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Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 12:22 pm
by fraz
Hi,

I've got a good sized hybrid SSD Seagate ST4000 DX001 which is a 4TB hybrid SSD & mechanical drive in one. I'm a little worried that it won't be fast enough to stream sample libraries properly which is why I'm here to ask about it. By properly I mean compared to a level where most enthusiasts would be happy and free of problems.

The drive element is only 5900 rpm with 8GB NAND flash and 64 MB cache. I'm worried as it's not a 7200 rpm drive like the smaller variants the 1TB & 2TB of this model. Saving grace maybe is the hybrid SSD element which may perform just as well as a traditional 7200 rpm drive.

I'm looking for some accurate information from other users who just know the specs through lots and lots of use -

This drive isn't yet in a system yet.

Thanks

Re: Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:03 pm
by dawman
They work really well as an OS + Storage/recall.
Thier cache size is basically flash like an SSD, then mechanical platters.

I wouldn't use it for sample streaming, it will work but slows down.
I used one for samples, had smart cache and other "fast" sounding technologies, but alas I put it on OS Duties where it's fine.

But that was when they only had 8GBs cache and 500 mechanical.
Still a pretty good workhorse for the price.

Re: Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:25 pm
by fraz
OK,

I felt bad when I realised this - The 4TB version = 5900 rpm but the 2TB version & 1 TB version [same model # ST 1/2/4 000 DX001 has 7200 rpm

So what you are saying DAW man is that they are good for system drives with the operating system on
Would they work OK installing programs like Cubase

or another alternative to use it as OS drive for slave computer -[ this may be best] but 4TB is big for an OS drive

I've got one or two of the 1TB & 2TB versions and they are 7200 rpm - In future I need the specs from the manufacturers website in black and white what the specs are

Re: Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:26 pm
by fraz
By storage / recall you mean stuff like back ups Acronis True Image etc...and general storage -

Re: Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 2:05 pm
by fraz
Regarding Hybrid drives vs good quality mechanical only drives what are your thoughts?

Example - Seagate now do Barracuda Pro in 10 TB 8TB 6TB with 256 mb cache @ 7200 rpm and Toshiba do a regular high quality HDD 6 TB 128 mb cache @ 7200 rmp

There is quite a difference in price 6TB for 6TB around £50 - Obviously both drives would be excellent - but is Barracuda Pro worth it over the Toshiba for example? - You may have some of your own favourites to mention!

Re: Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 7:06 am
by fraz
It seems like Western Digital Black are the best mechanical hard disk drives and something to do with dual processors in them not that I know much about that.

Seagate Barracuda Pro has a larger 256 MB cache but I've not seen any reviews of these compared to WD.

For FULL ON SSD's [not hybrid] Samsung Evo 850 seems to be a favourite of USERS on the forums coming ahead of Crucial HX300 by some margin in ALL areas apart from READ which was +7% in Samsungs favour.

Sandisk is the tops of the tops but very expensive

SSD's come very close to using the potential of SATA III ports on the motherboards

Re: Hybrid drive questions

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 11:59 am
by jksuperstar
The newer WD blacks have more like 5 processors now ;)

Avoid any hard drive that claims SMR (shingled magnetic recording). It will show up on very high capacity and newer drives. Avoid it like the plague for anything other than archival purposes.

I still have mechanical drives, and never have issues. I don't make use of tons of sample libraries. I do record multiple channels, and never had an issue. I use SSDs for OS (faster boot), project loads, and the few samples I do use. This is because my machine is used in live situations...I want fast changes between songs, and fast boot/setup times.