Best single drive solution for Laptop: HDD, SSD, or SSHD?

V

Vithar

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
269
Way I see it there are 3 options for upgrading a laptop hard drive, but I'm not sure which is the best:
1. HDD: 7,200 RPM > 5,400 RPM(what most laptops come with)
2. SSD: Fastest most reliable storage, but is far more expensive and doens't last long when its by its self*
3. SSHD: 5,400 RPM but has SSD memory in it so idk whether its faster than a 7,200 RPM HDD or not.**

* I've heard mixed opinions on the longevity of SSDs, can I expect it to last 5 years if its the main form of storage?

** Which is faster 5,400 RPM SSHD or 7,200 RPM HDD?
 
and doens't last long when its by its self
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This is wrong. Modern SSDs have life expectancies of at least 2 times that of a spinner. That is reasonable sized ones ( > 128GB) from reliable manufacturers like Samsung Intel and Crucial.

* I've heard mixed opinions on the longevity of SSDs, can I expect it to last 5 years if its the main form of storage?
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I expect double that. However just like hard drives (and all other forms of storage that I know of) any SSD can die at any time regardless of how much usage that it has on it.

Which is faster 5,400 RPM SSHD or 7,200 RPM HDD?
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Hard to answer. The 7200 RPM will be faster than the disk part of 5400 RPM SSHD however the usb stick part of the SSHD will have orders of magnitude better IOPS so hopefully the SSHD will firmware on the SSHD will cache the your most used random data.
 
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you can get a new WD Black 2 drive with 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD in one drive. If I didn't already install a 512GB ssd in my Alienware M11x notebook.. I would have went this route. I can then put steam etc on the HDD drive and use the SSD for boot.
 
SSD, period.

Even if you get it submerged in liquids by accident, at least there is still an easy chance of recovery as opposed to a showstopping mechanical failure. :D
 
Having just bought a few 1TB SSHDs for work, they will be faster then a 7200rpm with the most used data, but they are still way, way, way slower than an SSD.

I would get at least a 256GB SSD if it is going to be the only drive.
 
So it seems like you guys debunked that SSD myth

just wondering where did that whole thing about SSDs not lasting start, is it some left over "common knowledge" from the 90s?
 
There were some manufacturers that produced unreliable drives (drives that have more than a 5% annual failure rate). These happened to also be the cheapest drives and had big sequential numbers in benchmarks.
 
For the sheer price/storage/performance reasons I would go with an SSHD. Most of the people I know that switched from HDDs to SSHDs in their laptops were extremely happy and it was far cheaper than going the SSD route. You can get a lot of storage and significant performance increase by just changing to the SSHD.

As others have mentioned, the longevity for SSDs is really a myth. I was an early adopter of consumer SSDs and I have yet to have one fail on me. I am now over 15 SSDs personally and have gotten well over 100 for work over the years. I have yet to see any significant problems with them. We have had some small issues from time to time, but far less than we have had with HDDs. That being said, there is always the cost factor. And depending on what you are doing with your system, the added price of the SSD may not be worth the performance benefits.
 
I've been running a Seagate Momentus XT 750gb hybrid in my laptop for the last two years. I've been very pleased with it. It boots nearly as quickly as an SSD, and in general use it feels like a fast desktop drive. I even bought a second one as a spare a few months ago.

That said, no one would mistake it for an actual SSD. I'd recommend first deciding how much capacity you need. If you can afford that capacity in SSD, that's the way to go. If you need more space, the hybrid is an excellent option.
 
4th option: The Western Digital combined SSD and hard drive. 120gb SSD + 1tb hard drive gives you the best of both worlds with minimal compromises. Of course, everyone would like to be able to afford a 1tb SSD...
 
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