Solved Questions re hybrid drive choice and usage

[SeanHL]

Hey guys,

My current HDD is starting to sound a bit untrustworthy, so i want to get a hybrid drive instead (since i have only one SATA III port, and replacing the MOBO seems too much). Before i do though, i've got two questions:

1: Apparently, when using an SSD, you're supposed to turn off the windows indexing feature to prolong the lifespan of the drive (3 Things You Shouldn't Do with Solid-State Drives - Make Tech Easier). Would such a thing also be neccesary for hybrid drives, or does the software that manages the data distribution prevent this problem?

2: Which hybrid drive should i get? Budget isn't much of an issue, as long as it doesn't get too crazy. 8GB of flash memory seems to come recommended with these things, but i use my pc a lot, so a bigger one would be preferred. The HDD part doesn't need to be any larger than 1TB, but take that as a minimum size. My files have never occupied more than 600GB, but you never know i guess.

I do know what to expect of a hybrid drive in terms of performance, by the way. Pretty much made my choice in that regard.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

First, if you haven't already done so, you need to immediately backup all your data files!

I do not recommend hybrid drives at all. The NAND (flash memory) is much too small to be of much use. Also, you have no control over what uses the NAND.

If you have SATA II ports on your motherboard, I would get an SSD for your System files (OS and programs only) and connect it to your lone SATA III port. Then, put your data only on a new HDD and connect it to a SATA II port. HDDs have yet to saturate SATA II speeds so you will not see a performance hit using an HDD on a SATA II port. Using an SSD for booting from and HDDs for data will, by far, give you the best performace improvement for your money.

 

[Megahertz07]

Never seen a desktop MoBo that has only one SATA port. Are you sure your MoBo has only one SATA port?

As Lady said, the ideal is to install a small (128G) SSD for OS and programs and a HDD to Data.

 

[Layback Bear]

Please put your motherboard in your (My System Specs).

Jack

 

[SeanHL]

My data files have been backed up quite recently, so that's no issue. I just want to have a disk spare for when this one craps out.

I do have several SATA II ports, i just didn't think they'd be worth considering. Good to hear that a HDD wouldn't be bottlenecked by it. One of the reasons i didn't want to use an SSD with a HDD though is that it seems quite complicated to properly allocate your files, since a lot of programs install to C by default. They often require registry edits to properly move around, which i cannot do myself and seems quite risky. It just seems like a lot of hassle compared to a hybrid drive, which takes care of that on it's own. A dedicated SSD sounds great in theory, but i do wonder how easy it's going to be to use.

System specs have been updated. Also added some other stuff.

 

[Megahertz07]

Use the SATA 3 to the SSD, and the SATA 2 to the HDD.
I have a small SSD (120G) for Win OS and programs and on another partition, I have Lubuntu.
I've relocated the \ Users folder to D:, a large HDD, using Kari tutorial. User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation

It works very well and it work as an unique drive.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I just dragged my Documents, Music, and Pictures folders from my C: drive to my E: drive, rather than relocate the entire user folder. There is no need to install your programs on any other drive than C:. In fact, for imaging purposes (imaging and cloning are the only ways to back up the OS and programs with imaging being the best), it's best to have your OS and programs on the C: drive. It's only data that you want to keep on a separate drive (or in the case of a one drive machine, such as a notebook or small laptop, a separate partition).

 

[SeanHL]

That tutorial looks interesting, and easy to understand. I've saved it to a stick. That actually solves a big part of the problems i had with using an SSD.

 

[SeanHL]

I just dragged my Documents, Music, and Pictures folders from my C: drive to my E: drive, rather than relocate the entire user folder. There is no need to install your programs on any other drive than C:. In fact, for imaging purposes (imaging and cloning are the only ways to back up the OS and programs with imaging being the best), it's best to have your OS and programs on the C: drive. It's only data that you want to keep on a separate drive (or in the case of a one drive machine, such as a notebook or small laptop, a separate partition).

I understand what you're saying, but my programs folder is far too large for an SSD. I intend to use it only for my OS, and don't do anything like rendering either. With that in mind, which size SSD would you recommend using?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I understand what you're saying, but my programs folder is far too large for an SSD. I intend to use it only for my OS, and don't do anything like rendering either. With that in mind, which size SSD would you recommend using?

I would use an SSD that is the size of your programs folders plus at least 100GB for the OS plus another 20-25% of the total. I still strongly recommend keeping your programs on your C: drive.

What all do you have in your programs folders to make them so huge? Are you a gamer?

 

[SeanHL]

I would use an SSD that is the size of your programs folders plus at least 100GB for the OS plus another 20-25% of the total. I still strongly recommend keeping your programs on your C: drive.

What all do you have in your programs folders to make them so huge? Are you a gamer?

