Hybrid SSD vs. SSD on Mid-2010 Macbook

[b1055]

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my Mid-2010 Macbook's 1TB HDD. What are the downsides to installing a hybrid SSD such as the one below versus regular SSD? PLease advise as I am looking to upgrade my Macbook but need the 1TB memory. Thank you.

1TB Seagate Hybrid SSD


I already have 8GB of RAM.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Downsides: still as unreliable as a standard HDD. Susceptible to corruption from drops and knocks.

Upsides: slightly better performance. Yeah it's got 8GB of Flash now (the last Hybrid drive I bought way back when had something like 128MB Flash), but that one was a 7200RPM for the spinner storage and the new Seagates are 5400RPM.

I say slightly because that depends on your usage. 8GB should be enough to ensure speedy OS boot, but anything after that depends on what you mainly use. If the bulk of your storage is just for pictures/music/videos, it'll be absolutely fine. However if you're loading loads of Logic Pro files and things like that, it's going to feel just as slow because the 8GB cache just won't have enough space to handle all your apps and plugins.

IMHO, if you're working with large files/big apps/big games and are looking for significantly better performance on these, you're just not going to see enough of a performance benefit with the hybrid to justify a long-term investment. But if you're just hoping for quick boot and you're not fussed about performance outside of that, a hybrid is fine.

 

[b1055]

Downsides: still as unreliable as a standard HDD. Susceptible to corruption from drops and knocks.

Upsides: slightly better performance. Yeah it's got 8GB of Flash now (the last Hybrid drive I bought way back when had something like 128MB Flash), but that one was a 7200RPM for the spinner storage and the new Seagates are 5400RPM.

I say slightly because that depends on your usage. 8GB should be enough to ensure speedy OS boot, but anything after that depends on what you mainly use. If the bulk of your storage is just for pictures/music/videos, it'll be absolutely fine. However if you're loading loads of Logic Pro files and things like that, it's going to feel just as slow because the 8GB cache just won't have enough space to handle all your apps and plugins.

IMHO, if you're working with large files/big apps/big games and are looking for significantly better performance on these, you're just not going to see enough of a performance benefit with the hybrid to justify a long-term investment. But if you're just hoping for quick boot and you're not fussed about performance outside of that, a hybrid is fine.

Thanks for the reply. My storage is mainly audio/video/documents/photos so it should be good enough in that sense.

What effect will it have on the temperature and battery life of the laptop? It has been running very hot as of late.

 

[zhenya]

It will have minimal effect on temperature and battery life. SSD's are slightly more power efficient, but we are talking a watt or two difference when your computer is probably using 15-50w total.

You probably don't want to pay the price for a full 1TB SSD, but do you absolutely need everything to be stored internally? 500GB SSD's are a lot more affordable and will have much better performance than a hybrid drive.

 

[b1055]

It will have minimal effect on temperature and battery life. SSD's are slightly more power efficient, but we are talking a watt or two difference when your computer is probably using 15-50w total.

You probably don't want to pay the price for a full 1TB SSD, but do you absolutely need everything to be stored internally? 500GB SSD's are a lot more affordable and will have much better performance than a hybrid drive.

You're right. Im looking at the Samsung 840 EVO 500 GB now and it is much more affordable. I think I may got that route. I think if i get the hybrid I will want to get the SSD a year from now.