Difference Between HDD and SSD Storage

Difference Between HDD and SSD Storage

HDD stands for hard disk drive and SSD stands for solid state drive. The main difference between the two is the technology they use to store data. HDD uses magnetic disks to store data, while SSD uses memory chips. Because SSDs have no moving parts, they are generally faster, more reliable, and more expensive than HDDs. Additionally, SSDs have lower latency and can access data more quickly, which can lead to improved performance in devices that use them.

What about capacity differences between HDDs and SSDs?

If you are concerned about how much information you can store on each type of drive, don’t worry. There are no differences in storage capacity. You can get HDDs and SSDs in similar sizes, from as small as 128 GB up to 20 TB or more. But larger SSDs are still more expensive — we’ll discuss price in the following section.
In the meantime, if you need to radically free up space, you can easily format any hard drive, internal or external — no matter if it’s an HDD or SSD. And if you need to completely wipe your hard drive, there are ways to do that, too.

Price differences between HDDs and SSDs

The market for flash storage is volatile and varies based on supply and demand. While SSDs are much cheaper than they used to be, there is still a significant price difference. A 1 TB internal HDD costs roughly $60, whereas a 1 TB internal SSD averages around $150. A good source for direct price comparison of popular disk sizes can be found at PCPartPicker.com.