Solid state drive SSD: Description, configuration, optimization, pros and cons. What is a solid state drive or SSD

Solid state drives, also known as SSDs, are actively taking away market share in the personal computer market from standard hard drives (HDDs). In recent years, this trend has been especially noticeable due to the falling cost of such storage devices. The price of SSD drives continues to be higher than that of HDDs, if we talk about variations of the same volume, but the advantages of solid-state information storage justify it.

Pros and cons of SSD drives

Before purchasing an SSD drive, you need to evaluate the pros and cons that the user will receive from such a solution. The obvious advantages of solid-state drives over HDD drives include the following:

The disadvantages of SSD drives include the high cost and difficulty of purchasing such large-capacity drives.

How to choose an SSD drive

SSDs from various manufacturers are available on the market. One company may have several lines of SSD drives, which vary in cost. When selecting an SSD, it is important to pay attention to the main parameters, choosing the best options for your tasks.

SSD capacity

The main parameter when choosing a solid-state drive is its capacity. On the market you can find models with different free space for storing information, and before purchasing it is important to decide for what purpose the drive will be used.

Most often, SSD drives are purchased to increase the loading speed and operation of the operating system. If only Windows, Linux or another system will be installed on the disk, it makes sense to choose a 128 GB or 256 GB drive, depending on how much information the user stores in system folders, for example, “My Documents”. On average, the operating system takes up 40-60 GB (if we are talking about Windows).

If you purchase a solid-state drive as the only data storage device in your computer, you should choose the size of the SSD, depending on the purpose of the PC and the work activity on it.

SSD speed

The parameter that the disk manufacturer pays special attention to is operating speed. On the box of each solid-state drive you can see information about how fast the information storage device works for writing and reading. However, such figures are in most cases a marketing ploy, and in reality they are much lower. This is due to the fact that the disk manufacturer indicates the maximum sequential read/write speed, which does not play a big role in standard computer work.

When choosing an SSD drive, you need to pay attention to its speed in random operations of writing and reading 4K blocks of information. It is with such data that the drive in a computer has to work 90% of the time, occasionally reaching peak values. You can find out information about the actual operating speed of an SSD using various programs, so before purchasing a drive, it is recommended that you check the Internet for tests of a specific drive model.

Please note: In most cases, the fastest drives for standard tasks are those that have a high maximum sequential read/write speed, but this is not always the case. In addition, the values ​​​​specified by the SSD manufacturer may be overestimated.

SSD connection interface

SSD drives can be connected to a computer via one of the following interfaces:

• SATA 2;
• SATA 3;
• PCIe-E.

The fastest models use the SATA 3 interface, which has increased bandwidth.

As for PCIe-E SSD drives, it is almost impossible to find them on sale. Such drives are used for specific tasks when it is not possible to connect an accessory via SATA of any version. Using a PCIe-E connector is impractical in terms of its bandwidth.

SSD memory chip

Depending on the memory chip used in the information storage, the number of bits in one cell, the speed of the drive, and the number of possible overwrites of information vary. In SSDs you can find SLC, MLC and TLC chips. Their comparative characteristics are shown in the table:

Most often you can find on sale solid state drives made on MLC chips. This is justified by the cost of their production and characteristics. Drives with SLC chips are more often used for servers, and SSDs based on them are expensive. As for TLC memory chips, they are common in removable storage media (flash drives), which do not require as many write/read cycles as SSD drives installed in a computer.

SSD controller

The stability and competence of the controller in a solid-state drive largely determines its speed, durability, support for additional technologies and many other basic parameters. You need to choose SSDs that have a drive installed from one of the leading companies in this field: Intel, Marvell, Sandforce or Indilinx.

Please note: If a disk indicates high operating speed, but it has a bad controller from an unknown company, there is a high probability that such a drive will not work for long or will have problems when writing/reading information. That is why it is not recommended to buy “no-name SSDs”, about which there is no information other than the maximum sequential read/write parameters.

Additional SSD options and parameters

When purchasing SSDs, you may notice various items and options listed in their specifications. Let's decipher the most common of them:

• IOPS– this indicator indicates how many operations per second the drive is capable of performing. You should pay attention to it, since in most cases it can tell more about the real speed of the disk than information about the maximum read/write parameters;
• MTBF– operating time of a solid-state drive before failure. This parameter is measured in hours, and not all drive manufacturers indicate it. MTBF is calculated based on tests performed, during which the disks are loaded until they fail, after which the average values ​​are calculated;
• TRIM– an option that is present in the controller of almost all SSDs. It implies that the “brain” of the drive will always be aware of which cells have been cleared of the information previously contained in them, thereby giving the disk the opportunity to use them;
• S.M.A.R.T.– a diagnostic option that is present in almost every solid-state storage device. It is necessary so that the disk can independently assess its condition, thereby approximately calculating the time before failure;
• Garbage Collection– an option designed to automatically clear memory of “phantom” files and other “garbage”.

