falseg0d

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Call me slow, but I'm just getting into the computer building world (I'm 18) and I have been working on my first real build. I have been creating fantasy builds in my spare time now and then, and just yesterday I stumbled across these SDD drive.
They look absolutely amazing to me, and I have seen them along side a HDD drive in builds, and I'm wondering why have both? I know SDD costs a lot, so a HDD would be good for storage, but what's the point of the SDD then? Wouldn't the information need to be on the SDD?
 
The SSD is extremely fast, but extremely expensive per GB. So, a lot of people (me included) have an SSD for the operating system to make the computer feel fast and responsive, and a hard drive for files and applications, which take up a lot of space and don't need as much speed.
 

l_r_c_t

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I think that He meant that he is using the SSD for regular use like surfing the Internet, light weight applications, media etc.

The HDD/SSD is used by many backstage applications that you are probably not aware of.
 

alexpdx

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It's a nice comparison but, to be fair, you're pitching a top SSD against a 5400rpm drive. C'mon, at least put it up against a 7200. Still interesting though, thanks!

I've been dinking around on the puter most of the day now and keep finding myself on newegg looking at SSDs. Really trying to behave but they're rather tempting.
 
Sorry, that's what I had to test with.

But I can tell you right now that even a 7200rpm drive is going to be a LOT closer in performance to the green drive I used than to the SSD.
 

falseg0d

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I've noticed that people always use 7200 rpm drives in comparison to SSD, but how would higher rpm drives stack up against them? I've noticed on newegg that there are 10k rpm, and even 15k rpm drives. Would they hold their own? and there isn't a performance drop in them, so wouldn't they infact be better if they were closer to SDD's?
 

falseg0d

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If I wanted to get a small external SSD for a laptop, would that work? I know I would have to go into the bios and change some things around, but the idea seems iffy to me. Would I be able to transfer my windows over to the SSD without the cd's?
 

alexpdx

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Yeah, I don't doubt the SSD's performance and appreciate your comparison regardless of rpm.

I've been trying to resist picking up a SSD as I just finished a build and upgraded various software - the costs add up quick. Don't think I can hold out much longer though.

Maybe an hour or so, lol.
 

sub mesa

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Intel X25-V 40GB; excellent SSD to start with. Still cheap, stores your OS and installed applications (not anything else) and very fast for random read access.

Later when SSDs get cheaper and bigger, you may opt to use a bigger (and faster) SSD; but a 40GB fast SSD would still be useful as a system drive; for example in a second system.
 

Like an SSD, the biggest advantage of a drive that spins faster is its faster access time. But whereas a 10K-RPM or 15K-RPM drive may cut the access time down by a factor of 2 or maybe three, an SSD cuts the access time down by a factor of about 100.

So the answer to your question is: yes 10K-RPM drives are faster, but they're still way out of the SSD league.