Hybrid hard drives: are they worth buying? Why is a hybrid drive better than HDD and SSD?
Hello and good day to you!!! Help please, I bought an Asus beech with a hybrid drive ssd 24g and hdd 750g. I want to install Windows on an ssd, but nothing works. I read a bunch of forums, searched on YouTube, but I don’t understand how to separate them? I know that the SSD is there like a flash, but I read that they separate it and put the system on it. I tried to just format everything. I installed a boot disk with Windows 7 and it says insert a boot disk.
Although I have a boot disk. You can’t format the system, it’s not even in the menu, you can simply install it like a second Windows on the hdd. Yes, Windows 8 is preinstalled from the factory. What should I do, please tell me? Yes, the BIOS is somehow incomprehensible, like it’s stripped down or incomplete: I finally couldn’t find the install menu from the CD-ROM. In short, I sat with him for 8 hours today with zero results.
Smart-Tronics
Hello. If you are running Windows 8, then the system is probably installed on an SSD. Accordingly, if you need to install another OS on it, then Windows 8 will have to be removed. You can remove the Win 8 bootloader using the EasyBCD program.
Next, you need to boot from the installation disk. The BIOS is most likely UEFI, this is a new generation of BIOSes. But there is a choice of device to download. Once you boot from the installation disk, you just need to format and select the SSD.
shniferson74
Andrey
Guys..I have a hybrid drive...Windows is on NND..I want to install it on an SSD..but it just doesn’t work..the BIOS just doesn’t see the SSD..!!!
in Archie settings everything is fine..!!
how can I install Windows on an ssd???
ssd (24gb)Igor
Hi all.
A hybrid hard drive is an ordinary HDD + SSD (solid-state) in one case. The model is not important here.
In fact, installing the System specifically on solid-state flash is not recommended for many reasons.
1 - flash drives do not last long if you reinstall the operating system on them several times. 1-2, maximum 3 times, and a kayak may occur. It’s not Corsair or Kingston you have. Obviously something is cheaper. By definition, it cannot be that Asus puts high-quality parts into its product. This is not the same company.
2 - if something happens to Windows (it’s closed), then it’s closed forever and you won’t be able to restore it, and along with it those files and folders (usually photos, etc.) that are on your desktop table. This is an unpleasant feature of flash drives.
3 - the flash drive itself has a very limited service life due to frequent overheating.
And that's not all. Here you will have to print a lot of technical information. Why this, why that.Yes, the system on flash boots faster and runs faster. But if you have a hybrid disk, then it is better to install the system as usual (on the HDD), and it itself will use the flash part as a cache while loading the operating system. As a result, loading is faster than on traditional HDDs and is safer for data.
And installing an operating system only on an SSD and being proud of the loading speed is kindergarten. The speed of a regular hard drive depends on how full it is of various nonsense. Keep it and your desktop on your computer clean and you will be happy.
Today there are a large number of different types of devices for recording, storing and processing information. One of the most popular developments, which has already become quite a part of our lives, is a hybrid SSHD device.
It is a regular hard drive equipped with a solid-state memory section. The operating principle of this device is unique.
Story
The device of this type appeared relatively long ago, almost immediately after various types of solid-state drives such as SSDs were put into mass production. The latter had extremely high productivity and other advantages. But they were also distinguished by their almost exorbitant cost relative to ordinary hard drives.
Photo: The world's first transparent SSD drive
The way out of this situation was a hybrid hard drive. It, unlike its more simply designed counterparts, is equipped not only with ordinary pancakes rotating on a special spindle, but also with a memory chip.
This unique engineering solution - combining two different types of memory into one package - made it possible to reduce the cost of computers and at the same time increase their performance.
In order to understand what an SSHD is, you need to familiarize yourself with its structure. The most important difference from a regular hard drive is the presence of memory chips.
Device
The type of device under consideration for storing and processing data consists of two main parts:
Solid state memory;
Hard drives.
Hard drives can be made of aluminum or glass plates coated with some ferrimagnetic material. Solid-state memory is a microcircuit; data is written to it non-mechanically.
The plates, rotating on a special spindle, are placed in a hermetically sealed chamber filled with nitrogen or other similar gas. It is cleared of foreign impurities, its humidity is minimal. There is a double cleaning system in case dust or other foreign particles get into the containment area. Inside the case there is a three-phase synchronous motor, as well as heads for reading and writing data.
