Hard drives still make more sense than SSDs for most of what's sitting on your PC

For the majority of data stored on a typical PC, spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) are still the more sensible choice compared to solid-state drives (SSDs). While SSDs have become more affordable, the recent surge in AI demand has driven up the cost of NAND and DRAM, making HDDs a more cost-effective option for bulk storage. Most people's PCs house essential files like photos, videos, music, downloads, and games that haven't been played in a while.

Using a modest-sized SSD for the operating system, apps, and the game you're currently playing, while relying on a larger HDD for everything else, is a smarter setup for most users. Hard drives excel at sequential read speeds, making them ideal for tasks like playing movies, accessing large RAW photo or video files, and backing up data.

In contrast, SSDs are optimized for random access, which benefits booting up Windows or loading games. By partitioning your storage between an HDD and SSD, you can allocate faster storage for your most frequently used data, while still maintaining a cost-effective solution for less frequently accessed files.