Hybrid Seagate Momentus XT drive: 7,200 rpm and 4 gigabytes of SLC NAND flash memory
Every good, but expensive technology sooner or later has an alternative, which for much less money suggests the same thing. Like it or not, interest in such an alternative always flares serious - well, how can the truth be done well and cheaply? Alas, alas, in most cases, “technology” turns out to be marketing distribution, which, however, does not interfere with the use of such an approach again and again, albeit in different guises. In late May, Seagate released a new 2.5-inch Momentus XT drive, which, according to the press release, “combines the performance of solid-state drives, as well as the large capacity and the pleasant price of traditional hard drives.” Thanks to powerful connections, I managed to get one of the two samples that have been sent to Russia at the moment.
First, let's be clear - how this thing works. At the heart of Momentus XT is a completely normal hard drive with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm and a buffer of 32 megabytes. Considering that the standard for 2.5-inch disks still remain 5400 rpm and the buffer size of 8-16 megs, the drive must be fast enough and “responsive” by itself, without additional tweaks.
')
But Seagate Momentus XT also has flash memory, thanks to which, according to the company, the drive "works twice as fast as traditional hard drives with a spindle speed of 5400 rpm." And the memory is not any, but SLC NAND is the fastest, reliable and expensive. The fact that fast and reliable is great, but due to the high price, its volume is limited to only four gigabytes. Not much? Well, in general, yes. It would be better eight. And even better - sixteen. But even four gigabytes increased the price of the drive for a good 70 bucks, and it is easy to calculate the cost of doubling or quadrupling.
Flash remains a “thing in itself”, and nothing can be written on it of one's own will. And from the outside you can’t see it, because for the Momentus XT system it looks like one disc and not two, as it used to happen with other hybrids. All four gigabytes are managed by Seagate Adaptive Memory technology, which itself, without the help of the operating system, determines the data used most often and transfers it to solid-state memory for faster access. This kind of hardware implementation technologies ReadyBoost and SuperFetch at the same time. It is worth noting that Adaptive Memory is constantly “learning”, and for the third or fourth time the application starts faster than the first time. In turn, independence from the operating system allows the drive to work as it should, and under Linux, and under Mac OS, and under any other operating system.
Such clever hardness, of course, pleases, but if you insert a disk into a laptop, you will not confuse it with an SSD for good reason: just like all 7200 rpm screws, the Momentus XT hums with a motor and bryaky heads quite noticeably. No, the sound wave will not be taken down from the chair, but compared to standard notebook screws (standard ones are those that are 5400 rpm) and especially SSD the difference is my respect. There is no sense to drive the usual tests to Momentus: the data goes directly, past the SSD, so you just realize that you are dealing with a good smart hard drive. For example, this is what Sisoft Sandra 2010 tells us:
87 MB / s sequential reading
Random read 59.69 MB / s
87,13 Mb / s sequential recording
Random entry 60.37 MB / s
Average access time 13.21 ms
Other tests that are not in the habit of storing their files explicitly and erasing them from the test media will also not feel anything. Well, yes, cool screw, what else? To evaluate the effectiveness of the solution, it is necessary to put on it the operating system and the tests themselves. Then, you see, you will feel something.
First, since the third time, there is an acceleration of the operating system load. For example, I have a fairly littered Vista Ultimate for the first time started in two minutes with a hook, and for the fifth time in just 48 seconds. Feel the difference. With applications, the same story: Photoshop CS4 is loaded for the first time in 12 seconds, and on the fifth bullet in seconds in three. And this, I note, after a complete reboot of the system. IE, Miranda, Word, Outlook, Total Commander, XviD4PSP - just fly open.
So what? Do not be deceived, huh? SSD do not need to buy? Well, if you regularly launch relatively few programs, then Momentus XT is a good opportunity to save money. But if there are thirty of them, and all are quite heavy, smart Adaptive Memory will be rested in lack of space. Old programs will be thrown out, new ones will be written out, and if you do not run Photoshop for a long time, you will have to train the disk for it again. In general, the contents of the flash is written almost continuously for greater optimization, but you should not be afraid of this. Firstly, the number of write cycles for SLC is quite large, not less than 100,000. Secondly, a 5-year warranty is given on the disc, and the end of the flash is a warranty case. Finally, in the third - even if the flash dies, the data will remain intact, because the originals will continue to live on rotating plates.
