 File
Copying |
|
|
For this
test a single 8.5GB file is copied from an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD system disk to the
test disk (write to), from the test disk to the OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (read from),
and from the test disk to itself (read and write to self). While this test is
heavily influenced by the SATA controller and by the number of files being
transferred, it provides a good indication of the sustained transfer rates
capable from the hard drive being tested. Higher transfer speeds are best.
 Large File Transfer Test
- 8.5GB Single File |
| Avg. Speed: Write To: (MB/s) |
Points |
Ranking |
| OCZ Vertex 2 128GB SSD |
56 |
   |
| Plextor PX-128M1S SSD |
51 |
|
| Seagate 2TB Barracuda XT HDD |
51 |
|
 Seagate 500GB Momentus
XT SSHD |
39 |
   |
| Avg. Speed: Read From: (MB/s) |
Points |
Ranking |
| OCZ Vertex 2 128GB SSD |
49 |
|
| Plextor PX-128M1S SSD |
63 |
|
| Seagate 2TB Barracuda XT HDD |
58 |
|
| Seagate 500GB Momentus
XT SSHD |
45 |
|
| Avg. Speed: Read / Write To Self: (MB/s) |
Points |
Ranking |
| OCZ Vertex 2 128GB SSD |
60 |
|
| Plextor PX-128M1S SSD |
48 |
|
| Seagate 2TB Barracuda XT HDD |
51 |
|
| Seagate 500GB Momentus
XT SSHD |
36 |
| |
Just a
quick and fun test to gage real world impact on large file copying and pasting -
a common and not very intensive task. Across the board, Seagate's 500GB Momentus
XT posts relatively slow transfer rates of between 36 - 45 MB/s,
interesting.
Conclusions
The 500GB Seagate
Momentus XT drive contains 4GB of SLC NAND flash and operates on a 3Gb/s SATA II
interface, yet as we consider the merits of this Solid State Hybrid Drive it's
hard not to be persuaded by the marketing materials and use of the polysemous
term; 'hybrid'.
As everyone knows, hard drives offer low cost
per GB of data storage while Solid State Drives are incredibly fast. In the
imagined hybrid scenario, the best of both worlds are combined equally to yield
a low cost, yet incredibly fast device. In the real world, the hybrid 500GB
Seagate Momentus XT is economical compared to the potential cost of a 500GB
SSD... but only absorbs the speed qualities of an SSD in a very, very narrow
usage scenario.
As the hard drive benchmarks have demonstrated, the
Seagate Momentus XT offers comparably good performance for a HDD, but both SSD's
it was compared against are far quicker in the bulk of tests. The Momentus XT
can yield like-SSD read responsiveness to
frequently used applications, but this only when the situation suits it.
Application specific benchmarks see a noticeable
improvement after multiple iterations, unlike an SSD which brings about an
instant enhancement along with its high up front cost. The 500GB Momentus XT's
write speed is limited to the speed of the hard drive component (which is good
for a HDD), there's no way around this with current hybrid drive designs.
In its current form, Seagate's hybrid technology is
mixed bag. While the 4GB SLC NAND cache is completely transparent to the
computer allowing the drive to be used on any hardware platform regardless of
operating system, it's real world implications are limited to client computers
where the same couple office tasks are apt to be repeated. As we saw with
PCMark Vantage HDD test suite, the benefit is there, and it will result in
snappier response times. In this respect the Seagate Momentus XT is a novel way
to improve system responsiveness in a notebook computer, but at the same time we
can't help but feel that the benefit remains somewhat unquantifiable.
Bottom line, if you have the option to build a new
notebook with the Seagate 500GB Momentus XT, go for it. If you have an existing
notebook and want to replace its hard drive for a SSHD, you can expect a little
uplift here and there, but temper your expectations.
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