There is no doubt that solid-state disk drives or SSDs are the latest attraction, impressing many with their non-volatile NAND flash memory. Not only do SSDs not have any moving parts but also there is also no read/write head or actuator arm like in the hard disk drive or HDDs, which seeks out the data on a rotating platter. This actually allows the SSDs to read and write data much faster. However, SSDs are much more expensive than HDDs while at the same having lesser capacity as well. Obviously, an average desktop consumer today will have to decide whether to go in for the higher capacity HDDs or the faster SSDs.
Today, a good quality SSD of 120 GB costs around R3, 000 or above while an HDD of even 500GB will cost around R700. Should a user invest thousands of Rand in a fast SSD that will have low storage capacity or buy a high-capacity, cheap HDD for today and wait till the prices of the SSD come down a little? It is quite true that for average desktop consumers the drive I/O speeds do not really make so much of a difference – they are more interested in the capacity of the drive. Therefore, even if a drive operates faster, if it has less capacity, there is a tendency to overlook it.
While choosing between an SSD and a HDD, it is important to understand what tasks you are going to perform on your computer. If you are going to be using your computer for some simple applications or for surfing the Internet, you might not need the speed of the SSD. On the other hand, if you intend to use multiple applications at the same time, play on high-end games or download videos, there is no doubt that SSDs have a distinct edge in performance over HDDs.
SSDs are certainly more rugged than HDDs since they have no moving parts. This means that an SSD can withstand up to 1500G of shock without experiencing any difference in performance or getting damaged. On the other hand, an HDD can withstand only 350G of shock while operating and up to 800G when it is not operating. The SSDs are also much lighter compared to HDD – while typical SSDs weigh a little less than 3 ounces HDDs weigh closer to 4 ounces.
Even in performance, SSDs outdo HDDs by a mile. For example, an SSD takes only 20 seconds to start up Windows XP in a cold boot while an HDD takes at least 40 seconds to do so. If the read and write times of the SDD are at an amazing 285MB/sec and 275MB/sec, those of the HDD are at 98MB/sec and 87MB/sec.
Despite all these positive features, desktop consumers will prefer to go in for as high capacity drives as their money can buy rather than pay a fortune for fancy SSDs. A high-end HDD should deliver a fairly good performance with enough capacity for you to be able to wait till the prices of SSDs drop.
We offers you a wonderful range of desktops fitted with the most high-end, high capacity HDDs. On the other hand, we can also fit top grade SSDs to PCs customized to meet the user’s needs.
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