By the way, even under good load (five cycles of the file system test in a row), the Momentus XT did not heat up above 50 degrees. For comparison, WD Scorpio Blue reported the temperature of 46 degrees in the same laptop and under the same conditions, but it also rotates the spindle more slowly, and inside there is only one plate instead of two at Momentus XT.
So, with a number of reservations, I can say that the hybridism in Momentus is quite real and even useful. However, there are two things that I don’t like.
The first is a completely user-friendly energy-saving technology. Yes, I understand that the disk should be mimicned under SSD. But this infection turns off the disk motor after 60 seconds from the last access to the data on the plates. Probably, ideally, everything should be nice and quiet, but in practice, after 20-30 seconds, the system still remembers the disk, and spindle spinning begins with a characteristic hum and head banging. When you listen to such cycles for an hour of 20-30, it is terribly annoying, and it is not yet possible to change the interval for turning off the motor. I understand why they did it this way: the battery should be saved, and two controllers, SSD and the hard drive itself, consume energy for both cheeks. But uncomfortable!
The second is the price. The 500 GB Seagate Momentus XT drive will cost approximately $ 150-160. The Momentus 7200.4 drive of the same volume and with the same spindle speed (but, of course, without flash memory) is already selling for $ 72-75 today. Prices for the 320 GB version are $ 130-140 and $ 60-65, respectively (I tested just this). That is, the markup for 4 gig flush is actually double. Is it worth it? Under XP and Vista, perhaps, it is worth it, because acceleration is obvious, and SSD with similar characteristics is dramatically more expensive. But under Windows 7, with its improved SuperFetch, you hardly feel the difference compared to “just a hard drive” at 7200 rpm. Especially if you are not greedy for a ReadyBost flash drive. It is strange for me that the software technology is not so much worse than the hardware, but the numbers are elastic, and, for example, the loading speed of the “seven” with Momentus XT and just Momentus is about the same.
The summary is simple: if you like interesting technologies and do not want to spend money on SSD - Momentus XT is quite an option for significantly accelerating the system. Moreover, the money it is quite tolerable, especially when compared with VelociRaptor and top SSD Intel. But be aware: the imitation can be quite good and will satisfy the well-intentioned user, but the original, sad as it is for the wallet, is still better.
I wrote a more detailed review of Seagate Momentus XT for 3DNews, if you are interested - see it too .
First, let's be clear - how this thing works. At the heart of Momentus XT is a completely normal hard drive with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm and a buffer of 32 megabytes. Considering that the standard for 2.5-inch disks still remain 5400 rpm and the buffer size of 8-16 megs, the drive must be fast enough and “responsive” by itself, without additional tweaks.
')
But Seagate Momentus XT also has flash memory, thanks to which, according to the company, the drive "works twice as fast as traditional hard drives with a spindle speed of 5400 rpm." And the memory is not any, but SLC NAND is the fastest, reliable and expensive. The fact that fast and reliable is great, but due to the high price, its volume is limited to only four gigabytes. Not much? Well, in general, yes. It would be better eight. And even better - sixteen. But even four gigabytes increased the price of the drive for a good 70 bucks, and it is easy to calculate the cost of doubling or quadrupling.
Flash remains a “thing in itself”, and nothing can be written on it of one's own will. And from the outside you can’t see it, because for the Momentus XT system it looks like one disc and not two, as it used to happen with other hybrids. All four gigabytes are managed by Seagate Adaptive Memory technology, which itself, without the help of the operating system, determines the data used most often and transfers it to solid-state memory for faster access. This kind of hardware implementation technologies ReadyBoost and SuperFetch at the same time. It is worth noting that Adaptive Memory is constantly “learning”, and for the third or fourth time the application starts faster than the first time. In turn, independence from the operating system allows the drive to work as it should, and under Linux, and under Mac OS, and under any other operating system.
