Seagate FireCuda Good Second Drive?

[JS998]

Hello

 

I am looking to buy a second drive for games, school stuf and not so often used programs.

Will be Seagate FireCuda SSHD 1TB good buy or should I stick with standard HDDs from WD/Seagate?

 

Thanks

[Tommygun2929]

I got one like 2 months ago and it's working ?  it's quite plus you have the extra flash storage 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, JS998 said:

Hello

 

I am looking to buy a second drive for games, school stuf and not so often used programs.

Will be Seagate FireCuda SSHD 1TB good buy or should I stick with standard HDDs from WD/Seagate?

 

Thanks

standard hdd

[LienusLateTips]

Standard HDD

[Tommygun2929]

 

You should just buy whatever on sale 

[JS998]

26 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

standard hdd

 

25 minutes ago, JDE said:

Standard HDD

 

I should write there that I want something that is quiet.
And why should I go with standard HDD? Do SSHDs have shorter lifespan? 

[LienusLateTips]

1 minute ago, JS998 said:

 

 

I should write there that I want something that is quiet.
And why should I go with standard HDD? Do SSHDs have shorter lifespan? 

They are $10-20 more and barely any faster.

[JS998]

2 minutes ago, JDE said:

They are $10-20 more and barely any faster.

What about the noise?

 

Like FireCuda 2.5" vs. BarraCuda 2.5"

[LienusLateTips]

Just now, JS998 said:

What about the noise?

A SSHD is just a normal HDD with some software tricks to use a cache. Same sound.

[JS998]

Just now, JDE said:

A SSHD is just a normal HDD with some software tricks to use a cache. Same sound.

Thanks for the info!  

I will go with BarraCuda then.

[Tommygun2929]

If you're going with a standard hdd then go with wd black ?

[JS998]

On 9/14/2017 at 2:25 AM, Tommygun2929 said:

If you're going with a standard hdd then go with wd black ?

Less noise? 

[Skanky Sylveon]

1 hour ago, JS998 said:

Less noise? 

Better performance, if you want less noise, than a 5400 rpm drive may be better.

[seagate_surfer]

The FireCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LX015) has a 5 year warranty whereas the standard BarraCuda has a 2 year. The FireCuda will give you better performance than the BarraCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LM048) after you've used the drive for a little while. This is because the FireCuda has an SSD cache on which the drive intuitively places your most frequently accessed data, then has a larger traditional spinning storage space as well. After it learns what you're using most, it prioritizes those things on the SSD portion so they load faster.

Here are a couple of (gaming) charts if you're wondering how they stack up:

The first one compares startup times across several popular games on a traditional spinning 7200 RPM HDD, our SSHD, and an M.2 SSD (128GB). The white is for SSD, the orange is for our SSHD, and the gray is for the 7200 spinning HDD.

Startup Times

The next one compares the first 3 days of gaming storage utilization across several popular titles, and SYSmark ratings from various drive types and combinations. First of the grays is 7200 RPM 1TB spinning HDD, second (lightest gray) is our SSHD, third (darkest gray) is an SSD + 7200 RPM HDD combo, purple is SSD + our SSHD combo, and lastly blue is SSD.

First 3 Days Gaming Storage Utilization

Regardless of which drive is right for you in the end, thank you for considering Seagate!

[Skanky Sylveon]

4 minutes ago, seagate_surfer said:

The FireCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LX015) has a 5 year warranty whereas the standard BarraCuda has a 2 year. The FireCuda will give you better performance than the BarraCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LM048) after you've used the drive for a little while. This is because the FireCuda has an SSD cache on which the drive intuitively places your most frequently accessed data, then has a larger traditional spinning storage space as well. After it learns what you're using most, it prioritizes those things on the SSD portion so they load faster.

Here are a couple of (gaming) charts if you're wondering how they stack up:

The first one compares startup times across several popular games on a traditional spinning 7200 RPM HDD, our SSHD, and an M.2 SSD (128GB). The white is for SSD, the orange is for our SSHD, and the gray is for the 7200 spinning HDD.

