Whats the difference between external and internal hard drives?

[PaulJablonski1]

I'm pretty confused on the whole desktop thing, But i'm kind of getting into P.C. gaming now, and i want to know whats the difference between external and internal? And which one would be best for me? And the whole SSD, HDD, What do they mean and what do they do?..

 

[ghost878]

SSD- solid state drives. Most superior in speed (less size costly and used to store OS like Windows)
HDD -hard disc drives. comes in 5400rpm / 7200 rpm. greater rpm> greater transfer speed
Internal hdd are used in desktops 6Gb/s Transfer speed . External can be plugged into any usb/ any comp hence portable but with a lower transfer rate of 480Mbps.

 

[PaulJablonski1]

SSD- solid state drives. Most superior in speed (less size costly and used to store OS like Windows)
HDD -hard disc drives. comes in 5400rpm / 7200 rpm. greater rpm> greater transfer speed
Internal hdd are used in desktops 6Gb/s Transfer speed . External can be plugged into any usb/ any comp hence portable but with a lower transfer rate of 480Mbps.

So I'm better just getting the HDD For my desktop, or both SSD and HDD. Because when i look on sites to buy either one, i see things like SSHDD I think? is that both together?.. And ill just go with the internal HDD for desktops.

 

[cklaubur]

To make things even more confusing, most external drives are just internal drives with an adapter bridge, a case, and a small power supply on them. If you were to crack open the case (may void warranties!), you'd find the same type of drive as an internal drive.

The drives themselves are capable of the higher speeds of the internal drives, but the connection used by the adapter bridge (USB in Ghost878's example) limits the speed.

Casey

*EDIT* Thread updated while I was typing.

The choice depends on what you are planning to use the drive for. If you will be moving the data on it around from location to location (like a high-capacity thumbdrive), get the external. An internal drive would be better for a permanent upgrade to a desktop.

 

[Dereck47]

An internal drive connects to the inside of your desktop or the inside of your laptop; you can't see an internal drive if you're looking at a laptop or a desktop.

An external drive connects to a port that is on the outside of your desktop or laptop. Most external drives connect to a USB port.

Here's a picture of an internal drive: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=819&q=HDD&oq=HDD&gs_l=img.3..0l10.9187.9516.0.10034.3.3.0.0.0.0.84.222.3.3.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..0.3.221.w92z2ztxdXo#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=eQtP5ZXQwPNizM%3A%3BpARokaASj6LiJM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F08%252FHDD.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk%252Fhard-disk-drive-recovery%252F%3B1277%3B893

Here's a picture of an external drive connected to a laptop: http://techhook.com/img/freecom_hard_disk_drive%20copy.jpg

 

[PaulJablonski1]

An internal drive connects to the inside of your desktop or the inside of your laptop; you can't see an internal drive if you're looking at a laptop or a desktop.

An external drive connects to a port that is on the outside of your desktop or laptop. Most external drives connect to a USB port.

Here's a picture of an internal drive: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=819&q=HDD&oq=HDD&gs_l=img.3..0l10.9187.9516.0.10034.3.3.0.0.0.0.84.222.3.3.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..0.3.221.w92z2ztxdXo#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=eQtP5ZXQwPNizM%3A%3BpARokaASj6LiJM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F08%252FHDD.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk%252Fhard-disk-drive-recovery%252F%3B1277%3B893

Here's a picture of an external drive connected to a laptop: http://techhook.com/img/freecom_hard_disk_drive%20copy.jpg

This was a lot of help, I understand now, So i can install windows OS on the internal huh? Just external is to move around the data?

 

[PaulJablonski1]

To make things even more confusing, most external drives are just internal drives with an adapter bridge, a case, and a small power supply on them. If you were to crack open the case (may void warranties!), you'd find the same type of drive as an internal drive.

The drives themselves are capable of the higher speeds of the internal drives, but the connection used by the adapter bridge (USB in Ghost878's example) limits the speed.

Casey

*EDIT* Thread updated while I was typing.

The choice depends on what you are planning to use the drive for. If you will be moving the data on it around from location to location (like a high-capacity thumbdrive), get the external. An internal drive would be better for a permanent upgrade to a desktop.

Ah okay, i see now, but also, there are things called, SSHDD? I think? What are those. I've found some on www.newegg.com, while looking for some Internal HDD's

 

[cklaubur]

Technically, you could install Windows on the external drive. I wouldn't recommend it, though, because of the lack of speed.

Casey

 

[PaulJablonski1]

Technically, you could install Windows on the external drive. I wouldn't recommend it, though, because of the lack of speed.

Casey

So how would I install windows then? I'd have to get a internal and external for my desktop??

Sorry misread, i see now thank you

 

[popatim]

SSHDD's aka Hybrid drives combine a small SSD drive with a regular harddrive. Most use the SSD (solid state drive) to cache frequently read data, such as the windows start files/drivers, to allow them to load really fast. While the individual SSD's come in various sizes the SSD part of an SSHDD is typically 4 or 8GB.

Western digital is coming out with another form of SSHDD where the two parts act as two drives even though they are physically just one.

 

[Dereck47]

This was a lot of help, I understand now, So i can install windows OS on the internal huh? Just external is to move around the data?

Correct.

 

[PaulJablonski1]

This was a lot of help, I understand now, So i can install windows OS on the internal huh? Just external is to move around the data?

Correct.

Ah okay, thank you very much.

 

[PaulJablonski1]

SSHDD's aka Hybrid drives combine a small SSD drive with a regular harddrive. Most use the SSD (solid state drive) to cache frequently read data, such as the windows start files/drivers, to allow them to load really fast. While the individual SSD's come in various sizes the SSD part of an SSHDD is typically 4 or 8GB.

Western digital is coming out with another form of SSHDD where the two parts act as two drives even though they are physically just one.

hmm, okay, i see now