Principle of operation
The operating principle of an SSHD device is very simple. Arrays for recording data are ordinary metal disks with a special coating. Information is recorded on them using the tunnel magnetoresistive effect. As a result of this effect, the magnetic field affects the resistance of the magnetic surface of the disks. Which leads to a change in the magnetization vector of individual elements.
Data is read in the same way. The head hovers above the metal surface and the reverse process occurs - the resistance of the surface of the plates affects the magnetic field of the writing head. The information received is analyzed and decrypted.
The operating principle of a hybrid drive is completely different from a conventional hard drive. In fact, this chip is a flash memory into which various types of data are written. Its operating speed is much higher than that of a standard hard drive.
The essence of the hybrid SSHD is that metal plates are used to house permanently stored information.
The use of the solid-state part of the device is carried out only after starting the operating system. Those files that the system accesses constantly are written to it. Thus, access to them is greatly simplified and accelerated.
It is due to this that the speed of work increases. The connection interface uses an interface called SATA.
Performance
If we compare the file transfer speed of a conventional drive and a hybrid drive, it will be almost the same. In SSHD it will not be much faster; the speed increase due to solid-state memory will be a maximum of 15%. But the difference becomes very noticeable if you measure the speed of file access. This parameter is designated Access Time in all testing applications.
The data access speed when using ST500LT will be 24.2 m/s. The ST500LM has a similar characteristic of 0.3 m/s. So the performance difference is very large.
The most obvious way to see the difference in performance is when testing in some specialized work. For example, in PCMark 05.
Where is the best place to use an SSHD drive?
The drives in question are used both in laptops and in regular desktop computers. That is why both a full-size version – 3.5 inches – and a smaller one are produced. There are also a large number of models, the thickness of which is within 7 mm. That's why they are often used in laptops.
Most often, drives with solid-state additional memory are used in laptops, since these devices suffer from a lack of performance. This is due to the compactness of the hardware. And a solid-state drive allows you to compensate for this shortcoming. But you can also often find the disk in question in regular desktop PCs.
Short review
Most often on sale you can find a model labeled as Seagate Laptop Thin SSHD. You can also easily find an overview of it; in appearance, you can confuse it with the most ordinary disk drive, equipped with two metal plates coated with ferromagnetic coating.
The model in question has overall dimensions of 2.5 inches. The data exchange process is carried out through an interface labeled SATA 6. The internal memory capacity is 500 GB. The spindle rotation speed is not very high - only 5400 rpm.
Other performance characteristics are also outstanding:
- power consumption – 0.9 W;
- noise level – 2.2 dB;
- impact resistance – 350/1000 g;
- dimensions:
- length – 100.35 mm;
- height – 70.1 mm;
- depth – 7 mm;
- weight – 95 g.
It allows you to significantly increase productivity and reduce total weight.
Soon there will be a complete transition to hybrid and solid-state storage devices. Since this direction has very great potential for development.
Two-in-one devices have always attracted buyers because combining technologies in one device often improves the performance of the devices. Naturally, the price for the set will be decent. Take, for example, a video dual device, a laptop-tablet or an MFP. Manufacturers of hard drives also decided to resort to crossing the two technologies, introducing inexpensive SSHD drives to the market. The article focuses on the hybrid hard drive, the pros and cons of the device, as well as reviews from happy owners.
A holy place is never empty
The expensive technology of very fast SSD drives and affordable but very slow HDD magnetic disks have created a huge gap in the hard storage media market, both in the price and speed categories. There was an urgent need for a golden mean that could satisfy the user not only with its characteristics, but also at an affordable price. This is how a symbiosis appeared - SSHD disks. Nothing depends on the user in the operation of the device. Everything works automatically. In fact, for the owner the process of operation of the hybrid drive will be invisible in terms of installation and installation. There is no need to install any drivers; the controller is detected and controlled by the computer's BIOS. You can only see the result - a significant increase in performance, which is noticeable when loading the system and launching resource-intensive applications, including games.
How it works
The principle of operation is quite simple and is somewhat reminiscent of the operation of a central processor. Magnetic hard drives have long used caching technology, where frequently used information is read from a magnetic disk and written to the memory of the built-in chip on the hard drive. The chip size is disproportionately small (8-128 MB), but this is quite enough for the system to operate. Naturally, the chip is able to communicate with the processor at enormous speed. The technology used by hybrid hard drives involves the presence of another chip created using SSD technology, but with a larger capacity. As a result, the processor turns to the hard drive for information.
