Installing windows 10 on a hybrid hard drive. Is SSHD performance really the same as SSD? PCMark8 - everything is calm in Baghdad
The first quantum leap in data storage in personal computers happened about 30 years ago - when the hard drive became the main storage device. The personal computer equipped with the latter really reached a different level compared to its predecessors, equipped only with floppy drives, or even working with household tape recorders, and in all respects. Simply because the high capacity and speed of hard drives led to a sharp increase in the power of application programs, and generally to a completely different scenario for using technology. Actually, that's why this scheme quickly became standard and remained unchanged for many years.
However, by now the market has begun to undergo further developments. Hard drives continue to be the main type of drive in mass-market computers. However, it is no longer the only one - flash memory is nipping at its heels. However, solid-state drives still cannot compete with hard drives in terms of capacity, but the trick is that the user often does not need high capacity. In any case, it is not needed in every computer - now a personal computer is not the only device of this kind at the owner’s disposal, but just a part global infrastructure, which includes both local NAS and global cloud services. Accordingly, parameters such as performance or resistance to external adverse influences (shaking, for example) are taking the lead in many areas of use, but here flash memory-based drives are head and shoulders above their mechanical relatives.
But in practice, everything is even more complicated than the head-on confrontation between mechanics and semiconductors. The fact is that manufacturers have long been working on hybrid drives that include both. In terms of capacity, they do not lag behind hard drives (which is not surprising, since the hard drive is the basis of all hybrids), but at the same time they inherit many of their shortcomings, and performance... It’s more complicated with it. A conservative estimate (with which we tend to agree) is that the performance of hybrids is no lower than that of hard drives, and in a number of use cases can be comparable to solid-state devices. But not always, i.e. everything is simple only at the extreme points: hard drives are slow, SSDs are fast. And hybrids - depending on your luck.
However, such a vague definition certainly does not suit everyone. The only problem is that accurate testing of systems with hybrid drives is extremely difficult due to the variability of the results. Depending on the selected scenario and test programs, it is not so difficult to obtain both performance at the level of conventional hard drives and comparable to solid-state drives. Moreover, the more low-level test programs we take, the more results of the first type we get. And high-level tests of the entire system usually do not depend too much on the performance of the drives themselves, so in them you can easily achieve parity between all types of the latter.
But no matter how difficult the search for an exact answer to the question posed may be, it needs to be done. Including with the help different approaches. In the line of articles devoted to testing drives themselves, we mainly focus on low-level tests and try (for obvious reasons) not to compare devices of different types with each other. Today's material is of a different kind. In it we will limit ourselves to high-level benchmarks, but we will test five different drives within one system. Let's see what comes out of this.
What and how we test
Not long ago we got our hands on an MSI GP60 gaming laptop, which differs from most devices on the market in the use of a hybrid hard drive Western Digital. This is already interesting in itself, since, unlike Seagate, which sells its hybrids left and right through all channels (so anyone can buy them), WDC so far ships its drives of this class only to manufacturers ready-made systems. According to the company, this should help the most complete and correct use potential of hybrid hard drives and avoid their “incorrect” use. For example, an individual buyer can try to install a couple of hybrids in RAID0, which is not very reasonable (mostly sequential operations are accelerated, but the same level of performance can be achieved on a cheaper array of conventional hard drives), or use additional external flash caching, which in most cases it will only worsen the performance. And the laptop manufacturer definitely won’t do anything stupid :) Moreover, if possible, he will configure the system accordingly and include the “correct” utilities in the kit (ideally). In general, this is an approach with its pros and cons. And its main disadvantages on the part of testers (i.e. us) is that you can’t just go to the store and pick up one hard drive - you need to get a whole system with it somewhere. However, as we see, it is not so difficult :)
So, the WDC WD10J13T itself is interesting in itself. Despite belonging to the Black series, it has a platter rotation speed of only 5400 rpm, which, in general, is already becoming common: 7200 laptop hard drives are dying out, since hybridization is now becoming the main method of increasing productivity. This model also has as much as 24 GB of flash memory installed, which is not so bad - SanDisk caching SSDs, actively used by many laptop manufacturers, have just such a capacity. And the package of pancakes is also familiar - two 500 GB disks, which is this moment is the maximum for 9.5 mm WD hard drives. Note - only 5400 models: “black” at 7200 rpm. has not been updated for a very long time and uses less dense platters, so the capacity is limited to 750 GB, and for some types of load it is already more high speed rotation of the plates does not help to break away from the cheaper “blue” models (and, accordingly, older hybrids). In general, this is a capacious hard drive, accelerated by hybridization.
