In the early days of PC gaming, when internet speeds were nowhere near 100 Mbps fast and computers were slower, HDD was king. But in recent years, solid-state drives or SSD emerged, and suddenly there was a new sheriff in town. If you’re asking which one of the two is better, the very short answer is solid-state drives offer better performance and speed. But that’s not all there is to the debate.
Comparing SSD Vs HDD
Over the last few years, more and more gamers have endorsed solid-state drives or SSD. This is large because an SSD can handle better read/write speeds than a conventional HDD. Thanks to sheer performance, any gamer will tell you an SSD is superior. But is that really all there is to compare? We don’t think so. Have a look at how the two measure up in the following areas before you decide:
- Performance
- Durability
- Useful Life
- Storage Capacity
- Operating Noise
- The Bottom Line
Let’s examine these areas in more detail below.
Performance
When it comes to performance, SSD is the clear winner over HDD. Solid-state drives have much faster speeds than an HDD. An SSD can transfer data several times faster than an HDD. This means much faster loading speeds when you’re gaming, something HDD can’t keep up with.
Durability
Durability is a very important concern when you are choosing between an SSD or an HDD. Hard disk drives feature a number of moving parts. This means they are more prone to malfunctions and damage because of this mechanism. A solid-state drive, on the other hand, has no moving parts and is hence more durable than an HDD.
Useful Life
You might think that SSD would last longer, based on the durability we just discussed. However, when you actually compare overall lifespans, you find out that HDDs, on the whole, tend to last longer than SSDs. However, there is not much of a difference between their longevity. An SSD can last for more than 5 years easily, even with intensive use. An HDD can last 10 years, but over time, its performance will degrade.
Storage Capacity
There is really no limit to how much an SSD or HDD can store. You can find both Solid-state drives and hard disk drives that have storage space going up to 8 TB and more. But what you need to consider is the cost-effectiveness of how much storage space you get. A 1 TB HDD will cost several times less than an SSD with the same storage capacity. In the price-capacity tradeoff, we’d say HDD gives you more bang for your buck.
Operating Noise
We have already discussed above that solid-state drives have no moving parts. This makes them virtually soundless. HDDs have a moving mechanism, which will give off a certain level of noise. However, all HDDs are not equal, meaning they give off varying degrees of noise. The higher the RPM of an HDD, the noisier it usually is. And the older an HDD gets, its noise may increase in volume.
The Bottom Line
SSD is very superior to HDD in several ways. It is faster, can handle more I/Os per second, is noiseless, consumes less energy, and has faster backup rates. So it makes sense that gamers would want to choose SSD for their PC. However, our advice is that you get them both. An SSD is a sleek, modern piece of technology that performs better than an HDD in every aspect except for one. The cost factor. A 1TB HDD is still a lot cheaper than a 500GB SSD. That means you get better value for money when it comes to capacity per dollar. This alone is enough to ensure HDDs still have a place in the modern gaming PC build alongside SSDs.
I use an SSD with a capacity of around 500 GB to store all my games. I also use a cheaper 1 TB HDD to store all my non-game data like images, videos, backups, call logs from when I call Spectrum, etc. Remember, an HDD comes with a lot more capacity for a much cheaper price. I would strongly advise you to hook both of them up to your next PC build.