SSD vs HDD
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Spec-based comparison. We have not tested these products. Figures below come from the linked manufacturer datasheets and standards documents.
Short verdict
An SSD for your operating system, programs and games; a hard drive only for bulk storage where capacity per dollar matters more than speed. A current 3.5-inch desktop hard drive is rated at around 190–220 MB/s sustained; a SATA SSD at 560 MB/s; an NVMe SSD at several thousand MB/s. Some games now require an SSD.
Key differences
| Hard drive (HDD) | SATA SSD | NVMe SSD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example | Seagate BarraCuda 3.5” | Samsung 870 EVO | WD_BLACK SN850X |
| How it stores data | magnetic platters spinning at 5,400 or 7,200 RPM | NAND flash, no moving parts | NAND flash, no moving parts |
| Rated sequential read | 190–220 MB/s (max sustained, outer diameter) | up to 560 MB/s | up to 7,300 MB/s (1–4TB) |
| Interface | SATA 6 Gb/s | SATA 6 Gb/s | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Largest capacity in the line | 24TB | 4TB | 8TB |
| Limited warranty | 2 years | 5 years | 5 years |
Sources: Seagate BarraCuda 3.5” datasheet; Samsung 870 EVO datasheet; WD_BLACK SN850X. All are manufacturer figures.
What the differences mean
Speed. The hard drive’s figure is its best case — sequential reads at the outer edge of the platter. Small random reads, which dominate booting and launching programs, are where a drive with no moving read head has the clearest advantage. We will add our own random-access measurements once our bench exists.
Games. CD PROJEKT RED dropped hard-drive support for Cyberpunk 2077 with Update 2.0; the current requirements list a 70 GB SSD, and NVMe for the top presets (CD PROJEKT RED).
Capacity. Hard drives still reach larger capacities in a single drive — 24TB in the BarraCuda line against 8TB for the SN850X. For archives, backups and media libraries, that matters.
Warranty. The SSD examples carry five-year limited warranties; the BarraCuda carries two years. SSD warranties are also limited by rated endurance (TBW), whichever comes first.
A common setup
An SSD as the system drive, plus a hard drive for bulk files and backups. It combines fast boot and load times with cheap capacity.
Price per terabyte for both: nandprices.com.
FAQ
Is an SSD worth it for an old PC? If the PC has a SATA port, a 2.5-inch SATA SSD is a direct replacement for a hard drive. Rated sequential speed rises from about 200 MB/s to 560 MB/s, based on the datasheets above.
Do SSDs wear out? Flash cells have a finite number of writes. Manufacturers state this as TBW (terabytes written): 600 TBW for both 1TB example drives above. Compare the rating with how much you write, especially for heavy workloads such as video editing.