SilverStone Device Gives 70% HDD Boost
SilverStone's HDDBOOST combines the best of both worlds: HDD and SSD.
Now this looks rather cool: TweakTown points the way to a device designed by SilverStone that merges the traditional, clunky HDD with the flashy, new SDD format. Called HDDBOOST, the device itself is mounted within a 3.5-inch drive bay which in turn houses an SSD. A separate HDD, mounted in its usual seat within the PC, is connected to the device by way of a second SATA port. This allows both drives to communicate together like some kind of hybrid storage setup.
SilverStone said that the HDDBOOST will mirror the front-end data of the HDD to the SDD. This allows the PC to read the more commonly used files from the faster drive. This setup also reduces the overall wear and tear on the SSD by throwing all the new writes onto the older HDD, essentially allowing the SSD to perform like a huge cache for the mechanical drive.
So what's the point of this? Good question. Tossing the HDD aside and using the SDD as the primary boot drive makes more sense: it's faster and somewhat more reliable. But what if consumers want an extra boost without having to disrupt the current system configuration? What if they don't want to re-install the OS and software, or restore the system from an external backup? This option seems less disruptive while providing a significant performance increase.
"Depending on the speed of the SSD added, the HDDBOOST can increase the performance of an existing host hard drive up to 70-percent," the company said. "This speed increase is very noticeable and significant for any PC users that have not experienced using SSD drives before."
SilverStone products are sold at TigerDirect.com, Fty's Electronics, Circuit City, Amazon, and more. Stonebridge Computing has the device listed for $51.98 right here.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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NapoleonDK REVIEWS PLZ KTHXBAI!Reply
This an odd piece of tech for sure, I'd love to hear about it in more detail. -
Computer_Lots I don't really see the point. It's the same thing as having a really large cache on a hard drive. You have to pay $50 for this device, plus buy an SSD. You'd be better off just having a separate SSD for boot and a good ole mechanical drive for storage.Reply -
sliem Um no. Either stay with regular or go to SSD.Reply
Don't waste $50. Now if it was $10 or $20... -
sebastienm Yep, seems only a valid option if you *really* don't want to reinstall the OS.Reply
Otherwise, as mentioned in the article, use the ssd directly.
And what would be the $ and performance comparison if you just added a new drive and run on Raid0 (most motherboards have on-board Raid0) -
mados123 Is this the same as having more memory and using a RamDrive, albeit with less space compared to SSD's today?Reply -
fadymahfouz If This Would decrease the degrading of the SSDs drives, Then maybe a lot of people will consider it.Reply -
Miharu I don't really understand... why 2 satas ports ?Reply
This is backup propose or performance propose ?
I feel like more cache memory on HD cache could give same or better result... -
PostmanPat It seems they're only catering to the market of people who REALLY don't want to reinstall their OS... doesn't make sense to me. IMO, the reinstallation of the OS is one of the benefits of going through an HDD/SDD upgrade. For those people who don't reinstall on a somewhat regular basis, the process of going back to a unmodified OS and putting on just the essentials can be as much of a boost in performance as this new piece of technology claims to achieve anyway.Reply