Many PCs still use traditional, “ferromagnetic” hard drives. Technically, these hard disk drives (HDDs) are old news, a relic from a past computer time. They are among the few remaining components in the computer that still work mechanically. This has serious disadvantages, for example, in terms of security. But especially in terms of speed.
Manufacturers have tried in the past, with higher data density and ever faster rotation speeds, to make traditional hard drives better. But 10,000 revolutions and more generates too much heat, too much noise and consumes too much power. This is particularly true when it comes to notebooks.
This is not the only reason why Flash memory is used in virtually all other mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Also in terms of PCs SSD is on the rise and will soon be standard.
What distinguishes SSDs from traditional hard drives
Solid State Disks, or SSDs, consist of memory blocks as used in memory cards and USB sticks. SSDs contain very fast variants with extremely low access times and very high transfer rates.
SSDs are thus much faster, more robust, lighter and consume less power than the conventional hard disks with magnetic discs and mechanical write head.
Faster, quieter, more efficient
The advantages of SSDs in terms of power consumption, weight, noise emissions and speed are immense. Just the extremely fast access time compared to conventional hard disks speeds up PCs enormously.
Whereas the mechanics of the write and read heads of HDDs require ten milliseconds and longer to select the storage location on the storage disk, a flash memory finds the information required in 0.1 milliseconds and less.
SSDs are in this context 100x and more faster. This ensures, for example, that the boot time of Windows compared to the use of conventional hard drives is approximately halved. In addition, programs load more quickly and the operating system responds better.
Multitasking? No problem
A further advantage: Good SSDs are able to run several operations at the same time. Extract several zip files, download files and start Photoshop as well as a browser at the same time? For SSDs this is no problem.
Even in the case of sequential speed, originally a domain of the ferromagnetic hard drives, SSDs have long been a forerunner.
They reach the peak read and write rates of well over 500 Megabytes per second — and are therefore up to five times faster than the best HDDs.
Fast and robust
In addition to enhanced performance, the absence of mechanical components offers further plus points: SSDs are significantly more resistant to vibration and shocks than hard drives, whose storage discs work with movable write and read heads.
SSDs also stay cooler than standard hard drives and withhold more extreme temperatures. Last but not least, SSDs do not require any power-sapping electric motors and consume slightly less energy than ferromagnetic hard drives — this protects the notebook battery.
The best SSD tips
- SSD plus HDD: For desktop computers, a combination of old and new technology is ideal: SSD 2,5´´ SATA as a boot drive and a large, traditional hard disk as a data memory.
- You should ideally only install programs on the SSD that you use daily, for example your browser, e-mail, word processing and favourite game. Store all others on other hard drives.
- Do not completely fill the SSD, you should leave at least 20 percent of its capacity free.
- Before installing windows on it, make sure the AHCI mode has been set in the BIOS. Otherwise your SSD will not work at full speed.
Is it hard to install an SSD?
An SSD is just as easy (or hard) to install as a HDD. It is normally done via plug-and-play.
If you want to exchange an existing hard disk for an SSD, you must clone the existing contents on the new hard disk. There are many programs available that can be downloaded from the Internet.
Depending on the amount of data, cloning can take a couple of hours. On some notebooks, the exchange can be a bit more difficult because the hard drive is not easily accessible. Instructions for most of the devices can be found on the Internet.
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