Which solid state drive

For decades, data was stored primarily on mechanical hard drives. This makes HDDs the likeliest computer hardware component to fail. See all Performance articles. The new solid-state drives work completely differently. They use a simple memory chip called NAND flash memory, which has no moving parts and near-instant access times. Early experiments with SSD-like technology started in the s, and by the s and s they were being used in high-end supercomputers.

However, the technology was extremely expensive, and the storage capacity was small 2MBMBs compared to the ludicrous 5-digit prices. In the early s, hardware innovations caused SSD prices to drop. However, the lifespan and size were still an issue: An SSD had a lifespan of roughly 10 years. Instead of a magnetic platter, files are saved on a grid of NAND flash cells. Each grid also called blocks can store between KB and 4MB. The controller of an SSD has the exact address of the blocks, so that when your PC requests a file it is almost instantly available.

SSD access times are thus measured in nanoseconds. Note that the era of traditional hard disk drives is far from over.

Among our own Avast users, a vast majority still have old-school mechanical drives. Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www. Performance results are based on testing as of dates shown in configurations and may not reflect all publicly available updates.

See backup for configuration details. No product or component can be absolutely secure. Intel does not control or audit third-party data. You should consult other sources to evaluate accuracy.

Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Skip To Main Content. Safari Chrome Edge Firefox. SSD vs. What Is an HDD? What Is an SSD? An introduction to SSD basics, plus external vs. Your costs and results may vary. And the fastest M. The tricky bit OK, another tricky bit is that an M.

That said, most high-end M. Both M. So be sure to double-check the manual for your motherboard, laptop, or convertible, as well as what a given drive supports, before buying. So if your device supports NVMe and you find a good deal on a drive, you may want to consider NVMe as an option even if you don't have a strong need for the extra speed.

Until pricing drops and we see more competition, 4TB and larger drives will be relegated to professionals and enthusiasts with very deep pockets. But for laptop and convertible tablet owners, drive efficiency is more important than speed—especially if you want all-day battery life. And higher-capacity models can draw more power than less-spacious drives, simply because there are more NAND packages on bigger drives to write your data to.

While the above advice is true in a general sense, some drives can buck trends, and technology is always advancing and changing the landscape. If battery life is key to your drive-buying considerations, be sure to consult the power consumption testing we do on every SSD we test. Think of the controller as the processor of your drive.

It routes your reads and writes and performs other key drive performance and maintenance tasks. It can be interesting to dive deep into specific controller types and specs. Some of them are far less common than they used to be, and some are becoming the de facto standard.

All flash memory has a limited life span, meaning after any given storage cell is written to a certain number of times, it will stop holding data. As the years pass and cells start to die, the drive will move your data off the worn-out cells to these fresh new ones, thereby greatly extending the usable lifespan of the drive.

The flash in SSDs used to be arranged in a single layer planar. All that performance comes at a premium, though. Be aware of what NVMe drives deliver before you buy in.

To get the most out of an NVMe drive, you want to run your operating system on it, so you must have a system that recognizes the drive and can boot from it. PCs purchased during the past year or two should have no problem booting from an NVMe drive, but support for that can be iffy in older motherboards.

Do a Google search for your motherboard and see if it supports booting from NVMe. You may need to install a BIOS update for your board.

Capacity and price are important, of course, and a long warranty can alleviate fears of premature data death. Most SSD manufacturers offer a three-year warranty, and some nicer models are guaranteed for five years. We go into deeper details and buying advice in our guide on which SSD you should buy.

Not all of them, though.