Ssd vs hdd

[gc8express]

im kinda lost
yes i know it boots faster
but what i dont get is the gb ratio

ex. 120gb ssd vs 500gb hdd

wouldnt the hdd store more do to higher gb, or am i missing something?
can someone elaborate more please

 

[53kyle]

Yes, the HDD in your example will store more, but then again, you can buy a more expensive 512 GB SSD and there will be the same storage and much better performance. You could even go even farther and get a 960 GB SSD with MORE storage and better performance than the 500 GB HDD you used as an example.

SSDs don't just affect boot times, but the entire computer experience. Opening applications like safari will be way faster, copying files will be faster, and even game load times or loading large photo libraries will be faster. On top of that, you will get less to no spinning beach balls and your computer will run cooler.

 

[gc8express]

so basically the ssd will compress the files smaller?

 

[marc55]

I'm wondering what the life expectancy of SSDs are compared to HDDs?

 

[SVT Amateur]

I'm wondering if SSDs will last as long as HDDs

They should last longer - they don't have moving parts and usually are less prone to shock than regular hard drives.

 

[ecschwarz]

so basically the ssd will compress the files smaller?

Nope - you just have less storage, but the computer can access the files and generally works faster. It's sort of like cars and gas mileage - a sports car may be more fun to drive and able to go faster, but you're going to go less on a set amount of gas. Something a bit more sensible might take a bit more time to go 0-60 and a little less engaging to drive, but you'll go further with the same amount of gas.

Unfortunately, hard drives are one o the slowest parts on a computer - an SSD can make a drastic improvement, but it's pricier.

 

[B's iPhone]

Nope - you just have less storage, but the computer can access the files and generally works faster. It's sort of like cars and gas mileage - a sports car may be more fun to drive and able to go faster, but you're going to go less on a set amount of gas. Something a bit more sensible might take a bit more time to go 0-60 and a little less engaging to drive, but you'll go further with the same amount of gas.

Unfortunately, hard drives are one o the slowest parts on a computer - an SSD can make a drastic improvement, but it's pricier.

SSD's are faster and will definitely improve the user experience.
This is the first post that I've seen that makes it seem like "gas mileage" will be decreased though. Your battery life should actually be better with an SSD IMO.

 

[ecschwarz]

SSD's are faster and will definitely improve the user experience.
This is the first post that I've seen that makes it seem like "gas mileage" will be decreased though. Your battery life should actually be better with an SSD IMO.

Yeah - I will agree - the analogy wasn't the best, and not intended to translate to battery life (I know Samsung even advertises it with their drives) - I was getting at that you have to trade capacity for performance, much like with cars you trade gas mileage for performance. Then again, with things like the Tesla you sort of have both (well, equivalent) at a high price...maybe that's like a big, expensive SSD? Either way, I've come to the conclusion the analogy started off good, but ended up quite awful.

Basically in simplest terms with all drives, you are only able to have two of the three: speed, capacity, and/or price.

a) Hard drives are slow, high capacity, and cheap
b) Smaller SSDs are fast, have low capacities, and are cheap
c) Larger SSDs are fast, have high capacities, and are expensive

 

[CH12671]

It has nothing to do with file size. If you currently have 250 gb of data on your hard drive, and you try to replace it with a 120 gb ssd, it won't all fit. Same same as far as file size/space. They are essentially the same thing, except one has moving parts and one is solid state (no moving parts). Think of it as a butt ton of RAM, except it doesn't get flushed when you turn your computer off. Everything that is stored on it is very quickly accessible. There is no seek time. You ask for it, and the controller dishes it out. When buying an SSD, you should get one big enough to hold all of the data that you plan on putting on it....don't expect it to magically compress your data into smaller bits, because it won't. OSx has a way to make an SSD and traditional HDD act together, as one disk. It's called a fusion drive (just to add to the confusion some)

 

[Tribbs]

im kinda lost
yes i know it boots faster
but what i dont get is the gb ratio

ex. 120gb ssd vs 500gb hdd

wouldnt the hdd store more do to higher gb, or am i missing something?
can someone elaborate more please

Yes, you are right. 120GB is smaller than 500GB regardless of the storage device.
You can't fit 500GB into 120GB ;-)

It has nothing to do with file size. If you currently have 250 gb of data on your hard drive, and you try to replace it with a 120 gb ssd, it won't all fit.

