Seagate unwraps Momentus XT hybrid HD/SSD
updated 08:30 am EDT, Mon May 24, 2010
Seagate Momentus XT promises best of both worlds
Seagate today validated its teasers by revealing the Momentus XT. The drive is conceived as the best of both worlds for notebooks and includes both a traditional 2.5-inch, 7,200RPM hard drive with a 4GB, SLC-based solid-state drive and 32MB of DDR3 memory as a cache. Special firmware on the drive uses the SSD to optimize performance; it should boot almost as fast as a pure SSD and load about 80 percent faster than a regular 7,200RPM drive.
The SATA II drive works is OS-independent and is aimed at performance users, including high-end notebooks, compact desktops and external enclosures that can use the extra bandwidth, such as eSATA or USB 3.0. Seagate is offering 250GB, 320GB and 500GB versions of the Momentus XT and is starting prices much lower than traditional SSDs, at about $113.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 1999
Interesting Concept
My Mac OS X 10.6.3 System folder weighs in at 4.59GB, so 4BG for the SSD portion seems a bit thin. I would think that 8GB or, ideally, 16GB would be best to allow for loading the System and Library folders on the SSD. That would really be a good balance between SSD and HD performance.
Although, maybe the SSD portion can be used as a high-speed cache instead of using the hard drive? It seems like a software thing, where the system would swap between the solid state and mechanical drives.
Here's what it says on their web site:
"Adaptive Memory technology intelligently monitors your frequently used applications and data files, then places them into the solid state portion of the drive so they can be quickly recalled."
I'm waiting for a 15" i7 MBP, if it reviews well, doesn't require sale the sale of extra organs and really does give a good speed boost, it could be a good thing.