Today, many different types of drives for storing information are widely used (various hard drives, external HDDs, solid state drives, etc.). Among the huge variety of ways to store information, more precisely, types hard drives(ZhD) there are also quite rare ones, such as hybrid ones. The article below will talk about the so-called hybrid hard drives - SSHD. Hybrid HDD - what it is and what are its advantages, this is what the article below is devoted to.
Hybrid SSHD, what is it?
A hybrid drive is a combination of a classic hard drive with a cache from a small solid-state drive. They are quite poorly distributed on the market (both domestic and foreign), for this reason few people can boast of experience working with them. The first, and also the main reason for their weak popularity, is their higher cost compared to their analogues.
So, for example, even if we take into account that in the last few years prices for them have fallen quite strongly, and they have become significantly cheaper, on average 1 gigabyte of a solid-state (hybrid) disk costs about 0.5-0.6 dollars, while 1 An ordinary GB (mechanical) costs an average of $0.06. Almost 12 times more expensive, i.e. A 256 GB solid-state HDD costs the same as a classic hard (mechanical) one with a capacity of 2-3 terabytes. Agree, there is a difference and quite noticeable.
Such a difference in price also leaves its mark on the nature of its use. So, for example, the most common option is to use both disks at once (solid-state with mechanical). Indeed, despite their higher cost, they have several very important advantages, and first of all, the speed of working with data, which is much higher.
It was thanks to this (and the difference in price) that the so-called “hybrids” appeared, i.e. a combination of a classic hard drive (for storing information) and a solid state (for storing the “cache” and the most frequently used OS files). In fact, we are talking about combining two drives into one, to maximize the benefits of a mechanical and solid-state drive. An example is the ST500LM000 railway. A fairly common “hybrid” on the market. The volume of solid-state HDD is 8 GB, mechanical 500 GB.
Thanks to this decision, it became possible to reach a kind of compromise. On the one hand, increase the speed of loading OS data and loading “heavy” applications. On the other hand, the price of “hybrids” is not much different from classic disks (no more than 40%), in contrast to all-solid-state ones, which cost 10-12 times more. This allows you to get HDD HDD capacity at the same speed as SDD at a very reasonable price.
Advantages of a hybrid HDD
The “hybrid” consists of a magnetic disk and a small solid-state drive.
In comparison with mechanical HDDs (which are much slower, but have a significantly larger capacity), the so-called “hybrid” ones have higher speed (reading and writing information), but their high price does not allow them to be used as the main source of data storage. For this reason, it is quite common to use two disks at once, i.e. hybrid use (simultaneously solid-state and mechanical). Solid state drives are used for programs and files that require high speed; a standard HDD is used to store files.
Thus, we observe a peculiar division of functions, i.e. the faster disk is used to operate OS elements, and the slower one is used exclusively for storing files. This allows you to increase overall system performance.
It is quite difficult to find a completely solid-state HDD in its pure form; so-called “hybrids” are often produced, i.e. part of the disk has semiconductor memory (usually the smallest), the other part has conventional mechanical memory. For example, the most common option is a hybrid, where solid-state memory is only 8 GB, and 1 terabyte is a mechanical drive. In this case 8 gigabytes solid state drive it is used not for storing information, but for the operation of the OS and its programs (for swapping “cache” files).
Thanks to this, “hybrids” (i.e. a combination of a classic HDD with a solid-state drive) are much cheaper. It is the only physical storage medium and this is its main advantage.
A certain part of the SSHD serves as a storage location for frequently used OS files (“cache”). He, i.e. The cache is preserved (survives) loading/rebooting the system, thereby significantly speeding it up; conventional mechanical HDDs do not have this function.
Principle of operation
The way SSHD works is based on its ability to “cache” the most frequently used OS data. During the first boot of the OS, the files necessary to boot the OS are placed in the “hybrid”, or more precisely in its SHD zone, in order to subsequently speed up it.
For your information, “hybrids” show almost similar results in terms of file transfer speed in comparison with classic hard drives. However, these devices use different ways work (functioning), and if you compare Access Time (file access time), the difference becomes more than obvious. So, for example, if we compare a Seagate ST500 disk with a capacity of 500 GB and the time it takes to access files with similar model, for example, the “hybrid” ST500, then the file access speed will be 24.2 ms versus 0.3 ms.
