Reasons to use SATA SSD hard drive

When you buy a new or upgraded computer, you may come across a newer type of storage called NVMe.

NVMe SSD drives offer significant improvements in speed compared to today's popular SATA SSD drives in computers. An 'slow' NVMe hard drive is also 3 times faster than the SATA SSD drive that came with the laptop. But is that really true and should you upgrade to NVMe?

1. Should choose a SATA or PCIe SSD?
2. 11 things you should do when using an SSD on Windows 10
3. 9 SSD for the best gaming for gamers

1. SATA SSD is not the reason why the computer is slow

Computer is slow? Application takes a long time to load? Appearance latency? In this case, although the new drive might improve the problem, it will depend on the type of hard drive you are using.

If your computer uses an HDD, you can replace it with an SSD to speed up. HDD hard drive rotation time has a significant impact on speed and is replaced by a SATA SSD, which can easily make an older computer look like new.

But if you have an SSD, the problem is probably too little RAM, the CPU is 'dead' or outdated, and lacks a dedicated graphics card.

In other words, NVMe SSDs can make computers fast, but SATA SSDs are unlikely to make your computer slow unless you frequently transfer large files.

2. SATA hard drive is cheaper

When choosing a storage drive, we often care about capacity not speed. SATA hard drives do not offer the same speed as NVMe alternatives but will offer more capacity than the price.

If you've used up your existing hard drive, the SATA SSD can give you 1 to 2TB of storage for the price of a high-performance 250GB or 500GB NVMe hard drive.

Although the price of NVMe hard drives is falling, if you choose one of the slower NVMe options, such as affordable drives from Intel or Western Digital, the savings are negligible (but there is a big difference in speed).

You should consider whether high-end SATA SSD or affordable NVMe SSD. There are many factors to consider here in addition to speed, such as the next reason below.

3. SATA SSD drives use less power

NVMe hard drives can achieve significantly faster transfer speeds than SATA drives but they also consume more power to accomplish this. Some models have the same impact on battery life as using a spinning hard drive. But SATA SSDs reach their maximum speed with minimal power consumption.

4. NVMe SSDs are more likely to lose data

The high performance and power usage of NVMe hard drives can lead to other consequences. NVMe SSDs can get hot, resulting in hardware errors and data loss.

Some NVMe drives run hot enough to be recommended for desktops with more airflow. Some also come with heat sinks.

However, NVMe drives have begun to appear in laptops, and many have installed them themselves without causing other hardware to heat up. And one thing to note is that overheating depends on usage and the cooling system.

If you are a photographer or video editor who continuously manipulates large amounts of data or is a gamer who uses the computer for hours every day, you are at greater risk for people who mainly use computers to type. document.

5. SATA SSD works with more hardware

SATA is not a type of hard drive. It is the interface that the hard drive uses to communicate with the computer. SATA standard was developed with the time the hard drive rotates.

When newer SSDs came out, manufacturers made them compatible with the same SATA port. This way you can replace your existing hard drive without a completely new machine. While NVMe drive doesn't fit on SATA port, it needs m.2 port.

Many newer desktop motherboards come with m.2 ports as an additional option, and some modern laptops have completely removed the SATA port. But if you have an older machine, you can't use NVMe drives without a new motherboard or laptop replacement. Even when buying a new PC, the SATA SSD can still turn the old machine into a home media server faster.

6. SSD has reached the point of "the law of diminishing performance"

Storage speeds have been so fast that even many people who switch from SATA SSD to NVMe SSD don't notice the difference.

Installing the NVMe drive makes the computer boot faster, but how many times do you boot the computer and recognize the difference between a 10-second and 20-second boot? Some applications will load faster but only when the code is optimized to do so.

NVMe SSD has the greatest effect in transferring large files. If you regularly import RAW images or move video files, the time reduction to 10 to 20 minutes is a significant and worth upgrading.

But when it comes to gaming that many NVMe SSA hard drives advertise, you won't see the difference unless the developer has optimized the software to take advantage of the faster hard drive.

Should you buy NVMe SSD?

The NVMe drive helps reduce latency and speed up data transfer while also showing how storage drives are improving.

When it comes to getting the maximum performance from a computer, the NVMe SSD is definitely the perfect choice. When every minute spent transmitting data is a minute you can't work with customers, reducing that time with you makes sense.

However, like having 16GB or 32GB of RAM, most of us don't need that kind of power. It's appealing to have a high-spec machine, but there's no need to waste it, especially when choosing components to build your computer. For most people, SATA SSDs still work fine.