How much Storage do I need on my Laptop?
In addition to a nimble processor, plenty of RAM and a high-performance graphics card, a fast laptop also needs a powerful hard drive. There are different types of storage to choose from: the HDD for large capacity requirements, the SSD for a particularly fast exchange of data or the SHDD for the combination of price and performance.
But how much storage do I need in my laptop? Which type of hard disk is suitable for which tasks? Which storage is the right one?
What types of storage exist in laptops?
HDD
The technology behind hard disk drives is well known and proven. Hard Disk Drives have been around for more than 50 years. In that time, their storage capacity has steadily increased and their physical size has decreased. HDDs rely on rotating hard disks or discs to read and write data.
HDDs consist of one or more magnetically sensitive disks, a moving arm with a read/write head for each disk, and a motor that moves the disks and arms. There is also I/O control and firmware that tells the hardware what to do and communicates with the rest of the system.
The disks spin at preset speeds (4,200 rpm to 7,200 rpm for consumer computers). Read/write rates depend on these speeds. The higher the preset speed, the faster a hard drive can read and write data.
SSD
Solid State Drives are a newer technology, but one that has rapidly evolved to offer more storage capacity every year. SSDs are based on electronic storage in non-volatile memory, which means that data does not disappear when the computer is turned off.
Solid State Drives offer faster loading times for games, applications and movies. Because of the technology used, SSDs are lighter and more resistant to movement and drops. In addition, solid state drives consume less power and keep the computer they are used in cooler.
SHDD
Solid State Hybrid Drives are so-called hybrid hard disks that are supposed to combine the advantages of SSDs and HDDs. The rotating magnetic disks with a large capacity are preceded by a small flash memory where frequently used files and commands are stored. Theoretically, SSD-like access and load times should be possible. This hybrid technology also has a second, positive side effect: It consumes less power because frequently used data is already in the flash memory and the read and write head as well as the magnetic disks do not have to start up first. This also ensures a longer lifespan for the storage medium. The last point is the price: SSHDs are much cheaper than SSDs of the same size, but also a bit more expensive than regular HDDs. So, if you have a fairly limited budget, but don’t want to limit yourself to just a magnetic hard drive, then an SSHD is the right compromise for you. In terms of speed, however, the SSHD does not come close to an SSD.
What is stored where on a laptop?
Since SSDs have been around, tuning operating software like Windows has taken a back seat. While optimizations used to try to reduce the boot time from five to three and a half minutes, boot processes are possible in less than 20 seconds with today’s SSDs on a laptop.
Here it becomes clear: Running the operating system on an HDD is not a good idea unless there are no other slots for connecting an SSD.
Applications that need to be accessed frequently, reading and storing a lot of data, also make more sense on an SSD. This ensures a significant performance boost.
However, operating systems also run excellently on HDDs, as long as enough RAM is available. Large amounts of data that do not have to be accessed continuously are best stored on the HDD. This includes photos from the last vacation as well as 4K videos.
HDD
- Games that do not require constant reloading
- Photographs in RAW format, uncut video files
- Large amounts of data that are not constantly moved
SSD
- Data that needs to be accessed frequently
- Operating system of the laptop
- Database applications
How big should the hard drive space be in a laptop?
This is closely related to the user’s respective field of application. When buying hard drive space and an SSD, everyone should be aware of how the laptop will be used.
In the last few years, the SSD became a mass product and cheaper, so that SSDs increasingly replaced the classic HDD due to their advantages in speed, volume, energy and space requirements. Internal HDDs practically no longer play a role in laptops today.
However, a combination of SSD and an external HDD makes sense in almost every case. Because just moving the Windows swap file to the SSD brings an enormous speed advantage when booting the system. A current Microsoft Windows 11 Professional in the 64-bit version needs 22 GB of free hard drive space alone, whereby Microsoft itself recommends keeping 32 GB free for this. The automatic installation of updates and upgrades also demands sufficient capacity on the hard disk.
Laptop application areas: Which solution for whom?
Business solution
Depending on the industry, business solutions will be more or less lavish. In the IT sector and software development, there are particularly many write and read operations. The development environment, testing and debugging require high-performance utilization capacity. Slow storage solutions quickly cause frustration here.
An HDD with at least 2 TB and an SSD with at least 500 GB should nevertheless suffice for the majority of use cases. The storage capacity can be correspondingly smaller for less demanding tasks. If you only work with office applications and have not installed any complex software, you can also get by with 1 TB HDD and 250 GB SSD storage. The resulting read and write processes will not stutter.
Multimedia
Graphics-heavy tasks also require a high storage capacity. A few GB of data quickly accumulate in the areas of photography and video. Individual RAW files from modern DSLRs and DSLMs are now almost 100 MB. Videos in 4K amount to several GB, depending on the bit rate, even with just a few minutes of running time. HDDs with several terabytes are a must in this case. But saving in JPEG format and developing in image editing programs also take up a lot of space on the HDD. For multimedia professionals, the rule is therefore: the more, the better, especially for mechanical HDDs.
Gaming
For complex games and an outstanding performance, a notebook can have up to 4 TB of HDD storage including an 8 GB SSD cache. Or a 1 TB SSD NVMe, then there is enough buffer for the operating system as well as for installation files of memory-intensive games. A performance boost will always be noticeable with an SSD. This is how power, performance and speed meet. Perfect for those who need and want the best of the best. Memory-intensive games like League of Legends can be loaded much faster and run without delays. Especially when game saves have to be loaded more often, the use of fast SSDs becomes noticeable.
Few and occasional users
The purchase of an HDD with an enormous capacity is not worthwhile for occasional users. If you only work with the laptop a little and rarely move large amounts of data, you will get by very well with common sizes like 250 GB.
