Seagate Momentus XT or SSD??

Hey all,
I thinking of getting an SSD or hybrid ssd to speed up my desktop this christmas. I don't need it for the storage space; im strictly thinking speed-wise.. app launching etc.
I can't afford much, so im debating between a Seagate Momentus XT and a typical SSD, prob around 40gb (just enough to put my OS and program files on it).
Any thoughts?
I don't want to spend too much money because my Mobo is SATA 3 capable, just waiting for prices to come down.
thanks,
*EQL*

 

Hi, I've has a Seagate Momentus Hybrid HD, in my laptop, since August. It boots up Windows Ultimate r32 bit OS really fast. 500gig in capacity.

Much cheaper than a full SSD drive. You will probably find that a 40 gig SSD ends up too small in capacity, and leaves little room for expansion.

Ultimately, of course, full SSD drives will become cheaper, or capacity will increase for the same price, but that is probably years off at the moment.

Remember, these drives are for laptops.

Some links to help you make up your mind.

http://windowssecrets.com/comp/101021
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3734/s...ood-hybrid-hdd
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=222813
http://www.storagereview.com/seagate_momentus_xt_review
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/laptop-hdd
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=223971

Some of the links repeat previous link info.

Google Search for lots more links at:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Seagate+Momentus&hl=en&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=images

Hope these help you make up your mind.

Bazza

===

 

I am getting this for a desktop. Do you think 40Gb would not be big enough for just the OS (Win7 64bit) and program files? I plan on keeping all of my documents on a regular HDD until prices come WAY down on bigger and faster SSDs (I waiting for big, cheap SATA 3 6Gb/s SSDs) since my Mobo supports both USB 3.0 and SATA 3 6Gb/s.
Thanks,
*EQL*

 

Works in desktops too. 10 secs

My 40GB SSD is a tad small but I make do with having firewall, AV and other protection software on there. It's not worth the $120 I paid last summer as I hardly re-boot(runs 24/7) but I do love hi-tech!:major

 

well, here are the two drives im thinking about..
either the xGb Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid, at ~$110
or the Crucial RealSSD yGb at ~$150

Now the seagate is SATA 2, 3.0Gb/s
The Crucial is SATA 3, 6.0Gb/s

The reason I did not include the drive size is because the amount of space on the drive does not matter for me. I'm keeping my 7200RPM drive for documents, and only OS and Program files will be on this new drive.
I can't afford the more expensive 128Gb or 256Gb Crucial drives that have higher write speeds, but i figure since I'm only using it for a OS/program file drive, it shouldn't matter too much, right, since I shouldn't be doing a whole lot of writing to the OS and program files?? The crucial drive i'm considering has a write speed of 75MB/s (as opposed to the 140 and 215 MB/s write speeds of the bigger, more expensive drives), and a read speed of 355MB/s.
I think this should be faster than the Seagate Hybrid drive, correct? (I can't seem to find any specs anywhere).
any input??
thanks
*EQL*

 

dr.m, I'll have to time it.
But is definitely quicker than my old XP setup.

That might be just because of the combination change of OS and hardware, and not so much stuff on the new W7, than was on XP Pro. :-D

Either way, I like it. :cool

Bazza

===

 

"EQL", the usual answer is to buy the best you can afford, and then spring $$$$ for the one higher than this. :-D

No matter what we PC owners buy, we always come across a cheaper price/higher specs a week later. :cry

Bazza

 

Hi

I don't believe 40GB is sizable enough in the next few years. It may work okay now for OS/program files, but in a few years, it will be doing good to just keep Windows on it (remember, updates, service packs, etc. all add up fast... my current Windows 7 64 bit installation alone takes 16GB at the moment).

So, spending that kind of money, I'd go with the hybrid drive, unless you're not looking for a long term hardware investment.

 

Ya, I wasn't even thinking about updates or even W8 when I bought mine, it was just a new toy to add to my i7 build..

@EQL You talk a lot about write speeds where that shouldn't really make all that much difference to you as you're using a regular HDD in conjunction with an SSD/ hybrid. What's wrong with a 150GB Velociraptor, comparative in price too. I don 't get it.:confused

 

Hey, for any Canucks out there, Velociraptor WD1500HLFS 150GB SATA 10000RPM 5.5MS 16MB $80 CDN.

Americans can pay $78

I buy all my stuff there at NCIX, Newegg's is $130 for the same thing. I just bought one for my other machine!

 

...or a Newegg 300GB Velociraptor for $100!:eek I better check this out more.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=32994&vpn=WD1500HLFS&manufacture=Western Digital WD&promoid=1265

 

Newegg's offering.

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache



Can't go wrong with that @ $100.

 

Newegg's always ended up with the best prices as far as I've shopped. Much better prices when I'm stationed in the States with their shipping deals, too!

 

hmm.. i hadn't really considered a Velociraptor because i've always thought they were super expensive. Also, most of the benchmarks I've seen show SSD to be faster than Velociraptors..
I'm really leaning towards something with SATA 3 since i have it on my Mobo..
As for the Crucial drive, i made a mistake, its not 40Gb, its 64Gb, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem for space i don't think.
*EQL*

 

For long-term (3 years), I wouldn't look at anything LESS than 100GB for Windows and commonly used programs, but that's just me (and I use several large programs, like MS Office, other application suites, a few HDD installed games, etc.). I personally like to buy primary hard disks to last 5 years, in which case I wouldn't settle for less than 128GB.

If all you do is surf the web and run several small programs, I think 64GB would work.

Of course something like this would probably meld me permanently to my computer... :drool

 

I cloned my desktop drive onto one of the Seagate 500MB hybrid Momentus drives. It boots faster, most programs open faster. I like it. I wonder how it performs when the OS is installed on it, instead of cloned.:confused

One think I love about it, is once the desktop is up after booting, it is ready to go. Before, I had to wait 10 to 20 secs before I could actually use the computer.

I think for the performance and price, it is a good deal until the SSD drives get a little bigger, and cheaper.

 

A 12 page review of the Seagate Momentus XT at:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=525&Itemid=60
Written by Olin Coles
Monday, 24 May 2010
Page 1 of 12

I ended up at the http://benchmarkreviews.com site via an MG thread on keyboards (I think) but cannot find it just now. :-o

Thanks to whomever.:-D

Bazza

PS: Found it. It was an Off Base entry by MA today. :-o
RE: Razer BlackWidow Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ Benchmark Reviews
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=442&Itemid=65

Baz

 

Of course the SSD's beat the crap out of the Raptors or any other mechanical drive speed wise, all I'm saying is there are options. Enjoy your speed demon for whatever purpose is needed.