Such clever hardness, of course, pleases, but if you insert a disk into a laptop, you will not confuse it with an SSD for good reason: just like all 7200 rpm screws, the Momentus XT hums with a motor and bryaky heads quite noticeably. No, the sound wave will not be taken down from the chair, but compared to standard notebook screws (standard ones are those that are 5400 rpm) and especially SSD the difference is my respect. There is no sense to drive the usual tests to Momentus: the data goes directly, past the SSD, so you just realize that you are dealing with a good smart hard drive. For example, this is what Sisoft Sandra 2010 tells us:
87 MB / s sequential reading
Random read 59.69 MB / s
87,13 Mb / s sequential recording
Random entry 60.37 MB / s
Average access time 13.21 ms
Other tests that are not in the habit of storing their files explicitly and erasing them from the test media will also not feel anything. Well, yes, cool screw, what else? To evaluate the effectiveness of the solution, it is necessary to put on it the operating system and the tests themselves. Then, you see, you will feel something.
First, since the third time, there is an acceleration of the operating system load. For example, I have a fairly littered Vista Ultimate for the first time started in two minutes with a hook, and for the fifth time in just 48 seconds. Feel the difference. With applications, the same story: Photoshop CS4 is loaded for the first time in 12 seconds, and on the fifth bullet in seconds in three. And this, I note, after a complete reboot of the system. IE, Miranda, Word, Outlook, Total Commander, XviD4PSP - just fly open.
So what? Do not be deceived, huh? SSD do not need to buy? Well, if you regularly launch relatively few programs, then Momentus XT is a good opportunity to save money. But if there are thirty of them, and all are quite heavy, smart Adaptive Memory will be rested in lack of space. Old programs will be thrown out, new ones will be written out, and if you do not run Photoshop for a long time, you will have to train the disk for it again. In general, the contents of the flash is written almost continuously for greater optimization, but you should not be afraid of this. Firstly, the number of write cycles for SLC is quite large, not less than 100,000. Secondly, a 5-year warranty is given on the disc, and the end of the flash is a warranty case. Finally, in the third - even if the flash dies, the data will remain intact, because the originals will continue to live on rotating plates.
By the way, even under good load (five cycles of the file system test in a row), the Momentus XT did not heat up above 50 degrees. For comparison, WD Scorpio Blue reported the temperature of 46 degrees in the same laptop and under the same conditions, but it also rotates the spindle more slowly, and inside there is only one plate instead of two at Momentus XT.
So, with a number of reservations, I can say that the hybridism in Momentus is quite real and even useful. However, there are two things that I don’t like.
The first is a completely user-friendly energy-saving technology. Yes, I understand that the disk should be mimicned under SSD. But this infection turns off the disk motor after 60 seconds from the last access to the data on the plates. Probably, ideally, everything should be nice and quiet, but in practice, after 20-30 seconds, the system still remembers the disk, and spindle spinning begins with a characteristic hum and head banging. When you listen to such cycles for an hour of 20-30, it is terribly annoying, and it is not yet possible to change the interval for turning off the motor. I understand why they did it this way: the battery should be saved, and two controllers, SSD and the hard drive itself, consume energy for both cheeks. But uncomfortable!
The second is the price. The 500 GB Seagate Momentus XT drive will cost approximately $ 150-160. The Momentus 7200.4 drive of the same volume and with the same spindle speed (but, of course, without flash memory) is already selling for $ 72-75 today. Prices for the 320 GB version are $ 130-140 and $ 60-65, respectively (I tested just this). That is, the markup for 4 gig flush is actually double. Is it worth it? Under XP and Vista, perhaps, it is worth it, because acceleration is obvious, and SSD with similar characteristics is dramatically more expensive. But under Windows 7, with its improved SuperFetch, you hardly feel the difference compared to “just a hard drive” at 7200 rpm. Especially if you are not greedy for a ReadyBost flash drive. It is strange for me that the software technology is not so much worse than the hardware, but the numbers are elastic, and, for example, the loading speed of the “seven” with Momentus XT and just Momentus is about the same.
The summary is simple: if you like interesting technologies and do not want to spend money on SSD - Momentus XT is quite an option for significantly accelerating the system. Moreover, the money it is quite tolerable, especially when compared with VelociRaptor and top SSD Intel. But be aware: the imitation can be quite good and will satisfy the well-intentioned user, but the original, sad as it is for the wallet, is still better.
I wrote a more detailed review of Seagate Momentus XT for 3DNews, if you are interested - see it too .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/96138/
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