Seagate hybrid disk
in [UK Mac]
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From: eastender on 2 Jul 2010 07:27 Apologies if this has already come up but has anyone got/considering the Seagate Momentus XT 2.5 inch hybrid disks with 4GB SSD storage? I realise Seagates are not the flavour of the month but thought this might be worth getting for my intensively used Mac Mini as a large SSD is really too expensive. http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/seagate-momentus-xt-500gb/4505-3186_7 -34109211.html E.
From: Rob on 2 Jul 2010 08:53 On 02/07/2010 12:27, eastender wrote: > Apologies if this has already come up but has anyone got/considering the > Seagate Momentus XT 2.5 inch hybrid disks with 4GB SSD storage? I > realise Seagates are not the flavour of the month but thought this might > be worth getting for my intensively used Mac Mini as a large SSD is > really too expensive. > > http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/seagate-momentus-xt-500gb/4505-3186_7 > -34109211.html > I updated a Mini's HD to a standard 500GB a few months ago. Had I known about these (or if they were around) I might have given it a go - over double the price and higher power consumption (and possibly heat) seem to be the main drawbacks. I think the HD is the main bottleneck in a Mini. In fact, having used a standard HD iMac for a few days recently, I realised the SSD in my 'main' iMac makes a huge difference in use. Rob
From: eastender on 2 Jul 2010 11:00 In article <4c2de15b$0$18757$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com>, Rob <ngonly(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I updated a Mini's HD to a standard 500GB a few months ago. Had I known > about these (or if they were around) I might have given it a go - over > double the price and higher power consumption (and possibly heat) seem > to be the main drawbacks. They've only been out for a few weeks I think but have got good reviews as the first really successful hybrid. I put a 320GB 7200 drive in my mid-2009 Mini and 4GB ram and it goes pretty well - fan is running at the base 1500 rpm and temp is about 60 C at the moment despite my office (a back bedroom at home) being about 90 F. E.
From: Rowland McDonnell on 2 Jul 2010 21:09 Rob <ngonly(a)gmail.com> wrote: [snip] > I updated a Mini's HD to a standard 500GB a few months ago. Had I known > about these (or if they were around) I might have given it a go - over > double the price and higher power consumption (and possibly heat) 100% of the electricity that your computer uses gets turned into heat. Whatever the power consumption is, that's the heat output. Caveat: sometimes, some of the heat is first turned into other forms of energy, some of which go away from the computer before they degrade into heat. But that's a tiny fraction of the total - you might as well just take the line that if it's a 25W `thing', it's a 25W heater and leave it at that. [snip] Rowland. (who becomes very aware of this point when using his 800W Dyson - shut the door of this room, and that 800W fan heater makes things uncomfortably warm in very short order) -- Remove the animal for email address: rowland.mcdonnell(a)dog.physics.org Sorry - the spam got to me http://www.mag-uk.org http://www.bmf.co.uk UK biker? Join MAG and the BMF and stop the Eurocrats banning biking
From: Rob on 3 Jul 2010 03:29
On 03/07/2010 02:09, Rowland McDonnell wrote: > Rob<ngonly(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > [snip] > >> I updated a Mini's HD to a standard 500GB a few months ago. Had I known >> about these (or if they were around) I might have given it a go - over >> double the price and higher power consumption (and possibly heat) > > 100% of the electricity that your computer uses gets turned into heat. > > Whatever the power consumption is, that's the heat output. > > Caveat: sometimes, some of the heat is first turned into other forms of > energy, some of which go away from the computer before they degrade into > heat. > > But that's a tiny fraction of the total - you might as well just take > the line that if it's a 25W `thing', it's a 25W heater and leave it at > that. > Well, yes, I agree with your logic to a point. I just think something's up. The Seagate's power consumption is on a par with 3.5" disks: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/seagate-momentus-xt-hybrid-hard-drive-ssd,2638-10.html But then mechanical 2.5" disks use about* the same amount of power as 3.5" disks when doing similar tasks (albeit with less productivity): http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/laptop-notebook-hard-drive,2548-8.html Now, I can say anecdotally that 'normal' 2.5" disks don't get as hot as 3.5" disks. So what's all that about then? The *about figure is relatively significant (0.8 versus say 1w/hr) but not, I would have thought, of absolute importance - at least in terms of explaining such a qualitative experience of heat. Just dunno! > [snip] > > Rowland. > (who becomes very aware of this point when using his 800W Dyson - shut > the door of this room, and that 800W fan heater makes things > uncomfortably warm in very short order) > Don't be hoovering in this weather :-) |