The maximum interface speed of the hybrid is also higher, by about 15%. If we compare the same models, then for a classic HDD it is 101 MB/s, for SSHD it is 115 MB/s.
Flaws
Like everything else, SHDD has its drawbacks. First of all, it is necessary to point out that the price of a hybrid is higher compared to a model of similar volume. For example, comparing the same model as before, the Seagate ST500, with a capacity of 500 GB costs on average $50, the price of a hybrid of the same volume ST500LM000 starts at $75.
“Hybrids” are not without technical shortcomings. We are talking about the impossibility of containing all critical errors on one SHDD. Those. 8 GB of solid-state drive is not enough to accommodate all the errors, so drives with a solid-state drive capacity of 32 GB are quite common, however, such SHDDs are more expensive.
Conclusion
As a kind of summary, it can be noted that the use of “hybrids” to increase boot speed and improve OS performance for a laptop, where it is possible to install (connect) only one external hard drive- a fairly optimal option. But if you are not burdened by the need to save, and you have the opportunity to install an unlimited number of hard drives, then it is better to use not “hybrids”, but separately a classic (mechanical) and solid-state HDD.
Hybrids can confidently be called a good solution for those who want to take advantage of SDD ( fast loading OS and launching large programs) and use a quite large hard drive. This is the most optimal solution(and most popular) for upgrading laptops and other mobile devices.
Many have already heard about the new hybrid rigid discs, but most will wonder if they are worth buying? Or maybe, instead of hybrids, it’s better to take a small SSD drive (or a large one, there’s a lot of money), install the system on it, and install a regular hard drive for data? Now I will try to shed light on this issue.
After my laptop fell off the table, the hard drive had to be replaced. There is no space in the laptop for a separate SSD drive, so you can only plug one device into it. I settled on a Seagate ST1000LM014-1EJ164 hybrid hard drive with a capacity of 1 TB, and an SSD cache of approximately 8 GB. This is certainly not as much as we would like, but it’s better than nothing at all. This hybrid drive cost me almost 7,000 rubles.
The hybrid disk cache is entirely hardware and there are no programs to configure or optimize it. Programs and files that are frequently used, including system files, are cached.
Pros of a hybrid hard drive
I list the advantages that I was able to identify when using a hybrid from Seagate:
- when using "quick start" Windows, the system loads 25-30 percent faster,
- applications that we often use launch several times faster,
- copying files up to 500 MB, even within different logical drives, occurs at high speed, equal to approximately 200-300 MB/sec (I think the file is first copied to the cache, and then transferred to the hard drive during idle time),
- the whole machine works faster and there are fewer bottlenecks.
Cons of a hybrid drive
Let us note some disadvantages, but they are not critical:
- the cost is almost 2 times more than a regular hard drive,
- low SSD cache volume (in general, there are all sorts of disks, they have 32 and 64 GB, but the cost is appropriate).
Conclusion, is it worth buying?
Let's move on to the most important thing, and here I have two answers, and they depend on your operating conditions for the computer.
I think it’s worth buying them only for laptops when it is not possible to install a second separate drive in it. If you have desktop computer, and there is space in it (usually there is always some), then it would be best to take a separate SSD drive with a capacity of 64 GB to 128 GB (this is if you plan to keep only the system on it). And if finances allow, then you can fork out for a 1-2 TB SDD, I think it will be great.
A few years ago, the choice was obvious... because there was no choice. On the shelves there were only classic hard drives (HDDs), differing only in rotation speed.
Manufacturers are now competing to provide more modern, efficient and smart solutions designed to not only provide faster transfers, but also set the bar high for data security.
In the last few years, with the advent of SSD (Solid-State Drive), the technology has improved markedly, but it has two serious drawbacks: price and capacity.
The idea of combining the two technologies created a hybrid, that is, a mixture in which the system is installed on an SSD partition and the data is stored on a standard hard drive.
Classic hard drives - HDD
Since time immemorial, hard drives have been used to store data. Nowadays HDDs can have more than a terabyte of space, although standard ones generally have 500 gigabytes.
Not only the power has changed, but also the technology itself. The hard drive sped up, offering a flat 7,200 rpm in most cases.
