discussion SilverStone HDDBoost Review

[AkG]

Performance in an "Upgraded" System

Performance in an "Upgraded" System

HDDBoost = WD 320GD HDD + Kingston SSDNow 40GB

While our usual boot up test is run on a fairly heavy duty system with a moderately fragmented OS we thought we would really put this hybrid system to the test and see exactly what it is made of. To this end we used an older system which consists of a dual core socket 939 AMD X2 4400+ with 2GB of Ram. This system has been running for over 3 years now and has not been defragmented in well over a year and a half. To be honest we would be surprised if there are two files which are not fragmented on it. To keep things as fair as possible we did not switch out the WD 320GB for the 640GB Black we are using in this particular system. Rather, we just cloned the information to the smaller drive and then attached the 320GB back to the HDDBoost. We did this because the lower-end HDD is more representative of the type of drive this type of system would use.

XP Start Up

<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/HDDBoost/boot_old.jpg" border="0" alt="" />​

Any way you slice it that is one nice boost in performance! The more we use this hybrid setup the more we like it, but we can see that it may not be for everyone in every situation.

Adobe CS3 Load Time (Older System)

<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/HDDBoost/adobe_old.jpg" border="0" alt="" />
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To us this seals the deal, as it gives this older system a nice performance boost. Basically, it gives you high-end performance without having to spend a fortune on an upgrade.

 

[AkG]

Conclusion

Conclusion

We went into this review with a pretty open mind about the HDDBoost simply because we just didn’t know what to expect. There has been a lot of speculation about this product since it was first announced a few weeks ago but the exact functionality it offered was an unknown simply because it is somewhat unique in the mainstream marketplace. If anything, Silverstone’s simple device proves to be a breath of fresh air for a massive number of people who are looking for a quick and easy way to add some speed to their system without breaking their bank accounts.

The uses for the HDDBoost both start and stop with one undeniable truth: the price of modern, larger capacity SSDs puts them far outside the reach of most consumers. Naturally, prices are falling extremely fast but many times you will have to sacrifice storage capacity for the performance afforded by these high-end drives. However, with this product from Silverstone you are able to have the best of both worlds: the capacity of a hard drive and the fast load times normally associated with an SSD. This should be especially interesting if you want a painless system upgrade with seamless plug and play functionality. Most of the time you won’t even realize the HDDBoost is running other than the suddenly eye-opening speed at which Windows boots or programs load.

We can’t however expect any miracles from this product. If you already have a high-end storage solution like a Western Digital Black Edition HDD or Raptor installed into your computer, you probably won’t see much of a difference in terms of load times. Rather, Silverstone is aiming this product straight for users who want to breathe some new life into their aging systems and in this respect the HDDBoost is an undisputed champion.

Sadly not everything is perfect with this unit and it is far from the perfect match for many situations. The biggest limitation the HDDBoost has is the fact that you have careful in which solid state drive is paired up with it and slower, first generation SSD will do more harm than good in this situation. We are sure even older SSDs will reduce the latency of your system, but they may not improve read speeds or overall performance in any way.

No matter which colored glasses you look at the computer world through, the SilverStone HDDBoost is an enticing product that does work when it comes to speeding up an otherwise under-performing storage solution. It allows first time buyers to strike a delicate balance between lightning-quick load times and storage capacity without having to part with an arm, leg and kidney for an ultra expensive SSD. On the other hand, the HDDBoost offers a quick and simple upgrade path for older systems. While it may not be the optimal solution for everyone, the HDDBoost receives our Dam Innovative Award for delivering on its promises and making higher storage performance accessible to a whole new market.


Pros:

- Does boost system performance
- Enables operating system drives to be larger than any current solid state drive
- No need to worry about TRIM, ITGC or any other solid state drive problems
- No increased reboot time
- Seamless, unnoticeable synchronization
- Easy firmware upgrading
- Decreases random access time


Cons:

- Does have a slight latency hit when compared to the SSD used
- Not a great value for anyone building a higher-end new system
- Software needs an FAQ
- No SMART monitoring
- Only as good as the SSD used

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