Data storage, SSD or HDD?

[baconborn]

Hey quick question. If I already have a M.2 NVME drive for system files, Is there any reason at all to buy an SSD exclusively for data storage over a HDD?

[Matt_98]

Just now, baconborn said:

Hey quick question. If I already have a M.2 NVME drive for system files, Is there any reason at all to buy an SSD exclusively for data storage over a HDD?

not unless you need speed, although ssd's are more durable to drops than hdd's

 

[ARikozuM]

Depends on what you're storing. If it's games, some will benefit from an SSD. If it's documents and spreadsheets, go for a HDD.

[Stardar1]

2 minutes ago, baconborn said:

Hey quick question. If I already have a M.2 NVME drive for system files, Is there any reason at all to buy an SSD exclusively for data storage over a HDD?

SSDs are better, they are faster, last longer, more durable, etc. 

 

HDDs are cheaper, and come in larger sizes (up to 10 TB)

 

so, it depends on your Need4Speed™ and how much cash you have, as well as how much data

 

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

Depends on what you're storing. If it's games, some will benefit from an SSD. If it's documents and spreadsheets, go for a HDD.

Just to clarify. Some games will benefit in that their load times will be a bit shorter. Actual gaming performance won't be improved. 

 

 

Also, an issue with SSDs as data storage is that when they die, they tend to give no warning -- so if you don't have your data backed up and an SSD is ready to die, then you're fucked whereas if an HDD is ready to die it will usually give some indication giving you opportunity to save your files.

[ARikozuM]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

Just to clarify. Some games will benefit in that their load times will be a bit shorter. Actual gaming performance won't be improved.

RPG's and many open-world games benefit from an SSD due to the high speed and much lower delay. GPU's with low VRAM have also been found to benefit from an SSD due to the frame buffer needing to cycle through data.

[mafioso]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

Just to clarify. Some games will benefit in that their load times will be a bit shorter. Actual gaming performance won't be improved. 

 

 

Also, an issue with SSDs as data storage is that when they die, they tend to give no warning -- so if you don't have your data backed up and an SSD is ready to die, then you're fucked whereas if an HDD is ready to die it will usually give some indication giving you opportunity to save your files.

100% correct, SSD just helps boosting the starting time while not actually improving in game experience, so in fact to be most economy, you both an SSD for storing the executable files and a large HDD for the main data storage.