So, the latter is more exposed to physical damage like sudden hit or fall. Why? The reasons are as follows:įirst, internal hard drives are placed inside a computer host or a laptop whereas external hard drives are always placed on a desk. However, external hard drives seem to fail frequently than internal hard drives. Internal hard drives and external hard drives feature the same mechanism and therefore there should be no reliability difference between the two kinds of hard drives. Recommended article: 2.5 VS 3.5 HDD: What Are the Differences and Which One Is Better? Internal vs External Hard Drive ReliabilityĪre internal hard drives more reliable than external hard drives? Both 2.5-inch hard drives and 3.5-inch hard drives support the two RPMs but it is much easier for the latter to have greater spin speeds due to its higher power consumption and physical dimensions.Įxternal hard drives generally are 2.5-inch drives in SATA to USB enclosures, while there are lots of 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch internal hard drives. Generally, HDDs adopt standard spin speeds of 5,400 RPM and 7,200 RPM. As to internal hard drives, they are connected directly to the interface on the motherboard and this allows data to be transferred at a faster rate compared to external hard drives that are connected through USB cables.Īside from the interface factor, the form factor also makes the internal hard drives faster than the external hard drives. Although some of USB interfaces come with faster speeds but the external hard drives involve an interface change, for example, switching from SATA to USB introduces some latency. Internal vs External Hard Drive SpeedĪre internal hard drives faster than external hard drives? The answer is going to Yes.Īs we know, an external hard drive connects to a computer through a USB cable. Other differences like performance, reliability, and cost are discussed in the following content.

The usage is the main difference between the internal hard drive and external hard drive. However, take an external hard drive out of the hard drive case and you will discover the internal hard drive has the same internals structure with the hard drive used in the computer. This kind of hard drive is installed within the laptop or the computer host.Įxternal hard drives are not placed inside a laptop or a computer host-they connect to a computer via a USB or FireWire cable. Internal vs External Hard DriveĮvery computer ships with a hard drive-that is the internal hard drive. How to expand your computer storage space? Upgrade to a large internal hard drive or connect an external hard drive? What are the differences between an internal hard drive and an external hard drive? Keep reading.

What to Do If You Choose an External Hard Drive.

What to Do If You Choose an Internal Hard Drive.

Pros and Cons of Choosing Internal and External Hard Drives.

2tb internal hard drive comparison