SSD to SSHD for boot drive?

e36Adz

e36Adz

e36Adz

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I've recently set up 3 monitors with each at 1920x1200 and it's got me back into gaming a little more. Racing games in particular look amazing over 3 screens. Tomorrow I'll be picking up a new gfx card, the 780 or even the 780ti.

This brings to me my problem. I don't want to spend too much more, I'm pretty much set now with the gfx card and 3 screens for the forseeable future. I currently have a 120GB SSD as my boot drive and I use it to also install my games on. I only install a few games at a time even though my steam library has ~60 games.

For a few years now I've always used an SSD drive as my boot drive, and I remember when I first got one, the difference was noticeable. Right now though, I want to buy a bigger drive and use it for windows and to install many more games. Is it worth going to an SSHD drive? Has anyone done this and regretted it?

If it compromises too much on performance I will keep this. If it's barely noticeable but I can have 1TB of space instead, I don't mind making the move. Buying a 1TB or even 500GB SSD is out of the question as it's simply too much.

Any other options I have?
 
I could do that, it would just mean I have 3 hdds. Plus selling my ssd means the sshd would cost me £5-£10 extra if that.

I could as you said keep my ssd as a boot drive for Windows and replace my 1tb storage drive (which is almost full) for a 2tb sshd? Use that as a storage drive and for steam games etc. Is performance in games likely to be affected if I did this?

Would you go for an sshd for the above reason over just a standard 2gb hard drive? Which hdd is the fastest and most reliable these days? Any ones I should avoid?
 
If it were me I would go for a large Western Digital Black drive for your games.

The newest model is very fast, quiet and comes with a 5 year warranty.

Then either keep your 120GB SSD and have the odd game or two on it or grab a 250GB one and have a selection of 10 or so games on it.

I have included 3 of the new models below.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD4003FZEX) HDD £209.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD3003FZEX) HDD £167.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD2003FZEX) HDD £129.95
Total : £517.52 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Thanks demon8991. I have decided to keep my 120GB SSD as a boot drive, and I'll be picking up a new storage drive on Friday.

Performance and reliability are two main factors for me, and 2TB is big enough. I've looked at your recommendation at my local retailer, I practically live next door to them and their prices are generally competitive -


WD 2TB WD2002FAEX Black Desktop Drive
3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive - 7200RPM - 64MB Cache - 5 Yr Manufacturer Warranty
Price: £114.24 inc. VAT


Seagate ST2000DX001 2TB Desktop SSHD Hybrid 3.5" 8GB SSD 7200rpm 64mb Cache
Price: £89.03 inc. VAT


I've narrowed it down to these two, is the WD worth £25 more?
 
e36Adz said:
Thanks demon8991. I have decided to keep my 120GB SSD as a boot drive, and I'll be picking up a new storage drive on Friday.

Performance and reliability are two main factors for me, and 2TB is big enough. I've looked at your recommendation at my local retailer, I practically live next door to them and their prices are generally competitive -


WD 2TB WD2002FAEX Black Desktop Drive
3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive - 7200RPM - 64MB Cache - 5 Yr Manufacturer Warranty
Price: £114.24 inc. VAT


Seagate ST2000DX001 2TB Desktop SSHD Hybrid 3.5" 8GB SSD 7200rpm 64mb Cache
Price: £89.03 inc. VAT


I've narrowed it down to these two, is the WD worth £25 more?
Click to expand...

Hey,

The Western Digital drive you have quoted there is the old model.

WD2002FAEX = Old
WD2003FZEX = New

The new drive has roughly 30mb/s faster read and write times and is quieter and cooler than the previous model.

I would chose Western Digital over Seagate any day of the week, as they are more reliable in general and come with a better warranty.

Obviously there are people who have had no problems with their Seagate equipment but I have had 3 drives fail on my within the first 6 months of ownership and I know they do have a higher failure rate than the other brands.

My suggestion would be to go for any of the Western Digital Black "FZEX" editions rather than the "FAEX" ones.
 
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