The myth that SSDs work several times less than HDDs has long been dispelled. With standard loading, solid-state hard drives can be used for 10 years or more without problems.

Hello friends! Today I will tell you about SSD drives. In this article you will find out what they are and whether they are worth purchasing at all. We will also consider the positive and negative aspects of this device. Well, at the end of the article, you will be able to find out what parameters (characteristics) you need to choose when buying an SSD drive for your computer.

SSD drive is a computer storage device that does not contain mechanical elements. It uses memory chips to store information. That is, in other words, an SSD disk is the same, roughly speaking, a large flash drive. The advantages of this device are obvious: high speed of reading and writing information, noiselessness, and low power consumption.

To make it easier to understand, let's first understand what a hard drive is. Hard disk (HDD) is a computer storage device in which information (system files, videos, music, games, etc.) is stored all the time. This information is recorded or read thanks to magnetic plates located parallel to each other, and which rotate at enormous speed (5600 - 7200 rpm). A so-called carriage with a head also moves between the plates and above them at high speed, which reads the information.

SSD drive

A silent device that is not susceptible to vibrations and has incredible write/read speeds, it can compete with a hard drive. However, like any detail, it has its own nuances. Let's take a closer look at the positive and negative aspects of using an SSD drive.

Advantages of SSD drives

Speed ​​of writing/reading information. Friends, this is an important factor, you will agree. After all, with the help of new drives we can observe speeds like never before. In some tests, SSDs are 80-100 times faster than HDDs when reading information. Can you imagine this? For example, a Windows operating system with an SSD drive can fully boot in a matter of seconds.

Silence of the device. When operating, the HDD makes some noise because, I repeat, the magnetic plates spin inside at high speed. As for SSDs, no matter how hard you try, unfortunately you won’t be able to hear any noise, because the chips are absolutely silent.

Economical power consumption. Powering an SSD drive requires much less energy than an HDD, so this positive point will be especially felt by laptop owners.

Disadvantages of SSD drives

Pricing. It just so happens that SSD drives are 4-6 times more expensive than HDDs of the same memory capacity, or even more. For example, a 512 Gb SATA 6Gb SSD with a capacity of 512 GB will cost around 15,000 rubles.

MTBF. This parameter means that the drive will operate for N number of hours. The characteristics of SSDs always indicate the operating time, which on average fluctuates around 1.5 - 2 million hours. If you convert 1,500,000 hours per year, then theoretically the drive will last 171 years.

Poor OS compatibility. If you use Windows 7, 8 or 10, then you don’t have to worry too much about the SSD, since the system provides for disabling services that are dangerous for such drives (for example, indexing). If you use older versions of Windows, the SSD drive will wear out, which in turn will significantly reduce the operating time of this device.

Solid state drives are becoming more and more popular, and the price is slowly falling, thereby giving anyone the opportunity to purchase this gadget. This device can give your computer a second wind!

1. Typically, the speed of an SSD depends on the amount of memory. This is not an unimportant point, believe me. That is, a 64 GB drive will work slower than a 128 GB SSD. The same goes for 256GB solid state devices. If you take even larger capacity drives, you won’t see much of a speed increase. Moreover, the larger the storage capacity, the larger its so-called reserve zone. Therefore, I would recommend choosing a drive with at least 128GB of storage.

2. When purchasing an SSD, consider the characteristics of the motherboard. If the motherboard is quite old, then installing an SSD will be a illogical solution.

3. To “feel” the full potential of SSD technology, I advise you to choose the SATA III or PCI-E interface. It is in this case that the speed of information transfer will be maximum.

4. Sometimes, purchasing two solid-state drives will reduce the risk of permanent loss of information. Let me explain: you buy the first SSD for the system drive, where the operating system and all the necessary programs will be installed, while the second will serve as storage for multimedia information. As you understand, this option involves significant financial costs.

5. I also advise you to choose an SSD with the longest warranty period. After all, the bigger it is, the better. This applies not only to SSDs, but also to any other computer equipment.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are new and fast and a good alternative to HDD hard drives, but do you need one? Read on as we demystified the SSD. The last few years have seen a noticeable increase in SSD production and a decrease in prices (although, of course, prices between SSDs and traditional hard drives cannot be compared in this way).

What is an SSD? In what ways will you benefit from purchasing an SSD drive? What should you do differently with an SSD? Read on to learn everything about solid state drives.

What is a solid state drive?

It may be hard for you to believe, but SSDs are actually quite old technology. Solid state drives have been around for decades in various forms, the very first being RAM based and quite expensive, only appearing in ultra-high-end and super computers. In the 1990s, the first flash-based SSDs were made, but they were again too expensive for the consumer market and were barely noticeable outside of specialized computing circles. Throughout the 2000s, prices for flash memory continued to fall, and by the end of the decade, consumer SSDs entered the personal computer market.

