Heart-to-heart conversation: installing an SSD in a computer. Is it worth installing an SSD? Personal experience

Thought about buying an SSD drive.Have a nice day, dear reader! Today I would like to touch on with you computer theme. We'll talk about installation SSD disk into the computer. I’ll tell you a little about why the thought of buying came to me SSD . I can't say that I have a weak computer. The characteristics are as follows:

Before purchase SSD drive a 500 GB HDD was installed, which was divided into two partitions. One had an operating system installed, the second was intended for storing information. Plus, there is a second 640 GB HDD, which is completely dedicated to storing various data. Let's return to the topic of SSDs. My usual mode of computer use includes: four browsers that are constantly running, in each of them large number open tabs; work in Photoshop, launch it as needed; work with Microsoft applications Office, watching TV series/movies in one of the browsers, listening to music, surfing the Internet. In general, this is how I use the computer, but I never turn it off, but only send it to “sleep”. Reboots, of course, happen, for example, after updates. So here I am for a long time I was satisfied with both the speed of the computer and the launch time of programs. But later I began to notice that the loading speed of the operating system began to take quite a long time. I had to wait probably 10 minutes for the system to fully boot, it was very tedious. Yes, we can assume that my system could have become “littered” or, worse, picked up viruses. I try to monitor the system, conduct periodic cleanings and checks for viruses. The speed of opening various programs, browsers, etc. was also not encouraging. By the way, I have had a HDD since 2007, the manufacturer Western Digital, excellent service life. Why, until recently, I was completely satisfied with the performance of this disk. Everything was great until 2013/14. Apparently I didn’t load the computer with any serious things, for example, in those distant years, I didn’t use Photoshop. I started studying reviews about SSD drives on the Internet and what people generally say about them. People's opinions were very encouraging. And I really wanted to try the SSD drive myself. This is how the desire to buy an SSD drive arose.

So much choiceSSD drives... There really is plenty to choose from. This was my first time choosing a disc, so the reviews about the discs helped me. My choice fell on the Kingston SSD. Reviews both about the disc and the brand as a whole are very good. I had a regular HDD of 500 GB, of which 200 GB were allocated for the system. That's why I decided to buy a 240 GB SSD (SV300S37A/240G). This option comes in a plastic blister. There are other delivery options, for example, in a box, where the kit already includes special slides for the disk. But no problem. I purchased the slides separately, which were designed specifically for this disk model. The slide is a mount for an SSD drive. The slide also came with screws. I needed to place the SSD in the 3.5" drive cage. Actually, the purchased set helped with this. The disc is very light. I also stocked up on a set of screwdrivers, which were useful when installing the disk. Yes, don’t forget about the SATA cable, which is needed to connect the drive to the motherboard. It is also better to connect the SSD to the SATA3 connector on the motherboard in order to truly experience the speed of the drive. My final set was like this:

After successful SSD installation disk into the computer, I decided to boot from the old disk with the operating system in order to check whether the computer sees the installed SSD. So, when the computer booted, there was information about the installed SSD, the BIOS also recognized installed disk. But Windows did not recognize the disk. I had to ask for help Google search. The answer was found, the following was done: you had to click on Start, select the Run menu item and enter the command - diskmgmt.msc, press Enter. The Disk Management window on your computer will open. There was an installed SSD drive, BUT without a name. That is, you need to give a name to the SSD and then it will appear in My Computer. After this procedure, my SSD appeared in My Computer. Like this, in my system unit all disks are located. In the end, I left only two disks: an SSD and a 640 GB HDD for files. The 500 GB HDD has failed...

What did I get in the end? So, after all the manipulations, I decided to install Windows on new SSD disk. Initially I just wanted to transfer my existing Windows to an SSD. But, unfortunately, I didn’t succeed, for what reason, I honestly don’t remember. Write in the comments what problems you encountered when transferring the operating system, tell us how you proceeded. In the end I installed the operating system, that's it necessary programs and so on. I can absolutely say that I am 100% satisfied with the result. Firstly, the system loading speed now takes me only 10 seconds, no more. Secondly, opening programs occurs almost instantly. Plus, the SSD drive has low power consumption. And an important parameter is that the SSD operates completely silently, unlike the HDD drive.

