• Hardware
  • Is this a hard drive upgrade?
2014/08/25 15:05:27
Awes
My PC currently has a standard HD, 1TB SATA drive, 6Gb/s, 64mb cache & 7,200 RPM)
 
Now I'm aware SSD are much better than standard HD but what are you're thoughts on hybrid HD's? I'm able to get a hybrid SSHD, 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s, 64mb & 8gb SSD, 7,200 RPM.
 
Most of the figures seem the same, RPM, cache etc. but is a hybrid SSD worth the £50 upgrade from a  normal HD?
 
Thanks 
2014/08/26 08:04:26
dwardzala
What are you going to use it for?  Operating system? Tracking? Sample libraries?
 
I have a hybrid HD for my OS on a laptop.  It came with the laptop so I have no reference to compare it to, but I don't believe that it improved performance that much in booting or loading programs.
 
I am not sure if it would provide any benefit to tracking or sample libraries - hopefully others with more knowledge/experience can chime in.
2014/08/26 09:14:54
fireberd
If I were to "upgrade" from a standard hard drive, it would be to a SSD, not a hybrid.  When I built my new system, 2 years ago, I used an SSD for the OS and Sonar, with a hard drive to store projects, etc.  The SSD drive "zings along" for what its used for.  I have a dual boot system, Win 7 and Win 8 and have separate SSD's for each OS.
 
I have a backup system with conventional drives and there is a noticeable difference both in boot up and accessing programs.
 
 
 
2014/08/26 11:46:35
Awes
dwardzala
What are you going to use it for?  Operating system? Tracking? Sample libraries?
 
I have a hybrid HD for my OS on a laptop.  It came with the laptop so I have no reference to compare it to, but I don't believe that it improved performance that much in booting or loading programs.
 
I am not sure if it would provide any benefit to tracking or sample libraries - hopefully others with more knowledge/experience can chime in.

fireberd
If I were to "upgrade" from a standard hard drive, it would be to a SSD, not a hybrid.  When I built my new system, 2 years ago, I used an SSD for the OS and Sonar, with a hard drive to store projects, etc.  The SSD drive "zings along" for what its used for.  I have a dual boot system, Win 7 and Win 8 and have separate SSD's for each OS.
 
I have a backup system with conventional drives and there is a noticeable difference both in boot up and accessing programs.


Thanks for the info. I only have 1 HD in my PC which has OS, Sonar, projects etc. on. As much as I'd love a SSD, for a bedroom hobby and a perfectly working HD, I cannot justify forking out the money on a SSD. More so that todays purchases include EWQL Pianos, Digital Slate compressors and Miroslav!!!  Just wondered for the cheapness of the Hybrid - £60 for the same size as my HD, whether it was worth buynig and dumping everything onto that and using HD as a backup.
2014/08/26 13:06:37
drewfx1
I'm currently aware of 2 types of hybrid drives. My recollection is the one you listed uses the small (8GB) SSD essentially for caching and I wouldn't expect any benefit for audio. 
 
The other type combines two drives in one enclosure and they appear as two separate drives. That really only makes sense to me if you only have one available drive bay, like on a laptop or tiny desktop.
 
Otherwise, if you have space and a free SATA port in your machine I'd just add a small SSD as a second drive and put the OS and programs and whatever else fits on it and audio on the HD. The 100-250GB sizes are increasingly affordable, even for the major brands like Samsung.
2014/08/26 15:08:43
dwardzala
I will suggest this - if you can, get the second drive and put your OS and Sonar on one drive and use the second for tracking (i.e. store your projects and record your audio to it).  That will provide a noticeable improvement in performance.
 
The second drive could just be a standard 7200 rpm drive, too and you'd get the benefit.
2014/08/28 17:36:00
PH68
I had everything on a 2TB normal HDD.
Recently got a new SSD (a Crucial 256Gb). It cost about £70 from Overclockers.
The Crucial SSD came with some software, by Acronis, that made it easy to copy the OS to the new SSD.
So, the SSD now has just the operating system and the program files etc. and takes up less about 150Gb.
 
All my personal files, Sonar projects, documents, music, pictures, videos, etc.. are still on my 2TB HDD.
 
Is there any difference?
Yes... everything runs faster, programs load faster etc.
It's like having a new PC.
In fact, from cold switch-on to usage now takes less than 45 seconds!!
 
The SSD is definitely worth it.
 
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