- If the information is in the level 1 cache, it is provided instantly.
- If the information is not in the 1st level, the access is transferred to the 2nd level cache. Since the second level uses an SSD, information is also quickly provided to the processor.
- Information is read from the surface of the magnetic disk, which slows down the operation of the entire system.
Feasibility of installation
At first glance, it may seem that the main consumers in the market for these drives are owners of personal computers. After all, for a laptop, devices without rotating components are preferable for safety and shock resistance reasons. However, judging by numerous reviews from owners, hybrid hard drives are purchased specifically for laptops. Portable devices require volume first and then performance. And if for a personal computer it is not problematic to install several storage devices of different form factors, then a laptop has a serious limitation. In addition, installing an SSD is impractical due to limited capacity and high price.
Reasons to buy a new drive
For most laptop owners, the main problem in their work is the failure of the hard drive with the loss of important information for the user. As an alternative solution, the seller offers three options.
- Install the same HDD drive, for example a 500 GB hard drive, but with increased shock resistance of 1000 G. In this case, the purchase costs will be minimal, as will the performance.
- Install an SSD, losing capacity, spending a lot of money, but gaining in performance.
- Install a hybrid SSHD drive, getting high performance, affordable cost, and large capacity.
Naturally, thanks to this approach of sellers, judging by the numerous reviews from happy customers, hybrid drives have conquered the portable device market.
Two hard drives in a laptop?
It is not necessary to install a hybrid hard drive for a laptop instead of a standard device. Due to the presence of a mass of various adapters on the market, it is possible to install an additional hard drive in the system. There are many options. Starting from the USB and eSATA interface, ending with the desoldering of unused SATA ports on the motherboard of a portable device. And only one option deserves special attention from users. We are talking about a device called Second HDD Caddy, which resembles a pocket for connecting hard drives to a running personal computer.
Due to its size and interfaces, this pocket should be installed instead of a standard DVD optical device. Naturally, it can only be installed in laptops where this drive is preinstalled. As a result, the user receives a second hard drive, which, in addition to a huge amount of storage capacity, provides excellent performance at an affordable price.
Priorities for PC
A hybrid hard drive for a computer will be more useful for game lovers. After all, most synthetic tests on office computers show that the weak link is the processor or video adapter, but not the magnetic disk. And only in gaming systems, when there is a powerful video card, a strong central processor and fast RAM, does the hard drive become the culprit of all the problems.
Installing an SSD can solve performance problems, but the high price and small amount of memory do not suit half of potential buyers. Judging by numerous reviews, the hybrid device is also used under the system. The 8 GB Level 2 cache can accommodate a working Windows system with all its services and drivers, including the page file. This offload will not only allow games to run faster on the processor and memory, but will also significantly speed up the work of applications related to video encoding and working with flash.
How to see performance
Hybrid hard drives are the only drives that allow you to see first-hand system performance, as well as measure and compare the results before and after improvements. It sounds fantastic, but it's a fact. Everything is very simple. After mounting and installing the operating system, the controller on the drive needs time to capture frequently used files, which it will place in the second-level cache. Sometimes you have to perform 5-7 system reboots for the drive to start working in the desired mode, providing high performance. If the SSHD disk was purchased as an additional drive, for games, for example, then you need to launch the game, play, exit, and restart the computer. The result of the controller's operation will be noticed immediately when the operating system or favorite game loads several times faster.
What's on the market for PC
When choosing, the user may encounter the problem of selecting the required device. We are talking about the assortment - it is too small for the huge market of computer components. Market leaders Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba introduced devices with SSHD technology to the world. But only Seagate provided the buyer with a choice; the rest were limited to a couple of models. Judging by numerous expert reviews, all developed countries have long replaced magnetic drives with SSDs. And only in third world countries, where not every buyer can afford a device at a high price, are such hybrid miracle devices sold. The manufacturer Seagate offers customers SSHD drives in all sorts of variations, ranging from memory capacity and cache sizes of the 1st and 2nd levels, ending with spindle speed.
Decent model
Hard drives with a capacity of several terabytes will not surprise anyone today. In pursuit of volumes, the user loses sight of many other factors.