Are you using an SSD drive? Are you happy with them? Share your opinion and experience in the comments.

And I was with you,

Morozova, Anyuta

Hello! In this next and extraordinary lesson, I want to clearly demonstrate to you the operation of an SSD drive, and show that, despite its high cost, an SSD drive can become a necessity when purchasing or upgrading desktop computer or laptop/netbook.

How does an SSD drive work?

To bring you up to speed a little, let's start with the basic concept of SSD - Solid State Drive - solid state drive. Its main advantage over HDD (Hard Disc Drive) is that it is completely static, it is flash memory, nothing spins or rotates in it. By analogy, an SSD drive is somewhat like an ordinary flash drive, only it consists not of one large-capacity memory chip, but of many high-speed chips, the volume of each of which is several times smaller than that of a flash drive, but tens of times faster. Thus, simultaneously working Memory chips form a capacious and at the same time high-speed SSD drive.

The advantages of an SSD drive are that it is much faster at reading/writing and transferring information. At the usual hard drive The data transfer speed is about 120 - 160 MB/sec, and the SSD is about 500 MB/sec.

Moreover, the SSD is completely shockproof. If an HDD, due to its structure, namely a floating head above the surface of the disk, can easily destroy itself when shaken, not to mention a fall, then a solid-state drive can withstand not only a fall, but can also operate while deformed or partially damaged. If you bend its integrated board without breaking the connection between the chips, it will not lose its functionality, will save data and will work just as quickly.

If, due to the consequences of a very strong fall or if it was run over by a car and the contacts between the memory chips are destroyed, then the SSD is still able to remain operational, only the damaged memory segments will not work, but the main part of them will.

Also, due to the absence of moving elements, the SSD drive is much quieter; it does not make any noise at all.

How fast is an SSD drive in practice?

To clearly show you how fast an SSD drive really is, I decided to take 2 of my netbooks and equip the weaker one with an SSD drive.

Here are the netbook parameters:

First copy with SSD:

Model: ASUS Eee PC 1001HA

Processor: single-core Intel Atom N270 1.66 GHz hyper-threaded (2 threads);

RAM: 1Gb DDR2, replaced by 2Gb DDR2;

Video accelerator: integrated in Intel processor GMA 950 with a source frequency of 250 MHz;

Hard disk: HDD 160 Gb, replaced by SSD 120 Gb.

Second copy without SSD:

Model: ASUS Eee PC 1025C

Processor: dual-core Intel Atom N2800 1.86 GHz hyper-threaded (4 threads);

RAM: 2Gb DDR3;

Video accelerator: integrated into the Intel GMA 3650 processor with an initial frequency of 640 MHz;

Hard drive: HDD 320 Gb.

As the test showed, a low-performance netbook with an SSD drive on board works almost 2 times faster than its powerful competitor, which is 2 times superior in its parameters.

The weak netbook booted in 30 seconds from the moment the button was pressed, in contrast to the powerful one, which took 50 seconds and read something from the disk for a long time after booting.

So that you can see everything for yourself, I recorded a video for you in which you can see for yourself how these computers work, performing the same operations, but over a different period of time.

Watch the video and enjoy!

Hard drives still play a key role and are one of the main components of modern computers. It is considered normal if you buy/replace HDD every few years. But the world of home computing is already moving in the direction solid state drives (SSD), and perhaps this time you will go for an SSD instead of an HDD. Do you need one? Let's try to find out in this article.

A few years ago, most users abandoned SSDs due to their high price, limited storage capabilities, and potential compatibility issues. Most of these problems have recently been resolved, so the answer is Yes, you need such a drive. You will be convinced of this by reading the article to the end.

That being said, there are a few things you need to know before diving into this topic. Don't do it blindly. Be informed to accept best solution when purchasing an SSD.

Prices

SSD prices have dropped dramatically over the past few years. In 2010, the average price for them hovered around $3 per GB of memory, while in 2015 you can find SSDs for 34 cents (20-30 rubles) per 1 GB of memory, for example, Crucial BX100 500 GB costs from 169 dollars (from 11 thousand rubles).

