name implies) flash memory or memory chips. Plus, it is the reason behind ultra-slim laptops, you're surprised, huh? Take a look at it.

SSD

SSDs are a good replacement of hard disk drives as they have no moving part.

NOTE that each of them (SSD,HDD) is better than the other in one way or the other. They both have advantages and disadvantages.

Alright, let's dive into their comparison. I would also use their abbreviations: HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive).

Read/Write Speed

HDDs have a slower read/write speed compared to solid state drives.

Why?

I'd love to answer that question. Well, it's because the performance of an HDD relies on the platter: the faster the platter rotates, the faster the HDD performs plus SSDs use electric circuitry and have no moving parts. 

The average read speed of an HDD can go up to 128MBps (megabytes per second) and the write speed can be anywhere between 50 to 120MBps.

Well, on a good side, SSDs actually do well and are more preferable in terms of read/write speed. SSDs are faster as there are no moving parts involved. It has a maximum write speed of 645MBps and the average read speed can go all the way up to 712MBps for high-end drives.

We've compared their read/write speed. It is obvious that SSDs performs faster than HDDs. In addition, SSDs are up to 30% faster than HDDs in terms of read/write speed.

Storage Capacity

Hmm. The HDDs are a little bit aggressive right here.

HDDs are able to store several terabytes of data. SSDs are yet to defeat HDDs here as they have low storage capacity. Let's compare.

HDDs are capable of storing about 10TB (Terabytes) of data for desktop computers and 2TB maximum for laptops and notebooks. SSDs can hold up to 1TB of data for laptops and up to 4TB for desktop computers.

Size

HDDs are available in 2.5-inches and 3.5-inches. Because HDDs rely on spinning platters, there is a limit to how small they can be manufactured. Some years back, the manufacturers decided to make 1.8-inch spinning hard drives, but it limited its storage capacity to 320GB.

SSDs don't have such limitation, so they can continue to get smaller.

Cost

Most people prefer to buy things at cheap prices. Let's see which of them takes the lead here.

HDDs are a lot cheaper than SSDs and for the same amount of storage, you might have to pay twice as much for a SSD than a HDD. You now know which of them takes the lead here.

Durability

HDDs use more magnetic storage to store and retrieve data which results into more mechanical parts. So, definitely, HDD is more prone to failure and data loss in case of accidental falls or mishandling. It is also more vulnerable to damages in concern of notebooks which have more delicate parts.

SSDs are more durable than HDDs because there are no moving parts involved. The small size or structure also improves its mobility. The lifespan of SSDSs is better longer than that of HDDs.

Heat, Power and Noise

SSDs generate less heat than HDDs. Hard drives make much noise especially the faster ones. SSDs don't make noise at all. SSDs don't also consume much power as they have no moving parts like the HDDs.

Therefore, there are still a lot of people who want more storage capacity and faster performance at a lower price. At the same time, there is also increasing demand by tech-savvy  people for more speed and better computing performance and that is why they turn to SSDs as their preferred storage solution for their systems especially laptops.

A Little Advice

If you're looking for performance over storage capacity, durability over cost, less heat over much heat, then, SSDs are good to go.

If you're looking for storage capacity over performance, cost over durability and probably much heat over less heat, LOL..., then, HDDs are good to go.

Good luck on your choice. Choose wisely!

I hope you love this article. Wait!!!

Is there anything else you want to know? Feel free to ask and tell me about it. Thank you!