So what is a solid state drive? Here we must first highlight what a traditional hard drive (HDD) is. A hard drive is a collection of metal plates coated with a ferromagnetic material that spin on a spindle. Writing to the surface of magnetic plates is carried out by a tiny mechanical handle (drive lever) with a very thin tip (head). Data is stored when the polarity of the magnetic bits on the surface of the plates changes. This is, of course, a little more complicated, but suffice it to say that everything here is done by analogy with an automatic record player: its hand searches for a track on the record, and the drive handle and hard disk heads also search for data. When you want to write or read data from magnetic hard disks, the platters rotate, the hand searches and finds the data. It is as much a mechanical process as it is digital.

Solid state drives, on the other hand, have no moving parts. Although the scales are different, and the storage area on an HDD is much larger, and the SSD has much more in common with a simple portable flash drive than with a mechanical hard drive (and, of course, much more than ever with a tape recorder! The vast majority of SSDs on the market are NAND flash, a type of non-volatile memory that doesn't require electricity to store data (unlike the RAM in your computer, which loses its stored data as soon as the power is turned off). NAND memory also provides a significant increase in speed, much more than mechanical hard drives, since time wasted when the platters are spinning and not looking for data is removed from the equation.

Comparison of SSDs with traditional hard drives

It's always good to know what SSDs are, but it's even more useful to compare them to the traditional hard drives you've been using for years. Let's look at a few key differences in a point-by-point comparison.

Spin Time: SSDs do not have a "spin" time; The drive has no moving parts. Hard drives have different spin times (usually a few seconds); When you hear a click-whirrrrrr for a minute or two when you boot your computer or when accessing rarely used files, you always hear the hard drive spinning.

Data access time and latency: SSDs find data very quickly and are typically an order of magnitude 80-100 times faster than HDDs; bypassing mechanical spinning plates and data retrieval, so they can access data almost instantly. Fast retrieval of data on hard drives is hampered by the physical movement of the armature and rotation of the platters.

Noise: SSDs are silent; no moving parts means no noise. Hard drives range from fairly quiet to very loud sound levels.

Reliability: individual manufacturing issues aside (bad drives, firmware, issues, etc.), SSD drives have taken the lead in terms of physical reliability. The vast majority of hard drive failures are the result of mechanical failure; At some point, after x tens of thousands of hours of operation, the mechanical drive simply wears out. In a sense, the read/write cycle of hard drives is limited.

On the other hand, SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. This limited number of write cycles is the main point of condemnation of SSDs, but the reality is that the average computer user is unlikely to be able to do many read and write cycles on an SSD. Intel's X25-M, for example, can process 20 GB of data for 5 years without failure. How often do you erase and write 20GB of data on your primary drive on a daily basis?

In addition, SSD drives can be used further; When NAND modules have reached the end of their write cycles they become read-only. The disk then reads the data from the damaged sector and writes it to a new part of the disk. Short of lightning or a catastrophic design flaw, SSD failure is more like “old age, why is my bones aching!” rather than a sudden “boom! bearings in HDD!” and its stop. You will have enough time to back up your data and purchase a new drive.

Power Consumption: SSD drives consume 30-60% less power than traditional hard drives. Saving 6 or 10 watts doesn’t seem like much, but over the course of a year or two on a heavily used car, it all adds up.

Cost: SSDs are not cheap. Traditional hard drive prices have fallen by about five cents per gigabyte of data. SSDs are much cheaper than they were 10-20 years ago (when they were limited to dedicated computer systems), but they are still quite expensive. Depending on the size and model, you can expect to pay somewhere between $1.25-$2.00 per GB.

Caring for your SSD

In managing the operating system, storing data, and interacting with your computer, the only difference you will notice as an end user when running an SSD drive is the increase in speed. When it comes to taking care of your drive, there are a few rules that are critical.

Don't defragment the disk. Defragmentation is useless for an SSD and reduces its lifespan. Defragmentation is a technique that finds pieces of files and optimizes them by placing them on hard drive platters to reduce search time and wear on the disk. SSDs are platterless and have almost instantaneous seek times. Their defragmentation consumes more write cycles. By default, defragmentation is disabled for SSDs in Windows 7.

Disable indexing services: If your OS has any search-added tool such as indexing service, disable it. Read times on SSD are fast, which you don't actually need to create a file index and the disk indexing and index writing process itself will be slow on SSD.

Your OS must support trimming. The TRIM command allows your OS to talk to the SSD and tell it which blocks are no longer in use. With this command, performance on the SSD will rapidly degrade. In this publication, Windows 7, Mac OS x 10.6.6+ and Linux kernel 2.6.33+ support the TRIM command. And registry hacks and additional programs exist to modify earlier versions of OS such as Windows XP to semi-support the TRIM command. Your SSD drive should be paired with a modern OS for maximum performance.

