SSD has replaced HDD as the default storage option in laptops in only some years. But SSHD has emerged, offering the best of SSD and HDD. Do you want to know which will win the race while comparing SSHD vs SSD? You will learn about it through a head-to-head comparison available in this guide.
Whether you are willing to upgrade the hard drive or purchase a new PC or laptop, you must choose wisely while considering the storage factor. Check out this SSD vs SSHD post to know in detail.
What is an SSHD?
SSHD or solid-state hybrid drive is traditionally a spinning hard disk and comes with a small default quick solid-state storage. It consists of memory chips rather than the spinning magnetic platters available inside the disk. In addition, you can find it as storage in a USB thumb drive.
A solid-state hybrid drive is a single device for different operating systems, including Windows. You can get the drive available only in SATA format, and these are usually available in laptop sizes, such as 2.5″. But remember that multiple laptops come with space for 7mm high only; however, many drives are 9.5mm high.
How SSHD Works:
A solid-state hybrid drive uses a small amount of high-performance NAND flash memory. This drive usually stores the user data, often using its flash memory. Besides,
Solid-state hybrid drives allow you to quickly access files because of their Solid-state drive portion of 8 GB.
The Solid-state hybrid drive comes with a memory manager in its hard drive. It helps to recognize the most used data and files and store them in the flash memory, the solid-state part of the Solid-state hybrid drive. In this case, you can access the files easily because the operating system knows about all the user data and files.
Advantages:
- A solid-state hybrid drive is more reliable for its high speed and ample space.
- Besides, the drive has less rotation and part movement.
- It allows you to access the files and data which you use.
- In addition, it comes with a longer life span.
- As the drive is not so expensive, you can purchase it within your budget.
Disadvantages:
The HDD part of the drive is fragile, and therefore, if the drive gets exposed, it can cause damage.
What is an SSD?
A solid-state drive or SSD stores data in the NAND flash memory instead of storing it on the magnetic platters. These don’t come with any moving parts, due to which it becomes the best choice for overall performance. In addition, the Solid-state drives consume less power and release less heat compared to HDDs.
But these have lower capacities than HDDs offering a higher price per gigabyte. In addition, the memory cells you use to store data wear out with use. The old
Solid-state drives don’t last for a long time. Besides, the new models come with more failure rates in line with HDDs or other OSs. In this case, the Solid-state drive is for temporary storage and helps to speed up things.
Solid-state drives are available in two main types: SATA and NVMe. SATA types are like laptop hard drives, and here you have to attach them to a SATA port in the PC or laptop. Besides, the new type NVMe goes into an M.2 slot in the laptop or PC. So it is advised to go with the best ones.
How SSD Works:
A solid-state drive comes with a Controller that works as a processor, and it operates all the tasks of reading and writing. In addition, it uses “flash memory” as RAM. But the Solid-state drive is unable to clear the memory while powering down and as a result, the memory remains stored in it.
The drive uses a grid of electrical cells to receive and send data quickly. Pages separate the grids, and when multiple pages come together, we call it a block. Solid-state drives can write only while any blank page is available, and these are unable to write on any already written page. As a result, there is no chance of data overwriting in a Solid-state drive.
Advantages:
- These drives don’t come with any moving parts, for which it is quick.
- The chance of failure is less because of having no moving parts, making the drive reliable and durable.
- It uses less power.
- The drive doesn’t have any overwritten data.
Disadvantages:
- It is costly.
- The drive comes in a shorter life because you can use the flash memory for a limited number of writes.
How to Migrate Solid-state hybrid drive to Solid-state drive:
The process of migrating Solid state hybrid drive to a Solid-state drive is as follows:
Step 1: First, your task is to attach the drive to the PC. After that, you have to launch the MiniTool ShadowMaker. Next, you should tap on the Keep Trial and the Connect in This Computer option to continue.
Step 2: When you enter the main interface, your job is to go to the Tools tab. Next, you should select the Clone Disk feature to continue.
Step 3: After applying, you select the source and target disk for cloning. In this case, you should try to clone the Solid-state hybrid drive into a Solid-state drive. Next, you have to set the Solid-state hybrid drive as the source disk and the Solid-state drive as the target disk.
Step 4: As soon as you have chosen the disk clone source and destination, tap on OK to continue.
Step 5: You can get a warning message telling you that the target disk will destroy all data during the disk cloning process. After that, tap on Yes to continue.
