HDD by stefan @ 2014-03-03
We could refer to the MQ01ABD100H 1TB hybrid from Toshiba as a 5400RPM drive on steroids, which offers 8GB NAND caching capabilities and offers a boost for data which is frequently accessed. The drive is also available at a lower capacity of 750GB while retaining the same 8GB of NAND cache.
At first we would like to thank Toshiba Corporation for offering a sample of their Toshiba MQ01ABD100H 2.5'' drive for testing and reviewing.
“Toshiba is a world leader and innovator in pioneering high technology, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products spanning information & communications systems; digital consumer products; electronic devices and components; power systems, including nuclear energy; industrial and social infrastructure systems; and home appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 740 companies, with 204,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing 6.3 trillion yen (US$68 billion).”
2.5-inch HDD + NAND
Large capacity up to 1TB
High performance with 8GB NAND flash
Enhanced self-learning caching algorithm
In this article we will take a look at another interesting product from Toshiba, meant mostly for Ultrabooks and high performance laptops; we are talking about a Hybrid Disk Drive which incorporates two platters for a total of 1TB at 5400RPM and is also paired with 8GB of NAND Flash for caching purposes; a buffer of 32MB is also present here. The caching mechanism works about the same as we have seen with the KingFast Cache model, but the algorithm is integrated into the firmware and no extra software is necessary for this to function properly; the drive will sense which data is accessed frequently and will upload it to the NAND flash so next time when it will be accessed, the transfer speeds are considerably higher.
Our sample has arrived inside an anti-static bag, OEM, without additional packaging or bundle:
On the top side of the drive we will find a large sticker which gives us more information on the product:
Here we will get to see the drive code name, revision, manufacturing date, product serial number, power rating, NAND Flash capacity (8455MB), but also the disk capacity (1TB):
Also in the front we will get to see a small breathing hole which must not be covered during regular operation:
The sides of the drive come with the mounting holes:
On the back we will find the PCB which holds both the 32MB DRAM cache along with the 8GB Toshiba NAND:
The drive provides SATA Data/Power connectors, but also some additional pins for service mode:
CPU : Intel I5 3750K Retail @ 4.7GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 Extreme6
RAM :GeIL PC3-17000 2133MHz 8GB EVO Leggera
Video : Sparkle X560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
The drive is shipped unformatted:
Here is a snapshot of the total reported free space by Windows 7:
With the help of AIDA64, we can extract more information regarding the drive:
The MQ01ABD100H 1TB hybrid drive from Toshiba has given us a similar experience as we have seen before with the standalone caching SSD from KingFast but this time the NAND flash is placed on the PCB of the drive without the need of having two separate devices. One more advantage is the fact that the caching algorithm exists in the firmware and no extra software is necessary to be installed.
In our tests we have seen how the cache functions: once the drive decides to upload certain data to the NAND, it will be accessed very quickly, which will boost loading times. Benefits like this we will see while loading the operating system and after running a specific program for more than one time. While the data will be cached to the NAND, the transfer speeds will drop a bit and we have seen speeds averaging 45-47MB/s at the time. If we do not access certain data on the drive for multiple times, the cached files won’t have any effect and the Toshiba drive will act as a regular 5400RPM product; same thing goes when the components of a program are updated (including the OS), when the drive will be a little slow till the cache will be rebuilt.
Some users which use quite a few of applications will feel the need of a larger cache than 8GB like 16GB or 32GB since the current one will fill quite quickly and some limitations will start to appear. We would recommend this drive to people which do not have the room of installing a secondary SSD as a boot drive in their laptops and at the same time would benefit from the low-noise 5400RPM drives offer along with low operating temperatures.
The MQ01ABD100H drive has been initially launched at a high price but it has dropped continuously so now we can pick it up online for about 82 Euros. In the same time we would like to mention that the MQ01ABD100 model which we have reviewed before has dropped even further to 54 Euros.
We would like to thank again to Toshiba Corporation for making this review possible!