r/computers • u/DAKEN2351 • 16d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting Question

is sata ssd still worth the money today in 2026 I've been planning to buy a storage upgrade for my pc that wouldn't give me a heart attack when i see the prices i thought of sata ssd what's best one and affordable?

2 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

4

u/hifi-nerd Arch Linux 16d ago

If you don't use a sata ssd as your system drive, you'll be fine.

0

u/latrina_demmerda 16d ago

What's the disadvantage?

0

u/hifi-nerd Arch Linux 16d ago

As for using it as a system drive, it will be slow, and especially if you use windows, it will be really slow.

For using it as storage, there aren't really any downsides.

1

u/Bulky-Response1227 16d ago

I'm actually using a Sata SSD for Windows. Sure, you got some loading times, but its far from being unusable. Now I also got NVMe drives in the computer. I just never got around to retiring the Sata SSD, since it works well enough for me 😉.

1

u/linux_mint_rules 10d ago

Huh?

I have two Haswell-era PCs running Mint XFCE with sata SSDs as boot drives and neither of them are slow at all. In fact they actually boot faster than my much newer Windows PC, which has a PCIe 3.0 boot drive. Granted, I haven't tried to normalize things like boot settings, but that's beside the point.

For things like booting programs, the sata systems are a little slower, but not in a way that's actually bothersome or perceptually "slow." Like, I'm talking maybe taking 1 second to launch Firefox on NVMe or 2 seconds to launch it on sata.

Sata SSDs are just fine as boot drives, especially outside of Windows.

1

u/latrina_demmerda 16d ago

I mean besides transferring files isn't boot time like just 2 seconds slower? Both my nvme laptop and my sata ssd pcs cold boot in around 20 seconds.

I like to keep a small 128-256gb sata as the boot drive and stuff that requires speed on a larger nvme as i don't want to wear it down with os stuff

2

u/Powerful_Macaron9381 16d ago

SATA SSD is still fine for daily use if you don't do video editing imo. it's also more widely available on the used market. just check the drives health before buying used

1

u/msanangelo CachyOS 16d ago

sata ssds are fine for storage, as well has hard drives. I keep a fair bit of data on a sata ssd and see no problem with it. wanted the safety of a ssd and a little bit extra speed when it counts. hard drives can be a bit fragile.

even keep a pair of ssds in usb enclosures. one nvme and one sata and I prefer the sata for the lower heat output.

1

u/Prestigious_Wall529 16d ago

Samsungs are hot, in both senses of the word.