That is, the plates rotate evenly and more efficiently than at 5400 rpm.
One way or another HDD is the best option for those looking for inexpensive gigabytes. They are significantly different from SSDs, but are sufficient for the average user.
High speed SSD drives
Expensive and fast - Solid-State Drive is the most expensive data “storage” drive. One thing you should know is that even the cheapest SSD will be faster than the most expensive HDD.
In computers, the connection is made via SATA or PCI Express. Data is transferred in the same way as in other drives.
How do SSDs differ from classic HDDs? Construction. Solid-State Drive has no rotating plates.
Instead, NAND flash memory is installed, which is not only faster, but also more resistant to mechanical damage.
Currently, this type of media can be found in most ultrabooks, only the more power, the more money you will have to spend.
SSD offers more than 2.5 times faster data transfer speeds than older technologies. The second thing is reliability and long service life, even with vibration or shock.
Only it has a fairly high price, but also greater resistance to different temperatures - SSDs always cope better in extreme situations than HDDs.
Intermediate option - hybrid drives
Hybrid solutions - the idea is simple in theory. Their control system is designed to read NAND flash, which will result in reduced processing time.
It works relatively cheaply... and of course, it's convenient. If you choose them, you will get an average shelf - a little more expensive than an HDD, a little cheaper than an SSD.
What could be wrong? There may be minor outages or configuration issues.
Much depends on the cache, if you can’t handle it, you’ll have to be patient important, you may need to adjust something manually. Their algorithm takes some time to adapt to the new environment.
If you can afford a lot of expense, take the most capacious SSD. If you want to reduce costs to a minimum, look for the most suitable HDD. Good luck.
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 focus of the article is hybrid HDD, pros and cons of the device, as well as reviews from happy owners.
A holy place is never empty
Expensive technology for very fast SSD drives and affordable, but very slow magnetic HDDs, 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 symbiosis appeared - SSHD drives. 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. No drivers need to be installed, the controller is detected and managed Computer 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, hybrids are purchased specifically for laptops. hard disks. 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. Besides SSD installation impractical due to limited volume 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 wiring of unused SATA ports on motherboard 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 the standard one. optical device DVD. 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 are office computers shows that weak link are the processor or video adapter, but not magnetic disk. And only in gaming systems, when there is a powerful video card, a strong CPU and fast RAM, the hard drive becomes the culprit of all 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. 8 GB Level 2 cache allows you to accommodate working Windows system with all its services and drivers, including the swap 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 properly. 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 will be noticed immediately when operating system or your favorite game will load several times faster.
What's on the market for PC
When choosing, the user may encounter a choice problem 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 the world to devices with SSHD technology. 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 experts from popular computer publications. And judging by numerous reviews, these findings are quite interesting.
- For users who have gaming computer with high-performance components, buying one or two SSD drives won’t hurt your pocket, 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.
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 power application programs, and indeed to a completely different scenario for using technology. Actually, this is why this scheme quickly became standard and did not change 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 part of a global infrastructure that 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 chosen scenario and test programs, it is not so difficult to obtain both performance levels at the level of conventional hard drives and comparable to solid-state drives. Moreover, the more test programs low level 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 using 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 gaming laptop MSI GP60, which differs from most devices on the market in the use of a Western Digital hybrid hard drive. 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 of finished systems. According to the company, this should help the fullest and correct use of the 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. Closest to technical specifications is 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 this 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, today's favorites are solid-state drives. There will be two of them - the budget Crucial M500 120 GB and the Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB belonging to a slightly higher class. 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 from different companies can be too much vary). 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 in quality measuring tool fits. 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 a fast SSD, and hybrid drives can already somehow be compared with budget solid-state drives. 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 unequal :)
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, the entertainment group. 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 can actually be real - as we have already written, the package is capable of using different Adobe versions Creative Suite or Microsoft Office, for example installed by the user). 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. the already established dependencies are 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 desirable. Which is not surprising - applications from this manufacturer work very actively with hard drives. Especially the same Photoshop, which actively creates 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 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 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 and 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 installing an SSD instead of even the slowest hard drive in any laptop will radically speed it up everywhere - this may not affect the time it takes to complete practical tasks at all, i.e., just as you processed a photo for 15 minutes, so will 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.”
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