Leave part of the disk empty. Check the specifications for your device, most manufacturers recommend keeping 10-20% empty. This white space helps the alignment algorithm (they transfer data through the NAND modules to minimize overall wear on the drive and ensure long life and optimal drive performance). If you leave too little space, the alignment algorithms will cause premature wear on the disk over time.

Media to Second Drive: SSD drives are expensive, so there is no point in storing your massive media files on your expensive SSD drive. You can choose traditional 1TB hard drives, and use a large secondary drive (if available) to store large and static files (such as movies, music collections, and other media files).

Invest in Memory: Compared to the costs of SSDs, RAM is cheap. The more RAM you have installed, the fewer disk write cycles there will be. You can extend the life of your expensive SSD by ensuring that your system has adequate RAM installed.

Solid State Drive for Me?

At this point you've got a history lesson, a point-by-point comparison, and some tips for keeping your SSD in tip-top shape, but do you really need an SSD? Check all that apply and prepare for the following:

• Near-instant boot time: You can go from cold boot to web browsing in seconds with an SSD; You could often get to this same window in more than a minute with a traditional hard drive.
• You want fast access for common apps and games: We've said it many times before, but SSDs are super fast.
• You want a quieter, less power-hungry computer: As highlighted above, SSD drives are silent and consume significantly less power.
• You'll be able to use two drives: one for the OS and one for files: if you're only storing a few family photos and a CD-Rip or two, you'll need the more affordable traditional HDD to store large files.
• You are willing to pay a significant amount for an SSD drive: this is the highest amount per gigabyte to date, but at the same time the performance increase is huge at 3000%.
• If your list looks more full than empty, and you want speed when working, then an SSD is for you!

We tried to figure out what an SSD drive is and how it differs from classic hard drives. Concluding the general description, today we will focus on the form factor of the drives. SSD sizes cannot be arbitrary, but are subject to certain standards. Let's see what they are.

What is form factor

This is a certain set of requirements that must be met during the production of a particular computer component. Power supplies, motherboards, disks, cases designed to install motherboards of one or another form factor, etc. have a form factor.

This ensures that when installing a disk, motherboard or power supply into the case, all mounting holes and the location of interface connectors (for drives) will be the same for all devices, regardless of manufacturer, model, functionality. Thus, motherboards of the mATX form factor of any brand have the same overall dimensions and location of holes for screwing to the case.

The same goes for disks. 2.5-inch drives, whether hard drives or SSDs, have the same external dimensions, pin locations, and mounting holes. The whole difference lies inside, in the filling.

There are several drive form factors in use today, with SSDs offering a wider variety of sizes. This is due to the absence of moving parts and the theoretical possibility of making any shape. Naturally, in order to be practical, this “form” must be standardized.

2.5 inch drives

The now familiar size of small laptop drives rivals traditional 3.5-inch drives. Most likely, there is no talk of actively replacing larger drives with compact analogues, but for SSDs the optimal size turned out to be 2.5 inches.

Externally, an SDD differs from a HDD only in its weight (SSD is much lighter) and the absence of any visible printed circuit boards. This is a fairly simple, if not boring, box. The connection is made to the SATA interface. Considering the speed characteristics of solid-state drives, connecting to SATA below version 3 does not seem reasonable. In this case, the SSD will not reveal its potential.

It must be said that here, in fact, the analogy with conventional hard drives ends. All other variations are the prerogative of SSD drives.

mSATA drives

A variation of regular SATA, characterized by compact dimensions, which is why the SSD itself lost its housing and became very small. This made it possible to use such capacious boards in compact computers, and also to install in laptops, in addition to a regular hard drive, another drive, in this case an SSD.

In particular, on the laptop on which I am now writing these lines, in addition to a regular hard drive, there is an SSD drive in the mSATA format, which I use as a system drive. Even considering that I have a budget-class disk, the speed of operation, system loading, and programs has increased significantly.

This form factor, for the mSATA connector, did not last long, giving way to a more promising option.

M.2 drives

Perhaps the most interesting option for SSD drives. The advantages are compactness, the ability to work not only on the SATA bus, but also on the significantly faster PCI-Express. This connector can now increasingly be found in laptops and motherboards for desktop computers.

If when assembling a regular PC the issue of saving space is not so relevant, then in the case of a laptop computer the ability to use a small, lightweight, energy-efficient and fast drive is a blessing.

When choosing M.2 drives, there is a little confusion, which is based on the fact that the drive can operate on different buses, i.e. use SATA or PCI-Express. Therefore, the drives have a different key, i.e. a cutout on the contact connector.

As a rule, SSD drives come with keys:

• B-key. SSD drives for SATA or PCI-Express x2 interfaces. In reality, this option is extremely rare.
• M-key. SSD drives for PCI-Express x interface You can use drives with an emulated SATA interface. A drive with such a key cannot be installed in a slot with a B-key operating on the SATA bus.
• M&B (M+B) key. A universal option for SSD drives running on the SATA bus. Can be installed in both B-key and M-key slots.

