Seagate Desktop 2TB SSHD (ST2000DX001) Review

Introduction

A few months back, Seagate announced the launch of its third generation SSHD. While most of the fame went towards the Laptop Thin SSHD, with several tech sites, including TweakTown getting the opportunity to review the drive, at the same time a desktop variant was announced.

Now that most of the initial hype around the Laptop Thin SSHD has passed, I thought it was only right to bring our readers the first official review of the Seagate Desktop SSHD in the 2TB capacity.

The desktop variant of the SSHD combines the best features of both the Laptop SSHD and Desktop HDD, where we have the same 8GB of NAND flash found in the SSHDs of today, together with the full 7200RPM spindle speed of the Desktop HDD.

Initial capacities of the Desktop SSHD start at 1TB with an additional 2TB capacity available, but I wouldn't put it past Seagate to launch a 4TB monster in the near future.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

Specifications of the Seagate Desktop SSHD lists the drive in both 1TB and 2TB capacities. Each of these drives offer 8GB of NAND flash and 64MB of DRAM cache. Additionally, these drives support all three generations of the SATA protocol.

Average data rate is listed at 158 MB/s from the platters and 190 MB/s from the cache with a 4/2 head to platter ratio for the 2TB model and 2/1 head to platter ratio for the 1TB model. Typical operating power is listed at 6.7 watts with an idle power consumption of 3.3 watts.

Pricing of the 2TB Seagate Desktop SSHD is set at $139.99, while the 1TB model is available for $99.99. Each drive is covered by Seagate's three-year warranty.