Who can compare it with? Of course, testing would not be complete without the Seagate SSHD. The closest in terms of technical characteristics is the ST1000LX003: also a terabyte on two plates and 32 GB of flash memory, but, unfortunately, we have not tested it yet. But I found the Laptop Thin SSHD ST500LM000 “at hand”. The plate in it is the same as in older models, but there is only one. However, in comparison with an SSD, its 500 GB capacity still looks good - flash memory of this or greater capacity is still too expensive from the point of view of many buyers. So the main drawback of this model’s performance characteristics is only 8 GB of flash buffer, which, as we already found when testing the drive, is not enough. On the other hand, the technology developed over several years may well compensate for the advantage of a Western Digital drive in flash capacity, so the comparison promises to be interesting.
But, be that as it may, the question is “which hybrid to buy?” Users ask themselves much less often than “is it worth buying a hybrid hard drive?” (especially since, as mentioned above, Western Digital does not yet sell its models at retail, which further narrows the possibility of choice as such). That is why it is impossible to avoid comparison with “ordinary powder,” i.e., a simple hard drive. So as not to offend any of the manufacturers, an example of such today will be the Hitachi Travelstar Z5K500-320: a single-platter from a “neutral manufacturer” with the same rotation speed of 5400 rpm as both test subjects. Of course, there are faster “classic” hard drives, but the modern “floor” is more important to us, not the “ceiling”. And in general - as has been said more than once, the latter is already beginning to slowly disappear: the role of top models is beginning to be played by hybrids, and devices with a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. become a dead-end branch of evolution.
And finally, the favorites today- solid state drives. There will be two of them - the budget Crucial M500 with 120 GB and a slightly larger one high class Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB. Note that the “budget” of the M500 is, in general, also relative - in price it is approximately equal to a terabyte hybrid from Seagate with 8 GB of flash memory (there are no retail prices for the WD10J13T yet, but it is unlikely that the cost of two similar drives different companies may vary too much). Actually, this is the answer to the question - why solid-state drives are still unable to displace mechanical drives: the prices are too different. Yes, of course, it is now possible to purchase an SSD at the price of an HDD (especially an SSHD), but the capacity will differ radically - eight times, i.e. almost an order of magnitude. A quarter of a terabyte of flash is relatively more profitable than an eighth of flash, but here it’s better not to compare absolute prices with hard drives. And if the buyer needs half a terabyte, then he will either have to buy an SSD at the price of a budget (even not the cheapest) laptop, or... Or give up on all the theoretical advantages of new technologies and turn to time-tested ones. Or also new, but less radical, i.e., hybrid drives.
As for the tools, there is no particular point in leaning on low-level tests - we have already established that. But PCMark is suitable as a measuring tool. Moreover, the two latest (at the moment) versions of this test package are also used when testing laptops, so some of the results have already been obtained earlier.
Low level - technology matters
So, let's start with the routes specialized for storage devices. There are too many detailed results, so we will limit ourselves to general estimates.
There are two suitable traces in PCMark7, so let's start with the more “refined” one. As you can see, hybridize does not hybridize, and solid-state drives are out of reach. They themselves can vary greatly in speed, but a budget SSD is already a couple of times faster than the fastest of the three hard drives participating in testing. However, flash buffering is not so bad - it allows you to increase performance on this route by 30-50%, but this is not at all enough to cross the chasm separating “mechanical” drives from semiconductor drives.
If you rise to a higher level and get closer to real loads, then the situation no longer looks so clear. Yes, of course, SSDs are still out of reach, but their advantage is greatly reduced compared to the previous case. That is, we can talk about a twofold difference only when comparing a slow hard drive with fast SSD, and hybrid drives can already somehow be compared with budget solid-state ones. Of course, we are still not talking about equality, but a lag of some 20% against the background of many times greater capacity at similar prices is something that many users can already accept.
In PCMark8, this group of tests turned out to be completely new, and not a significantly reworked old one. The result is at least interesting - the difference between different hard drives or different SSDs almost disappears. The first ones are about one and a half times faster than the second, but within the groups the spread is not too great.
