I need to pick a hard drive but I'm a little unsure as to what they actually are. I thought it was the thing that reads your disks basically but does it also hold the memory for all of your saves and stuff? Also do the Solid State Drives read disks and store memory because nobody has mention them reading disks as they all say that it just doesn't move and if it didn't read disks then I would also have to get a hard drive anyway. Confused, please help decide what I should buy for the new PC I'm building.
Hard drive confusion
- Thread starter Revolt
- Start date
Hard drive holds your files. - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279
Optical drive read disks - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-099-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=951
Solid state drives basicaly hard drive but no moving parts quicker etc. - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-007-CR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910
(above are just examples)
Optical drive read disks - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-099-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=951
Solid state drives basicaly hard drive but no moving parts quicker etc. - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-007-CR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910
(above are just examples)
The component that reads DVD's etc is your Optical Drive.
The component that stores the operating system and everything you have installed or saved is the hard drive.
Hard drives can be either mechanical - which means they store data on a rotating disk sealed inside (similar to an optical drive, but using magnetics instead of lasers) - or they can be Solid State where the data is stored electronicly on microchips (basically a suped-up version of a USB pen drive).
Ideally you should install the operating system on a Solid State Drive (or SSD), because they are much faster and more responsive than mechanical drives. SSD's are much more expensive per Gigabyte of space though, so you should also get a mechanical drive to store files that don't need high performance - like video files, games and mp3's, and then you don't need to buy a huge SSD (30 or 40GB is enough for the operating system and normal programs, 60GB lets you fit a couple of your favourite games on also)
The component that stores the operating system and everything you have installed or saved is the hard drive.
Hard drives can be either mechanical - which means they store data on a rotating disk sealed inside (similar to an optical drive, but using magnetics instead of lasers) - or they can be Solid State where the data is stored electronicly on microchips (basically a suped-up version of a USB pen drive).
Ideally you should install the operating system on a Solid State Drive (or SSD), because they are much faster and more responsive than mechanical drives. SSD's are much more expensive per Gigabyte of space though, so you should also get a mechanical drive to store files that don't need high performance - like video files, games and mp3's, and then you don't need to buy a huge SSD (30 or 40GB is enough for the operating system and normal programs, 60GB lets you fit a couple of your favourite games on also)
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You want a SATA drive, IDE is old legacy stuff. generically 2.5 is laptops and 3.5 is used for desktops (cheaper as they are large in physical size). But SSD's are almost all 2.5" for some reason.
If you can afford it, get a 60gb OCZ Vertex 2E or crucial C300 SSD and use that for windows/apps, and get something like a 1TB samsung Spinpoint F4 for storing all your other files (size of the samsung is a guess, you may want a smaller or larger drive depending on your needs).
SSD's make windows all snappy and fast and boot time is reduced from minutes to around 20 seconds, and you can isntantly start working, you dont ahve to wait for all the startup apps to load, as they are already loaded cause its super fast
If you cant afford to get an SSD as well, since they are not needed, just very nice to have, just get yourself a samsung spinpoint and use it for everything.
If you can afford it, get a 60gb OCZ Vertex 2E or crucial C300 SSD and use that for windows/apps, and get something like a 1TB samsung Spinpoint F4 for storing all your other files (size of the samsung is a guess, you may want a smaller or larger drive depending on your needs).
SSD's make windows all snappy and fast and boot time is reduced from minutes to around 20 seconds, and you can isntantly start working, you dont ahve to wait for all the startup apps to load, as they are already loaded cause its super fast
If you cant afford to get an SSD as well, since they are not needed, just very nice to have, just get yourself a samsung spinpoint and use it for everything.