Is your computer not using the “Zhenxiangpan” yet?

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So, is it feasible for you and me to completely abandon mechanical hard drives at present? What are the strategies and considerations for fully embracing SSDs?

Saying goodbye to traditional hard disks is supported by actual data. According to a market research company's forecast, SSD sales will exceed mechanical hard disks for the first time in 2020. Of course, this data includes all areas such as personal and commercial use. If only the personal consumer market is counted, I believe this turning point will come earlier.

In 2020, SSD sales will exceed HDD

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There is no need to elaborate on the popularity of SSD. Over the years, SSD is small in size, fast in speed, quiet in noise, not afraid of vibration ...all its advantages are clear to everyone, but these are not enough to completely crush HDD - you can be as strong as you want, but I am as tolerant as I am!

As a result, the combination of SSD and HDD still exists in a large area today (after all, it has a life cycle). Do you think people are not annoyed by the buzzing and slow HDD? There is really no other way . After all, a photo is more than 10MB, a video is more than 10GB, and a game is tens of GB, not to mention those gamers with a hobby of collecting. Do you think that relying on SSD to carry all the data? In the past, it was unthinkable.

In addition to the speed issue,

The vibration and noise of traditional hard drives are also annoying

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The good news is that in 2020, we can dare to think about it! With the advancement of technology, the capacity of SSDs continues to increase and the price continues to decrease. In 2020, the turning point has arrived - when the price of TB-level SSDs also starts to become affordable, plugging a 1TB NVME SSD into your computer can basically "go anywhere with one disk".

An M.2 interface SSD the size of a gumball.

The capacity has reached TB level, and the price is becoming more and more affordable

Even if there is a need for larger capacity, there is no need to "grit your teeth" to stuff 4 SSDs into the NAS to form a 4TB warehouse. Therefore, everyone's psychological threshold has been broken - they begin to seek to eliminate HDDs and embark on the road of "all-flash" real fragrance.

You may say that getting rid of the HDD is so easy and it is a no-brainer ! Just buy a large-capacity SSD, copy the data to it, and then unplug the HDD.

Things are not that simple. A mindless replacement may lead to a "triple kill" :

Smart players will not copy all the files from HDD to SSD. Although SSD has become a "fat man", it is just a "small fat man" at best compared to HDD. If you transfer data all at once, even a TB-level SSD will be easily filled up.

Data storage ideas in the era of mechanical hard disks,

No longer suitable for "all SSD" use

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Due to differences in the master control balance algorithm and cache mechanism, the speed of some SSDs will be affected when the capacity is more than half or even close to being full of data. Some SSDs may even endanger the reading and writing stability.

The smart way is to distinguish between frequently used and infrequently used files (hot and cold data) . Make smart use of cloud storage and put some infrequently used or public files (such as old game collections) into cloud storage and download them when needed.

At today's broadband speeds, downloading is not much slower than reading from a mechanical hard drive. If you don't want to use cloud storage, it's also a good idea to convert your original mechanical hard drive into a mobile hard drive to back up the above "cold data".

They are all called SSDs, and they all have large capacities, but the performance differences between them are huge. For example, some SSDs are jokingly called "large USB flash drives" by netizens. The read and write speeds are extremely unstable, and there is a huge difference between when the disk is empty or nearly full. When writing large files, some SSDs can't even reach 100MB/s. When installing a large game, the speed is even slower than that of a HDD! Once you choose such an SSD without thinking, how can you enjoy it?

Big brand SSD manufacturers,

Ability to balance speed, capacity and erase life,

Achieve the best experience

If it is just slow, it is tolerable, after all, it is quiet! But the "large USB flash drive" has a killer mode - the read and write mechanism of the controller is not mature, and some simulated cache modes are prone to speed drops once large files are written or as time goes by, and there is also the risk of crashing, commonly known as "disk drop".

The "speed kill" and "security kill" actually come from the contradiction between the "high speed" and "large capacity" of SSD. The higher the storage density, the more special technology is needed to improve the read and write speed and reliability, which increases the technical threshold of large-capacity SSD. Not all manufacturers are able to perfectly balance speed and capacity, and at the same time have no worries about the erase and write life . Therefore, when choosing an SSD, remember to identify the big brands and purchase from regular channels.

Isn't there a free and elegant way to say goodbye to HDD without looking back? The answer is yes! That is to own an SSD product with "black technology" .

In fact, despite the dazzling array of SSDs, there are only a handful of them that have real technical background and can continuously launch cutting-edge technologies.

Intel Enhanced SSD

Intel's enhanced SSD is famous for its built-in black technology "3D Xpoint", which has a speed and rewritable life far exceeding that of ordinary flash memory. After combining this technology with large-capacity QLC flash memory, Intel's enhanced SSD has reached an outstanding level in speed, capacity and rewritable life.

In terms of capacity, Intel's enhanced SSD can reach TB level. It uses an M.2 interface and is very small in size. It can be perfectly "hidden" in the motherboard, allowing the computer to completely abandon the HDD.

3DXpoint storage technology

In terms of speed, it makes full use of its "intelligence" - it can automatically place files that need to be accelerated on 3D Xpoint media. Therefore, after using the Optane-enhanced SSD, the speed of opening large media files can be increased by up to 3 times [1] . It can learn and accelerate frequently played games, and the speed of level loading when playing games can reach an astonishing 4.7 times [2] .

In terms of erase and write life, in addition to the extraordinary erasable life of 3D Xpoint, Intel's enhanced SSD has an average failure interval of 1.6 million hours and provides a 5-year limited warranty, making it a reliable "data warehouse."

Choose a 10th-generation Core laptop with Intel's enhanced SSD, add the 10th-generation Core's native support for Wi-Fi 6, and complement it with cloud storage, and the realization of "all-flash" can be said to be easy and stress-free.

Lenovo ThinkBook 14

This Lenovo ThinkBook 14 is as thin as 17.9mm and as light as 1.5kg. It is equipped with the 10th-generation Core i5 processor and Intel enhanced SSD 512GB, and is also equipped with AI, making it a "god-level laptop for the workplace."

Acer New Swift 14-inch Notebook

Acer's new Swift 14-inch notebook has a series of advanced features of the 10th generation Core, including Wi-Fi 6 support, built-in Intel enhanced SSD 512GB, support for Thunderbolt 3 interface, etc. The aluminum-magnesium alloy shell weighs only 1.19kg, making it a "really good" notebook.

ASUS VivoBook 14 X 2020

ASUS VivoBook14 X 2020 supports a variety of all-metal trendy colors, has a variety of 10th-generation Core processors to choose from, comes standard with 512GB Intel Optane enhanced SSD, and is equipped with MX330 2GB independent graphics, achieving both performance and lightness.

Have you gained some new knowledge?

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Remark:

[1] As measured by Media Project Load workload: Intel® Core™ i7-8700 processor + 1TB HDD + 32GB Intel® Optane™ memory vs. Intel® Core™ i7-8700 processor + 1TB HDD.

[2] As measured by gaming level load workload: Intel® Core™ i7-8750H processor + 1TB HDD + 32GB Intel® Optane™ memory vs. Intel® Core™ i7-8750H processor + 1TB HDD.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

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