Seagate FireCuda SSHD vs Standard SSHD

Looks like it has 8 GB MLC vs 6 GB on the older model. The prices are slightly better. It's called a 5th generation vs 3rd generation. I think the "thin models" were considered the fourth gen. Order a couple in today to test out. Still don't know about either Mac or SATA II or SATA I backward compatibility.

Also had problem getting the SSHD 3.5" replacement drive to play well when working with a fusion drive setup.

Can't use a SSHD in a Fusion Drive set! Also can't do a dual SSD either.

Dan : I know the issue with sshd and fusion drive first hand but what shows up as problems with two ssd's?

It in fact slows the data! As the OS can't tell the difference between the drives (Two Red drives Vs one Red and one Green). The bias is based on the driver not the port so the drive reports a SSD for both ports to the OS (both Red in my example). In the case of the SSHD the report is somewhat correct as the drive is a HD it just doesn't know of the SSD cache it has so it confuses things.

If you RAIDed the two SSD's you'd get better performance if both ports are the same (SATA as an example) If one is PCIe then it's a mess again ;-{

Two steps forward and one step back!

@pccheese - George your right and wrong here!

Think of it this way a cup of water will fit into a pint container, right? So its compatible! Now lets switch it around so a gallon of water will fit into a quart container right?? Nope! this is the issue which side is the container and which is the water. So that config is not compatible!

The standard is written so the System is the Container and the Drive is the Water and water can only fit only one way. A SATA I drive will work in all three SATA standards based systems (cup of water into a pint, quart & gallon container). A SATA III drive will only work in a SATA III system!

This is how FIXED SATA speed drives work and you do need to take care to read the spec sheets of the system and the drive to see which will play and which won't.

OK, now it does turnout SOME drives offer auto speed sense technology! Which throws a monkey wench into the works here! So if you see the drive supports two or all three SATA speeds then it has speed sense technology so it drives speed drops down to match the systems speed. I bet you this is how you managed not to get caught!

Now lets look at this from a distance... Older SATA I (1.5 Gb/s) drive based systems are slowly disappearing from the market. Over the last few years you've seen the drive makers introduce only dual speed premium drives (HD's & SSD's). Now older SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) systems are likewise dropping off so the need for auto speed sense drives is disappearing! So over the next few years people will need to make sure they put in the correct drives into their systems as the options are going to be less as the drive makers need to cull the amount of drives they offer (basic economics)

@bearl - Compatibility is not a two way street here ;-}

Think of it this way a cup of water fits in to a pint bottle, but a pint of water won't fit into the cup! The SATA standard is no different the Host adapter (system) SATA I/O speed needs to match the drives. The drive's I/O can be slower not faster (fixed speed drive).

But, there's a wrinkle here! You see the drive makers also make drives which match the I/O speed of the system (auto speed sense).

How do you know what the drive is fixed or auto?

Only the spec sheet will tell you. As an example here: Seagate laptop SSHD and this drive: Seagate laptop HD. Now review the 'Interface' line note the difference! The SSHD drive is auto, while the standard HD is fixed speed.

That's a very good deal. The 480GB would be more useful for me at $127.26.

We may need to do a re-evaluation of the current offering of SSD drives as IMHO they are moving into reasonable affordability for the average upgrade. I may start moving away from the SSHDs.

The sandisk comes in 120, 240, 480, and 960GB. All of the desktop PCs in our house have 240GB SSDs and a secondary HDD.