Question SSHD vs SSD + HDD

[advcha]

Hello,
I already have a SSD Samsung 860 EVO 256GB and old HDD Hitachi 500GB. I want to replace the HDD. I'm thinking of buying a SSHD Seagate Firecude 2 TB but I read many not good reviews about SSHD. So I'm thinking of buying a HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB + SSD WD Blue 500GB.
Currently the SSD use Ubuntu and I want to try and install some virtualizations (virtualbox) on the new disk like Windows and Mac OSX. I have 48GB DDR4 RAM So I think it'd be no problem for the virtualization. For this, Is it better and enough to use just single SSHD or use SSD + HDD? it'd be price vs performance compromise. also not sure the virtualizations would be used very often. But I really need big storage to store and backup my data.
Any answer would be appreciated.

 

[Muadib]

Why not just get a 1TB SSD? The prices are so reasonable now.

 

[advcha]

@Muadib Thanks. The price of SSD 1 TB is a bit more expensive than the SSHD Seagate Firecuda 2TB. But I also need a 2TB storage. I read the SSHD Seagate Firecuda 2TB specs. it seems like a combination of HDD 2TB and SSD 8 GB. With similar price I can get HDD 2TB + SSD 250 GB. Even a combination HDD 2TB + SSD 500 GB only a bit more expensive than the SSHD. With a limited budget, I'll go to the HDD and SSD combination.

 

[Billy Tallis]

Don't buy a hybrid drive. The only time they ever made sense was for notebooks that couldn't fit a hard drive and a SSD, and M.2 solved that problem. You literally cannot buy a new SSD that is as crappy as the cache built in to a hybrid drive. If you're absolutely sure you need a 2TB drive and you cannot afford a 2TB SSD, then obviously you should buy a 2TB hard drive. But if you only think you need a 2TB drive because you're using it for storing backups, then buy a 1TB SSD and an external hard drive, because you shouldn't put backups on an internal drive in the system you're trying to back up.

 

[advcha]

Don't buy a hybrid drive. The only time they ever made sense was for notebooks that couldn't fit a hard drive and a SSD, and M.2 solved that problem. You literally cannot buy a new SSD that is as crappy as the cache built in to a hybrid drive. If you're absolutely sure you need a 2TB drive and you cannot afford a 2TB SSD, then obviously you should buy a 2TB hard drive. But if you only think you need a 2TB drive because you're using it for storing backups, then buy a 1TB SSD and an external hard drive, because you shouldn't put backups on an internal drive in the system you're trying to back up.

Thanks. SSDH seems only a marketing gimmick. Yeah 2TB SSD is much more expensive for me. A pair of 2 TB HDD and 500GB SSD seems more fit for my budget and my need. Actually I have an external hdd as well. but the internal disk is more comfortable without have to plug/unplug it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had one of the first Seagate "Hybrid Drives". It was a 3.5" 7200RPM 2TB job. It was actually a quite well performing drive. The "Hybrid" nature of it, was primarily just for fast boot-ups, nothing more. It worked, more or less, but took a few boots to get "trained".

Nowadays, though, I would recommend a separate SSD and HDD.

The reason that I went with the Hybrid Drive in the first place, was that it was an OEM rig with only two SATA ports on the mobo, and a 3.5" bay, and one of the SATA ports was taken up by the DVD drive, which I didn't want to remove.

 

[Muadib]

@Muadib Thanks. The price of SSD 1 TB is a bit more expensive than the SSHD Seagate Firecuda 2TB. But I also need a 2TB storage. I read the SSHD Seagate Firecuda 2TB specs. it seems like a combination of HDD 2TB and SSD 8 GB. With similar price I can get HDD 2TB + SSD 250 GB. Even a combination HDD 2TB + SSD 500 GB only a bit more expensive than the SSHD. With a limited budget, I'll go to the HDD and SSD combination.

I agree with the gang. Buy the biggest SSD that you can, and get an HDD to go with it.

 

[mikeford]

Hybrid drive costs more and has twice the ways to fail, hard pass for me. What I did for one older system is get an adapter that puts two 2.5" drives in the space of one 3.5" drive, one SSD and one HD.