This has been confusing me for a while now... it seems expensive too upgrade and has less memory. Yet, people rave about it.
Educate me please🙂
Educate me please🙂
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What is SSD, and is it worth getting?
- Thread starter geniusABBY
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SidewaysTakumi
macrumors 6502a
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It is a faster and more reliable form of drive. Ssd stands for solid state drive.
It is more expensive right now and hence te smaller sizes. Read and write times are significantly faster than even 7200 Hdd. And the drives don't get damaged from movement like normal platter type drives.
It is a faster and more reliable form of drive. Ssd stands for solid state drive.
It is more expensive right now and hence te smaller sizes. Read and write times are significantly faster than even 7200 Hdd. And the drives don't get damaged from movement like normal platter type drives.
miles01110
macrumors Core
I'm just trying to learn more about the systems is all. I'm a newbie.
So, is getting a more expensive but smaller SSD than HDD the better option? Or go for what has the most memory?
Consultant
macrumors G5
SSD is not memory
SSD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive
RAM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory
SSD is worth it for people who needs speed, if you don't know whether you need it, you probably don't.
SSD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive
RAM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory
SSD is worth it for people who needs speed, if you don't know whether you need it, you probably don't.
I just got one for Christmas. It's blazing fast. Apps open almost instantly. It's the single-best upgrade you can perform that will speed up your computer.
That said, unless you a) have less than 120 GB of files or b) you have more than one computer (say, a laptop and a desktop) then I would steer clear for now. Prices should drop significantly in the next year or so. I put my SSD in my MacBook Pro, and while it's only 120 GB in size, it's OK because most of my big media files are on my desktop computer. Still, I wouldn't want to go any smaller, and drives greater than 120 are still helluva expensive.
That said, unless you a) have less than 120 GB of files or b) you have more than one computer (say, a laptop and a desktop) then I would steer clear for now. Prices should drop significantly in the next year or so. I put my SSD in my MacBook Pro, and while it's only 120 GB in size, it's OK because most of my big media files are on my desktop computer. Still, I wouldn't want to go any smaller, and drives greater than 120 are still helluva expensive.
Mal
macrumors 603
Actually, you're just getting confused yourself here. Both RAM and SSD/HDD's are memory, just with different purposes and different speeds. Commonly, RAM is referred to simply as memory, but referring to the storage space of a HDD or SSD as memory is absolutely correct as well, particularly in the way it was used in the post you were referring to.
jW
I upgraded my MacBook Pro to an SSD earlier in the year. I posted a couple of articles on my blog that might be of interest to you:
Understanding Solid-State Drives
Solid-State Drives - Worth it?
I also have a gallery of the HDD swap process for a MBP (Rev G) if anyone is interested.
Hope it helps. 😀 Any questions, let me know.
Understanding Solid-State Drives
Solid-State Drives - Worth it?
I also have a gallery of the HDD swap process for a MBP (Rev G) if anyone is interested.
Hope it helps. 😀 Any questions, let me know.
GFLPraxis
macrumors 604
Over the past ten years, almost every aspect of the computer has increased dramatically in speed; except the hard drive.
Hard drives hit a ceiling of 7,200 RPM a long time ago (there are some specialty higher RPM drives that cost a fortune, but that's it). Keep in mind that we're talking about a platter spinning 7200 times per minute with a magnet constantly reading data on it.
Then keep in mind that data on a computer is not stored linearly. Everything's written on this big disk, but as time goes on, you delete some older stuff, then you write newer stuff (which goes in the same physical place on the hard drive), it might not fit in the space of those old files you deleted, so some of it goes in that spot, then some of it goes elsewhere on the drive where there is free space...a single application might have bits and pieces of it scattered all over the hard drive, even though from the perspective you see (in Finder) it's in one place.
Now, you try to launch that application and all of its dependencies...your hard drive loads some of it from one place, then has to seek out and find the other bits, and you're limited by the speed that drive is spinning while the magnet waits for the platter to spin around while trying to find the next bit of data.
SSDs eliminate that whole bottleneck and read data much, much faster than hard drives. You'll be able to launch applications and read data from the drive much faster.
zhenya
macrumors 604
I disagree. Anyone would see the value of a SSD. As it closes the largest existing speed gap in modern computers, it significantly improves the experience of even mundane day-to-day usage. Especially in a laptop hindered by the performance of a 2.5" hard disk, going from a SSD back to a normal drive is quite the experience - it honestly feels like something is broken!
GFLPraxis
macrumors 604
Doesn't the 27" iMac have a second internal slot in which you could install a SSD?
Only if you got it with an SSD from the factory. Otherwise, it's missing the bracket and the necessary cables.
ICY DOCK
macrumors newbie
Hey geniusABBY,
Everyone's input and explanations are good and correct, I'd like to add a couple of points of differences:
1. SSD's are much faster due to the non moving parts it uses (uses NAND technology), while HDD does use moving parts hence you can hear it spinning. Because SSD do not use moving parts, they are perfect for laptops because of their lower heat output!
2. As you may now, the new Macbook Air uses a SSD as well, which is partly why they could make it into that thin size. Also, with the SSD, they tend to use less power, so that can lead to better battery life too!
Just as a note, there are many users that use a SSD as a boot drive and then have an external enclosure backup for their media and such.
So, these are some things to consider when comparing the two. Hope you got some more information about SSD's and HDD's!
Everyone's input and explanations are good and correct, I'd like to add a couple of points of differences:
1. SSD's are much faster due to the non moving parts it uses (uses NAND technology), while HDD does use moving parts hence you can hear it spinning. Because SSD do not use moving parts, they are perfect for laptops because of their lower heat output!
2. As you may now, the new Macbook Air uses a SSD as well, which is partly why they could make it into that thin size. Also, with the SSD, they tend to use less power, so that can lead to better battery life too!
Just as a note, there are many users that use a SSD as a boot drive and then have an external enclosure backup for their media and such.
So, these are some things to consider when comparing the two. Hope you got some more information about SSD's and HDD's!
freddiecable
macrumors 6502a
you can always upgrade to an SSD at a later stage. if you start with a regular drive you will also exprience the magnificent performance boost you will get after using a regular drive.