- Speed of chaotic reading from disk. The larger the volume, the more difficult it is for the read head to find information. Even though this parameter is measured in milliseconds, the result is quite noticeable in a synthetic test.
- Rationality of purchase. Reading reviews from many buyers, we can conclude that there is no point in purchasing a drive larger than 1 TB. Having spent a large amount for excess space, the user is not able to fill it with data.
Apparently, the manufacturer Seagate also came to the same conclusions, focusing on a 500 GB SSHD hard drive with a spindle speed of 5400 rpm. It is the ST500LM000 model that participates in all synthetic tests to compare performance with other hard drives; judging by the results, it has few competitors in terms of operating speed.
To take or not to take?
In any case, the rhetorical question will concern the buyer when choosing a hard drive. After all, SSHD technology is not the best hard drive for PC and laptop owners. The goal of producing a hybrid drive, first of all, was to saturate the market with devices that combine large capacity and fast NAND memory at a low price. You need to stop here and make decisions based on the needs of use.
- A high-capacity drive that was always full to capacity failed - an SSHD drive will be an excellent replacement. With a difference of 300-500 rubles, the buyer will receive increased productivity.
- You need an ultra-fast computer for games, and the information on the hard drive rarely exceeded 100 GB - you can’t find a better SSD. It may be more expensive, but it's worth it.
- There is a need for additional storage media for documents and multimedia - a regular, cheapest HDD drive will be the best purchase.
Finally
By summarizing the information, it is possible to draw conclusions, thanks to which any user will make his own decision, as did specialists from popular computer publications. And judging by numerous reviews, these findings are quite interesting.
- For users who have a gaming computer with high-performance components, buying one or two SSD drives will not hurt their pockets, because for them the FPS (frames per second) in the game is more expensive than any banknotes.
- In search of an inexpensive magnetic drive, very often the buyer resorts to buying it on the secondary market. In our country this is a fairly common option.
- Only a handful of people who are looking for compromises, eager to get maximum performance and know how to count their money will look at hybrid hard drives.
Hybrid drives SSHD - what kind of bird?
- King Servers Blog
In our work we often have to deal with a variety of information storage devices, including hard drives and solid-state storage devices. At the same time, sometimes you come across quite unusual devices that are not common everywhere. For example, SSHD are hybrid hard drives. There are probably people on Habré who are well acquainted with this type of information storage device, but there are also those who have not even heard of such “hybrids”.
So, hybrid hard drives, first of all, are a compromise solution that allows you to both increase the overall performance of the system in which they are installed and reduce the price of such a system.
After all, despite their widespread use, solid-state drives are still quite expensive, and it is unlikely that there will come a time soon when the price of such drives will drop significantly.
Conventional hard drives are inexpensive for the most part, but their performance is limited, and you cannot “jump” above a certain limit. That's why hybrid hard drives appeared. SSHD appeared a few years ago, and at first they were pure exoticism, which few people took seriously (and few knew about them). The main advantage of a hybrid hard drive is that it increases the overall performance of the system in which they are installed, using only one drive bay (rather than two, if you use both an SSD and a regular hard drive). Now there are models of “hybrids” of small sizes, for example, with a thickness of only 7 mm (this is the ST500LM000 model from Seagate), which allows you to install such drives in netbooks/ultrabooks.
The operating principle of SSHD is based on caching the most frequently used data using flash memory, that is, the SSD part of the “hybrid”. Already when the operating system is launched for the first time on a laptop/PC with a “hybrid”, the files that the operating system needs to load are placed in the non-volatile part of the SSHD memory. As a result, the OS startup speed increases, and quite significantly.
The hybrid drive, by the way, shows almost similar file transfer speed results compared to conventional hard drives. But the difference in the operation of different types of devices becomes very noticeable when comparing file access time (Access Time). For example, if you take a Seagate ST500LT032 drive with a capacity of 500 GB and compare it with the “hybrid” ST500LM000 of the same capacity, then the file access speed will be 24.2 and 0.3 ms.
As for the maximum speed of the interface, the difference is no longer several times, but 15%. In the first case, 101 MB/s, in the second - 115 MB/s.
There are also disadvantages, and first of all, it is the inability to fit all critical data on the SSD part of an SSHD disk. Typically, an SSD in a “hybrid” is installed with a capacity of 8 GB, sometimes more (for example, models with 32 GB of flash memory are not uncommon), but then such a drive will be more expensive.
