What is an SSD? (Video)

Learn the basics of Solid State Drive technology with help from the Memory Experts at Crucial.

A solid-state drive -- or SSD-- is a data storage device that uses flash memory to store data. An SSD does the job of a traditional hard drive. Solid state drives have obvious advantages over their hard drive counterparts.

• They withstand temperature extremes better
• They run more quietly
• They run cooler
• They tolerate shaking, dropping, and other traumas that would otherwise render a hard drive useless
• Because they can be designed with smaller form factors, SSD often weigh less than hard drive.
SSDs offer better performance, too.
• They have faster startup and boot times.
• And they have fewer failures when it comes to writing or erasing data.

An SSD is easy to install, and it's also easy to migrate data from an hard drive to a new SSD.

More SSD videos!

The Crucial m4 SSD:

SSDs: Why Buy Crucial?

How to install an SSD

[Dejoblue]

Crucial rocks. Excellent customer service. I bought some RAM from newegg and I wasn't able to get it to work, they RMAed replacements from their factory (instead of having me work with newegg)and then when I still couldn't get it to work (RAM was fine was my ignorance at play :/)they schooled me on how to set my timings etc.. Great company, great service, they stand behind their products. So rare these days.

[captainallshamnowow]

not only is it faster in load times it also improves the game experience because it receives info faster

[joemitchell]

Wonderful explanation keep up the good work

[BroknSircut]

I mistake crucial for corsair sometimes... Bought a Corsair force 3.

[ThePsychedelicBeat]

can i back up my mac to an SSD? If so, how do i go about retrieving all the files?

[boobie]

@shoefork well ok, that I'm unsure about it, because I don't know what really lags fraps, I'm thinking that Fraps needs alot of free work load space on the CPU, Im not sure if it could change by hard drive, unless your hard drive is the slowest of the components, then I'd say It'd be the CPU... so idk. :( sorry bro... My answer is indefinite... hopefully somene else could answer it, I've been using MSi's Afterburner, it reords, but I have an MSi G-card, so idk if itll work with other G-cards...

[punishshot]

THANKS FOR TELLING ME WHAT I ALREADY KNOW :D

[shoefork]

@boobie284 Would it help my recording with fraps at all because when I record i drop fps real low and lag really bad, I have a good computer too...

[BishtrainerTai]

Dont SSDs wear out faster than regular HDDs? Im not a computer wiz, but a Disadvantages would be a great help to compare.

[shoefork]

@boobie284 My computer is great but the only slow/bad component in it would be the HDD instead of a SSD.

[tedzf]

wow my 1 tb (fast transfer) cost me £55.22, and a 1 tb ssd costs well 31, 400 to £ 2700 for top of the range, thats more than the costs of my rig.

[rayuri]

yeah but they're expensive bro :P.

I'll stick to raid 0-5 for now. I don't mind lagging in load a bit~

[halofannatic]

send me one too, oh wait i already have one, so send me another one!!!

[azndork]

SSD... Services for Students with Disabilities... it's what I have lol

[iamsmert]

@wiccanXexodus Costs an arm and a leg and they aren't as reliable as they say they are.

[boobie]

@Scorch052 it makes games load faster, not run faster... you want FPS, get a good Graphics card and a CPU, and enough ram... SSDs help with loading only

[bren.r]

SSDs are HIGHLYYY recommended for gaming. If you don't have one, you fail so hard, regardless of your gaming setup. Even typical HDDs in a raid setup isn't as efficient as SSDs.

[yesssigotmail]

nothing new here, but i didnt know ssds dont need power.

[Soulcommander]

@ihatespongebob1 You wouldn't smash a hard drive or put it through trauma...but accidents happen and things get dropped. that regards SSD's are more reliable....and NO moving parts.

[ArzenalX]

What is a SSD? Well, it is the best way to take money from careless customers who buy 100gb for 200$