SSD vs HDD in 2024: What kind of storage do you really need? (2024)

Every single thing you do on your desktop or laptop PC consumes storage one way or the other. And while we've come a long way from PC storage being unchangeably tied to the model you buy, storage is still an important consideration. Whether you're buying a new laptop, building a PC, or contemplating a storage upgrade, some degree of research is necessary to decide how much storage you need. From figuring out your existing use case to accounting for future needs, buying the right amount of storage at the outset can save you a lot of hassle later.

But the amount of storage is just one part of the problem. You also need to choose between the type of storage — speedy SSDs or economical HDDs. There are also different form factors and PCIe generations to unpack and external hard drives and SSDs to consider. Let's get into it then.

SSD vs. HDD in 2024: Affordability & Performance

Do HDDs still make sense?

SSDs were already becoming popular around a decade ago as people found 64GB and 120GB SATA SSDs affordable enough. But, 10 years later, amidst a near-total domination by SSDs, conventional hard drives still find a few use cases. The vast majority of gamers might have completely moved to the best gaming SSDs but many casual users and even professionals still have high-capacity HDDs as part of their setups.

Despite their remarkably poor performance compared to even SATA SSDs, high-capacity hard disk drives still cost nearly one-third the price of NVMe SSDs for the same capacity. You can get a 4TB Seagate BarraCuda 5400RPM hard drive for $80. Compare this to a 4TB Crucial P3 Gen3 NVMe SSD that'll set you back by around $200. If you have a limited budget and need value for money over snappy performance, the HDD seems like the better option.

Creative professionals, HTPC enthusiasts, or just anyone requiring tons of cheap storage for their photos and videos still find HDDs favorable over SSDs. Even for storing and playing movies and TV shows, HDDs don't really make a huge dent in your experience. And the best NAS hard drives remain quite popular. Sure, this might not be the case 5 years from now, but HDDs are very much relevant for specific scenarios in 2024.

Seagate BarraCuda 4TB

$80 $90 Save $10

The Seagate BarraCuda 4TB internal HDD is a 5400RPM drive rated for a maximum transfer rate of only around 190MB/s. But, what it lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in cost per GB. It's a great option for storing your vast media library or creative files.

$80 at Amazon$93 at Newegg$80 at Best Buy

See Also

SSD vs HDD Lifespan, Which Lasts Longer SSD or HDD? What's the Difference

How much storage do you really need?

It's probably more than you think

Often, the choice of how big a storage drive to buy comes down to how much you can afford within your budget, more than how much you really need. But, the situation is different when buying a laptop or a pre-built desktop you're not comfortable upgrading later. In such cases, you need to accurately estimate your storage needs before parting with your money.

There are broadly four kinds of users when it comes to storage requirements:

• Casual and home office users: If all you do is browse the web, work with online documents, and store some amount of work files, you don't really need more than a 256GB or 512GB laptop or desktop.
• Gamers and media hoarders: Sizes of games have gotten out of hand and a 1TB SSD is all but necessary if you don't want to run out of space within a year or two, especially if you also want to store a decent media library.
• Professionals and enthusiasts: 2TB and higher storage is only needed if you regularly store huge RAW files, videos, and other professional files. Plus, if you also want to store huge games, you might need even more storage.
• NAS users: People requiring massive storage for their NAS servers or similar use cases can get hard drives with up to 20TB of affordable mass storage. Such sizes among SSDs come with stratospheric prices.

Laptop users, gaming or otherwise, should stay away from older models with HDDs, and can simply go with a 1TB SSD in most cases. If you're building your own gaming PC, I suggest getting a Gen4 2TB drive and being done with it. You'll not run out of space anytime soon, even if you're storing huge media libraries, photos, videos, and everything else along with your games.

If you have the budget to spare and don't want anything to do with slower hard drives, any one of the best 4TB SSDs would be the obvious choice for you. Instead, if you want to get the best of both worlds, a 1TB NVMe SSD and one or two secondary HDDs can be a great combination of speed and affordability.

Lastly, external SSDs can solve a lot of your issues if you need a fast, portable storage drive that you can take with you anywhere. External HDDs, on the other hand, can make sense if speed isn't a concern, and all you need is a capacious drive that's affordable as well as portable.

WD BLACK SN850X 2TB SSD

The WD Black SN850X 2TB SSD is arguably one of the best options for any PC, gaming or otherwise. It has plenty of storage, provides the best of Gen4 performance, and is highly reliable. You can also get a heatsink variant for an extra $30.

$130 at Newegg$130 at Amazon

2024 could see SSD prices increase

Cheap SSDs might be gone soon

A Western Digital Blue SN550 M.2 SSD with no physical DRAM chip.

If the industry reports pan out, NAND flash prices will see a significant price rise, leading to SSDs getting pricier. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are all expected to raise NAND prices in the first half of 2024, which could see the age of cheap SSDs come to an end, at least for a few years. The year 2023 saw one of the cheapest SSD prices in a long time, thanks to a severe drop in the demand for NAND flash memory.

As 2024 looks to be a big year for the PC industry, demand for SSDs and thereby, NAND flash memory is bound to increase, leading to a portion of that hike being passed on to consumers. If you're building a new PC or buying a laptop this holiday season, don't delay the purchase as you could end up paying more for storage next year. SSD prices have already started rising, so the reports seem to be accurate.

SSD and HDD: To each his own

You could understandably consider HDDs ancient and stay as far away from them as possible. You could also prefer a combination of SSDs and HDDs in your specific setup and have a great experience. It all depends on your use case, budget, and preference. If you've never used an SSD before, cloning your HDD to an SSD could be the best upgrade you could make to your PC or laptop. Also, there are a lot of reasons why you shouldn't use a hard drive in 2023, if you can help it. But if you need mass storage for a reasonable price, they can still be a great solution.