Startup Times

The next one compares the first 3 days of gaming storage utilization across several popular titles, and SYSmark ratings from various drive types and combinations. First of the grays is 7200 RPM 1TB spinning HDD, second (lightest gray) is our SSHD, third (darkest gray) is an SSD + 7200 RPM HDD combo, purple is SSD + our SSHD combo, and lastly blue is SSD.

First 3 Days Gaming Storage Utilization

Regardless of which drive is right for you in the end, thank you for considering Seagate!

Those load times look pretty good.

Do you know, on average, how many games the FireCuda's SSD can cache before running out?

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Cinnabar Sonar said:

Those load times look pretty good.

Do you know, on average, how many games the FireCuda's SSD can cache before running out?

I believe the cache is 8GB in size, I personally got a 2TB one as the prices were the exact same as a normal HDD when I bought it.

[Skanky Sylveon]

6 minutes ago, tjcater said:

I believe the cache is 8GB in size, I personally got a 2TB one as the prices were the exact same as a normal HDD when I bought it.

The FireCuda (at the moment) seems to be about $20 more than a standard drive.

If those numbers are accurate, and as long as I can cache a majority of my games, and not just a select few, then I would consider the extra price worth it.

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Cinnabar Sonar said:

The FireCuda (at the moment) seems to be about $20 more than a standard drive.

If those numbers are accurate, and as long as I can cache a majority of my games, and not just a select few, then I would consider the extra price worth it.

Just to make sure if I wasn't too clear, the 2TB is the HDD section and not cache.

[Skanky Sylveon]

5 minutes ago, tjcater said:

Just to make sure if I wasn't too clear, the 2TB is the HDD section and not cache.

8GB cache, I know.

[Hugs12343]

i'd go with wd 1tb blue. They are cheaper and same performance

[JS998]

13 hours ago, seagate_surfer said:

The FireCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LX015) has a 5 year warranty whereas the standard BarraCuda has a 2 year. The FireCuda will give you better performance than the BarraCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LM048) after you've used the drive for a little while. This is because the FireCuda has an SSD cache on which the drive intuitively places your most frequently accessed data, then has a larger traditional spinning storage space as well. After it learns what you're using most, it prioritizes those things on the SSD portion so they load faster.

Here are a couple of (gaming) charts if you're wondering how they stack up:

The first one compares startup times across several popular games on a traditional spinning 7200 RPM HDD, our SSHD, and an M.2 SSD (128GB). The white is for SSD, the orange is for our SSHD, and the gray is for the 7200 spinning HDD.

Startup Times

The next one compares the first 3 days of gaming storage utilization across several popular titles, and SYSmark ratings from various drive types and combinations. First of the grays is 7200 RPM 1TB spinning HDD, second (lightest gray) is our SSHD, third (darkest gray) is an SSD + 7200 RPM HDD combo, purple is SSD + our SSHD combo, and lastly blue is SSD.

First 3 Days Gaming Storage Utilization

Regardless of which drive is right for you in the end, thank you for considering Seagate!

What about the noise? 

[seagate_surfer]

16 hours ago, tjcater said:

I believe the cache is 8GB in size, I personally got a 2TB one as the prices were the exact same as a normal HDD when I bought it.

You're correct, the SSD portion is 8GB.

16 hours ago, Cinnabar Sonar said:

The FireCuda (at the moment) seems to be about $20 more than a standard drive.

If those numbers are accurate, and as long as I can cache a majority of my games, and not just a select few, then I would consider the extra price worth it.

The SSD cache is based on what you're accessing most frequently, and is done intuitively, so basically the biggest benefit you'd see (aside from the operating system loading up) is from playing a single game, especially if it's an open-world type game where you move into new areas of the map as they load. There is also a fairly significant warranty period difference.

3 hours ago, JS998 said:

What about the noise? 

The noise specs for the FireCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LX015) are the same as the BarraCuda 1TB 2.5" (ST1000LM048) with a typical idle of 2.0 bels and a typical seek of 2.2 bels. The spec sheets have been linked in the model numbers.

Edited September 20, 2017 by seagate_surfer
elaborated a bit on warranty information

[MARCINYVR]

SSHD'S can last long .... i currently have an imac with a fusion drive from LATE 2012 .... we are 2020 and it is still going strong and fast !!