SSD actual usable space?

[sumkid]

hi

i currently have a WD Elements drive that is 1TB, but only 931gb is actually usable. now i know all drives have reserved space for it to work, and the bigger the drive, the more space you lose

but im buying a 64gb SSD crucial m4, and was wondering, do i get all of that 64gb or is there some space permanently unusable? (like a HDD)

ive never worked with SSDs before

thanks

 

[RetiredChief]

You have the same problem with Most SSDs as HDDs, that being the diff between using Powers of 2 verses Powers of 10.

Your 64 Gig SSD will probably be close to 60 Gigs. This is also true for HDDs, you should leave about 10 % unused - just a different reason.

You will also have to contend with the fact that you should not use over 90 %, so you lose another 4 to 5 gigs.

Bottom line: 64 Gig SSD yields you a true usable space of about 55 gigs.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Manufacturers report capacity in decimal multiples (1000 ). Windows sees capacity in binary multiples ( 1024 ). An SSD is seen the same way as a standard HDD.

Scroll down to the Capacity section for a full explination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive

" Most operating systems, including the Microsoft Windows operating systems use the powers of 1024 convention when reporting HDD capacity, thus an HDD offered by its manufacturer as a 1 TB drive is reported by these OSes as a 931 GB HDD. "