So, let's drop everything, break out the piggy bank and run to the store? Take your time - these are just relatively low-level tests.
PCMark7 - Ubiquitous Storage
As we already wrote in the review of the laptop itself, with the exception of the Computation test, in each PCMark 7 scenario there are tasks to determine the performance of the data storage subsystem. Moreover, when calculating the integral result, the weight of these results turns out to be quite large. What should we get as a result?
Computation, of course, is practically independent of the type or specific model system storage. The influence of the latter can be traced a little, of course, but the difference (albeit stable - easily repeatable) is somewhere within the measurement error.
The transition to other routes changes things dramatically. Lightweight (light, non-stressful computer work) is almost identical to System storage. Relatively, but not absolutely, of course: after all, the test also contains a considerable number of tasks for other computer systems. As a result, we can talk about something like parity between hybrid hard drives and budget SSDs - the difference between them is only about 10%, which is not important for many users. At the same time, “traditional” hard drives are significantly slower, but top-end SSDs are much faster.
The Productivity test is also very “easy”, and it includes only two traces from the System storage group, and not three as in the previous case. True, here is one of them (namely launching applications), as we have seen more than once when testing drives, O and everyone else. In general, the results are already familiar: a computer with a traditional hard drive is almost two times slower than one equipped with a fast SSD, but budget models solid-state drives and hybrid hard drives are somewhere in the middle between them, and provide comparable performance. But even that is not the same. True, their capacity is even more different :)
There is more work in Creativity, so the difference between drives different types begins to shrink, even if it does not disappear altogether. But don’t be surprised that many may not notice it. That is, a person exchanges a hard drive for an SSD to work with videos and photos in anticipation Wow!, but instead of “wow” he gets 20% of the productivity, and not everywhere. Also a lot, of course, but knowing the numbers in advance, there would be even fewer people willing to pay for them.
And finally entertainment group(Entertainment). There are only two “accumulative” tests here (and one of the traces is not very accelerated on an SSD), and there are 11 others. Some of them, however, flash memory allows you to pass faster, but not all of them are significant. As a result, we come to the conclusion that for “home entertainment” use of a computer, the type of drive used is not very important. Hybrid hard drives, certainly provide some performance gains, and solid-state ones are even faster, but the difference is not as dramatic as the low-level benchmarks might lead you to believe. Which is quite consistent with everyday logic - a fast drive will allow you to launch the game faster and/or load new levels, but the frame rate in it will be determined by the video card (and a little by the processor, memory, etc.), regardless of where the game is installed. On the other hand... It is precisely in order to remove these most annoying delays when switching between levels that gamers buy SSDs. And those who are not too irritated by them (at least, not enough to part with a significant amount of money) do not buy.
The overall PCMark7 result, as one would expect, is even more dependent on the performance of the drive used than individual traces. But this still doesn’t give us anything new - a familiar situation, where mechanical drives are obvious outsiders, fast solid-state drives are the undisputed leaders, and somewhere between them is the habitat of budget SSDs and hybrid hard drives, which can, to a first approximation, be considered equal to each other.
PCMark8 - everything is calm in Baghdad
The operating logic of the new Futuremark test package has changed greatly - unlike its predecessor, it does not try to “mix” cumulative tests, focusing specifically on “real software” (which in some scenarios may actually be real - as we already wrote, the package is capable of using different versions Adobe Creative Suite or Microsoft Office, for example user installed). However, as we have already seen, and, in fact, the Storage group in this package finds fewer differences between drives of different types. Let's see how all this affects high-level tests.
Home computer - All Colas are the same. In any case, when running tests repeatedly, only “pure” mechanics lose (and only 10%), and hybrid hard drives are able to quickly cache the bulk of the work, which makes them equal to SSDs. But even if we plan for the worst case scenario (which, unfortunately, is almost impossible to simulate in this version of the package), we will “fall” only to the level of ordinary hard drives. That is, with this use of the computer, as we see, there is no need to chase an SSD (in any case).
What is noteworthy is that in an even easier “working” scenario, the gap between solid-state and hybrid drives from traditional ones only increased, while they themselves remained approximately equal to each other.
