SSDs and HDDs

[CtrlAltINTEL]

I've looked around on the forums about ssds and hdds, and it doesn't really answer me question.
I understand SSDs are for mainly game load time and possibly OS, but do I really need it? I don't see a point if some guy just has a toaster, and I end up waiting 5 minutes to load into game anyways.

Also, what's the main purpose of HDDs? What are their sole purpose? Would they be able to make games load faster?

FINALLY!! : Why are Kingston SSDs so bad, I've heard bad reviews on them, and I'd like to know why, because they're really cheap in price.

 

[kanewolf]

HDDs are the price per GB leader. SSDs will make ANY computer feel faster. A slow feeling laptop can be acceptable with an SSD. A fast desktop will feel even faster. SSDs are easier on batteries in a laptop compared to a mechanical drive.

 

[azaran]

Not sure if this is a Troll post but I'll run with it. SSD's and HDD's hold data. Thats it. Your OS is data, your games are data, your secret stash of 1980's era Nancy Reagan porn is data. The difference (that you're going to care about) between SSD's and HDD's is amount of data they can hold and how fast they can get it to you. SSD's are newer and currently harder/cost more to produce large capacities, but they get the data to you screaming fast. HDD's are much more a mature product and have capacities that far exceed anything consumer level SSD's can currently produce, but they are much slower in putting the data in front of you. This is why a lot of people will have a fairly smallish (120, 250GB) SSD as their boot and program drive, and then use a HDD as their primary storage of things like music, documents, etc. This way the OS, and programs load very fast and you can have TB upon TB of storage for all your other stuff.

Do you need it. No. Very few people "need" a SSD, but they do improve performance. Games, beyond load time, rarely benefit from an SSD, unless they're local only games and even then we're just talking about level loading.

As for Kingston, everyone makes a different product and without knowing exactly which Kingston SSD you're talking about I couldn't say to why they are the way they are.

 

[CtrlAltINTEL]

Not sure if this is a Troll post but I'll run with it. SSD's and HDD's hold data. Thats it. Your OS is data, your games are data, your secret stash of 1980's era Nancy Reagan porn is data. The difference (that you're going to care about) between SSD's and HDD's is amount of data they can hold and how fast they can get it to you. SSD's are newer and currently harder/cost more to produce large capacities, but they get the data to you screaming fast. HDD's are much more a mature product and have capacities that far exceed anything consumer level SSD's can currently produce, but they are much slower in putting the data in front of you. This is why a lot of people will have a fairly smallish (120, 250GB) SSD as their boot and program drive, and then use a HDD as their primary storage of things like music, documents, etc. This way the OS, and programs load very fast and you can have TB upon TB of storage for all your other stuff.

Do you need it. No. Very few people "need" a SSD, but they do improve performance. Games, beyond load time, rarely benefit from an SSD, unless they're local only games and even then we're just talking about level loading.

As for Kingston, everyone makes a different product and without knowing exactly which Kingston SSD you're talking about I couldn't say to why they are the way they are.

Sorry if I made it look like a troll post, but it's not. I'm fairly new to PC hardware, and I'd like to get familiar with it b/c I'm going to be building a PC soon.
Also, the Kingston SSDNow series, but I'm leaning towards Samsung 850 Evo.

 

[kanewolf]

I recommend the Samsung SSDs as much for the software they include as the hardware.

 

[jsmithepa]

You make HDD sound like some exotic stuff.

HDD = pickup truck.
SSD = sports car

You want to haul a load of hay and lumber = HDD.
You want to take your love for a spin = SSD.

 

[azaran]

Not sure if this is a Troll post but I'll run with it. SSD's and HDD's hold data. Thats it. Your OS is data, your games are data, your secret stash of 1980's era Nancy Reagan porn is data. The difference (that you're going to care about) between SSD's and HDD's is amount of data they can hold and how fast they can get it to you. SSD's are newer and currently harder/cost more to produce large capacities, but they get the data to you screaming fast. HDD's are much more a mature product and have capacities that far exceed anything consumer level SSD's can currently produce, but they are much slower in putting the data in front of you. This is why a lot of people will have a fairly smallish (120, 250GB) SSD as their boot and program drive, and then use a HDD as their primary storage of things like music, documents, etc. This way the OS, and programs load very fast and you can have TB upon TB of storage for all your other stuff.

Do you need it. No. Very few people "need" a SSD, but they do improve performance. Games, beyond load time, rarely benefit from an SSD, unless they're local only games and even then we're just talking about level loading.

As for Kingston, everyone makes a different product and without knowing exactly which Kingston SSD you're talking about I couldn't say to why they are the way they are.

Sorry if I made it look like a troll post, but it's not. I'm fairly new to PC hardware, and I'd like to get familiar with it b/c I'm going to be building a PC soon.
Also, the Kingston SSDNow series, but I'm leaning towards Samsung 850 Evo.

Yeah I'd go with the Evo line. Depending on the testing, they dont always lead (tho they usually do) but they're always one of the front runners. But the quality on them is top notch, the software like Kanewolf said is great too. The cost can be higher than some other sized drives but I've found them to be worth it.

 

[hyfurd2112]

My recommendation is to go with Samsung EVO series SSD's. The difference with Samsung PROs is how much write cycles you can do. If I recall correctly the Samsung PROs will last somewhere in the 15-20 year range and EVOs are around the 10 year range.

SSDs on computers
Boot times will be much quicker
Applications will open quicker
Internal file transfers will be quicker
Power draw will go from 10w to 1w (HDD vs SSD) but its negligible choosing an PSU
SSD's on Laptops
I recommend all laptop owners to get an ssd for a boot drive, the reason being you will enjoy a much longer battery life, depending on the scenario. If transferring files took 20 seconds while an ssd only took 5 the time the hdd was spinning is wasted energy.

The obvious and most major gripe with ssds is their high price per gigabyte.

EDIT: The bad thing you have heard about Kingston SSDs is their bait and switch SSDs. For a while Kingston was doing good selling SSDs that were fast, reliable and cheap. Then quietly they switched to a cheaper slower flash controller which people have discovered and made reports about it.

Getting SSDs on laptops are also recommended. The reason is because since you are moving your laptop around a lot you wont have to worry about damaging your hard disk that has a spinning platter.