Step 6: It starts cloning the Solid-state hybrid drive to a solid-state drive. Hence, you have to wait until the method is finished.
Step 7: If the disk clone procedure is completed, you can get a message saying that both source and target disks have the same signature. Thus, you can remove your SHDD from the PC and insert the Solid-state drive into it.
Differences Between SSD vs SSHD:
A solid-state drive is flash storage like a USB drive because the drive uses NAND memory. On the flip side, the hybrid drive comes with both a regular hard disk and NAND memory serving as a big cache buffer; usually 8 GB. These two types of drives are available in 2.5- and 3.5-inch size variations. However, Solid-state drive also comes within the M2 form factor coming in small size.
The Solid-state hybrid drives have a capacity of up to 14 TB and an 8GB Solid-state drive cache. Besides, the Solid-state drives are capped at 2 TB. First, go through the SSHD vs SSD details.
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Speed— SSD vs SSHD:
Solid-state drive’s speed can vary as per the protocol version, including SATA, NVME protocol, Pcle, M.2, mSATA, and SATA express. So whether you are willing to make the PC faster, you should use a Solid-state drive. But whether you are willing to have a lot of storage, you need to use a solid-state hybrid drive.
If you use a solid-state hybrid drive, you can see a slowdown while the cache of the Solid-state drive part is used up. It enables you to slow down to the level of HDDs. When it comes to startup time and running software, a solid-state hybrid drive’s startup time is quicker than traditional HDDs. However, a Solid-state drive can deliver speedier performance. If you use a solid-state hybrid drive on a PC or laptop, there is no need to use any special software or configuration to decide where you should store programs and files.
The solid-state drives can offer the best boot performance and high read/write performance. Besides, the solid-state hybrid drives offer similar Solid-state drive performance during booting, launching, and loading.
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Load Time Comparison— SSHD vs SSD:
Eurogamer is a gaming website that tested load times for four heavy-duty games on a standard test bench. These used OCZ Trion 100, Seagate Firecuda 2 TB solid-state hybrid drive, and a 500 GB HDD stock drive.
The solid-state drive was ahead of the hybrid drive consistency across all games. This initial app loading time lags in the games when you use SSHD as these are launched from the HDD component. The Solid-state drive part of a solid-state hybrid drive has relation to “frequently accessed data” and “boot data.”
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Storage Capacity— SSHD vs SSD:
As per the manufacturer’s design, the storage capacity of a Solid-state drive usually is between 128GB and 4TB. On the other hand, the HDDs have 250GB to 14TB.
On the other hand, the combination of the mechanical hard disk makes a solid-state hybrid drive a greater storage capacity. The available storage capacity is more than 4TB. Compared to the drive, the Solid-state drive has a smaller storage capacity.
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Life Expectancy— SSD vs SSHD:
Solid-state drive storage can wear out over time as the NAND cell gets degraded over every use. It is true for old models, but you can find the later generation designs facing lower failure rates. Solid-state drives, which are available commercially, are more long-lasting for a natural life cycle.
TBW (Terabytes written) is a vital life expectancy parameter for solid-state drives. It refers to the terabytes of data possible to be written to the disk in its lifetime. For example, you can consider a Barracuda Solid-state drive of 500 GB with 320 TBW. Although you write 100 GB data daily, it will need 8.7 years to reach the Solid-state drive’s life expectancy.
Usually, the age limit for Solid-state drives is around ten years. However, you can get more lifespan with a solid-state hybrid drive. For example, the Seagate FireCuda SSHD comes with a load/unload cycle of 600,000. The load/unload cycle indicates a software-controlled power on/off cycle. Although you reboot and start the SSHD system 150 times a day continuously, it will last 10.9 years. The lifespan is more than that of the Solid-state drive.
The solid-state hybrid drive can last after its load/unload cycle rating. The failure rate of the program cycles is lesser as it uses portions of HDD and Solid-state drive more efficiently at a time than if these were separate. Both these drives have very high lifetime values. Therefore, it doesn’t need to be worried about the hard disk failure. However, solid-state hybrid drive is still ahead.
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Price— SSHD vs SSD:
If you want to purchase a 500GB Solid-state drive model, you must invest around $60. On the other hand, you can buy a 1TB SATA-based Solid-state drive for less than $100. But if you are willing to purchase a 2TB SSDNMVE model, it will cost over $250.