Yes, i game a lot. The folder is often several hundred GB in size. Nice as it would be to load up games so fast, i don't think that's going to be possible for me (aside from maybe one or two). Sounds like a 128GB drive would be best.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Here in the U.S., a 500GB Samsung EVO is only $170 USD. If you can't swing that, you can put the games on the HDD but I would put them on a separate partition to simplify backups. In that case, a 128GB SSD will be enough (that's what I have in my current rig).

 

[SeanHL]

Here in the U.S., a 500GB Samsung EVO is only $170 USD. If you can't swing that, you can put the games on the HDD but I would put them on a separate partition to simplify backups. In that case, a 128GB SSD will be enough (that's what I have in my current rig).

I'll consider it, at least. If i would use a HDD, what would you suggest there? I'm seeing other people advise 7200 RPM, but i've got nothing on recommended cache size yet, or brand. Reliability is a big deal for me, since my drives never seem to last long (i don't give my pc any hard knocks or anything either, so i really don't know why). It's one of the reasons why i wanted to spread some of the load to an SSD, especially since it lacks moving parts.

 

[SeanHL]

Saw this one while searching, which also seems good:

Crucial MX300 2,5" 750GB - Specificaties - Tweakers

Expensive though. Cheapest 500GB one i saw was 133 (with the EVO at 144), which is about the same as buying a 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD together, but 500 just doesn't seem like quite enough space, especially if i have to substract 20% of the capacity to maintain performance. Having everything on an SSD though, without having to move files around, seems awfully tempting. Just need to make sure i treat the thing well, like not be an idiot and defrag the thing. I have no expereince with them, so i'm just going off of whatever advice i find online, but i don't know what i might have missed.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I'm off Crucial ssd's
Going Samsung instead much better even the evo line is better or go to the ss pro series if you want a better one,
SSD Tweaks and Optimizations in Windows 7

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For HDDs installed inside a computer, I always recommend Western Digital (WD) Blacks. Until recently (last month), when I replaced them with SSDs, I had three of them inside my computer. One of them had 1233.9 days of power on time. All of them were still showing all Good S.M.A.R.T. attributes. These are 7200rpm drives. Many people complain that they are noisy but I haven't had any problems with mine making noise (one possible explanation for that is the HDDs were solidly screwed into place instead of in a tray that could vibrate). These are considered to be performance drives so one would be good for running your games from.

The 7200rpm HGSTs have an excellent reputation (although I have no actual experience with them) so you may want to look into them.

The 5400rpm WD Blues are good for external backup drives but I do not recommend them for use in a computer unless the computer is rarely used. I used the 5400rpm Blues' predecessor, the WD Greens, for my backup drives (which were also recently replaced with SSDs).

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Hi,
I'm off Crucial ssd's
Going Samsung instead much better even the evo line is better or go to the ss pro series if you want a better one,
SSD Tweaks and Optimizations in Windows 7

I also recommend the Samsungs (Crucial has had a checkered history). For SATA boot drives, especially in desktop machines, I recommend the 850 Pros (I've been happy with the 840 Pro in my desktop). That's not to say the EVOs aren't also good. My notebooks get light, occasional usage so the 500GB EVOs I put in them have served me well.

 

[SeanHL]

For HDDs installed inside a computer, I always recommend Western Digital (WD) Blacks. Until recently (last month), when I replaced them with SSDs, I had three of them inside my computer. One of them had 1233.9 days of power on time. All of them were still showing all Good S.M.A.R.T. attributes. These are 7200rpm drives. Many people complain that they are noisy but I haven't had any problems with mine making noise (one possible explanation for that is the HDDs were solidly screwed into place instead of in a tray that could vibrate). These are considered to be performance drives so one would be good for running your games from.

The 7200rpm HGSTs have an excellent reputation (although I have no actual experience with them) so you may want to look into them.

The 5400rpm WD Blues are good for external backup drives but I do not recommend them for use in a computer unless the computer is rarely used. I used the 5400rpm Blues' predecessor, the WD Greens, for my backup drives (which were also recently replaced with SSDs).

I have such a HGST drive, and it's only lasted for 2 years (if my suspicions about the noise it's making are correct). I'll try switching to a WD black, though i think that was the kind of drive i had before this one, which lasted just as long before it died.

 

[SeanHL]

I also recommend the Samsungs (Crucial has had a checkered history). For SATA boot drives, especially in desktop machines, I recommend the 850 Pros (I've been happy with the 840 Pro in my desktop). That's not to say the EVOs aren't also good. My notebooks get light, occasional usage so the 500GB EVOs I put in them have served me well.

All very useful, from both of you. I'll keep it in mind. I did notice that page doesn't seem to list the other tip i found though, that suggests turning off indexing for the SSD.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

All very useful, from both of you. I'll keep it in mind. I did notice that page doesn't seem to list the other tip i found though, that suggests turning off indexing for the SSD.

Shutting off indexing was often suggested for the early SSDs but it's not really necessary on today's SSDs.