If content is not only consumed, but also produced, the use of flash memory in any form becomes even more preferable. In itself, there is no longer any need to chase top-end solid-state drives, since budget models of the latter, as well as hybrid hard drives, provide a level of performance comparable to them. However, you can look at the situation from the other side - in fact, here the difference between the two hybrids that took part in testing is comparable to the difference between drives of different classes.
And sometimes it can even exceed it. In fact, the Seagate Laptop Thin SSHD lags behind the younger modification of the Crucial M500 less than it is ahead of the hybrid WD Black. However, here the fastest SSD taken outperforms the slow “classic” hard drive by less than 15%. But it overtakes, i.e. already installed dependencies in force.
Perhaps the most difficult work scenario also turned out to be the most loyal to solid-state drives. So we come to the conclusion that to use Adobe products purchasing an SSD is highly advisable. Which is not surprising - the applications of this manufacturer work very actively with hard drives. Especially the same Photoshop, which is actively creating a large number of temporary files. Hybrid hard drives are unable to greatly speed up the process - after all, the mechanics prevent you from achieving high performance. But the potential of solid-state drives is fully utilized. A “smart” SSD allows you to get a one and a half times increase in performance relative to hard drives, which is very noticeable in the same environment. Especially in laptop computers, where, for example, it is impossible to obtain a similar increase due to the processor in some cases - let us recall that the system we used had a Core i7-4700QM installed: albeit not the highest in model range, but quad-core Haswell, which lags behind the extreme model of its generation by only 20 percent (the competition with representatives of older lines is even less clear). But, of course, to get such an effect, the solid-state drive must be used not only for installing programs, but also for working with data - otherwise the increase will be much more modest. And this unambiguously addresses us to capacious models of the top lines (the rest may simply not fit everything you need), which themselves can cost as much as a middle-class laptop. Thus, hybrid technologies are even more relevant - as we see, such hard drives are quite capable of competing with some budget SSDs, offering the buyer many times more working space, which can turn out to be extremely important (“splashing” a hundred gigabytes of photos with a modern DSLR is a simple matter and within one trip). In general, based on a combination of factors (speed, capacity, price), there are no clear leaders or clear outsiders. This means that all technologies and their combinations will remain relevant in the near future. Each one is simply in its place.
Total
Manufacturers of solid-state drives “love” to use the results of low-level benchmarks in advertising, and when promoting hybrid ones, the main emphasis is on the fact that sometimes they are almost as good as solid-state drives. Both are true. But not all of them :) In the first case, do not forget that low-level “parrots” are extremely rarely achievable in practice - more often than not, the performance of the entire computer when solving certain problems is “limited” by the characteristics of completely different components. Or even nothing at all except the user. As you might guess, this is often the “stumbling block” for hybrids: there are many loads where “regular” hard drives are often not too far behind solid-state drives even without any hybridization. Therefore, you should not count on the fact that SSD installation instead of even the slowest hard drive in any laptop, it will radically speed up it everywhere - in terms of execution time practical problems this may not have any effect at all, i.e., just as you processed the photo for 15 minutes, continue. Another question is that the comfort of this event may increase - in particular, delays when launching programs will no longer be noticeable. Or “brakes” when loading levels in a game, etc. But the frame rate, as we wrote above, will not increase - it all depends on the video card and, to a lesser extent, on the processor. To view a photo in RAW format, it seems that you need to quickly read it from the media. However, when high resolution“developing” RAW itself can take several seconds (or even tens of seconds) - against this background, the time for reading a file even from a USB flash drive will simply be “lost.”
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 represents the usual HDD, equipped with a solid-state memory section. Operating principle of this device peculiar.
Story
The device of this type appeared relatively long ago, almost immediately after various types of solid-state drives were put into mass production SSD type. The latter had extremely high performance 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.
So peculiar engineering solution– combine two various types memory in one case - 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 - 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 closed chamber filled with nitrogen or other similar gas. It is cleared of foreign impurities, its humidity is minimal. Available dual system cleaning in case dust or other foreign particles enter 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 exposure 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 metal surface and the reverse process occurs - the resistance of the surface of the plates affects the magnetic field of the write head. The information received is analyzed and decrypted.
The operating principle of a hybrid drive is completely different from a conventional one. hard drive. Actually, this microcircuit is a flash memory into which various types of data are recorded. 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 Comparing file transfer speeds regular drive and hybrid, 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
in all testing applications it is designated as Access Time.