By the way, SSDs are still more expensive than traditional hard drives, and this price difference Not is insignificant. For example, Western Digital Blue 1 TB can be purchased for 3,600 rubles. Compared to Samsung 850 EVO, WD Blue price three times lower despite the fact that there is space on it twice as much.

So when it comes to savings, HHD beats SSD without question. If you're on a budget, go with HHD. However, SSDs have never been as cheap as they are now, and they are to a sufficient extent are affordable, so don't be afraid to splurge. They're worth it.

If you decide that you need an SSD, buying a drive with a larger capacity will be 2 times more profitable. For example, Samsung 850 EVO 120 GB costs about 5,000 rubles (50 rubles per GB). By paying 2,500 rubles more, you can get a capacity of up to 250 GB (30 rubles per GB). But the most profitable option is an SSD with a capacity of 500 GB for 12.5 thousand rubles. with a price of 25 rubles per 1 GB of memory. So, when buying such a drive, you pay half the price for 1GB!

Physical characteristics

Whenever you buy equipment, you always need to find out the possibility of possible incompatibility. The world's best SSD will be completely useless if you can't use it in your system, right? Luckily, SSDs (most of them) are pretty much standardized, so you'll be fine if you pay at least some semblance of attention to this detail.

Form factor: Most modern SSDs come in a 2.5-inch form factor, which is exactly the same size as a standard laptop hard drive. This device is awkward to use on desktops that require a 3.5-inch form factor, but you can fix that by using an adapter, such as the $7 SABRENT 2.5″-3.5″ Mounting Kit.

It should be noted that a new form factor is now gaining popularity: M.2 standard(formerly known as NGFF). Designed for ultra-thin laptops and mini PCs, these SSDs are very thin and tiny in size.

Thickness: Just because an SSD has a 2.5-inch form factor doesn't mean it will fit your laptop. You should also make sure that its thickness is thin enough for your laptop.

Typically, the thickness of an SSD ranges somewhere between 7 and 9.5 mm; modern drives often tend towards the smaller side, towards 7 mm. Check your laptop's manual to find out what thickness is right for you.

Interface: Most consumer-grade SSDs have a SATA interface, although whether you get 3Gb/s or 6Gb/s SATA depends on your computer's capabilities. Nowadays, most devices are released with 6 Gb/s, but if you can find 3 Gb/s, they will most likely be cheaper.

Noise: One of the advantages of SSD over HDD is that SSD is quieter due to the absence of mechanical components. If you want to get away from the HHD's whirring noise from spinning disks and popping noises while searching for files, then an SSD is a better choice.

Performance

The main advantage of SSDs over HHDs - and the reason people stick with SSDs after upgrading from HHDs - is the fact that SSDs are faster. With an SSD, your computer boots in seconds, programs launch almost instantly, and files move up to 10 times faster.

It's worth noting that when it comes to performance, even the worst SSDs are still head and shoulders above HHDs. If all you need is speed, then there is no question - the SSD is designed specifically for you.

As already mentioned, not all SSDs are created equal. Just look at the following options:

• SanDisk Internal 120GB ($52) Has Sequential Read Speed 520 Mb/s 180 Mb/s;
• Silicon Power Velox V70 120GB ($140) Has Sequential Read Speed 557 Mb/s and sequential write speed 507 Mb/s.

Maybe the difference of 37 MB/s when reading and 327 MB/s when writing is not important to you, then you can simply choose a cheaper option. But if you really care about every bit of speed, then you should have an idea of ​​how much it will cost you (an extra $88 in the example above).

Storage capacity

There is an important difference in how HDDs and SSDs work. While HDDs often have to deal with disk fragmentation, SSDs have their own reason to worry - garbage collection.

When data is written to an SSD, it is written in chunks called pages. The group of pages is called block. At any given time, the pages in a block may be all full, all empty, or partially full.

Due to the way they are designed, it is not possible to overwrite existing data on an SSD (unlike an HHD). Instead, in order to write new data to a full block, the entire block must be erased.

Moreover, to prevent data loss, any information present in the block must first be moved somewhere else before erasing the block. Once the data is moved and the block is freed, only then can new data be written to that block.

This process, called garbage collection, requires free space for proper functioning. If you don't have enough free space, the garbage collection process becomes ineffective and slows down. This is one of the reasons why SSD performance degrades over time: it is overloaded.