The price of “hybrids” is only slightly higher than that of conventional hard drives. If we take the models already mentioned above, then the price of the Seagate Laptop Thin SSHD ST500LM000 is $73-75, and the Seagate ST500LT032 is about $50.
So, if you want to increase the OS loading speed, as well as the overall performance of your laptop/desktop PC, we recommend using “hybrids”. Well, that's if saving money is important to you. If not, then you should use SSD and regular hard drives separately.
Hi all.
It's time to get acquainted with the concept of a “hybrid hard drive”, as it is increasingly being heard. Would you like to increase the speed of your computer? I have no doubt that yes. And at the same time, naturally, you want to save money? Then read on.
Hybrid drive - what is it?
A hybrid hard drive, or in English SSHD (solid-state hybrid drive), is a cross between the old hard drive that is in your computer and a comparatively new technology - a solid-state drive. To make the situation clearer, you need to understand what one and the other are.
The one we are used to consists of plates and read heads that spin at incredible speeds.
Such a mechanism takes up a lot of space, makes noise and is prone to breakage when shaking.
Therefore, manufacturers came up with an improved version - which does not have any rotating elements, but consists only of a memory chip.
Despite the fact that solid-state drives appeared in the 80s, they are still not going to become cheaper. True, the high price is justified by the ultra-fast work. To balance the situation, the developers created a hybrid version between the first and second - SSHD. And yet, what is it?
It looks like the same simple screw, that is, it also works thanks to the plates and heads. Only they added flash memory to it, like in a solid-state drive.
How did you come to this decision?
To understand the cause-and-effect relationships, let’s look at the operating principle of the drive. When you give it a command with the keyboard and mouse, it first accesses the data in the first level cache. This is the area where the information you use most often is temporarily stored.
Depending on the HDD model, its volume varies between 8-64 MB. Catastrophically few, right? Therefore, the computer freezes (or rather, the screw itself freezes) if it suddenly does not find the necessary information in the cache and begins to select it from what it has in stock.
In order to prevent the computer from slowing down, we added a level 2 hard cache in the form of flash memory. Its volume can reach 8 GB. Better now, right? And although the additional cache has a lower speed than the main one, with a hybrid hard cache you are unlikely to have to worry about waiting for a response from the computer to your request.
After all, SSHD can add much more information to its temporary storage than HDD. True, there is no way to interfere in the election process: the drive itself decides what is more important to you.
For this, self-learning technology is used, which, from the first seconds of work, examines on the disk those files that have already been used several times, and if you reuse them, they will launch faster. That is, only the most frequently used files work quickly on such drives.
But the buffer size is known to be limited, therefore the disk will not process all your files faster (the files are replaced by others you use).
Advantages and disadvantages
Like everything in our world, this device has pros and cons. Let's start with the good:
- Works faster than the old screw by about 30%;
- Costs less than SSD;
- Flash memory and screw have a single housing.
The hybrid drive has only one drawback - a small cache size. But this is temporary, as technology develops. By the way, do not confuse the cache with memory intended for storing multimedia and other data - its volume can be calculated in terabytes.
Do you need an SSHD?
As you can see, when buying a hybrid propeller you can only win. But is it worth buying this hard one while the old one works flawlessly? The answer is yes if you want to speed up your computer.
I can say the same to those whose propeller has broken. I mean, you'll have to buy a new one anyway, so why not a hybrid? The price is not much more expensive than a regular disk, but it works much faster.
If you decide that you need a drive, when choosing, pay attention to the following main features:
- Form factor - size.
Initially, these screws were intended only for mobile gadgets, so they were produced in a 2.5-inch form factor (size).
But manufacturers also took care of owners of desktop computers by releasing 3.5-inch devices.
- Interface - a way to connect the drive to the motherboard. The data exchange speed also depends on this parameter. The most common one now is SATA. The first and third generations of this bus are found in many computers. Do you have very old hardware? It may have an obsolete IDE interface. PCI Express is considered the most modern development.
- Capacity. In this case, choose according to your personal needs.
My conclusion is this: since this disk generally works faster only with frequently used files, it would be more rational to buy it to install the OS on it. I just don’t see the point in using it for regular files.
That's all, friends, subscribe to the update and don't forget to bookmark the link to my blog.
Good luck with the upgrade.
