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The Seagate ST500LM000 500GB is a 2.5" 500GB Hybrid Drive.
It uses the SATA 6Gb/s interface and has a speed of 7200 RPM.
| Drive Type | Hybrid Drive | This defines whether the drive is a large-capacity slower hard disk drive, a smaller-capacity but much faster solid-state drive, or a hybrid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Size | 2.5" | The size of the drive dictates which drive bays it will fit into - generally a small drive will fit into any bigger drive bay with an adapter | |
| Capacity | 500GB | The drive storage capacity is the limit to the size of files that can be stored | |
| Release Date | 01 Feb 2013 | The later the release, the more likely manufacturer support will still be around | |
| Cache Size | 64MB | The bigger the cache, the more data that can be temporarily stored for faster access | |
| Power Required | 3W | HDDs should generally require very little power to run, and SSDs even less | |
| RPM | 7200 RPM | The higher the RPM, the faster the hard drive, and the faster stored data can be accessed | |
| Drive Interface | SATA 6Gb/s | The interface is the type of motherboard connection and defines the bandwidth limit of the drive |
The Seagate ST500LM000 500GB is a hybrid drive, which means it stores data using a combination of solid-state drive and hard disk drive technology. The purpose of this design is to provide the large storage capacities that HDDs offer while enabling a significant boost in performance as a result of the embedded SSD. The SSD within the hybrid drive acts as a cache for frequently used data in order to bolster read and write speeds. Hybrid drives are as a result a fantastic option for those unwilling to either sacrifice storage capacity or invest a hefty sum into a large SSD, as they offer the best of both worlds at a reasonable price. There are some negatives, however, such as accessing uncommonly used files can actually take longer than an HDD due to the HDD part of the hybrid drive having to spin up, which can take a few seconds (this can also create some noise). Hybrid drives essentially have to learn your behaviour before you reap the caching benefits.is a fairly poor primary hybrid drive choice, as its performance leaves a lot to be desired. It would be fine to use as basic data storage, though.
With a cache of 64MB, the Seagate ST500LM000 500GB can store an extremely large amount of data temporarily, which will result in much faster loading times for previously loaded files and applications. At a speed of 7200 RPM, the hybrid drive spins at about the market average for desktop PCs. This speed is widely considered the desktop standard, providing a good balance between reliability, cost, performance, and noise.
With a capacity of 500GB, the Seagate ST500LM000 500GB has a fairly small amount of storage for an hybrid drive. Using the SATA 3.0 6Gb/s interface this hybrid drive will never be limited by its connection with the motherboard. In fact, mechanical hybrid drives cannot even reach the bandwidth capacity allowed by SATA 2.0 3Gb/s, so it would not matter even if it were plugged into a SATA 2.0 motherboard slot.
A form factor size of 2.5" is standard for laptop drives and solid-state drives, and this will fit into any 2.5" drive bay. These drive bays are not yet ubiquitous, but it will also fit into a standard 3.5" or 5.25" drive bay with the appropriate adapter.
| Merchant | Price |
|---|---|
| amazon | $45.48 |
| PCRush | $61.93 |
| compsource | $75.00 |
| TigerDirect | $114.99 |
| ebay | $149.95 |