For comparison, you can use the two most common models:
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, solid state drives additional memory used in laptops, since these devices suffer from a lack of performance. This is due to the compactness of the hardware. And the solid state drive allows you to compensate this disadvantage. 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 his review at 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. Extremely high operating speed allows for large quantity
Hello admin! I want to buy a 1-2 TB hard drive, one computer geek I know advised me to buy an SSHD drive (a hybrid of a hard drive and an SSD solid-state drive), since it works noticeably faster than a regular HDD, but is not as expensive as an SSD. What can you say about such discs?
Hello friends! Very good question. Yes, SSHD hybrid hard drive ( Solid State Hybrid Drive) works 30% faster than a conventional hard drive, and is about the same more expensive. If a regular 1 TB hard drive costs 4,000 rubles, then an SSHD can be bought for 5,400 rubles. The following discs are available for regular computers, and for laptops.
Firstly, What is a hybrid hard drive?
Production technology hard drives(the only computer component that has moving mechanical parts) has long reached a dead end and it is almost impossible to increase the performance of a hard drive through production, as evidenced by the appearance of SSDs and SSHD hybrid hard drives on the market. But if a solid-state drive is a completely non-mechanical storage device based on memory chips, then a hybrid hard drive is, first of all, a regular hard drive with an MLC fast flash memory card (8 GB capacity) soldered onto it, used in the production of solid-state drives. that is, it turns out that SSHD is a hybrid of a regular hard drive and an SSD..
Secondly, why is an SSHD hybrid hard drive faster than a regular hard drive?
Seagate SSHD hybrid drives use self-learning technology - Seagate Adaptive Memory, which examines the operating system installed on the disk from the first seconds of operation, as a result, the most frequently used programs and files are copied to the flash memory of the SSHD disk, such files include, first of all, the elements involved in loading the operating system, which means that Windows will be installed from the second or third time boot faster, because Windows will be loaded from flash memory. For example, on my computer Windows boot 8.1 installed on a regular HDD occurs within 35-40 seconds, and on an SSHD - 20 seconds, on a regular solid-state SSD drive- 15 seconds. The same applies to applications you constantly use; they will launch a little faster. Let's take, for example, a resource-demanding computer modern game, which you constantly play, according to my observations, such a game will load three times faster than on a regular HDD.
Hybrid SSHD hard drive is the golden mean
In general, the ideal drive configuration option is system unit ordinary home user looks like this: you buy two drives, the first is a solid state SSD (volume 120-240 GB) for installing the operating system, and the second is a regular HDD for storing files (volume) 2-3 TB, you need about 10,000 rubles for all this. And if you purchase one 1 TB SSHD hybrid drive, it will cost you 5,400 rubles, and a 2 TB SSHD will cost you 7,000 rubles. Of course, everything won’t fly (as is the case with an SSD), but maybe you don’t need such speeds. A hybrid SSHD drive is coming out, this is the golden mean - for little money you get good performance And large volume disk space.
Which SSHD to buy
Until recently hybrid drives SSHD was produced by the company that developed them - Seagate. In total, there are currently three Seagate Desktop SSHD models on the market with capacities of 1, 2, 4 TB.
Seagate Desktop SSHD ST1000DX001 1 TB
Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB
Seagate Desktop SSHD ST4000DX001 4 TB
Also, recently Western Digital began to produce SSHD, but they are few on the market, and the model that I came across - WD Blue SSHD, WD40E31X with a capacity of 4 TB, was no different in speed characteristics from the similar model Seagate ST4000DX001 4 TB.
In today’s article, I suggest you consider the Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB model and here’s why. If we take the Seagate Desktop SSHD 1 TB model, then 1 TB of disk space is not enough for modern user computer. If we take the Seagate Desktop SSHD 4 TB model, then on the contrary, not everyone needs a large volume of 4 TB of disk space, and its price is quite high (11,500 rubles), and what is also important is the spindle speed of this drive: 5900 rpm, that is, it is slightly slower than other SSHDs with a capacity of 1 and 2 TB (spindle speed 7200 rpm) and this will certainly affect the performance of the operating system.
So, I persuaded you and we have a model in front of us Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB
Upon closer inspection, the hybrid Seagate drive Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB turned out to be ordinary hard drive, only it says SSHD on it.
