Whether you're buying a desktop or a laptop, there's a lot to consider.
When it comes to storage, NAND flash memory is very fast
but you may be choosing between one PC with eMMC and one with SSD.
Which is best? What's the difference?
If you find yourself asking these questions, then you are in the right place. This is DIY in 5!
Hey everyone! My name is Trisha and you are watching DIY in 5
the show where we make tech simple enough that you can DIY it in 5 min or less.
Today, we'll make choosing between eMMC storage and SSD storage, a piece of cake.
And no, this cake is not a lie.
So, do we go with eMMC or SSDs when building or buying new PCs?
First, let's define what eMMC storage is.
eMMC stands for embedded MultiMediaCard and is typically soldered onto the device's motherboard.
The Pros? eMMC can be cheaper than its SSD counterparts. Yay! Saving money rules!
The drawbacks? Speed. eMMC (version 5.1A) has transfer speeds that max out around 400MB/s, which is comparable to SATA SSDs.
Still better than traditional hard drive speeds mind you, but definitely limiting in comparison to some of the blazingly fast SSDs out there.
With these performance limitations, why choose eMMC other than price point? Let's think about it.
If you are shopping for a cheap laptop or tablet chances are companies are not putting in their super high end SSDs.
This provides a unique opportunity to pay less for the same performance by choosing eMMC.
If you are building a machine to surf the web, create documents or stream media, you probably wouldn't notice a difference
between eMMC or the highest-performance SSD.
In fact, if you use Chromebooks, budget laptops, and/or tablets you have already found that eMMC has been hiding in plain sight.
eMMC is smaller, has a lower cost per gigabyte, and has lower power consumption.
Now there is another caveat. They max out at 256GB of storage but even with this limitation,
they are still very popular for PC builders on a budget.
Now let's look at the alternative. SSD stands for solid-state drive
and is simply the most popular storage type for computers and laptops.
Before SSDs people used mechanical drives aka HDDs for their storage needs.
Those drives still have their place. Anything that you want to archive and that doesn't require the speed of SSDs can be stored on HDDs.
Another point, SSDs are connected to the motherboard via SATA (Serial ATA) 3 or PCIe interface
and they can be easily removed and upgraded.
Take that eMMC. Like eMMC, SSDs are also found in laptops, desktops, and tablets albeit at a higher cost of entry.
SSDs are the choice for users that edit videos and run advanced applications or simulations.
Gamers also rejoiced because SSDs introduced faster boot and load times while also supporting up to 4TB of storage.
This means that the majority of video editors will be able to fit their entire project onto the SSD with a ton of room spare.
Gamers can also fit a library of games onto their SSDs.
Ultimately, the choice between eMMC and SSD will come down to what the build calls for.
If you need a social media, email, and streaming PC, eMMC could be the way to go.
Also if you need extra storage you can always use the cloud.
However, music producers, programmers, video editors or gamers please choose SSDs and thank me later.
You will see the benefits of faster storage speeds and the increased storage size will be welcome.
SSDs are also replaceable, so you could actually DIY an upgrade unlike with most eMMC.
Let's recap, eMMC is purpose-built storage that is designed to be reliable and inexpensive.
eMMC excels in low intensity tasks and browser-based interactions.
But we have to accept that other builds will require us to spend more money
because we will need the extra performance, storage, & flexibility that SSDs provide.
A great way to think of it is - for people who love to play games or use high end editing software -
can your OS and your favorite game or program fit in 256GB?
The answer is most likely no, so eMMC is not an option based on storage size alone.
Not to mention, the speed benefits simply are too much to walk away for those higher end users.
And there you have it! If you found this video useful,
please do give us a like and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on any future tech tips.
Until next time, my name's Trisha Hershberger and you've been watching DIY in 5!