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Baktanfuli Oct 6, 2014 @ 5:19pm

Gaming harddrive - Velociraptor or hybrid SSD "SOLVED"

I just bought a 1TB velociraptor, but having just read up on hybrid SSD, im torn, if i should return it and get a hybrid SSD instead, and google is unable to give me a straight answer.
Is the velociraptor worth the extra money, or is the benefit from the NAND enough to make a hybrid a viable alternative, when the disk will be used 100% for gaming only, ie no OS or programs installed or run from it, only games.

Last edited by Baktanfuli; Feb 24, 2015 @ 5:58pm

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Showing 1-12 of 12 comments

TeKraken Oct 6, 2014 @ 5:28pm

The nand in an SSHD is only a cache. You have no choice of what data is on it. Only frequently used data is cached. So if you play more than 8GB of games it will have to keep relearning which data is hot.

I also think a raptor is overkill for gaming. I would just go WD black/blue and be done. But that's me.

I take it you have your OS on an SSD?

rotNdude Oct 6, 2014 @ 5:33pm

Velociraptors have been an overpriced drive for a long time compared to SSDs. Hell, they were even overpriced compared to newer hard drives.

Baktanfuli Oct 6, 2014 @ 5:52pm

Yes i have my OS on an SSD (once you go SSD on OS, i doubt you could ever go back :))

But from what i read, im a few years to late on the raptor train, and should buy me a 2TB HDD for half the price?

Azza ☠ Oct 6, 2014 @ 6:06pm

Hybrid SSD just has a small cache of SSD on a slower than standard (normally only 5400RPM) hard drive. It's not ideal for desktop, unless your trying to save on room and/or cost. It was merely designed for those that couldn't fit in more than one drive.

A separate SSD is a much better option. You can use it to either dump on all your Operating System for massive boot performance or as a much larger cache for a standard or even high performance HDD.

I would recommend using a Western Digital Black Edition 1-2TB HDD with a smaller 64-128GB SSD as cache over the top. So long your motherboard supports it. You install Intel Rapid Storage Technology. Under that you have Performance > Intel Smart Response Technology. Clear/format out the SSD without a drive letter and it should give you the option to accelerate another drive with that SSD as a RAID_0 setup.

The Velociraptor (10,000 RPM) is about double the performance of a Hybrid SSDs hard drive. The difference is Hybrid SSD has just a small cache, normally 8GB, which it can put a little onto to speed up faster (SSD hasn't any moving parts, it's just like flash memory). However, your much better off as separate drives. Intel Smart Response offers up to 64GB caching on separate SSD, plus you keep a higher performance drive for what isn't cached on it.

Last edited by Azza ☠; Oct 6, 2014 @ 6:09pm

Baktanfuli Oct 6, 2014 @ 6:22pm

I have a Z87-pro MB, which should support RST.
So many decisions, and all i wanted was a new gamer harddisk :)

But thanks for the input all.

Azza ☠ Oct 6, 2014 @ 6:29pm

I strongly suggest ignoring a Hybrid SSD, that would be a downgrade in your case. You don't need it and it will just slow down the HDD side of things.

It sounds like you already have your OS on a SSD? Therefore the Velociraptor could already be used as an overkill storage / gaming drive. If you want your overkill to be driven up into insane - You could even put another smaller SSD as cache over the top of that HDD.

I personally use:

Samsung 840 Pro 128GB (64GB used as smart response cache) over a Western Digital Black Edition 2TB - and that is already seriously blazing for my gaming...

Last edited by Azza ☠; Oct 6, 2014 @ 6:30pm

Baktanfuli Oct 6, 2014 @ 8:41pm

That is my idea at the moment as well.
I have the S840EVOPRO 128 pure OS SSD, and will exchange the raptor for a 2TB WD black

Bad 💀 Motha Oct 7, 2014 @ 4:32am

Unless used for OS; you not going to see any real world difference running games off a VelociRaptor -vs- Black. TBO I don't even know why the WD-VR series is produced anymore. It's overpriced for it's performance. Everyone know SSD is where the difference is now.

Use SSD for OS drive and Black for Game Installs (secondary Steam Library) and u should be fine. Black HDD are quite fast as-is. The SSD for your OS drive however will make the most difference in all this. WDC-Black HDD of 1, 1.5, 2 TB seems to be the better drives, while 3 and 4 TB versions are not as fast.

DO NOT buy "WD Caviar Black" these are OLD model as of months ago and replaced by "WD Black Series" which are revised, faster, updated firmware.

As for SSD, pretty much any model from Samsung or Intel have been quite reliable and well worth it.

Last edited by Bad 💀 Motha; Oct 7, 2014 @ 4:33am

bmac1191 Oct 7, 2014 @ 6:40am

Velociraptors heheh... your about 10 years late ;)

Installing games to a hdd almost defeats the purpose of getting a ssd.. your os will run fast but now your gaming will be affected..... anything that needs to be installed on your os, should be installed on the same drive and same partition. Doing anything else can only complicate things. HDDs are for storage now.

Just get a 256/512 ssd and only install games that you play. If your connection is bad backup and move them to your storage hdd.