Disk space - 2 TB
SSD buffer capacity - 8 GB
Cache memory size - 64 MB
Spindle speed - 7200 rpm
On back side drive we see a special Adaptive Memory printed circuit board, with 8 GB of fast MLC memory and a “hybrid” controller soldered.
It’s very easy to install the drive into the system unit.
SMART hard drive CrystalDiskInfo program and Victoria.
The hybrid drive is new and has been used for 0 hours.
Read and write tests
To make sure that our disk is really good, let's perform several tests on reading and writing using special programs: CrystalDiskMark 2.0, ATTO Disk Benchmark and SiSoftware Sandra. These utilities will sequentially read and write information to our hybrid disk in small blocks, then show us the result.
CrystalDiskMark 2.0
The simplest and most frequently used program in this regard, you can download it on my Yandex.Disk
The utility is very simple, select only the desired drive letter (in our case E:)
And press AII, the SSHD disk performance test will begin.
1. Test of sequential reading and writing of large blocks of data;
2. Test of random reading and writing in 512 KB blocks;
3. Test of random reading and writing in 4 KB blocks;
I can say that the result is very worthy, especially the recording in 512 KB and 4 KB blocks.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
Let's test the hybrid disk with another program - ATTO Disk Benchmark.
Select the drive letter of the SSHD hybrid drive and click Start.
Result.
SiSoftware Sandra
Global program capable of diagnosing all computer components and having its own official rating.
As a result, our disk is ahead of 94% of the results. Excellent performance.
Disadvantages of SSHD
In my opinion, the only disadvantage of SSHD is small volume built-in flash memory 8 GB, it would be great if its size increased to 32 GB, then more running programs could be placed in the solid-state cache and Windows performance would be exactly the same as if it were installed on an SSD.
Only a lazy, deaf and, in addition, blind IT specialist today does not know about benefits of SSD. The SSD market is developing rapidly, new players appear and disappear, and funds are invested in improved technologies. Solid State Drives a few years ago they gave the market such a kick that all manufacturers are still reeling. Moreover, not only the market for drives themselves is being rebuilt, but also the market for controllers, storage systems, OS and applications.
However, SSD capacities still remain extremely expensive compared to traditional ones. You have to constantly maneuver between speed and capacity, both at the corporate level and at the ordinary users and SOHO. Enterprise separate song, let's leave it aside. But at the level of ordinary users, there are now storage solutions on SSD, HDD and hybrid options. And in my opinion SSD experience this is good, but it is always small, and the HDD is always too slow. The most the best option is precisely the hybrid option, in which “hot” data is available quickly, and dust-covered distributions or music lie quietly waiting in the wings on slow storage. Ideally, we would add very slow storage here for rarely used data (2 TB family photo video archive), but this has so far only been implemented in the form of DVD BRD, clouds, NAS. All in all hybrid SSD+ HDD looks almost like a dream.
Today, the user’s dream of ideal storage can be realized by:
- Household SATA controllers(Intel smart response, some kind of crafts from China)
- Windows 8 (8.1) as Storage spaces
- SSD + HDD in manual version
Household SATA controllers.
Advanced chipsets from Intel have the ability to cache data on the Intel Smart Response SSD. Most often these are chipsets with 5, 7 or 8 at the end (Z77, B75). That is, almost all chipsets except the very Low End ones. “Just add an SSD”, if anyone is not yet familiar with this technology, I recommend taking a couple of minutes. If, before installing the OS, the controller's RAID mode was enabled in the BIOS, then simply add an SSD, and installed utility from Intel enable caching. All. The rest is done by drivers from Intel. By the way, they now promise that not only the SSD + HDD combination works, but also just SSHD. Pros:
- ease of installation and operation
- SSD failure does not threaten the data (there is a duplicate on the HDD)
- almost hardware
- support only Microsoft OS (as far as I know),
- inability to manually specify files that you would like to store on the SSD,
- The cache is limited to only 20 GB (the rest of the SSD capacity can be used, apparently).
- Well, if the mode was IDE or AHCI, then you will have to tinker a little with the OS first.
Windows 8 (8.1) in the form of Storage spaces.