On the other hand, if you want to purchase a 500-gigabyte Solid-state hybrid drive, you must pay around $54. Use a 2TB Solid-state hybrid drive, which is available for about $100. While there exist multiple data, you have to use a Solid-state hybrid drive that can fit your budget. Their costs are different. Since Solid-state hybrid drive storage drives are generally HDDs, the cost is lower than Solid-state drives.
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Reliability— SSD vs. SSHD:
Solid-state drives are very power efficient. But the storage capacity affects the battery life by reducing 10%. In addition, the processor power and LCD screens help to drain the battery mostly.
The Solid-state hybrid drive will beat the Solid-state drive when it comes to reliability as the HDD and Solid-state drive are available in the same device. In addition, solid-state drives are sometimes more long-lasting for the design with no moving parts.
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Data Protection Capability— SSHD vs SSD:
The data protection ability of a solid-state Hybrid drive is stronger than that of a Solid-state drive. It is because people use the NAND part of this drive for a short cache drive storing data in the mechanical disk. Therefore, you should not think about data loss.
The solid-state drive uses NAND only as the storage medium. In this case, you can lose the data due to power outages or long periods of non-use. Hence, the Solid-state drive’s controller chip can tell you where you have stored the data, and it can find the requested data instantly, making solid-state drives quick storage devices. In addition, the Solid-state drive portion contains frequently used data in the solid-state hybrid drive, whereas the HDD stores the less used data.
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Form factor— SSHD vs. SSD:
Solid-state drives are the thinnest available storage options without their moving parts, and these are perfect for thin and light computers. The solid-state hybrid drives are available in 7 mm heights for standard notebooks.
SSD vs SSHD— which one is better for computers?
Solid-state drives are available in limitation when it comes to storage capacity than traditional hard drives. 4TB is the largest size of these drives available at £650 / $700. But these are still expensive for many people. For example, if you want to have a 1TB storage capacity, you need to invest around £150 / $150. Therefore, multiple purchasers select a 250- or 500GB model like the Samsung 860 Evo.
On the other hand, a 2TB Solid-state hybrid drive such as Seagate’s FireCuda is available for below £90 / US$90. So whether you’re looking for a balance of storage space and performance, it is a good choice.
Your selection between SSHD vs SSD relies upon whether you want to purchase a PC or laptop.
For Laptops:
Whether you use a laptop with room for only one drive, you will get fewer choices. If you are willing to get the highest overall performance, you should purchase a solid-state drive. But whether you are eager to have the biggest amount of storage, you need to purchase a Solid-state hybrid drive.
Solid-state Hybrid Drives can store recent information to load things quickly and offer better overall performance. Besides, the drive can make the laptop boot faster. Ensure that you should purchase a drive that can fit inside your laptop. In addition, you have to check the existing drive’s height before ordering a new one because these vary. A few ultra-portable laptops will never accept a 2.5-inch drive and need an even smaller 1.8in ‘microSATA’ drive.
For PCs:
PCs have space for many drives. Therefore, there is less demand for Solid-state hybrid drives. Multiple new PCs offer both a Solid-state drive and a hard drive. Besides, you should install windows on a small-capacity Solid-state drive. The HDD offers plenty of space to store your music and photo collection, and these will not demand fast storage.
If you use a Solid-state hybrid drive, you will not require any unique configuration or software. Whether you cannot configure Windows to store your documents on the hard drive, it becomes simple to fill up it to capacity.
The Bottom Line SSHD vs SSD— Which Storage type is the best?
Are you searching for perfect speed? If yes, then a solid-state drive is a better option; between SSHD and SSD. But if you want to have an affordable option or want more storage space with quick boot-up speed and access, you must go with a Solid-state hybrid drive. Finally, if you want storage space mainly, use a combo of a Solid-state drive and HDD. In this case, the solid-state drives are for system files and applications, whereas HDD helps to store backup data such as photos, media files, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How long do SSD hard drives last?
You can use them for 2-3 years. After that, the drive may not last for long, but you should be ready for its sudden failure.
- Is the SSD hard drive worth it?
Solid-state drives are more robust, quicker, and more energy-efficient, whereas HDDs are available at cheap rates for larger capacities. However, if you have another choice, you should select a smaller Solid-state drive for the operating system and applications when you select an HDD to store files.
- Do SSDs get slower when full?
These can run very fast than the traditional spinning platter hard drives. But while you fill them up, these can decrease performance. So it is always better not to fill them up to keep these drives at their maximum speed.
