Hard Drives

Choosing the Right Hard Drive for You

The right storage drive is the key component of any system, whether it is for gaming, creative professionals, or everyday tasks. You need a hard drive that can deliver optimum performance, quieter operation, energy efficiency, and more importantly sufficient storage capacity. Given the self-evident significance of storage devices, multiple manufacturers offer plenty of storage solutions, making it a difficult undertaking to choose the right hard drive. In particular, buyers often confuse whether to buy a Solid-State Drive or a Hard Disk Drive, moreover, there are many manufacturers such as Western Digital, Samsung, Seagate, Hitachi, and more, which adds further to the confusion. Worry Not! 

This write-up helps you understand all aspects of the best hard drive for your system. Moreover, our hard drive collection is carefully chosen to reflect your varying needs. We deal in HDD hard drives and SSD hard drives of all major brands and varying specs and capabilities including but not limited to SATA SSD, NVMs SSD, 1TB HDD, 2TB HDD, 500GB HDD, 256 SSD, and 500 SSD drives. You can rest assured that we can cater to every kind of storage need you have.

Let’s start our article with the basics because we know that understanding the basics of hard drives will help you make better decisions.

What is a Hard Drive?

Hard Drive is an external or internal component of a system, responsible for storing all digital data including documents, music, programs, applications, operating systems, videos, images, and the like. HDD is a non-volatile memory, meaning that they are not erased when power is not available.

How Does Hard Drive Work?

HDD is made of two parts: a platter and an actuator arm. A platter is a circular magnetic plate that has sectors and tracks, areas where data is stored. The actuator arm moves around these tracks and sectors for reading and writing data on a platter.

This spinning of the platter is measured in Rotation Per Minute or RPM, this raises another question: Does the speed or spinning of the HDD matter? The answer is yes, a cautious yes.

The speed is important relatively. A speed of 72,00 RPM is way faster than a spinning speed of 5200 RPM. The faster the speed, the quicker the reading or writing process, and the enhanced performance of the HDD. But this should not be taken as an iron-fist rule, when it comes to external hard drives, RMP does not matter much, it is hardly noticeable. The same applies to internal drives if they have to handle smaller files, but when it comes to handling larger files, higher spinning speed does have an impact, improving the overall performance of your system.

Internal HDD vs External HDD:

The hard drives can be both external and internal hard drives. As the name indicates, internal hard drives are installed within a PC and they are connected to the motherboard and power supply directly. They are deployed as a primary storage solution.

External hard drives are housed in an enclosure and they are connected to a computer through USB or Thunderbolt ports. They are used for backup, additional storage, and data transfer between different computer systems.

SSD vs HDD: Which One is Best Suited You?

When it comes to storage solutions, SSD or Solid-State Drive is another option that you can avail. In many ways such as performance, reliability, power consumption, and storage capability, HDD and SSD differ considerably. Here is a comparison that can help you make a better and well-informed decision.

Performance:

In terms of read/write speed, power consumption, and data transfer, SSD performs much better than HDD. SSDs are capable of transferring files at the rate of 500MB per second, and even more, some latest SDDs can support up to 3,500 MBps data transfer. HDD, on the other hand, can support hardly 30–150 MBps data transfer.

When it comes to running applications, SSDs can perform equally well, conducting the reading/writing process at 50–250 MBps. Unlike this, HDDs can support only 0.1–1.7 MBps. The main reason behind this relatively low power performance is the fact that HDD relies upon the rotation of platters which range from 4200 to 7200 RPM, electrics SSDs are not restricted by this limitation, therefore, they can deliver superior performance.

Storage Capacity and Cost Per GB:

Both SSD and HDD are available in enough storage, but HDD is normally higher because it is cost-effective. But over the years, companies have successfully increased SSD storage as well. For instance, as of November 2024, the world’s largest SSD storage is ExaDrive EDDCT100/EDDCS100 which supports whooping 100TB capacity, but it is not for regular use because it comes with an exorbitant price tag.

Normally, SSD is more costly than HDD, it can cost $0.08–0.10 per GB as opposed to $0.03–0.06 per GB of HDD.

Durability/Reliability:

Since HDD has mechanical moving parts, that makes them vulnerable to wear and tear. Furthermore, moving parts consume power energy and generate excess heat, further reducing the life of a Hard Disk Drive. What’s more, hard disk drives are vulnerable to physical damage. All leads to a shortened lifespan of an HDD.

