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Upgrades
SSD – Solid State Hard Drive – You need to get one!
12
May
May
The conventional hard disk drive (HDD) and the solid state hard drive (SSD) both do the same thing. They both store your computers operating system (Windows, Mac OS etc…) and files. But what is the difference?
Solid state hard drives (SSD) have been in development since 1978. They have only really become commercially available at a reasonable price in the last 6-5 years. The solid state drive is another storage solution and is slowly replacing the majority of hard disk drives (HDD). For most computer users, we recommend using an SSD as the primary drive for your operating system, as well as the programs you access most frequently.
The reasons for this are as follows:
- Speed: An SSD is typically 100 times faster than your average HDD
- Reliability: The SSD has no moving parts. It uses flash memory to store data, which provides better performance and reliability over an HDD.
- Power: The SSD uses less power than a standard HDD, which means a lower energy bill over time and for laptops, and an increase in battery life.
- Noise: With no moving parts, SSD generates no noise
- Heat: Because there are no moving parts and due to the nature of flash memory, the SSD generates less heat, helping to increase its lifespan and reliability.
This video will show the difference between 2 identical laptops – the only difference being one has a standard hard disk drive and the other has a solid state drive:
How can I upgrade:
- Do it yourself – there are a lot of guides online that will assist you in upgrading to an SSD. This is not for the fainthearted.
- Contact Creative IT to do it for you.
What are the advantages of Creative IT upgrading my drive?:
- We have been doing SSD upgrades daily for the last 5 years.
- We can transfer everything as it was on your old HDD to your new SSD.
- Your warranty is with Creative IT who are only a phone call away.
- We provide free after sales support.
- You will not loose your data or programs.
- We can collect & return your device anywhere in Ireland free of charge.
Pricing
FAQ
If I upgrade to an SSD will I lose all of my files?
Our technicians can migrate your old hard drive contents to your new SSD and preserve all of your files, programs and settings so that everything looks the same as before – the only difference being your computer is 100 times faster.
Why do SSDs cost more than HDDs?
Although the SSD market is growing and SSDs are becoming much more popular, SSD is still a relatively new innovation. As with any new technology, it is only a matter of time before sales increase to a level that will allow manufacturing costs to reduce. In the last few years, the price gap between SSD and HDDs has become much smaller.
Are there any trade-offs when choosing an SSD over an HDD?
The only factor in favour of HDDs is the price per gigabyte; this is why HDDs are currently sold in capacities of 500GB and above, while SSDs are sold in capacities of 30GB and above. We currently offers SSDs from 30GB to 960GB.
Traditional HDDs are best if mass storage is in the terabytes is your primary need, while SSDs are excellent if performance is more important. It’s common to use an SSD as a boot drive to hold OS and applications and an HDD to hold data files.
Can I use a solid state drive in any system?
Solid state drives can be installed in any system that supports the SATA II or III interface. (this is the interface used in almost all desktop and notebook computers)
Does a new SSD have a warranty included
SSDs are backed by a two-, three- or five-year warranty depending on the model you go for. If you are upgrading – ask your technician what warranty is included.
How much faster is an SSD?
This is a difficult question to answer, as no two systems are exactly the same and performance can be affected by the OS, any drivers loaded, applications in use, the speed and configuration of the processor and many other factors. There are several test web sites and magazines that have tested SSDs against HDDs and found SSDs to be much faster. For example, if we compared random read performance, SSDs are more than 20000% faster than high-performance HDDs.
It is worth noting that SSD drives are not affected by the physical limitations of hard drives. HDD platters are circular in design (like a CD) and data held at the centre of the circle is accessed at a slower rate than data on the edges. SSDs have a uniform access time across the entire drive. HDD performance also suffers from data fragmentation, whereas SSDs performance is not significantly impacted even if the data is not stored contiguously.
The bottom line:
If you have your laptop or PC upgraded to an SSD it is going to be considerably faster!!!
Contact our technical team to arrange a free consultation:
