### How to Choose an SSD: The Complete Guide to PC Drives ### And what to look for when choosing one

How SSD differs from HDD

The faster the drive in your PC, the faster your computer starts up, opens files and programs, loads photo folders and levels in games. Using a computer is much more comfortable with a solid state SSD than an HDD.

HDD. In daily operation, the difference between SSD and HDD is easy to notice when running programs and copying files. With a more modern drive, the system works responsively and immediately, without much "thinking" starts the necessary programs.

But HDD owners have to wait for something all the time: the computer turns on for a couple of minutes, browser and messengers start with a delay, and copying a large file will take so long that the PC can be left and go to another room to drink tea.

The HDD is organized like this:

1. Inside a metal box are several spinning disks covered with a mixture of metal and glass. They "memorize" information using the properties of the magnetic field.
2. A special coil that slides across the disks is used to read and write information. This mechanism may vary slightly from disk to disk, but the principle is roughly the same.
3. The coil and disks are controlled by a special chip controller. It remembers where on which disk certain data is written, and coordinates the writing and reading of files. It is also responsible for "communicating" the hard disk with the rest of the computer and the user.

In the video 20 GB of video in 4K quality is recorded on different types of disks. SSDs of the past generations coped in 2.5 minutes, the current generation - in 37 seconds, and HDDs took as much as 5 minutes

In modern computers HDD disks are not suitable for installing an operating system and resource-intensive games - the component will become a "bottle neck" for faster parts, and the whole computer will run slowly. HDDs have already reached their performance limit: they can't find and write files fast enough due to the limitations of their design.

After the advent of fast, compact, and more reliable SSDs, hard disks went on a hiatus. Now they are still produced, but modern models are not so far from the disks that you could buy 5-8 years ago.

Nevertheless, HDDs can still be used. They have their own strengths:

1. HDD data can be recovered after deletion. HDD keeps the recorded data in the same place, while SSD keeps moving it around all the time. Because of this, HDD data can be attempted to be recovered - sometimes saving the family photo archive or valuable documents in the event of a breakdown or accident.
2. HDD is much cheaper. If you calculate the cost per gigabyte, a hard disk drive is from 2 to 10 times more profitable than modern SSDs. True, speed and reliability are not taken into account.

SSD. Unlike a traditional HDD, SSDs have no moving parts. Instead, there are circuit boards, chips, and controllers that store and transfer information. Here's what an SSD consists of:

1. Printed circuit board. This is where all the major components are located and the connector that connects the drive to your computer. SSDs come in different sizes and shapes: some look like compact HDDs, while others are quite small and plug right into the motherboard of your computer or laptop.
2. Flash memory chips. One, two or more memory chips are placed on the board, which are made up of millions of memory cells. This type of memory is called NAND, and different manufacturers produce slightly different variations of it: 3D-NAND, V-NAND, and so on. The amount and type of NAND memory is the main criterion for choosing an SSD.
3. Controller. This is a mini-processor that links the memory and the system. It is responsible for writing information into cells, searching for the necessary data, correcting errors, evenly distributing the load between memory chips and other functions. Controllers come in very different quality, and often the superiority of more expensive SSD models is due to the fact that they have a more advanced "brain".
4. Cache. This is a short-term storage for data, something like RAM. Cache can be of DRAM or SLC type - they have differences, but for the average user it is not the main parameter when choosing. The main thing is that the SSD has a built-in cache. The most budget models are more and more often produced without it at all, and such drives are slow and not reliable enough. The volume, speed, and complexity of the cache device affect the cost almost more than the size of the drive itself.

Inexpensive SSDs with small cache sizes are only good for "short distances" - when you need to open or move small files in small quantities. If a large movie or a folder with photos for several dozens of gigabytes exceeds the cache size, the speed will sharply drop several times, and the gap from the slow HDD will be significantly reduced.

In expensive SSDs the cache works not so straightforwardly, so flagship drives Samsung or WD almost do not suffer from a sharp loss of speed even with a cache size of 1-2 GB. This is why they are recommended for professionals who constantly work with large videos, sound libraries, databases, and other massive files.

In most 2.5" SSDs, the component board often takes up a quarter, if not less, of the case space

The main features of SSDs are:

1. High speed. SSDs can transfer information at speeds of 550-7500 MB/s, which is 6 to 125 times faster than HDDs. Even the most primitive SSD will make your computer faster and more responsive.
2. Reliable. SSDs have no moving parts, which means they are much harder to damage, such as dropping them. Of course, any drive can be broken, but unintentional SSD failures are less common.
3. Compact. Some SSDs are smaller than half a credit card and weigh less than 20 grams. There are larger variants, but they also take up less space than classic HDDs. In addition, HDDs are also noisy in operation, while SSDs do not make a sound.

 

What are the different types of SSDs

The term "solid state drive" hides several disks of different sizes - both "boxes" similar to HDDs for laptops and small chips with chips. SSD disks differ from each other by type and standard of connection, purpose and speed - and sometimes by 10-15 times.

The connector and interface. Determines how exactly the SSD connects to the computer and affects the speed of data transfer. A connector is a physical port on the motherboard into which a die or cable from the drive is inserted. An interface is a set of technologies that helps the motherboard and the drives communicate with each other.

There are only two popular interfaces:

1. SATA - usually looks like an L-shaped connector where a cable connects the drive. But it can be a slot on the motherboard in M.2 format. The interface gives out speeds up to 600 MB/s, which means SATA-SSD can be only 5-6 times faster than a regular HDD.
2. NVMe is a fast and modern standard. NVMe drives operate at speeds from 1.5 to 7.5 GB/s, that is up to 13 times faster than SATA-SSD.Most often such disks look like small platters in M.2 format, but there are other variants.

More interfaces have versions of:

1. SATA II and SATA III. Now only the third version is in use. The data transfer rate is up to 600 MB/s. SATA II connected, for example, hard disks PlayStation 4 with a speed of about 60 MB / s.
2. NVMe Gen 3, Gen 4 and Gen 5. You can also meet less correct designation PCIe 3.0, 4.0 or 5.0. Each version is twice as fast as the previous one. Drives with Gen 3 and Gen 4 versions are the most common, while the fifth version appeared only recently and so far no manufacturer has been able to reveal its capabilities.

 

In January 2023, the first consumer NVMe Gen 5 SSD came out with a huge heatsink included - because of the high speed, the chips and controller get very hot

There are five connectors and slots for popular drives on the motherboard:

1. SATA slot. It supports SSDs with the same interface and old HDDs. 2.5-inch wide drives are connected by a cable to a special L-shaped connector. You will also have to connect such a drive with a separate cable to the power supply, as SATA does not transfer power.
2. M.2 slot with SATA interface. This is a smaller version of the SATA-SSD - instead of a small box, the drive looks like a thin wafer of chips, about the size of half a credit card. The M.2 connector sits right on the motherboard and requires no wires or additional power.
3. M.2 slot with NVMe interface. Looks like SATA M.2 - in modern computers and laptops slots are combined and support both types of disks. But M.2 with NVMe is much faster and can be connected directly to the processor, which further speeds up the drive. NVMe-SSD will not be able to stick into the slot for SATA-drives, because of its different shape of pins on one of the sides of the die.
4. U.2 slot. It is rare in ordinary computers: this slot allows you to connect fast NVMe drives with cables, approximately as it happens with SATA. In data centers U.2 drives are useful because they support "hot-swapping", i.e. they can be disconnected from a running computer without fear of losing data.
5. PCIe slot. The rarest way to connect an SSD to a computer. A large card is inserted into the universal slot on the motherboard, where the video card is usually located. One such board can have two, four or more M.2 slots, which allows you to combine them into RAID arrays. This solution is usually used by professional editors who do not have enough space for disks that can be directly plugged into their motherboard.

 

Length of the die. Relevant for M.2 drives. There are five variations in total: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 и 22110. The first two digits represent the width, the last two or three digits represent the length.

Most motherboards support any length of drive, but you should check compatibility to make sure you don't have to return an overly long or short M.2 drive.

 

Be sure to check the motherboard specifications to see if the drive will fit your motherboard

Memory type. The NAND flash memory is responsible for directly storing information on the M.2 SSD. It consists of cells in which the information is stored. Each filling and complete erasure of information on the disk is called a rewrite cycle. The number of rewrite cycles that a disk will endure before failing is called the rewrite life.

The speed and life of an SSD is affected by the type of NAND memory. Due to the nature of the technology, over time any NAND chip will wear out and lose the ability to delete old information and write new information.

There are four types of NAND memory, and they differ in how much information can fit in each cell. The less information in a cell, the more evenly the drive fills without gaps, which means faster read speeds and the number of rewrite cycles it can withstand. More information in a cell means the drive is cheaper, but at the cost of slower speeds and faster wear and tear.

Here's how memory types differ:

1. SLC, or single-level cell, is a storage method that holds 1 bit of information in a single cell. SLC SSDs are the highest speed because the data doesn't need to be "searched" across the cell at all. But now among consumer models there are no such SSDs - because of the ultra-high board size and too high price.
2. MLC, or multi-level cell. Stores 2 bits of information per cell. This method of storage is still too expensive, so it is found mostly in advanced models for data centers. It used to be used in high-end models, but with the development of TLC in the consumer segment it was abandoned.
3. TLC, triple-level cell. The cell is triply divided and stores 3 bits of information. The most common solution in gaming SSDs is still fast, but quite affordable memory. Such models can reach speeds of up to 7.5 Gb/s. Drives come in capacities up to 2TB - more chips simply do not fit on the base board.
4. QLC, 4 bits per cell. The most popular drives in the budget segment, and the highest capacity. QLC drives are slower than others because of their dense storage, but they can be more than 8TB.

There can be confusion with product descriptions in stores and product specifications. Sometimes SLC is written in large letters on the box, when in fact it is a drive with slow QLC memory and fast SLC cache.

A sure way to find out if a manufacturer or a store is cheating is to read reviews or manually check the card with a special program. One of them - Crystal Disk Info - will help you find out the speed, state, wear and type of SSD memory.

SSD capacity and wear and tear

In theory, an SSD disk can store from 120 GB to 30 TB of data. In stores, you'll most often find models from 250GB to 4TB. But the volume is not as important as the type of NAND-memory and cache - only disks with TLC and built-in DRAM-cache are suitable for professional and gaming tasks.

Each capacity will suit a specific task:

1. 250 GB - operating system, heavy program and one small game. Suitable for those who work on a PC with light tasks and just want the system to boot faster.
2. 500GB is the minimum for a gaming PC. Modern games can weigh more than a hundred gigabytes, so this drive will only hold a couple of large projects.
3. 1TB is a good choice for home and professional use: you can store an archive of photos, several games, and seasons of TV shows on this drive. And terabyte TLC drives are relatively inexpensive.
4. 4TB - the optimal solution for storing files. Because of the large volume in such disks often use QLC-memory, which works slowly and will not suit professionals.

Unlike hard disks, SSDs have a finite rewrite lifetime - that is, the memory cells can be written to and erased a finite number of times. Depending on the type of memory, the media has 1-3 thousand cycles available.

That is, a 2TB SSD will fail somewhere between 2-6 petabytes of written data. Most likely, the controller will fail much sooner. Especially if the disk is a budget disk or from an unknown manufacturer.

A petabyte is 1024 terabytes

Despite the natural shortcomings of the SSD format, manufacturers are constantly coming up with ways to extend their life. Here are some of them:

1. Drive redundancy, or spare area. The unallocated, i.e., unnoticeable to the computer, area of the drive is about 7% of its capacity. It is allocated for writing and reading when the SSD is full - otherwise, at 80-90% capacity, it will start to perform worse. In addition, memory from the reserved area is used by the drive to replace its own NAND cells that have reached the end of their life.
2. TRIM. A feature that allows you to more thoroughly dispose of deleted files, completely clearing the cells and extending the life of the SSD. This feature is available on most M.2 SSDs and adds little to their price.
3. Firmware and "smart" stuffing. The software in modern disks is able to self-regulate their operation, keep the cells in tone and make sure they last as long as possible. All manufacturers release their own firmware for disks, but Samsung, Intel, Sandisk, Corsair, Kingston, Crucial and Western Digital are particularly attentive to the software.

Which SSD to choose for different tasks

To avoid confusion about standards, connectors, and interfaces, choose a drive based on the task at hand. Use the specifications to clarify your request.