The SSD doesn’t have to be oversized either. Pre-installed solutions or predecessor versions are usually worthwhile here. The operating system and smaller software can easily be swapped out with 250 GB of NAND storage to use the HDD’s storage capacity for additional data.
Those who want to upgrade an existing laptop with more powerful components can calmly fall back on SSDs with a SATA interface. The higher transfer rates of the PCIe standard are not needed for simple applications.
What SSD storage capacity do you need in the laptop?
Your total storage capacity in the laptop determines how many files you can store in total. It makes a big difference if you only want to store your operating system on the SSD or actually work from the hard drive.
- 250 gigabytes: operating system, entertainment and backups
- 500 gigabytes: entertainment and business use
- 1 terabyte: business use, gaming and photography
- 2 terabytes: professional gaming and image processing
250 gigabytes: operating system or entertainment and backups
An internal SSD with 250 gigabytes is only enough if you only install the operating system or use it for entertainment and backups. In this case, you’re opting for the speed of the SSD instead of a large storage capacity. Your computer and files will boot faster because your SSD has no moving parts. You want 2 SSDs with a capacity of 250 gigabytes? Then use it as a kind of RAID-1 setup. You store all files on one SSD, using the second one for backups.
500 gigabytes: entertainment, business and basic gaming
A 500 gigabyte SSD can store up to 50 Full HD movies. This means you always have an extensive media library at your disposal. Furthermore, 500 gigabytes of storage are also suitable for business use. Because of the speed difference compared to a hard drive, even your largest files will start quickly. For example, a data analysis with multiple tabs and graphics. Feel like relaxing? Then store your smaller games, like Fortnite, on the SSD. 500 gigabytes is the minimum you’ll need, but we recommend 1 terabyte.
1 terabyte: business use, games, and photography
With a large storage capacity, you won’t have to delete files as quickly. This also prevents you from having to make troublesome decisions when your hard drive is full. If you work a lot with large files, take a lot of photos or like to play games, you should opt for an internal SSD with 1 terabyte of storage capacity. This way you can combine the speed of an SSD with the capacity of an HDD. This way, you can store big games like League of Legends, which consume lots of gigabytes, and you still have enough space left.
2 terabytes: professional gaming and image editing
For really big work, choose a 2 terabyte internal SSD. With that much storage, you don’t have to worry about running out of space. For example, when you’re creating corporate videos or other marketing communications. Not only will you have room for your graphics programs, but you’ll also back up your projects. An internal 2-terabyte SSD is also suitable for mass storage of games. The internal drive of your PlayStation 5 fills up quickly, but you can expand it with an additional internal SSD.
Conclusion
The question of the best possible hard drive storage size is closely linked to the user’s demands and needs. Generally valid statements cannot be made considering the many individual factors.
Therefore, the tip: Check your usage behavior over a certain period of time and note down all use cases as detailed as possible. The more precisely you know what you need, the easier it is to buy an appropriate hard disk.
FAQs about laptop storage
Is 256 GB SSD enough for a laptop?
Depends on what you want to do with your laptop. Will you store a lot of games, pictures, music and videos? Then 256 GB will quickly be too little. However, if it is primarily for surfing and storing and writing a few Word documents, then the 256 GB will be sufficient.
IOPS – important size for SSDs?
IOPS is the acronym for Input/Output Operations Per Second and is the standard unit of measure for the number of reads and writes to non-contiguous storage locations on a storage device or network. IOPS is pronounced EI-OPS. A distinction is made between Total IOPS (average number of input/output operations per second), Read and Write IOPS (average number during reading and writing).
In principle, the higher the IOPS value, the faster the tested medium is. Especially the manufacturers of SSDs therefore advertise high IOPS of their products. However, it should be noted that these benchmarks generate a fixed and not a changing workload and are often also carried out with a fixed block size. In contrast, the result can be significantly lower with deviating block sizes.
MLC vs. TLC: Which one should you choose for your laptop?
It is important to evaluate what type of flash memory your system needs. Then you can ask yourself which one you should choose. Below are some of our suggestions.
MLC is a good choice because it is the best combination of performance, speed and reliability. At the same time, it is within the budget of most consumers. Also, the MLC SSD is an ideal choice for users of servers, disk-intensive applications like video editing software, and mainstream consumers who expect maximum performance from the system.
TCL aims to provide cost-effective options for users who need low-cost, high-capacity SSDs. Users who perform daily tasks on the device but need to improve the performance of their laptops can consider using TLC SSDs. TLC SSDs are also ideal for users who want to store media files on SSDs.
In summary, if speed and price are essential for your system, TLC is suitable. If performance and endurance are essential, MLC is recommended.
How big should cache memory be?
To keep the number of accesses to the HDD or SSD low, a sufficiently large buffer is important. The cache ensures that the access time does not have such a big impact on the laptop’s overall performance.
Many HDDs today have an SSD cache. In this case, software analyzes the read accesses to the hard drive and stores the associated files on the SSD when they are accessed for the first time (write through cache). The next time the data is accessed, it is read from the SSD instead of the HDD.
In current hard disks and SSDs, up to 256 MB (mebibyte) of RAM cache is now possible. Here, an additional distinction is made between read and write cache. However, a large part of the operating system’s cache memory is taken over by the main memory. Access times are shortened because communication via the hard disk bus is omitted. A larger cache can simply hold more data. However, you hardly notice anything of this during daily work on a laptop.
SSDs have a cache memory in the DRAM, which is managed by the controller’s operating system. In addition, there is also SLC cache, where the single cell is provided for the cache in TLC and QLC systems so that the system does not slow down.
Again, if you need a lot of write and read processes in parallel, you should look for a larger cache memory when buying the hard disk. Casual users can easily manage with 64 or 128 MB.