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Speed, capacity, noise, durability, temperature, and efficiency all make SSDs the preferred choice for gaming. There are many reasons to choose an SSD or pair an SSD with an HDD. If you’ve made your decision and are going with an SSD, the good news is that they are easy to install yourself. We hope that’s cleared up whether you should get a hard drive or SSD for gaming needs.
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With read speeds up to 1,050MB/s, the Crucial X8 portable SSD loads files up to 1.8 times faster than most portable SSDs, 7.5 times faster than portable hard drives, and 100 times faster than USB flash drives 1. Instead of deleting games to clear space, move them to a portable drive. Portable drives such as the Crucial X8 SSD allow you to consolidate your games, take them with you, and play them on multiple systems or devices. M.2 SSDs attach to the motherboard via an M.2 socket and are designed for space-constrained tablets and ultrabooks. M.2 SSDs are about the size of a stick of gum. The smallest form factor for SSDs is called M.2 such as the Crucial P5. They are designed to minimize the need to replace connecting interface cables, making the transition to a higher performance drive as easy as possible. Because many users replace their hard drives with solid state drives, the 2.5-inch drive has become a standard for all HDDs and SSDs. They fit inside the drive bay of most laptop or desktop computers. The standard form factor for both HDD and SSD is 2.5-inch such as the Crucial MX500. What SSD form factor best suits you depends on your system specifications. SSDs and HDDs are typically available in three form factors.
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