To keep garbage collection at peak efficiency, traditional advice would be keeping 20-30 percent of disk space empty. For a 250GB drive, this would mean you can only use 200GB maximum.

Durability

The last detail to think about is how long the SSD will last you. Only 74% of hard drives survive beyond the fourth year of life. How do SSDs perform compared to these results?

Unlike HDDs, SDDs do not have moving parts - which is very good for quiet operation, and also means that there is nothing to wear out. Therefore, mechanical damage should not worry you.

The bad news, on the other hand, is that SSDs are more susceptible to failure due to power surges. Loss of power while the device is operating can result in data corruption or even complete failure of the device.

In addition, SSD memory blocks have a limited number of possible write sessions. If you constantly write data to the SSD (about 1 GB per day), then it is possible that the device will lose the ability to write data (although reading will still be possible).

The expected lifespan of a solid drive is 5-7 years. Every year after this period expires, the likelihood of device failure increases.

Is SSD Right for You?

If you're on a budget, don't care about speed, or are primarily concerned about data safety, then you should go with a traditional hard drive. For everyone else, now is the time to upgrade to an SSD if you haven't already.

Hello friends! Technologies do not stand still and are developing more and more rapidly every year, especially in the computer industry. It seems like just yesterday that we only learned about the three laws of robotics, written by Isaac Asimov, and today the Japanese are already designing dolls whose electronic “filling” is half as powerful as a small server room, but which have never even heard of the mentioned laws.

The changes also affected the area of ​​data storage. Today you will find out what an SSD drive is and why it is needed, whether such a device is needed in principle or how you can do without it.

Why solid state

Such drives have been known for many years, but most users have only recently turned their attention to them as a worthy alternative to traditional hard drives. So why is it called solid state? The name comes from the English word Solid - “Solid state”. In fact, this is an ordinary microcircuit built on semiconductors - a green board with a bunch of tracks that everyone who has ever disassembled the body of an electrical device has seen.

The architecture of the device resembles the already familiar flash drives. SSDs use the same type of energy-efficient memory circuits that do not lose data even when there is no power for long periods of time. The only difference is in dimensions, capacity and recording speed. In addition, the flash drive is designed to be used as a plug-in external device, but the SSD is still in most cases an internal device.

Externally, solid-state drives resemble hard drives, but differ in size - they are smaller. According to standardization, there are slightly different form factors: for example, M2 or U2. This does not mean that an SSD cannot be installed in a regular system unit: there are special adapters for old cases, and new cases are already equipped with mounting slots.

Benefits of SSD

A logical question may arise: why such a device in a computer at all, if there are familiar and affordable hard drives. And solid-state drives have several advantages:
Higher data read and write speed. This is especially appreciated by users who process large files, as well as gamers whose games load faster.

Less power consumption. For laptop computers, this is a decisive factor, because the device can work longer on the same battery charge.

Longer service life. Due to the lack of mechanical parts, there is a higher chance that the device will not fail at the most inopportune moment.

Impact resistance. When transporting the device, there is a higher chance that the user will lose important data due to a fall or mechanical impact. This is the reason for the growing popularity of portable SSDs.

Often a small SSD is installed on a computer as a system volume, for more fast loading operating system. Such a computer will not only boot faster, but the OS will also be faster due to quick access to all system files.

Disadvantages and Limitations

You may ask: if this device is so gorgeous, why don't all users use it on PC? Alas, everything still comes down to cost: for the same price you can buy a regular hard drive with a capacity ten times greater than an SSD. When assembling or upgrading a computer, users are often limited in funds, so they have to “rein on their horses,” maneuvering between the coolness of the part and its cost. And so we would instruct everyone, yeah.

There is still a misconception among users that SSDs are unreliable. Yes, this was observed at the time of their mass appearance on the market. The reason lies in the use of cheap controllers that did not cope with their task. Today, the cheapest SSD is guaranteed to “survive” up to 3,000 rewrite cycles. Have more quality devices this figure rises to 10,000. This is even more than a traditional HDD.
Another myth is that the operating system must be somehow cleverly configured to work with a solid-state drive - for example, disabling the page file. This is wrong. All the user has to do is activate the AHCI mode in the BIOS, which is necessary for the correct operation of the device. Please note that old motherboards this mode is not supported - instead there is a now obsolete IDE

Why is it needed?