The form factor for SSD M.2 is also regulated in terms of length and width. Typical sizes of SSD drives are 22 mm wide and long, ranging in size from 16 to 110 mm. Full list of acceptable length dimensions: 16, 26, 30, 38, 42, 60, 80, 110 mm. The most common are 42, 60 and 80 mm.

This is reflected in the labeling of SSD drives. So, if it is indicated that the M.2 drive is 2242, then this means that the dimensions of the drive are 22x42 mm. If M.2 is 2280, then, accordingly, 22x80 mm. It's simple!

Even if the motherboard does not have an M.2 connector installed, you can still use such drives. Many manufacturers offer drive models with an adapter card for a PCI-Express connector. Accordingly, the SSD itself is also designed to work with this bus. The “rate of fire” of such a disk will be very impressive. After it, the performance of a regular hard drive will be perceived as depressing.

Unfortunately, there is a small fly in the ointment in all of the “goodies” listed. The compact size of SSD drives limits storage capacity. This is due to the number of memory chips that can be placed on such a small board. The maximum capacity of an M.2 SSD drive currently does not exceed 1 TB. This value will be increased by more capacious memory chips, which will undoubtedly appear.

PCIe Add-in Card (AIC)

These are drives made in the form of a board inserted into a PCI-Express slot, which can be standard or half size in both length and width, which allows them to be used in 2U rackmount enclosures. Actually, such SSDs belong to the corporate class and are intended primarily for installation in servers and storage systems (Data Storage Systems).

Drives usually use SLC memory, which is expensive in itself, but reliable and durable. Using such disks in a regular home computer is a luxury that not everyone can afford. True, there is no particular need for this.

SATA-Express drives

Finding such discs is almost impossible. This interface was planned to replace the good old SATA with its leisurely 600 MB/s maximum throughput. It was too tempting to use the faster PCI-Express bus. So this interface was planned to use 2 PCI-Express lines, which would allow achieving a maximum throughput of 2 GB/s.

Apparently, this interface will remain one of the stages that has not found implementation, since already now M.2 SSD drives can use 4 PCI-Express lanes with a peak throughput of 4 GB/s. A special cable is used for connection.

U.2 drives

There are also such SSD drives. This form factor allows you to use all the advantages of the high-speed PCI-Express bus, but not be limited to drives with an M.2 connector. Externally they resemble 2.5-inch drives, but with a thickness of up to 15 mm. 4 PCI-Express lanes are used.

The choice of such drives is very small, and they are mainly aimed at use in servers, storage systems (data storage systems), data centers, etc. If the motherboard has an M.2 connector on the PCI-Express bus, and there is SSD drive of U.2 form factor, then you will still be able to connect it. There are M.2 to U.2 adapters that will allow you to experience the full power of such a high-speed drive.

At the moment, this form factor is rather a thing of the future, and primarily it is relevant for servers.

DIMM drives

If we talk about the exotic, there are also sizes of SSD disks that are completely identical, coincide with the sizes of conventional memory modules, and are installed in a free RAM slot. This may be relevant for specific server platforms with a large number of DIMM slots.

There are different options that combine SSD and RAM on one module, or only a solid-state drive that is inserted into the RAM connector and receives power from it, but the data is transferred using a regular SATA cable connected to the module and the motherboard or controller.

This is of little interest for home computers, and it’s difficult to find them on sale.

SSD sizes. Conclusion

So, to briefly summarize, the size of SSD drives, i.e. the form factor, determines the physical dimensions of the drive, which also affects its characteristics. A 2.5-inch laptop hard drive can be replaced with the same SSD without any problems. It will fit both in the location of the mounting holes and connectors - power supply and interface.

If your computer has an M.2 connector that supports, for example, 2242, 2260 and 2280 drives, then you can also install a suitable SSD. The main thing is not to make a mistake about which bus this interface uses and, accordingly, which key is in the connector. An SATA bus SSD with an M+B universal key can be used in any computer with an M.2 connector. If a solid-state drive uses a PCI-Express bus, then it has an M-key, and can only be used in an M.2 slot running on this bus (also with an M key).

These are the 2 most common form factors of SSD drives at the moment. The choice in favor of one option or another is determined by layout considerations, necessity, cost and a number of other reasons.

This is where we’ll finish talking about the sizes of SSD drives, and in the next article we’ll get into the insides. We will look at the ones that are used in these drives, what they are like, how they differ, what are the advantages and disadvantages.

A hard drive is needed to install the operating system, programs and store various user files (documents, photos, music, movies, etc.).

Hard drives differ in capacity, which determines the amount of data it can store, speed, which determines the performance of the entire computer, and reliability, which depends on its manufacturer.

