Is SSHD Drives Worth the value?

Or...
A 120GB SSD for $70, and a 1TB HDD for $55. $125

SSHD hybrid drive is rarely the solution for a desktop PC.

An SSHD..you see one drive. The firmware learns what are the most used files , and those end up on the SSD portion.

I have had good experiences with SSHD's in a couple of laptops, significantly faster boot times and a more responsive windows. Still not as good as a SSD but a good compromise

Fail from too many write cycles is no longer a real issue with consumer grade SSD's.
It would take a determined effort, of hundreds og GB writes every day, for years. to kill and SSD.

Question: Do you want an SSD only? Then you will need a large drive 500GB or more.
SSD + HDD: a 120 or 250GB drive, plus one or more 1/2/3TB drives for other stuff.

Performance, lowest to highest:

HDD
SSHD
SSD

An SSHD, with an 8 or 16GB SSD portion....it learns what files (not! applications) are used most, and those end up on the small SSD portion.
A regular 120 or 250GB SSD...everything on that runs at SSD speed.

What do you have currently, and what is your budget for drive space?

250GB SSD, and WD Blue or Black.

As a owner of a SSHD I think I can speak from experience and try to make this a bit simpler to understand.
Any GENERIC PC normally is sold with a basic HDD, but the platters only spin 5400RPM. Normally people buying a Gaming or more 'Business Class' PC gets the 7200RPM, in otherwords spins faster, reads / writes faster, faster moving of data. Then both 5400/7200 had competing models of 'CACHE', which was actually RAM chips embedded on the drive (which is electronic not mechanical like spinning platters) and the more CACHE one would have would alter also how much could be 'cached' in the RAM to 'be read' or 'be written' but this came to a maximum that could be done before there was no 'difference' anymore (one point some 5400s were FASTER then 7200 because they had huge cache on them as compared to the 'slower' 7200.

This is where things SPLIT in two directions: SSD and SSHD. SSHD camp had the idea, 5400RPMs is overstocked and not selling as well as 7200, plus is very cheap to make as compared to 7200. Second to that 5400RPMs generate much less heat then 7200, and weigh less (when we are talking ounces and portable units like laptops and tablets which 3X outsell desktops). So if they put this new SSD tech as a CACHE to the HHD, then it would be 'as fast' or measurably 'faster' (not really that much) than a more expensive, heavier, higher heat making 7200RPM. So that is all it is, and that is why they TRIED to sell it like that - as well as the key price difference at the time, you can get a SSHD 1TB for $129 as compared to a SSD 1TB was over $25000 when they were introduced.

SSD side pushed to make the prices drop, they generate NO HEAT, VERY VERY fast, and weigh nearly nothing in comparison to a HDD so they can even be used in iPhones and such (big target market). SSD though are HIGH cost PER Byte, so you get 1/10th the size but a heck alot of speed.

So the normal for people as noted was to get a simple 200GB or so SSD as the OS and basic apps. Then a 1TB ($49 at walmart 73200) for games, videos, etc. There is many setups (google adding SSD) that can walk you through but the biggest issue without it being CUSTOMIZED by a PC professional company, is you forever going forward CAN NOT ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT CLICK-CLICK-CLICK THROUGH setups. Because if you do, by default they will install to C (your SSD) and without even a blink of the eye the drive will be filled up (THANKS STEAM!!! - LOL!). So you need to slowly go through ANYTIME you INSTALL, UPDATE, CHANGE any program, game, etc. on your PC and make sure the 'path' is changed from C:\Program Files(x86)\Thisgame to D:\Program Files(x86)\Thisgame . Which is always a MANUAL process, there is no way to auto set it and not cause other C: based programs (like Windows itself) to get confused and corrupt / break from being confused.

Actually, with Steam games, you can designate a single, other drive location, for game installs.
Or multiple locations, and choose where a particular game goes.

Very true, ONLY if you (as I pointed to) slow down and just not CLICK CLICK CLICK through the prompts blindly, by default they would install as I said. The bolded part is what I was saying was the important part most people don't "slow down and think" they just are 'trained' to just 'click through it' blindly these days.

Yes. But in the Steam client, once you designate a particular location, that's all you need to do. No need to choose where after that.
You only have to do that once.

For all other applications and games, I fully agree.

Sorry to have to burst in, but I couldn't help but notice the title is grammatically incorrect. Shouldn't it be "Are SSHD Drives Worth the Value". (Don't take this seriously, I had to do it)

WD Blue or Black...pretty much the same performance.
I think the Blue caps out at capacity of 1TB. Black is larger.

WD Red? OK, for a NAS or similar. Not for a primary drive.

Just get a Blue or Black, in whatever size you desire.

The drive you linked from ebay at $79, is cheaper at Amazon for $75.
http://www.amazon.com/RE4-Enterprise-Hard-Drive-WD2003FYYS/dp/B002XW44QY

But you have to be careful of who and how you buy it. Not all of those drives are 'new'.