Seagate FireCuda 2TB SSHD – ST2000DX002

Love it! This was perfect for my storage needs. I wanted expanded storage to save my PC game installs to but did not want to shell out the cost of a high capacity SSD. This Seagate 2TB FireCuda Hybrid HDD/SSD, while not as fast as a straight SSD, still has read and write speeds well above those of standard HDD’s.
Using the Samsung Magician software that came with my Samsung 840 Pro SSD, I was able to record read and write speeds between my standard HDD and this new Seagate 2TB FireCude Hybrid HDD/SSD. Listed below are the results showing the average speed of both hard drives based on 6 performance benchmark test ran on each drive:

Seagate 2TB FireCude 3.5-Inch HDD/SSD 6 Run Avg Results:
Sequential Read(MB/s) – 94 MB/s
Sequential Write(MB/s) – 163 MB/s
Random Read(IOPS) – 591 MB/s
Random Write(IOPS) – 1167 MB/s

Seagate 1TB Barracuda 3.5-inch HDD 6 Run Avg Results:
Sequential Read(MB/s) – 82 MB/s
Sequential Write(MB/s) – 163 MB/s
Random Read(IOPS) – 299 MB/s
Random Write(IOPS) – 242 MB/s

As the results show, the biggest performance increase comes with Random Read/Write Speeds with almost double the Random Read Speed and almost 5 times the Random Write Speed.

Sequential Read speeds are marginally faster with the hybrid drive vs the normal HDD; however, the Hybrid drive Sequential Read speeds were showed that it could reach speeds as high as 140 MB/s. Where as, the HDD only produced a maximum of 90 MB/s during my testing.

Sequential Write Speeds saw no gains of improvement between the Hybrid Drive and the Normal HDD in my testing. Results may vary… obviously, dependent on system specs.

Overall,
I would definitely recommend the FireCuda Hybrid HDD/SSD over a Normal HDD of comparable size. I’ve transferred many of my games from my HDD to my Hybrid drive and can definitely tell a difference in game load times. Let me also note that, the more you play/load a particular game or program, the faster the Hybrid drive is able to load it due to the 8GB of Flash Storage. Without the Flash Storage, a Normal HDD cannot compare.
I will also recommend this to anyone that has been thinking about getting a larger SSD to install games to but are not quite ready to drop the amount of money it costs to get a SSD with a capacity of 1TB or higher.

The seller did his best to get a 24-36 hour turnaround on this item.

This is what i was expecting.

Thanks

No publicaré métricas porque eso toma tiempo que no tengo actualmente. Pero el arranque del WS en el que ha sido instalado es de menos de la quinta parte que con su disco anterior. Los videojuegos cargan mas rapido, y las pequeñas tareas toman poco tiempo. Hace que la experiencia de uso de la PC sea muy agradable. Ya no siento que se me va la vida esperando que la PC responda, y eso, vale mucho.

Bought this to replace a failing WD2003FZEX 2TB Black drive. Figured I’d try something a little different this time, and the benchmarks and reviews swayed me to this drive. I use it as a dedicated Game Installs drive and also do a lot of work with large amounts of small files. Modding and compiling my own projects with some particularly throughput heavy workflows.

All the benchmarks I’ve run put this drive nearly in line with the(now failing) WD Black drive for raw performance. Never quite there but always at its heels. Of course the WD Black was more consistent and had higher overall throughput. But in practical usage, the Seagate FireCuda has been surprising. Level loads are much faster. Warping around in MMOs is so quick I can’t read the loading screens. Initial loading of my 94GB Skyrim build is noticeably faster, and moving throughout Skyrim’s world is more consistent. Streaming assets load more smoothly, and the loadscreens between areas are much shorter. Especially if you’ve been playing the game for a few hours. I wouldn’t say there was a difference if it wasn’t immediately noticeable. Raw performance might not be quite up to par with Barracuda Pros and WD Blacks, but practical usage definitely shows a different animal.

Further, the FireCuda is MUCH MUCH quieter than the 2TB Black drive, has a roughly similar spinup time, and much better seek times. Accessing huge amounts of small texture files is at least as good in a worse case scenario, and much snappier than the Black drive when the FireCuda is in its stride. I imagine over the next few months it will build a thorough map of my usage patterns, and be a very consistent drive for me.

This is my first Seagate for personal use in over a decade, and I must say I am impressed. Especially because it’s a Hybrid drive. Long term longevity will be my real tell, but so far it does exactly what it says on the box. In my own real world usage this is every bit the drive the 2TB Black ever was, and CHEAPER. Great drive, at a GREAT price.