Exactly. Like trying to put 10Lbs into a 5Lb bag.

A Lb is a Lb and a GB is a GB http://www.kingston.com/us/usb/storage_chart

 

[Gav Mack]

I wont have anything but an SSD in any of my Macs for at the very least the boot drive. For an older Macbook Pro it's a total game changer, transforms it's usage totally. It's 15-20 times faster than a slow 5400 rpm drive thats worn out with age even though it may only run SATA2.

Bear in mind for long life of the drive you should buy the right sized SSD that wont get over 75% full...

Samsung 840 Evo are great, so is the Crucial M500 but you must upgrade the firmware on the latter to rev 03 as it cures slow Macbook Pro booting.

Once you go SSD you will never go back to a spinner or even a hybrid.

 

[saturnotaku]

Bear in mind for long life of the drive you should buy the right sized SSD that wont get over 75% full...

Unless you're going to hammer the drive with writes non-stop for weeks and months on end, there is no need to worry about saving a quarter of the drive's capacity.

 

[bagend12]

I just transitioned from a mid 2010 15" mbp with a 750 gb HDD to a late 2013 rMBO with a 256 GB SSHD.

Cutting the HD space by roughly 2/3's was a tough pill for me to swallow, but the presence of the SSHD makes the whole user experience simply incredible. Boot times are very, very fast, programs such as photoshop are very fast, etc...Sure, some of that comes from the new processor in the rMBP, but a lot of that comes from how the SSHD works. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge can chime in on that.

Like I said, the size and cost of SSHD are still pretty expensive, but when you consider how much faster they make the user experience it is a pretty good trade off. Also, when I took a good hard look at what exactly I had on my 750 gb HDD, over half of what was on there were things I simply did not need..

 

[Jaben3421]

I'm wondering what the life expectancy of SSDs are compared to HDDs?

Once you move past the 120GB models you get some crazy life expectancy. Here's AnandTech's rating of the 840 Evo. SSD's will outlast any computer they're put into by a longshot.

 

[thundersteele]

This is 2014. HDDs should only be used as extended storage.

 

[snaky69]

so basically the ssd will compress the files smaller?

No.

A gigabyte of space, is a gigabyte of space, regardless of what the storage media is. Be it a thumb drive, iPod, SD card, SSD, HDD, you name it, if it has 1GB on the label, it'll contain the very same amount of files.

If you're trying to replace a 500GB hard drive with a 120GB SSD, you're getting 380GB less capacity, meaning you can store 380GB less data. Period.

 

[Tribbs]

Once you move past the 120GB models you get some crazy life expectancy. Here's AnandTech's rating of the 840 Evo. SSD's will outlast any computer they're put into by a longshot.

If you're paranoid about Samsung EVO SSD life expectancy (3 year warranty/TLC memory chips) buy instead the Samsung PRO SSD (5 year warranty/MLC memory chips). Arguably the PRO's MLC memory chips will last longer and the 5 year warranty...
http://us.hardware.info/reviews/417...0-250gb-tlc-ssd-updated-with-final-conclusion
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7173/...iew-120gb-250gb-500gb-750gb-1tb-models-tested

Life expectancy (estimated):
MLC memory (PRO) 60.12 years
TLC memory (EVO) 19.57 years
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/05/samsung-840-pro-review-256gb/

 

[Micky Do]

so basically the ssd will compress the files smaller?

A 120 GB drive will hold about 120 GB of data. SSD or HDD is irrelevant.

An SSD will be faster in use, have a far greater life expectancy than a HDD, and take up less physical space in a computer, albeit at price.

That being said, SSD's have been become more affordable relative to HDD over the years, hence………..

This is 2014. HDDs should only be used as extended storage.

How long will it be before the HDD goes the way of the floppy disc?