For example, if you have a PC that is more than 10 years old, it is unlikely to have a modern M.2 slot on the motherboard. Therefore, without radical upgrades, you'll only be able to upgrade your storage to a more primitive 2.5" SSD - it will connect to the L-shaped SATA connector.

Here are the main scenarios where SSD will come in handy.

For household tasks. A disk for home use doesn't need to break speed and performance records or have huge heatsinks. That's why an ordinary 2.5" SSD will be enough for fast system booting, watching movies and downloading files from torrents.

The memory will be enough 500 GB - it will fit the operating system, a few seasons of the series and personal files, such as downloads from the browser and messengers. The Crucial MX500 SSD model for 500 GB is suitable - it will be perfect for everyday tasks. On the downside: a very small cache, because of which the speed of writing and reading sharply decreases if you transfer files larger than 2-3 GB. Disadvantages of the disk compensates for the price, in stores for it will ask 4000 ₽. To store large amounts of information complement the assembly HDD-drive for 2-4 TB. It's inexpensive, reliable, and allows you to recover data in case of anything.

As an HDD you can choose Seagate Barracuda for 2TB. The 3.5" disk is also connected via SATA and will fit any PC. The volume is enough for household tasks, storage of photos and TV series. It also costs just under $40.

For gaming. The performance gains from SSDs in gaming are unequivocal. All the big projects of recent years load much faster and feel smoother because the SSD doesn't interfere with other components working at full capacity.

In small projects, different types of SSDs do not differ much, but the gap with HDDs is more than double

Nevertheless, performance gains also depend on game optimization: if resources are poorly packaged during game development, even the most advanced drive won't help load them faster.

Here's what to look for when choosing a gaming SSD:

1. Interface - NVMe is fine for modern and demanding games. But even a more primitive SATA drive will seriously increase performance and reduce the speed of loading levels.
2. Technology - With an eye on the gaming future, it's best to go with a drive that supports modern data transfer technologies. For example, DirectStorage, which allows you to load levels faster.
3. Capacity - For gaming, go for a minimum 1TB SSD. In case you don't want to think about the disk size at all.

In addition to the characteristics of the drive, pay attention to the manufacturer and price. Now on the Russian market there are many decent manufacturers, Crucial, Western Digital, Kingston, Samsung, ADATA, Corsair.

A good choice for a gaming build in 2023 is WD Blue SN570. It's an M.2 card with NVMe support for 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB. It will work well for gaming, office tasks, and high-resolution video. The speed of 3 Gbps will be enough for any tasks and instant Windows booting. The 1 terabyte version will cost $63.

You can complete the assembly with a 2.5" SATA SSD Kingston KC600. It will be useful not only for everyday tasks. It is a 2.5" disk-"box", which is connected to the connector on the motherboard. The drive works at lower speeds - about 550 megabytes per second. The 1 terabyte version costs $80.

The main question when choosing an SSD for gaming is whether PCIe 3.0 speeds will suffice or if you should buy a drive that supports PCIe 4.0.

Despite the theoretical doubling of read and write speeds, the real effect of a PCIe 4.0 SSD will only show up when copying large files or playing the latest games. Games with DirectStorage technology, patented by Microsoft, get the most out of them. However, there is only one such game at the moment, and it is unknown when the next ones will be released.

 

The most recent example of optimizing games for SSDs using DirectStorage is the action game Forspoken. Huge levels load in a second because the SSD communicates directly with the graphics card, bypassing the CPU. The game itself, however, was one of the worst in 2023.

Pick your motherboard carefully

If you want to build a future-proof PC, you'll need a motherboard that supports SSD PCIe 4.0 slots. It's worth getting one even if you don't have one - older PCIe versions are also compatible with newer ones. You can always insert a "slow" disk into a "fast" board.

Motherboards with PCIe 5.0 support are still rare nowadays, and the real performance gain from the newest standard will not be high. So there is no sense in taking such a motherboard. 2000-3000 MB/s is enough for most games, while among consumer models there are much faster drives.

For work. By work we mean tasks that seriously load the system: huge tables in Excel, processing "raw" video of large sizes, and batch processing of photos, which uses both RAM and permanent memory at once.

SSD in a working assembly should be more productive than a gaming one - all the same things are important in it, and the data transfer speed in addition. The PCIe 4.0 interface is much better than the others at transferring large volumes of files, which means it will suit videographers and editors who can work with several hundred gigabytes of data in one project.

