Choosing a hard drive always relies on several parameters. Most often, users pay attention to the cost and amount of storage. But when buying, you also have to find out what the hard disk form factor is. It is this parameter that will tell you about the dimensions of the device.
HDD
First, a little about the device itself. A hard drive is one of the main components of a computer. He is responsible for the storage of information - both systemic and personal.
The hard drive works due to magnetic plates and a rotating head that reads information. A feature of the device is that among the other drives, especially those based on flash memory, this can be considered the most budget.
But the hard drive has a direct competitor - solid state drive (SSD). The device works many times faster and is more reliable, although for its merits you will have to pay a tidy sum.
How to choose a hard drive?
To do this, you need to familiarize yourself with its main parameters. Of course, some of them will not give you any answer, but most will really be useful.
Winchester options:
- connection method;
- storage volume;
- form factor;
- speed of work;
- reliability, etc.
Thanks to these parameters, you can correctly choose not only the form factor of the hard drive for your computer, but also, in principle, purchase the best option for your PC.
Device dimensions
Each technical product has its own standards of dimensions. Some of them describe not only the dimensions of the device, but also its technical parameters: orientation, position, shape, etc.
What is the hard drive form factor? These are manufacturer's recommendations for the user, which will help you choose the device for mounting. There are currently six known form factors for hard drives.
In part, some sizes have ceased to be popular, in part they have been taken out of production. So, for example, 8 and 5.25-inch hard drives ceased to exist.
Popular form factors
Having found out what the hard disk form factor is, it will be easier to understand what is needed for a particular device. The most common option is the size of 3.5 ". Almost all modern computers are equipped with such a hard drive. 2.5" option is also possible.
Some equipment may include 1.8, 1.3, 1, and 0.85 inch form factors. But usually in this case we are talking about highly specialized devices.
Description of popular form factors
The most popular form factors are considered 3.5 "and 2.5". They can be found in two versions, which depend on the type of connection. 3.5 "SATA or PATA in a width of 102 mm. The PATA interface is quite" ancient ", first appeared back in 2006. Thanks to it, the maximum storage capacity can be 750 GB.
SATA is a more advanced interface. The hard drive can work with 4 TB of memory. Recent technologies speak of more positive forecasts, although the principle of operation of the hard drive may change.
The hard drive form factor for a laptop is 2.5 ". This drive has a width of 69.9 mm. Moreover, it has three modifications, the difference of which is only in thickness: 7, 9.5 and 12.5 mm. This part It may be important to you, because when choosing a drive for a laptop there may be difficulties with connecting it to a thin case.
This form factor is much smaller than the previous one, although in theory it can also be used in PCs. Its use will depend on whether there is an appropriate mount in the housing.
The 2.5 "form factor is also available in two versions, depending on the interface. The more" ancient "one offers storage up to 320 GB, and the new one - up to 2 TB.
What other options are there?
The 1.8 "form factor is less popular and is not used on a PC. It is 54 mm wide. It comes in three versions, which, again, depend on the connection interface. This option can offer a drive with a capacity of up to 320 GB.
By the way, some solid state drives are found in the 1.8 "form factor, although more often they can be seen with dimensions of 2.5".
A Winchester can also be very compact, so a 3.5 "form factor hard drive will seem like a giant to you. Winchesters with 1.3, inches, also with 1, 0.85, 0.25 and 0.1" are known. By the way, the latter was developed in 2017, and in potential such a hard drive can have a volume of up to 1 TB, which with its dimensions seems very impressive.
The concept of an external hard drive
Understanding what a hard disk form factor is, it’s worthwhile to learn about an external drive. What it is? In general, this is the same hard drive that is used in a computer, but implemented in a different form. Its main feature is that it does not need to be integrated into the system inside the case.
Connection is made using a USB cable. Thus, it is easy to disconnect it if it is not needed, and connect it when necessary.
What is an external hard drive for?
The amount of information is growing exponentially every day. It is becoming increasingly difficult to hide your personal data, as the memory on your smartphone, computer or USB flash drive is already running out. Therefore, many are switching to using external hard drives. What does it give?
In this way, you can quickly expand the computer's memory. It is also possible to remove data that you don’t use every day from your PC. Finally, such a drive is considered to be mobile, especially if the external hard drive is a 2.5 "form factor.
Sizes of the external railway
Here the situation is no different from the one that we already know about the internal hard drive. The form factors of the external hard drive are also universal, so the choice depends on the user's desire.
True, there is one difference: the dimensions of the external drive often change the mobility of the device, while the size of the PC hard drive practically does not affect the choice of the buyer.
External hard drives are available for sale on 3.5 ", 2.5" and 1.8 ". If you just want to increase your PC storage to install more programs, movies or games, you can safely choose a 3.5" form factor. In this case, the disk will simply lie on the table, and you do not have to carry it in your bag.
If you want to get a capacious flash drive, then you have to look at 2.5 "and 1.8". These options are more compact and lighter, respectively, you can work with them anywhere. Although there is one catch here: the hard drive is very easy to damage, because it has many elements that are better not to shake once again.
What then to do? In this case, it is better to pay attention to solid-state drives. They are based on flash memory, so they look conditionally like flash drives. They are not afraid to once again lightly knock or drop. But from such physical influences, a hard drive can definitely "go crazy."
How to choose an external hard drive?
Knowing which form factor of the hard drive you need, you can immediately make a choice. Although other parameters will also have to pay attention.
So, first you need to understand how much you are willing to pay for an external drive. Usually their cost is slightly higher than the regular version, since they are equipped with a protective case and are more versatile.
Next, we look at the volume that is available to us at such a price. One point is important here: the smaller the form factor, the more money you will have to pay for 1 GB. Therefore, a disk with a size of 1 TB of the 3.5 "form factor will cost you less than a version of the same size, but with smaller dimensions.
After that, many people look at the speed of work. An important parameter is considered to be the spindle speed. The more rpm the hard drive offers, the faster it reads and writes your data.
For personal PCs, a drive with 5400-10000 rpm can be considered a completely universal option. The fewer they are, the cheaper the drive. High-performance stations are usually equipped with 15,000 rpm drives. If you choose a drive for a laptop, you will have to sacrifice speed here, since the maximum figure is 7200 rpm.
It will not be superfluous to also look at the power consumption. Especially when it comes to mobile devices. For a computer, this indicator is less important, since the power consumption of the hard drive is insignificant in comparison with what the power supply provides.
Finally, another parameter that tells you about the speed of the drive is random access time. What is better to choose in this case?
For modern hard drives, the range of this parameter is from 2.5 to 16 ms. It is clear that the larger this indicator, the slower the operation of the device. Therefore, try to choose the most suitable option for you. If this speed does not suit, take a look at solid state drives. They have this indicator equal to 1 ms.
conclusions
The choice of a hard disk should not be based only on its form factor, unless, of course, we are talking about ultrabooks. What size will be the hard drive inside the case, it does not matter only if a couple of pieces are not already installed there.
If it comes to choosing an external drive, the situation depends on the user. If you just want to increase the space on your computer, choose any option, because it will still lie on the table. If you need a mobile drive, and flash drives with a volume of 1-2 TB only appear on the market, then you can choose a compact version of the disk.
Moreover, if, in addition to mobility, speed is also important to you, then the best choice is to buy a solid state drive. But be prepared to pay several times more than for a hard drive of the same size.