Hybrid Drives any good?

[Ian]

Has anyone here got a hybrid SSD/mechanical drive? I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on them if you've got one.

I've got two SSDs and a mechanical drive in my current system, however a friend is after a 1TB of storage and asked for my advice on a SSHD for a laptop. From what I've read, they seem like a great compromise (especially as the price isn't much more than a standard hdd).

Any thoughts?

 

[floppybootstomp]

I'm fairly sure bootneck bought one recently.

I suppose a SSD head on a mechanical body will make it faster than your regular mechanical drive but it's chances of failure are just the same as a mechanical disk.

So basically I suppose it's paying a little extra for more speed.

 

[Ian]

Cheers for the thoughts Flops, that's my thinking too. Hopefully bootneck will see this .

 

[bootneck02]

Hi Ian yes I have two Seagate SSHD 2000GB Seagate hard drives but only one as a C drive and I can say that is certainly that the boot up is quicker and generally the whole system seems to be smoother and quicker since I installed it. I think they are a good compromise between a solely mechanical drive and a SSHD card and a lot less expensive.

 

[muckshifter]

Now, it has to be said, they were testing as if used in laptops, and, as such the HD was a 5400rpm.


for the rest of us, we usually do the following

he does some very easy to follow guides

 

[Ian]

That first video shows it all really, thanks Mucks!

Hi Ian yes I have two Seagate SSHD 2000GB Seagate hard drives but only one as a C drive and I can say that is certainly that the boot up is quicker and generally the whole system seems to be smoother and quicker since I installed it. I think they are a good compromise between a solely mechanical drive and a SSHD card and a lot less expensive.

Cheers bootneck, that's what I like to hear . I'll pass on these comments. It looks like a 1TB SSHD is the way to go .

 

[bootneck02]

 

[jimgardner]

Thinking of replacing my old laptop (Intel i5, 6GB RAM 600GB HD and Win 7 64 bit) with a new one. Looking to upgrade all aspects of the specification but unsure about importance of SSD. I would still need >500GB storage so I am contemplating a SSHD option. Looked at a number of laptops in the £500-£800 category but having difficulty knowing where to compromise. Specifically which would be better for overall performance (a) a i7 with 16GB RAM , 1TB HD and no SSD or (b) a i7 with 8GB RAM and 1TB HD/8GB SSD ? The video was really useful but it seemed that the major gain between hybrid and HD was boot up/shut down and I didn't see a significant performance difference in operation eg wb browsing . Do SSDs improve speed of processing applications eg loading or running Office apps or is the primary reason for faster boot up/shut down? Thanks!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Do SSDs improve speed of processing applications eg loading or running Office apps or is the primary reason for faster boot up/shut down? Thanks!

Yes they do and imo no it isn't.

In my opinion there's too much misplaced importance on bootup and shutdown speeds. ALL operating systems take time to boot up (and shut down) for a reason - they carry out important checks to the computer's hardware and sofdtware that (imo) are vital to the machine's smooth and stable running.

If having to wait an extra minute or so for a machine to boot up means it's self-tested then that's fine by me. Having said that, SSD's do contribute to faster start and stop times, but not by a great deal.

If you're buying a laptop then it's unlikely you'll be able to use two hard disks which is a pity as (imo) the best system is a combination of SSD for operating system and a large mechanical disk for storage.

A 1Tb SSD will make a laptop expensive but if you have the budget then go for it - it will give the best performance. However, for economical reasons I'd likely go for a plain mechanical drive or for a little extra processing speed - a hybrid drive.

If using a mechanical or hybrid drive I can't stress enough the importance to BACKUP, either by burning to DVD's (realistically 4.2Gb a disk) or Bluray disks (realistically 22.5Gb a disk) or to an external hard disk.

So, if it were me I'd go for i7/8Gb RAM/1Tb Hybrid drive/Bluray optical drive capable of burning Bluray blank disks. Unless you're into the latest computer games or some heavy duty CAD or video processing then 8Gb RAM is plenty.

Good luck.