“To be or not to be?” – the reader will think. Buy an SSD or save money by buying something else. According to reviews from my clients, no one has ever experienced dissatisfaction with the purchase of such a device. There were several claims regarding warranty repairs, but this is a statistical error that always appears with large numbers of sales.

And if you get nervous every time your computer starts to slow down and freeze, an SSD is the best option to get rid of such phenomena. You will most likely not stop being nervous, but you will already find another reason, but the computer will “fly” with such a drive.

True, there is one small “BUT”. You quickly get used to the good stuff, and then working on a computer with a regular HDD will be a little uncomfortable. But these are little things, aren’t they?

And if you are already heading to the online store for a new SSD drive, read these instructions - it will help you correctly. You might also be interested, of course, if you think that you can’t live without an HDD.

I advise you to pay attention to the Kingston SSDNow A400 120GB 2.5″ SATAIII TLC device - a good and affordable 120 Gb drive.

And with that, I say goodbye for today. Thank you for your attention, friends, and see you next time. Don't forget to share my blog posts on social networks. Computer literacy to the masses! And to receive notifications about new articles.

Hard drives vs SSDs

The choice is obvious. Computer enthusiasts who have already tried SSD drives have felt the difference and do not want to go back to using a mechanical drive as a system drive. The disadvantages of SSDs - significantly higher price, small capacity - are gradually disappearing as technology develops.

The advantages of flash memory drives cannot be ignored: low access time, high data transfer rates, excellent I/O performance. We also note mechanical reliability, low energy consumption and silent operation.

IN at the moment There are so many manufacturers offering SSD drives that it's not so easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. If you go straight to the test charts page, you can see how SSDs outperform HDDs. Even if you don’t look for the fastest solid-state drive, but take the performance of the most inexpensive model as a starting point, even such a drive will turn out to be many times faster than any hard drive!

Pros and cons of SSDs

It is difficult to assess the benefits of SSDs based on tests that are designed to compare different drives with each other, relative to other upgrade methods ( new processor, graphics card).

As a result, average users looking to build a modern, productive PC might be advised to buy a small SSD drive and store most of their files on the hard drive, spending the bulk of their money on upgrading other PC components.

If you interview several ordinary users, what kind of computer they would like to have, the answers will most likely be similar. Processor based on Sandy Bridge architecture, at least 4 GB RAM, good graphics card. The default set includes hard drive, but SSD drives are usually out of the question. This is not correct.

It would be appropriate to sacrifice a couple of hundred gigahertz clock frequency processor, supplementing the hard drive with a system SSD drive with a capacity of about 60 GB. This way, you can get almost all the benefits of SSD technology without going broke on purchasing a large-capacity solid-state drive.

A superficial view is not always correct

Our opinions are usually based on real, comparable data. A 2 TB drive with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm looks, without a doubt, more attractive than old model 120 GB and 5400 rpm. If earlier throughput The SATA interface was 300 MB/s, now it has reached 600 MB/s. As we see, evolution is obvious, but for many such numbers mean more than real results.

In this case, we have two problems at once. First, too few users know that using a solid-state drive can actually significantly speed up applications. The second problem is the small size and high cost of SSDs.

But it’s worth repeating again: any modern SSD, regardless of model, is an order of magnitude faster than any hard drive. Let's illustrate this fact, comparing a simple SSD with one of the most powerful magnetic platter drives.

Samsung 470 Series vs. Seagate Barracuda XT

HDD: Seagate Barracuda XT, 3 TB

We chose a hi-end hard drive, which combines high performance for an HDD and large capacity. The Seagate drive is quite capable of representing the HDD as a class in this comparison. This is a modern hard drive with a capacity of 3 TB - not the maximum today, but this volume is enough for almost any PC.

Spindle rotation speed – 7200 rpm. As a latest-generation drive, the Seagate Barracuda XT combines high sequential data read and write speeds, decent response time for a hard drive, and relatively high I/O performance. The drive is equipped with the latest SATA 6 Gb/s interface. However, given the real peak performance of 160 MB/s, this is clearly just a publicity stunt: it was enough to limit previous version SATA interface.

