SSD vs HDD: A Beginner's Guide to SSD Upgrades Discussion

[h0bbes]

What about the life of SSDs? Supposedly they have a longer life time than HDDs but isnt that reduced dramatically if they are over used? Such risks make me think that perhaps SSDs are not worth it yet (ignoring the price) or that reliability (intel?) over performance might the way to go

[kent1146]

What about the life of SSDs? Supposedly they have a longer life time than HDDs but isnt that reduced dramatically if they are over used? Such risks make me think that perhaps SSDs are not worth it yet (ignoring the price) or that reliability (intel?) over performance might the way to go

Technically, SSD's do have a limited number of writes. I believe that the current lifetime of the cells on MLC-based SSD's are in the neighborhood of 100,000 writes. SSD manufacturers estimate that if you wrote 20GB per day, every day, then their SSD's would still last at least 5 years. When an SSD cell hits its lifespan of writes, then it becomes a read-only cell... it still holds its data, but you just do not have the ability to write to that cell any more.

In essence, I wouldn't worry about the lifespan of SSD's. I very rarely see mechanical drives lasting 5+ years before getting replaced (either because of some kind of failure on the drive, or because I replace it for performance / size reasons). In short, I don't see SSD's being any LESS reliable than mechanical hard drives. In fact, I see them as more reliable, because they aren't at any risk of damage from drops, jolts, etc that mechanical platter drives are.

[b.tuned]

do ssds seriously add to the battery life of a laptop to the range of one hour? My current laptop (asus n53jn) uses a 5400 rpm drive and i was hoping that if i switch to an ssd it'll improve the battery life?

[kent1146]

No. There is no noticeable difference between mechanical hard drives and SSD's in terms of battery life or heat. Both drive technologies consume about the same power under load.

The only reasons to go with an SSD is for speed, silence, and durability against shock.

[b.tuned]

No. There is no noticeable difference between mechanical hard drives and SSD's in terms of battery life or heat. Both drive technologies consume about the same power under load.

The only reasons to go with an SSD is for speed, silence, and durability against shock.

hmm so even if in a ssd vs hdd using battery saver settings and and light internet browsing/ typing there'll be no difference in battery life?

[Patrick]

No. There is no noticeable difference between mechanical hard drives and SSD's in terms of battery life or heat. Both drive technologies consume about the same power under load.

The only reasons to go with an SSD is for speed, silence, and durability against shock.

Under load, your mostly right, but otherwise, ssds use much less power.

[b.tuned]

Under load, your mostly right, but otherwise, ssds use much less power.

so as per the review, if i used an ocz vertex 2 drive over a 5400rpm hdd i will see a noticeable difference in battery life if im doing light work on my laptop?

[Patrick]

Going from a 500GB Scorpio Blue (a 5400rpm drive) to a Vertex 2 got me around 45 more minutes of battery in my T400.

[b.tuned]

Going from a 500GB Scorpio Blue (a 5400rpm drive) to a Vertex 2 got me around 45 more minutes of battery in my T400.

hmmm that makes things verrryyyyy interesting then... its a shame ssds are just so damn expensive right now...thanks for the help.

[sgogeta4]

No. There is no noticeable difference between mechanical hard drives and SSD's in terms of battery life or heat. Both drive technologies consume about the same power under load.

The only reasons to go with an SSD is for speed, silence, and durability against shock.

This is not true. First of all, remember that you can't group all HDDs and SSDs in one category for power consumption, ie. some 7200RPM drives might consume less power than 5400RPM drives. Similarly, some SSDs consume significantly lower and some higher than your "average" HDD. For example, Samsung, Indilinx, and Toshiba generally have SSDs that will give you a noticeable boost in battery life. While Intel, Sandforce, and Marvell SSDs have been noted to decreased battery life. The reason is simply performance - the more performance, the more power consumed. While the latter three controllers do perform better than the former three, all of these will give markedly noticeable performance benefit over any HDD.