Conventional hard drives (HDD) have a large capacity, low speed and low cost. The fastest are solid state drives (SSD), but they have a small capacity and are much more expensive. An intermediate option between them are hybrid disks (SSHD), which have sufficient capacity, are faster than conventional HDDs and are slightly more expensive.

Western Digital (WD) hard drives are considered the most reliable. The best SSD drives are produced by: Samsung, Intel, Crucial, SanDisk, Plextor. More budget options can be considered: A-DATA, Corsair, GoodRAM, WD, HyperX, since they have the least problems. And hybrid drives (SSHD) are mainly produced by Seagate.

For an office computer that is used primarily for working with documents and the Internet, a regular hard drive from the inexpensive WD Blue series with a capacity of up to 500 GB is sufficient. But 1 TB disks are optimal today, since they are not much more expensive.

For a multimedia computer (video, simple games), it is better to use a 1 TB WD Blue drive as an additional one for storing files, and install a 120-128 GB SSD as the main one, which will significantly speed up the operation of the system and programs.

For a gaming computer, it is advisable to take an SSD with a capacity of 240-256 GB; you can install several games on it.
Hard drive A-Data Ultimate SU650 240GB

As a more economical option for a multimedia or gaming PC, you can purchase one Seagate hybrid drive (SSHD) with a capacity of 1 TB; it is not as fast as an SSD, but still slightly faster than a regular HDD drive.
Hard drive Seagate FireCuda ST1000DX002 1TB

Well, for a powerful professional PC, in addition to the SSD (120-512 GB), you can take a fast and reliable WD Black hard drive of the required volume (1-4 GB).

I also recommend purchasing a high-quality Transcend external drive with a USB 3.0 interface for 1-2 TB for the system and files that are important to you (documents, photos, videos, projects).
Transcend StoreJet 25M3 1 TB hard drive

2. Disk types

Modern computers use both classic hard drives on magnetic platters (HDD) and faster solid-state drives based on memory chips (SSD). There are also hybrid drives (SSHD), which are a symbiosis of HDD and SSD.

The hard drive (HDD) has a large capacity (1000-8000 GB), but low speed (120-140 MB/s). It can be used both to install the system and store user files, which is the most economical option.

Solid state drives (SSD) have a relatively small volume (120-960 GB), but very high speed (450-550 MB/s). They cost significantly more and are used to install the operating system and some programs to increase the speed of the computer.

A hybrid drive (SSHD) is simply a hard drive with a small amount of faster memory added to it. For example, this might look like 1TB HDD + 8GB SSD.

3. Application of HDD, SSD and SSHD drives

For an office computer (documents, Internet), it is enough to install one regular hard drive (HDD).

For a multimedia computer (movies, simple games), you can add a small SSD drive in addition to the HDD, which will make the system work much faster and more responsive. As a compromise between speed and capacity, you can consider installing one SSHD drive, which will be much cheaper.

For a powerful gaming or professional computer, the best option is to install two drives - an SSD for the operating system, programs, games, and a regular hard drive for storing user files.

4. Physical sizes of disks

Hard drives for desktop computers are 3.5 inches in size.

Solid state drives are 2.5 inches in size, just like laptop hard drives.

An SSD drive is installed into a regular computer using a special mount in the case or an additional adapter.

Don't forget to purchase it if it is not included with the drive and your case does not have special mounts for 2.5″ drives.

5. Hard drive connectors

All hard drives have an interface connector and a power connector.

5.1. Interface connector

An interface connector is a connector for connecting a drive to the motherboard using a special cable (cable).

Modern hard drives (HDDs) have a SATA3 connector, which is fully compatible with older versions of SATA2 and SATA1. If your motherboard has old connectors, don't worry, a new hard drive can be connected to them and it will work.

But for an SSD drive, it is desirable that the motherboard have SATA3 connectors. If your motherboard has SATA2 connectors, then the SSD drive will operate at half its speed (about 280 MB/s), which, however, is still significantly faster than a regular HDD.

5.2. Power connector

Modern hard drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD) have the same 15-pin SATA power connectors. If the disk is installed in a desktop computer, its power supply must have such a connector. If it is not there, then you can use a Molex-SATA power adapter.

6. Hard drive capacities

For each type of hard drive, depending on its purpose, the amount of data it can hold will be different.

6.1. Hard disk capacity (HDD) for a computer

For a computer designed for typing and accessing the Internet, the smallest modern hard drive – 320-500 GB – is sufficient.

For a multimedia computer (video, music, photos, simple games), it is advisable to have a hard drive with a capacity of 1000 GB (1 TB).

A powerful gaming or professional computer may require a 2-4 TB drive (use your needs).

It is necessary to take into account that the computer motherboard must support UEFI, otherwise the operating system will not see the entire disk capacity of more than 2 TB.

If you want to increase the speed of the system, but are not ready to spend money on an additional SSD drive, then as an alternative option you can consider purchasing a hybrid SSHD drive with a capacity of 1-2 TB.

