Seagate Momentus XT ST750LX003 Hybrid 750GB Review

Testing:

Testing of hard drives can be done in several different ways. One method involves leaving the drive bare and connecting it as a secondary drive in an existing system. By simultaneously cleaning the drive after each benchmark run-through, this allows you to see its theoretical peaks in performance. However, the results would only represent a best case scenario – one that you may never see unless operating a bare drive. The second method, which OverclockersClub employs, involves loading the operating system and benchmarking suite onto the test drive itself. This would give performance results that emulate real-world usage more closely. Testing will be completed with the P67-based system listed below, alongside a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit that is updated to SP1 and fully patched as of the date of testing. The latest Intel Rapid Storage technology drivers and software have also been installed. All tests are conducted with the drive connected to a native SATA III 6Gb/s port on the motherboard, in an effort to eliminate any possible bottlenecks with performance.

Testing Setup:

• Processors: Core i7 2600K @ 3.4GHz 100 x 34
• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme
• Memory: Mushkin 996805 Redline PC312800 6-8-6-24 1600MHz 4GB
• Video Card: XFX Radeon HD6970
• Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
• Hard Drive: Seagate Momentus XT 750GB Hybrid Drive
• Optical Drive: Lite-On Blu-Ray
• Case: Corsair Graphite Series 600T
• OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Comparison Drives:

• Mushkin Callisto 240GB
• Corsair Force GT 120GB
  
• Seagate Barracuda XT 1TB
• Mushkin Io 128GB SSD
• OCZ Vertex 3 240GB
• Patriot Wildfire 120GB

Benchmarks:

• Drive Tests:

1. HD Tune 4.60 Pro
2. HD Tach
3. SiSoft Sandra 2012
4. Crystal Disk Mark
5. ATTO Disk Benchmark
6. AS SSD
7. I/O Meter
8. PCMark Vantage
9. Windows Startup / Shutdown