Computer Storage (564 products)

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Internal Storage

For those who're still running with just a hard drive (HDD) in their computer, swapping it out for a solid-state drive (SSD) will make a massive difference to the overall responsiveness, or 'snappiness', of its operating system.

Solid-State Drives vs Hard Drives

This is because, unlike a hard drive, a solid-state drive is an entirely digital storage device; it has no moving pieces. With a HDD, data is stored on a spinning platter driven by a motor. An actuating arm then has to align itself with this platter to read/write data to/from it, like a vinyl record player. This all takes time. An all-digital SSD, on the other hand, can essentially access data instantaneously. We won't go too much into the technical nitty-gritty here, so if you want to learn more, make sure to check out our blog NVMe SSD vs SATA SSD vs HDD - Speed Comparison.

While a solid-state drive isn't listed as a minimum hardware requirement for the latest iteration of the Windows operating system, Windows 11, it might as well be. Even on the cheapest of SSDs (which nowadays can be had for under £20), loading into Windows' log-in screen will at most take 10-20 seconds - compared to 1-2 minutes on a hard drive. Once you've signed in, you'll also encounter less hitches and buffering while navigating the operating system's file explorer and launching programs, making for a smoother, more enjoyable day-to-day computing experience.

SSD for Gaming

And if you're a PC gamer, a solid-state drive is practically essential for today's AAA titles. For example, the '2.0' update for Cyberpunk 2077 switched the minimum storage requirement from a hard drive to a SSD. The same requirement is in place for Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield, and many other popular games. These richly detailed, densely packed game demand too much data for a mechanical HDD to handle. So, if you'd rather not have to sit and stare at a loading screen for minutes at a time when you load a save, make sure to include a SSD somewhere in your gaming PC.

HDD Advantages

All that said, hard drives still have their place today. Solid-state drives may have gotten incredibly cheap in the past few years, but as an even more matured technology, it's hard to beat the 'price-per-gigabyte' of HDDs. What's more, HDDs are available in considerably larger capacities, ideal if you're trying to squeeze as many terabytes into a network-attached storage (NAS) server, for example. While today's SSDs max out at around 4TB in size, you can quite easily find 10TB or even 20TB HDDs out there on the market.

Here at Ebuyer, we stock a wide range of hard drives and solid-state drives from the best brands in the business, including the likes of Western Digital, Seagate, Samsung, and many others. We also have all the accessories you need to successfully install your new HDD or SSD, including enclosures and caddies.

External Storage

In addition to internal hard drives and solid-state drives, we stock plenty of external storage devices. If you've run out of room in your computer for internal drives, or you simply don't want to fiddle around with installing a drive, then these external storage devices are a great, easy-to-use alternative.

Most, if not all, external hard drives and external solid-state drives connect to your computer via USB instead. So, all you need is an empty USB port on your computer and a USB cable to connect the two, and you're good to go. This plug-and-play functionality also has the benefit of making external storage devices easy to switch between your other devices: laptops, desktops, and so on.

Other convenient storage devices include memory cards for your smartphone, camera, and handheld game console, as well as a huge range of USB flash drives, with capacities ranging from 2GB all the way up to a whopping 1TB. And if you're a stickler for good ol' physical media, we still carry external optical drives and Blu-Ray drives.

Storage at Ebuyer

PCIe Gen4 NVMe solid-state drives, portable hard drives, USB flash drives - whichever computer storage devices you're looking for, you'll find them right here at Ebuyer. Spread the cost of your purchase with our flexible finance offers. And if you want you new storage device by tomorrow, next-day delivery is also available.