6.2. Hard disk capacity (HDD) for a laptop

If a laptop is used as an addition to the main computer, then a hard drive with a capacity of 320-500 GB will be sufficient. If a laptop is used as a main computer, then it may require a hard drive with a capacity of 750-1000 GB (depending on the use of the laptop).
Hard drive Hitachi Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E680 500GB

You can also install an SSD drive in the laptop, which will significantly increase its speed and system responsiveness, or a hybrid SSHD drive, which is slightly faster than a regular HDD.
Hard drive Seagate Laptop SSHD ST500LM021 500GB

It is important to consider what thickness of disks your laptop supports. Discs with a thickness of 7 mm will fit into any model, but those with a thickness of 9 mm may not fit everywhere, although not many of them are produced anymore.

6.3. Solid State Drive (SSD) Capacity

Since SSD drives are not used for storing data, when determining their required capacity, you need to proceed from how much space the operating system installed on it will take up and whether you will install any other large programs and games on it.

Modern operating systems (Windows 7,8,10) require about 40 GB of space to operate and grow with updates. In addition, you need to install at least the basic programs on the SSD, otherwise it won’t be of much use. Well, for normal operation, there should always be 15-30% free space on the SSD.

For a multimedia computer (movies, simple games), the best option would be an SSD with a capacity of 120-128 GB, which will allow, in addition to the system and basic programs, to install several simple games on it. Since an SSD is required not only to quickly open folders, it makes sense to install the most powerful programs and games on it, which will speed up the speed of their work.

Heavy modern games take up a huge amount of space. Therefore, a powerful gaming computer requires a 240-512 GB SSD, depending on your budget.

For professional tasks, such as editing video in high quality, or installing a dozen modern games, you need an SSD with a capacity of 480-1024 GB, again depending on the budget.

6.4. Data backup

When choosing disk space, it is advisable to also take into account the need to create a backup copy of user files (videos, photos, etc.) that will be stored on it. Otherwise, you risk instantly losing everything you have accumulated over the years. Therefore, it is often more advisable to purchase not one huge disk, but two smaller disks - one for work, the other (possibly external) for a backup copy of files.

7. Basic disk parameters

The main parameters of disks, which are often indicated in price lists, include spindle speed and memory buffer size.

7.1. Spindle speed

The spindle has hard and hybrid disks based on magnetic platters (HDD, SSHD). Since SSD drives are built on memory chips, they do not have a spindle. The speed of the hard drive's spindle determines its operating speed.

The spindle of hard drives for desktop computers generally has a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. Sometimes there are models with a spindle speed of 5400 rpm, which work slower.

Laptop hard drives generally have a spindle speed of 5400 rpm, which allows them to be quieter, run cooler, and consume less power.

7.2. Memory Buffer Size

A buffer is a cache memory of a hard drive based on memory chips. This buffer is intended to speed up the hard drive, but it does not have a big impact (about 5-10%).

Modern hard drives (HDD) have a buffer size of 32-128 MB. In principle, 32 MB is enough, but if the price difference is not significant, then you can take a hard drive with a larger buffer size. Optimal for today is 64 MB.

8. Disk speed characteristics

Speed ​​characteristics common to HDD, SSHD and SSD drives include linear read/write speed and random access time.

8.1. Linear reading speed

Linear read speed is the main parameter for any disk and dramatically affects its operating speed.

For modern hard drives and hybrid drives (HDD, SSHD), an average read speed of closer to 150 MB/s is a good value. You should not purchase hard drives with a speed of 100 MB/s or less.

Solid state drives (SSD) are much faster and their read speed, depending on the model, is 160-560 MB/s. The optimal price/speed ratio is SSD drives with a read speed of 450-500 MB/s.

As for HDD drives, sellers in price lists usually do not indicate their speed parameters, but only the volume. Later in this article I will tell you how to find out these characteristics. With SSD drives everything is simpler, since their speed characteristics are always indicated in the price lists.

8.2. Linear write speed

This is a secondary parameter after reading speed, which is usually indicated in tandem with it. For hard and hybrid drives (HDD, SSHD), the write speed is usually somewhat lower than the read speed and is not considered when choosing a disk, since they are mainly focused on the read speed.

For SSD drives, the write speed can be either less than or equal to the read speed. In price lists, these parameters are indicated through a slash (for example, 510/430), where a larger number means read speed, a smaller number means write speed.

For good fast SSDs it is about 550/550 MB/s. But in general, write speed has a much smaller effect on the speed of a computer than read speed. As a budget option, a slightly lower speed is allowed, but not lower than 450/350 Mb/s.

8.3. Access time

Access time is the second most important disk parameter after read/write speed. Access time has a particularly strong effect on the speed of reading/copying small files. The lower this parameter, the better. In addition, low access time indirectly indicates a higher quality hard disk drive (HDD).