Volume is equally important: a disk in professional builds needs to store a lot of files and access them frequently. For backups and long-term storage of projects, use the cloud or a separate HDD. This will greatly reduce the speed of work, but will help you get a high-capacity disk several times cheaper.

 

The WD Black SN850X, for example, is suitable for work. It has high performance with speeds up to 7300MB/s. It will also last a long time due to advanced technologies that prevent the drive from aging. For a 1TB drive, you'll be asking $140 USD

Another ultimatum option, or the second M.2 board in the build is the Samsung 990 PRO. The drive is designed to handle large files and heavy modern games. For work with video it will fit perfectly. For 1 TB they ask 140$.

How to extend SSD life

This section contains tips on how to get the most out of your disk: extend its life, speed up its performance and slow down aging.

• *Because of the way SSDs are designed, it's best not to fill them up completely. This means you should buy a drive with 25-50% more capacity than you plan to use.

25% of the free space should be kept free on an SSD

This is also important because it is impossible to expand the number of M.2 NVMe drives in a PC without losing performance. In any case, the SSDs will queue up to access the processor, which will reduce read and write speeds. That's why it's better to calculate the disk size in advance, and during future upgrades change the whole system or supplement it with disks for other tasks. For example, 2.5" HDD or SSD for long-term storage of files.

This will help to utilize different memory fragments each time and slow down the aging of the drive.

Cooling. The price tag for a high speed M.2 SSD is high drive heat. During fast data transfers, PCIe 4.0 SSD chips generate a lot of heat that needs to be dissipated somewhere.

2.5" SSDs do not need additional cooling - the metal case acts as the heatsink. The same is true for M.2" SSDs with PCIe 3.0 - the disk is unlikely to heat up that much. Therefore, a heatsink is installed on them only if the case is poorly ventilated or clogged with dust to such an extent that the air flow is worse.

Most PCIe 3.0 memory sticks either don't need cooling at all, or the heatsink panel included with the motherboard will be enough for it. The principle of cooling is similar to CPU coolers - only instead of thermal paste, thermal plates are glued on the SSD and heatsink. They allow the drive to dissipate heat. 

 

A radiator is a copper or aluminum panel that is mounted on top of the drive's die and conducts heat away from the drive and into the enclosure. The panels are sometimes equipped with a cooler

The use of thermal plates is more of a modding than a necessity. Such solutions are designed to cool the die in cases with poor airflow.

More powerful SSDs with PCIe 4.0 support, which need cooling, are equipped with it from the factory. Such SSDs are sold with a heatsink installed, which is already connected to the die by a thermal interface. Although there are exceptions - Samsung SSDs are sold without a heatsink, because the manufacturer expects to use a standard M.2 slot cover instead.

 

Sometimes water cooling can be attached to SSDs - like the T-Force Siren Duo360.

Firmware. SSDs are whole mini-computers, not just file storage. Computer parts need a language to communicate with other parts. In the case of SSDs, that language is software.

SSD drivers are updated just like any other PC component - from the manufacturer's official website or with third-party programs like Driver Booster from IObit.

As with other devices, it is advisable for SSDs to have the latest version of drivers on board. For example, the flagship Samsung 990 Pro aged several times faster due to a flaw in the bundled software. A firmware update solved the problem.

Memo: How to choose an SSD

1. Decide on your task - you can speed up your old computer with an inexpensive 2.5" SATA SSD, you don't need to buy super-fast NVMe cards for the sake of it. But in games they will definitely be useful and reveal themselves. For long-term storage in the assembly can be taken even a voluminous HDD, if the information on it will be used infrequently.
2. Decide what disk capacity is needed. 250 GB is enough only for the operating system and a few programs, and in gaming assemblies it is recommended to put at least 1 TB of memory.
3. Select additional features. TRIM prevents SSD aging and extends its lifespan, and DirectStorage support will ensure instant downloads in games.
4. Choose the right motherboard. Modern high-speed NVMe SSDs need direct access to the processor. This is mostly found on motherboards of "older" series. AMD has these cards with B or X prefix. Intel has cards with B or Z prefix.
5. Make sure that the SSD has a built-in cache. It will allow you to transfer information longer without losing speed, which is especially important when working with large files.