Nobody knew and I'm Batman! Indeed - few people know that Microsoft, starting with Windows 8, provides excellent functions for creating disk arrays previously available only for very expensive RAID controllers. Storage spaces are very cool, such progress even scares me (what to expect in Windows 9?) I think manufacturers of cool controllers are also afraid of this approach, for this reason no one speaks loudly about this technology, so as not to crash the market. Installed Windows fed different disks(HDD, SSD) and choose from options (speed, reliability, speed and reliability), in general they build RAID in the form in which they want. The handling here is simply amazing. Pros:
- omnivorous (USB, SATA, IDE, SAS, PCIe...). Didn't check all options.
- a huge number of options for using disks
- dynamic storage space sizes
- free (you already paid for the OS)
- you can independently decide which files will always be on the SSD
- you need skills in constructing arrays, well, at least understand what you are doing.
- As far as I know, you cannot install the OS on such a hybrid disk, that is, under the OS separate disk needed.
SSD + HDD in manual version
A common option. When you don’t want to bother with more complex options. Have you installed the OS on the SSD? How many Gb of this OS need to be read every day, and how many files will never be read? That is, a huge part of the expensive disk space will be used to store files that can be stored on a cheap disk. Pros:
- manageability (the user decides what and where to store)
- predictability (proven technology)
- high price (including lost place on SSD for “extra” files)
- manageability (you need to manually transfer files to fast or slow storage)
SSHD - hybrid disks (two in one).
User friendly option. Seagate is still a leader in this segment. Regular hard The disk was equipped with a huge SSD cache. In operation it is no different from a regular hard drive, it is not controlled, it works according to the algorithms laid down by the manufacturer at the factory. Does not require maintenance or special installation at all. I was sure that they would completely replace them on the market regular HDDs. Pros:
- low price
- simple installation and operation
- no control (possibly there is using Intel smart response)
- do not replace components separately (replacing only the SSD will not work)
What's the end result?
With all the variety of options for selling modern PCs, with decent processors, video cards, fast memory And at the same time, I consider outdated HDDs to be practically a crime. Any modern PC, be it office or home, will rely on disks. Why invest in processors and video if it runs into a hard drive, it’s a waste of the consumer’s money.
And what do I see on the market? How many Smart Response users do you know? How many SSHD models are on the shelves of your local store? And does his supplier have warehouses? How much do you know Windows users using Storage spaces? Despite the fact that SSHDs are the easiest option to install, when purchasing, the user still simply compares the capacity of the disks. Even IT specialists and geeks prefer to use separate SSDs and HDDs (or clouds).
Until now, most of the basic lines of PCs and laptops famous brands sold with HDD. Moreover, laptops are even sold with HDD 5400 rpm! And they do buy it.
And I can’t understand - what’s going on? Such progress in technology, and such a gap in sales. When choosing a PC from HP or DELL on the distribution website, I don’t even have anything to look at. None of them offer workstations with hybrid storage, and you can't even find one with SSD. This is some kind of conspiracy, some kind of crisis of common sense.
IT has always been considered an industry at the forefront of technology. But not now, not in terms of PCs and laptops. Some barriers arose, not technological or production ones, but systemic, market ones.
My options for answering the question - why are hybrid storage options inferior in sales to classic ones:
- Difficult to use. Dismissed, the difference in HDD and SSHD in terms of operational complexity is zero.
- High market volatility. Consumers are accustomed to the fact that the most important thing about a disk is its volume.
- The fragility of SSDs. Partially accepted. The technology was vulnerable in the beginning, but today a decent SSD lasts for 2-5 years of normal use. Household HDDs are now such that not all of them last 3 years, so in terms of reliability, it’s still a question of who wins. In the case of hybrids, I allow increased wear, because it is hot data that will burn out the disk, but that’s what controllers are for - selecting the data that is needed not once or twice, but constantly. Although, I admit that it is precisely because of reliability that PC vendors do not actively use SSDs. There are reputational risks.
- High price. Have mercy - 8 GB of ssd cache increases the price tag of the disk by 1 thousand rubles. or less. Was 1700 rubles, became 2500 rubles. Compare with the cost of other components. Yes, it’s better to save on the processor, motherboard and memory; all of them together will not affect the system performance, as the fast disk subsystem will do this.
- Manufacturers' conspiracy. It is likely that Seagate or someone else has patents on the technologies necessary to produce hybrids. In turn, large PC vendors do not want to allow a monopoly by Seagate or anyone else, and deliberately do not use technology that has a monopoly. However, they use Intel CPUs...
- The actual performance gain is not that great. This simply cannot be, because it cannot be.
Are there any other options?