A good access time for a hard disk drive (HDD) is 13-15 milliseconds. Values ​​within 16-20 ms are considered a bad indicator. I will also tell you how to determine this parameter in this article.

As for SSD drives, their access time is 100 times less than that of HDD drives, so this parameter is not indicated anywhere and is not paid attention to.

Hybrid disks (SSHD), due to additional built-in flash memory, achieve lower access times than HDDs, which are comparable to SSDs. But due to the limited capacity of flash memory, lower access times are only achieved when accessing the most frequently accessed files that end up in that flash memory. Usually these are system files, which provide higher computer boot speed and high system responsiveness, but do not fundamentally affect the operation of large programs and games, since they simply will not fit in the limited amount of fast memory of an SSHD disk.

9. Manufacturers of hard drives (HDD, SSHD)

The most popular hard drive manufacturers are the following:

Seagate- produces some of the fastest drives today, but they are not considered the most reliable.

Western Digital (WD)— are considered the most reliable and have a convenient classification by color.

• WD Blue– budget general purpose drives
• W.D. Green– quiet and economical (frequently switched off)
• WD Black– fast and reliable
• WD Red– for data storage systems (NAS)
• WD Purple– for video surveillance systems
• W.D. Gold– for servers
• W.D. Re– for RAID arrays
• W.D.Se– for scalable corporate systems

Blue ones are the most common drives, suitable for inexpensive office and multimedia PCs. Black ones combine high speed and reliability; I recommend using them in powerful systems. The rest are intended for specific tasks.

In general, if you want cheaper and faster, then choose Seagate. If it's cheap and reliable - Hitachi. Fast and reliable - Western Digital from the black series.

Hybrid SSHD drives are now mainly produced by Seagete and they are of good quality.

There are discs from other manufacturers on sale, but I recommend limiting yourself to the indicated brands, as there are fewer problems with them.

10. Manufacturers of solid state drives (SSD)

Among the manufacturers of SSD drives the following have proven themselves well:

• Samsung
• Intel
• Crucial
• SanDisk
• Plextor

More budget options can be considered:

• Corsair
• GoodRAM
• A-DATA (Premier Pro)
• Kingston (HyperX)

11. SSD memory type

SSD drives can be built on different types of memory:

• 3 D NAND– fast and durable
• MLC– good resource
• V-NAND– average resource
• TLC– low resource

12. Hard drive speed (HDD, SSHD)

We can find out all the parameters of SSD drives we need, such as capacity, speed and manufacturer, from the seller’s price list and then compare them by price.

The parameters of HDD drives can be found out by the model or batch number on the manufacturers' websites, but in fact this is quite difficult, since these catalogs are huge, have a lot of incomprehensible parameters, which are called differently for each manufacturer, also in English. Therefore, I offer you another method that I use myself.

There is a program for testing hard drives HDTune. It allows you to determine parameters such as linear reading speed and access time. There are many enthusiasts who conduct these tests and post the results on the Internet. In order to find the test results of a particular hard drive model, just enter its model number in the Google or Yandex image search, which is indicated in the seller’s price list or on the drive itself in the store.

This is what the disk test image from the search looks like.

As you can see, this picture shows the average linear read speed and random access time, which are what interests us. Just make sure that the model number in the picture matches the model number of your drive.

In addition, from the graph you can roughly determine the quality of the disk. An uneven graph with large jumps and high access times indirectly indicate imprecise, low-quality disk mechanics.

A beautiful cyclical or simply uniform graph without large jumps, combined with low access time, indicates precise, high-quality disk mechanics.

Such a disk will work better, faster and last longer.

13. Optimal disk

So, which disk or disk configuration to choose for your computer, depending on its purpose. In my opinion, the following configurations will be the most optimal.

• office PC – HDD (320-500 GB)
• entry-level multimedia PC – HDD (1 TB)
• mid-level multimedia PC – SSD (120-128 GB) + HDD (1 TB) or SSHD (1 TB)
• Entry-level gaming PC – HDD (1 TB)
• Mid-range gaming PC – SSHD (1 TB)
• High-end gaming PC – SSD (240-512 GB) + HDD (1-2 TB)
• professional PC – SSD (480-1024 GB) + HDD/SSHD (2-4 TB)

14. Cost of HDD and SSD drives

In conclusion, I want to talk a little about the general principles of choosing between more or less expensive disk models.

The price of HDD drives depends most on the capacity of the drive and slightly on the manufacturer (by 5-10%). Therefore, it is not advisable to skimp on the quality of HDDs. Buy models from recommended manufacturers, even if they are a little more expensive, as they will last longer.

The price of SSD drives, in addition to capacity and speed, also greatly depends on the manufacturer. Here I can give a simple recommendation - choose the cheapest SSD drive from the list of recommended manufacturers that suits you in terms of capacity and speed.

15. Links

Hard drive Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB
Hard drive Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB
Hard drive A-Data Ultimate SU650 120GB