http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f16/hdd-vs-ssd-lifespan-642689.html
I'll pull up the post here in case you don't want to wade through it all:
Here were the asked questions:
I've been planning on building a computer and I'm curious about SSD's, so I have a few question in my mind before deciding to buy one.
What is the maximum rpm of an HDD? Can it reach SSD's in terms of speed?
They say that SSD's have a limited number of writes. Is it true?
Does filling the whole drive reduce its speed?
Can you compare SSD's and HDD's in terms of their lifespan? Are their differences too much?
When it failed, is it easier to retrieve its data than an HDD?
Here are the answers:
*Most desktop hdds spin at around 7200 rpm. Notebooks are often 5400 rpm or slower. SSDs beat hard drives because they have NO moving parts. They don't have to physically search for data, like hard drives do. Additionally, they have zero down time waiting for the drvice to "turn on" like hard drives.
*Yes, this is true. Newer SSDs are optimized in such a way that you aren't going to burn through your SSD before you either decide to buy a new one, or you stop using computers. Modern SSDs have around 1,000,000 power on hours or so.
Take for example, my desktop HDD. I got it since 2005, and I only have about 700 hours on it.
*Not sure. I've read some reviews on a few low-end SSDs and it seems like that is true. But I have a 60gb Intel ssd, with only about 5gb free on it. r/w are still as high as if it were new.
*They are very similar, if not the same. SSDs might actually have a higher lifespan. Most wear and tear for hard drives come with spinning up/spinning down. As SSDs do not spin, or move, they last longer. Additionally SSDs are not prone to physical failure. You can drop one, and it'll be fine. Unlike a hard drive, where dropping it while it is running would often kill it.
*SSDs don't "fail" like hard drives. As you use it (heavily), sectors start to be unable to write data. The SSD knows this, and starts forgetting about those sectors. So after a long time of heavy writing, the disk size will slowly "shrink". You'll still be able to get data off it, only you won't be able to write to it.
Unlike HDDs, where one of many failures can make it impossible to read OR write data from it.
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In any case, you're right, an average user should be just fine with an HDD. Keep in mind the likelihood of HDD for failure is generally higher due to more moving parts (as mentioned above), but once again, hard drive manufacturers are good at what they do for the most part
. I was mainly addressing the misconception that processor and RAM are the only things that have to do with speed, and explaining why a MBA can in many cases keep pace with an MBP at most general applications. And as a general rule of thumb, SSD or HDD, most important files should have one, preferably two backups: a physical copy on a flash drive or external harddrive, and a backup in cloud through iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Me being paranoid about some of my research have multiple backups of my work, and other important files like pictures and the like.