Seagate XT belongs to the upper price bracket (about $250). It will appeal to those users who prefer modern hardware, but are still cautiously looking towards SSDs. The drive is covered by Seagate's five-year warranty.

As an alternative, there are Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 and 7K3000 hard drives (both 3 TB), Western Digital Black Edition 2 TB. You can find out more about modern “heavyweights” from the world of HDD in the material on our website "Four HDDs with a capacity of 3 TB" .

SSD: Samsung 470 Series, 128 GB

Representatives of this Samsung line have previously been repeatedly used by us as references in various tests, but today these drives are no longer the newest and best (see our material Samsung SSD 830 series, dedicated to the new line of Korean solid-state drives).

The 470 series is represented by disks with a capacity of 64, 128 and 256 GB, equipped with the obsolete SATA 3 Gb/s interface. If you compare a Samsung 470 series drive with latest models Crucial, Intel and numerous drives based on the second generation SandForce controller, then it does not look so modern.

Ultimately, the Samsung 470 series SSD provides data transfer speeds of up to 260 MB/s. Some of the latest SSD models with a SATA 6 Gb/s interface are capable of exceeding 500 MB/s in serial data transfer operations. The difference is significant. Our position in this case is that even the previous generation of solid-state drives is significantly ahead of any hard drive, including the most modern models.

Samsung, Intel, and Toshiba design and manufacture SSD components in-house (the only exception is the Intel SSD 510 series, which uses a Marvell controller). All three vendors have released enough firmware to fix firmware issues, so none of them are perfect. The bottom line is that even if the Samsung 470-series drive is not exactly what computer enthusiasts dream of, this drive is quite consistent in its characteristics with a standard “mid-class” SSD, and in this sense its choice is justified taking into account the objectives of this review. If you are interested in comparing the performance of more recent SSD models, you can familiarize yourself with the results of the corresponding tests on the pages of our website.

Comparison of characteristics

Performance

As you can see in the video at the end of this article, an SSD drive can significantly speed up modern computer- whether we are talking about the speed of launching applications, loading levels in games or importing a large amount of data. Why is this happening?

First of all, the success of SSDs is associated with significantly higher data transfer rates. 2.5" hard drives reach 60-100 MB/s, 3.5" - 100-150 MB/s. Moreover, these indicators reflect the performance of HDDs in the most favorable conditions. The characteristics that vendors like to cite in specifications for a particular HDD model relate to sequential data read/write operations - here the lag of hard drives is least apparent. When the hard disk head moves to another disk partition/sector, the speed of operations decreases rapidly.

Disk usage modes in which I/O performance comes to the fore are not favorable for HDDs. An example is Windows booting, which involves reading huge amount small blocks of data. Here, when comparing a hard drive with an SSD, the picture is even sadder.

The data transfer speed in such modes drops to several MB/s. This applies to even the newest and most productive HDD models. Thus, hard drives do a good job of sequentially copying large files, but their use as a system drive is not optimal.

SSD uses flash memory to store data. Such drives consist of many memory cells that are used in parallel to each other and interact with the controller through several data channels. Such an architecture is capable of providing sequential read speeds from a couple of hundred MB/s to record values ​​of more than 550 MB/s. However, as we have already noted, hard drives also perform well in serial data transfer.

The critical mode for SSDs is data writing operations, since only data blocks of a certain size can be written. If you need to write only a few bits to the disk, a whole series of operations will be required - reading, erasing and finally rewriting one or two blocks.

Thus, it is not uncommon for hundreds of MB/s to turn into just a few dozen in practice. But for now we are talking about blocks of about 4 kbytes in size, which are used by modern file systems, SSDs still remain 10-20 times faster than HDDs, providing performance at tens of MB/s, while in the case of hard drives it drops to KB/s due to delays in head positioning. IN real work such a difference is not just noticeable, but striking.

Energy consumption and heating

SSDs consume, at most, a few watts. Hard drives can use 10 watts per hour or more if they are actively copying files. Modern SSDs do not heat up at all. Hard drives, on the other hand, often require cooling. Normal air circulation inside your computer case will most likely be enough, but the issue of proper cooling of the disk system should still be taken into account when self-assembly PC.

