HOW TO USE A SSD AND HDD TOGETHER UPGRADE
HOW TO USE A SSD AND HDD TOGETHER PC

Importantly, most hybrid drives have a fairly small amount of SSD storage. The drive handles this on its own - you donвЂ™t have to shuffle files around or decide what goes where. The goal is to have the drive access system and program files with the speed of a solid-state dive, and provide the storage capacity of a magnetic drive for other files. Although this is a cache, itвЂ™s stored in non-volatile solid-state memory - that means it persists across reboots, so it speeds up your startup process. The SSD portion of the drive acts as a вЂњcacheвЂќ - files you access frequently, such as your operating system files and program files - are stored on the SSD portion of your drive by your firmware. Instead, the driveвЂ™s firmware manages what is and isnвЂ™t on the solid-state drive. YouвЂ™re not in charge of deciding which files go on the mechanical drive and which files go on the solid-state drive. Importantly, this hard drive appears as a single drive to your operating system. Hybrids Are Magnetic Drives With SSD StorageДЄ hybrid hard drive contains both a traditional magnetic drive and the amount of solid-state storage youвЂ™d find in a small solid-state drive. If you want to move a program to a different drive, you may have to uninstall it and reinstall it at a different location. If you want to move a file to a different drive, youвЂ™ll have to move it yourself. This requires installing both drives in the computer and choosing which files and programs to place on each drive. The larger mechanical drive can be used for long-term storage of files that donвЂ™t need to be accessed as quickly - a media or photo collection, for example. The solid-state drive is used for system files, programs, application data, and anything else that really benefits from the speed.

HOW TO USE A SSD AND HDD TOGETHER PC

To get the advantages of both, many power users and PC gamers use both a solid-state drive and mechanical drive in their systems. Mechanical drives may be slow, but they offer a very large storage capacity at a very low price per gigabyte. A mainstream solid-state drive at a reasonable price might offer 256 GB of storage at most, while a mechanical drive might offer 2 or 3 TB of storage. A solid-state drive might cost about $0.58 per GB, while a mechanical drive might cost $0.06 per GB. But even these now-cheaper drives have less storage capacity. Prices have come way down, so you should definitely look at upgrading to an SSD.

Solid-state drives are much faster than mechanical drives.

HOW TO USE A SSD AND HDD TOGETHER UPGRADE

RELATED: It's Time: Why You Need to Upgrade to an SSD Right Now

Mechanical Drives and SSDs Both Have Their Advantages

How to use a ssd and hdd together