# Advice sought on purchasing computer drives

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-sought-on-purchasing-computer-drives/772865>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 24, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-sought-on-purchasing-computer-drives/772865 "2016-11-24T02:46:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-sought-on-purchasing-computer-drives/772865/1 "2016-11-24T02:46:42Z")

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My collection of human reproductive biology documentaries is getting close to filling my present SSHD so I’ll need to get a new one.  
Any info on which SSHDs do well?

The Seagate FireCUda is more expensive than the previous Seagate SSHD of the same size so I’m wondering what about it is worth paying extra for.

Also, I’d like to switch my bootdrive from the current one to my SSD. How do I go about doing that, preferably without having to reinstall Windows.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-sought-on-purchasing-computer-drives/772865/2 "2016-11-24T04:33:25Z")

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> **[DRAM, Solid State Drive (SSD) & Memory Upgrades](https://www.crucial.com/)**
>
> Find compatible DRAM memory and SSD upgrades for your PC or Laptop with our Crucial Advisor tool or Crucial System Scanner, with FREE US delivery!

Never been disappointed.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-sought-on-purchasing-computer-drives/772865/3 "2016-11-24T09:55:22Z")

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You should be able to just clone the HDD to the SSD.

As to which HDD you should use, [Backblaze](https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-failure-rates-q2-2016/) publishes reports on drive reliability. TLDR: HGST drives are the most reliable.

If you can afford it, it’s time to drop mechanical drives entirely.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-sought-on-purchasing-computer-drives/772865/4 "2016-11-25T05:23:15Z")

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If these are videos that you watch, a mechanical hard drive is fast enough for them, and much cheaper. Get a gigantic hard drive, and then use your SSD as a caching drive to spool these videos when you want to watch them.