Design features and reliability

SSDs have no moving parts, which makes them very reliable. Theoretically, it's possible that you expose the solid-state drive to extremely high vibration or shock, so that the soldering of the chips fails. In practice, this situation is unlikely.

Exactly the same tiny chance of breaking the soldering exists in relation to hard drives, however, the real danger lies in the presence of moving elements - magnetic plates that rotate at high speeds and read/write heads. The operating principle of a modern HDD is reminiscent of an old-fashioned gramophone.

Mechanical parts have a certain resource and, in general, the reliability of the hard drive is lower. Any strong shock can turn a working hard drive into a piece of useless hardware. Modern HDDs have a certain “margin of safety” in relation to shock loads (which is especially true for 2.5” drives for laptops), but from the point of view of mechanical reliability they are still significantly inferior to SSDs.

Whether an SSD drive will survive a hard drive is impossible to say with certainty. It is known that HDDs are more prone to breakdowns, since their design combines electronics and mechanical elements. On the other hand, SSDs are more sensitive to firmware and we know of cases where, due to a firmware failure, a solid-state drive became unusable. The potential reliability issues for SSDs and HDDs are different, but exist in both cases. You can learn more about the issue of comparing the reliability of SSDs and magnetic platter drives in the article "Which is more reliable: SSD or HDD?" .

Test bench configuration

The results of these tests are indicative of most SSD and hard drive models. The tested components were selected to obtain the best comparison for both configuration options. The drives are tested on very similar systems. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the benefits of using SSD as a system drive. We are not trying to prove that SSDs have advantages in all aspects (in fact, we do not recommend using them for data storage).

Test results

Sequential Read/Write

CrystalDiskMark and Iometer clearly show significantly more high speeds data transfer compared to a high-end hard drive. If you regularly read reviews, this fact is unlikely to be news to you.

Random Read/Write

The following results are very indicative in terms of operating room load Windows systems. When it comes to the real difference in everyday use, the SSD's separation from the hard drive may not be that significant, but in the synthetic test the difference is striking.

According to CrystalDiskMark, the hard drive works with 4 KB blocks in random read mode at a speed of 1.6 MB/s, write speed - 0.7 MB/s. Similar indicators for SSDs are an order of magnitude higher: 19.7 MB/s for write operations, 70.6 MB/s for read operations.

As the queue depth increases, SSD performance increases even further, which is explained by the fuller use of its multi-channel architecture: 129.4 MB/s for write operations and 70.5 for read operations. For HDDs, we also see a threefold increase in random write speed (up to 2.1 MB/s) thanks to NCQ support. However, the lag behind the SSD increases even further.

For larger block sizes (512 KB in this test), the hard drive can provide much better speeds than we just saw. However, SSD retains its leadership here too. A modern solid-state drive with a 6 Gb/s interface would provide a more serious lead over the HDD.

The balance of power is obvious: in the random search test using 4 KB blocks, the HDD provided a result of about 700 KB/s, the SSD - 18.4 MB/s.

At a large queue depth (64 commands), the SSD outperforms the hard drive in the random search test by 40-50 times.

In the Iometer read performance test, the Samsung 470 128GB achieves 28,000 IOPS performance. The hard drive shows a result of 102 operations per second.

When writing, an SSD operates on blocks of data: writing even just a few bytes requires a full cycle of rewriting the entire block. Therefore, in write operations, the SSD separation is not so glaring, but we are still talking about a difference of an order of magnitude. Iometer shows a result of 1343.5 I/O operations for SSD and 132.5 for HDD.

I/O performance and access time

The Database boot script paints a clear picture: SSD is 12 times faster than HDD.

In the Web Server scenario, the SSD's superiority is even more significant, since read operations account for the majority of the workload in this test.

In the workstation performance test, the balance of power does not change.

Access time

Unlike a hard drive, access time on an SSD is hardly measurable.

PCMark 7

Futuremark PCMark 7 simulates a typical PC experience. With rare exceptions, an SSD is 2-4 times faster than a hard drive. Note that in these tests the overall system performance changes, taking into account the influence of the CPU and video card. Thus, here we see a picture close to that which occurs during everyday use of a PC.