SSDs don’t have moving parts; they can last long. One retrieving data from SSD is quite difficult, making them unattractive there are possibilities of data corruption, deletion, or manipulation. HDDs can allow to retrieval of deleted or corrupted data easily; therefore, they are preferred for data backup and redundancy.

As a thumb rule, here are major takeaways:

You should go for an SSD solution if you are going to a system for data analytics and gaming because they offer a faster data read/write process. However, for data backup, data archives, or another end, you should opt for HDD.

Factors to Consider for Choosing the Right Storage for You?

Here are factors that you should consider before making a final decision.

Hard Drive Capacity: How Much Do You Need?

This is the first question that is often asked. Hard drives are available in different sizes such as 256GB HDD, 500GB HDD, 1TB HDD, 2TB HDD, or even 32TB. Which one is best suited to your needs? Here is some general guidance:

• For those power users engaging in video editing, managing large gaming libraries, and rending 3D graphics, they should go for 4TB or more HDD storage.
• For users engaging in activities such as light gaming and photo editing, 1TB to 2TB HDD storage would be sufficient.
• For everyday users engaging in web browsing and document editing, you should go for  256GB – 512GB as it would be enough for them.

Performance:

Performance is another benchmark. SSDs perform better when it comes to demanding tasks like video editing or graphics designing. SSDs are of two types: NVMe SSDs and SATA SSDs. NVMe SSDs are way faster than SATA and they are preferred for storage for sensitive data. Furthermore, they are used favourably when users have to transfer large amounts of data.

HDD performance is measured in Rotation Per Minute or RPM. Normally, a higher RPM is preferable. It ranges from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM.

Interface:

For personal computers, users are recommended to prefer SATA drivers for both SSD and HDD. Concerning this, the latest version is SATA 3.2. They can provide both backward and forward compatibility and are capable of running at 6Gb/s and they have 600 Mbps bandwidth throughput.

For high-speed SSDs suitable for data centres and other sensitive installations, you should go for the PCI interface. Lastly, all external devices should have a USB interface for steady connection and quick data transfer.

Hard Drive Buying Guide for UK-based Users:

Here are some specific recommendations for UK-based IT enthusiasts so that they can purchase the right storage device with complete peace of mind.

Where to Find the Best Hard Drives in the UK?

Trusted UK retailers like Morgan Ingland UK and marketplaces like Amazon can help you purchase the best hard drive at the most affordable rate. Also, Morgan Ingland offers promotion deals and seasonal sales from time to time, where you can get your desired products at the best prices.

Best External Hard Drives for Business and Enterprises in the UK:

Here are some highly recommended external hard drives for enterprises and businesses in the United Kingdom.

• The Most Affordable Hard Drive:

Available in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB, 750GB, 1TB, and 2TB, UnionSine Ultra Slim is the best budget SSD external hard drive. Featuring Micro-B USB 3.1, this SSD storage is capable of delivering exceptional performance at the given price.

• Best Hard Drive for Gamers:

WD Black P10 Game Drive is the best HDD drive for gamers, it comes with every aesthetic design and features many gaming-specific features, for instance, the 4TB version can hold up to 40 gaming titles, serving as your gaming repository for years to come.

• Best High-end Hard Drive for Laptops:

Seagate FireCuda 8TB HDD is ranked as the best premium internal hard drive for a laptop. Available in 4TB and 8TB sizes, it features a 3.5-inch / SATA interface, 7200 RPM, 5 years warranty, and more. Seagate FireCuda 8TB HDD is known for delivering exceptional performance.

• Best External Hard Drive for MACs:

SanDisk Pro G40 SSD is considered the best hard drive for Apple’s MACs. They are available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB versions. It is equipped with USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. It is a portable SSD, making it convenient to carry wherever you go.

• Best Hard Drive for Capacity:

Seagate Expansion is a high-capacity SSD external hard drive for desktops. Its capacity ranges from 4TB to 24TB, and it is known as the fastest hard drive for desktops.

How Can We Help You Find the Best Hard Drive?

Are you looking for a hard drive that best serves you? Look no further, you are in the right place. Morgan Ingland Ltd prides itself on offering wide-ranging hard drive solutions including SSDs, HDDs, external hard drives, internal hard drives, NVMe Hard Drives, SATA Hard Drives, and more. On top of that, we collaborate with all hard drive manufacturers, including Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Kingston, Samsung, and more.

What’s more, we have a dedicated team of hard drive experts, available 24/7 to help you find the best storage solution at the best price in the UK tailored to your unique needs. Contact us today and take advantage of the latest discounts and promotions on industry-best hard drive solutions.