Exceptions include video processing in Windows Movie Maker as well as loading script Windows Media Center. In these tests, the SSD and HDD provide similar results.

Energy consumption

The smallest difference between an SSD and a hard drive in terms of energy consumption is observed in the streaming write stress test. But even in this test, one hard drive consumes about the same amount of power as three SSDs.

Energy efficiency: performance per watt

In database applications, the Samsung 470 outperforms the Seagate hard drive by 476 times (based on IOPS per watt).

In the streaming recording efficiency test, the solid-state drive outperformed the hard drive by 7 times.

Here it is necessary to briefly highlight the issue of measuring “capacity per watt”, since in this indicator SSDs are inferior to hard drives. To provide the amount of disk space corresponding to the Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB, you will need to assemble an array of one and a half dozen SSDs. In this context, discussing “capacity per watt” can only be discussed in theory. If you need a lot of storage space, HDDs currently have no alternative.

SYSmark 2012

The benchmark developed by BARCo is not often used in tests. The fact is that some companies, including AMD and nVidia, do not trust this test package, which is explained by the specific composition of the package: it focuses on boot scenarios that have little to do with everyday PC use. A significant percentage of the overall performance rating is allocated to OCR or archiving operations. It is worth noting that AMD indicates the presence of certain optimizations for Intel architecture in SYSMark.

Please note that in tests from the SYSMark package, the SSD is very slightly ahead of the hard drive. We can say that the results are the same. The reason is that in this case it is not possible to isolate the impact of other computer subsystems on the final result.

Speed Windows boot

A computer with a system SSD drive also turns off faster - in five seconds instead of eight in the case of an HDD.

Launching applications

We use a script that opens four applications at the same time. As is the case with loading the OS, the speed advantage for launching applications on a system with an SSD drive is quite significant. You can see how this looks in practice in the video.

Running applications on SSD and hard drive

So, we used a script that opens several applications at the same time and captures the difference in the form of a short video. The script runs immediately after Windows boots, after which it waits 30 seconds for all processes to complete. The script runs Internet Explorer 9 (offline version of the THG website), Microsoft Outlook(the same set of custom folders as in SYSmark 2012), a “heavy” PowerPoint presentation and a large image in Adobe Photoshop.

We missed this test four times in a row. File caching slightly reduces the loading time for the fourth “run”, but this can only be noticed in relation to the HDD. Let's watch the video:

Our test simulates a work scenario when you turn on your computer and open several applications at once - for example, an office program, a web browser, a messenger, an image editor. As long as the system has a sufficient amount of RAM (that is, at least 4 GB at the moment), CPU performance is in second place after the disk subsystem. In other words, plus or minus 500 MHz of the processor frequency is not so significant, but replacing a hard drive with an SSD, on the contrary, significantly affects the result.

Here the question arises - is choice important? specific model SSD? In our opinion, this issue is not so fundamental. Even if you opt for the latest drive with the SandForce SF-2200 controller, which exceeds 500 MB/s in sequential reading, the difference compared to the not-so-new SSD model we used in this test will not be too noticeable. If this is your first time trying to use an SSD as a system drive, then you definitely won’t want to go back to hard drives.

Any modern SSD improves system responsiveness

For those computer enthusiasts who have not yet tried using an SSD, we can safely recommend this upgrade option. Undoubtedly, the game is worth the candle. While not every benchmark reflects the benefits of using an SSD as system storage (in particular, we don't see a significant gap in SYSMark), the real difference in performance is noticeable.

We compared one of the largest, fastest and most expensive hard drives on the market - the Seagate Barracuda XT - with a modest, not the latest Samsung 470 solid state drive. Of course, you can opt for a more “advanced” model, but even if you choose With respect to a budget model, you can get all the benefits of an SSD.

At the same time, we are not at all trying to retire hard drives. When it comes to storing files, there is no alternative to this type of drive. An SSD should be used to install the operating system and placed on it executable files programs, application caches.

For most cases, the ideal configuration of a modern PC includes a system SSD drive and a large hard drive on which movies, music, images, and documents are stored. Systems without an SSD are considered budget configuration options, and computers with only a solid-state drive are almost never found in nature.