Samsung this evening announced it will launch the industry’s first 1-terabyte (1TB) mSATA SSD this month. That doubles the capacity (512GB) of some of the largest-capacity mSATA SSDs generally available today. As such, the 1TB 840 EVO mSATA SSD is poised to bring unprecedented large-capacity hard storage to some of the market’s thinnest portables. The […]
The Toshiba Corporation is in the process of buying up the better part of OCZ Technology, the maker of consumer and enterprise solid state drive (SSD) storage devices. OCZ last month filed for bankruptcy, having been unable to comply with its loan terms with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. The purchase price is $35 million […]
Xbox modder Brian Williams has installed two non-standard drives on an Xbox One, testing them to see whether they make for faster boot and game load times than the standard drive. The exercise demonstrates where the gaming industry is at in terms of drive configurations. The take-home point is that hybrid drives — a traditional […]
The Xbox One arrives with a 500GB HDD built-in, and in contrast to the PlayStation 4’s easily-accessed storage, it’s not meant to be accessed or replaced by the user, ever. While we’ll probably leave ours in place to keep from voiding the warranty or risk a ban from Xbox Live, a few folks have already cracked open the console to see what else will fit. iFixit noted during its teardown that there’s an off-the-shelf 2.5-inch Samsung HDD inside connected via SATA II inside, and swapping that out isn’t much of an issue. Brian Williams has already tried out the system with two alternate drives: a 500GB Samsung EVO SSD, and a Seagate 1TB hybrid SSHD. As you can see in his video (embedded after the break) boot time from off to the dashboard only improved slightly, with the SSD loading in 46.1 seconds compared to 50.5 stock. A test with Call of Duty: Ghosts revealed similar results, with the SSD loading up in 27 seconds and the hybrid drive close behind in 27.7, compared to 33.5 seconds stock. We’ll need tests with more games to be sure, but so far it’s not showing the improvements seen after swapping the PS4’s hard drive out for speedier options. The folks at Tested report doing so improved level load times in Killzone: Shadow Fall from 60 seconds to 39 seconds.
So, if it’s not a ton faster, why would you want to take the chance of prying Microsoft’s box open? To get more space. Brian’s drives were simply copies of the original transferred by Clonezilla, but an individual named Juvenal1 has already worked out how to get the system to actually recognize and make use of drives bigger than 500GB. By copying files from your original drive and using their Linux-compatible tool to repartition the new HDD, you can be up and running with more capacity after just a reboot or two. Of course, this carries significant risks and we don’t recommend it for most, as Microsoft’s Albert Penello has already revealed support for external drives is coming in a future update, along with the ability to do crazy things like see how much storage you actually have left. Still, if you just need to live on the edge (or store every game released so far and record hours of clean Upload Studio clips) the instructions can be found here.
Update: If you’re interested in performing the upgrade, Brian Williams has followed with a video walkthrough for the process of properly formatting a larger hard drive, even if you’re not familiar with using Linux.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Juvenal1 (Github), Brian Williams
Today the OCZ Technology Group, Inc., made clear their state of affairs, and things are looking bleak. The creators of high-performance solid state drives for computers of all sorts noted that they’d be filing for bankruptcy and that Toshiba had entered an offer to purchase their assets. These two companies have already substantially completed negotiations […]
OCZ dropped off the radar shortly into 2013 as it struggled to correct dodgy accounting and stem ongoing losses. Unfortunately, it couldn’t turn things around quickly enough — the one-time legend in memory technology has declared bankruptcy. That isn’t necessarily the end of the story, though. Toshiba has offered to buy all of OCZ’s assets as long as the ailing company maintains its value. The bankruptcy represents a sad (potential) end for a firm that was once synonymous with speedy RAM and SSDs, but there’s a good chance that its work will live on in future products.
Filed under: Storage
Source: OCZ
Western Digital has outed its latest drive, the WD Black2, pairing a sizable chunk of solid-state storage with a more capacious traditional HDD for the best of both worlds. The 2.5-inch drive has 120GB of SSD capacity and 1TB of HDD space, and gives the option of greater control over which data is stored where, […]
Performance-minded PC users frequently want both a fast solid-state drive for crucial apps and a regular hard disk for everything else, but that’s not always feasible in the tight space of a laptop. Western Digital is making that two-drive option a practical reality through its new Black2. The design puts both a 120GB SSD and a 1TB spinning disk into a single 2.5-inch SATA enclosure, offering more speed and capacity than you’d find in a typical hybrid drive. It’s potentially an ideal blend for gamers and small form factor PC builders, although they’ll pay for the privilege — WD is shipping the Black2 today for $300, or roughly as much as the two drives by themselves.
[Thanks, Metayoshi]
Source: Western Digital
When it comes to storage space for your notebook, you are more or less spoilt for choice these days. Those who want something that is thin and light will settle for an Ultrabook, which would mean a very high probability of it carrying a Solid State Drive (SSD) within, although there are some budget oriented Ultrabook models in the market which will feature a hybrid SSD and hard drive configuration.Well, one of the players that do have an impressive array of storage solutions for those who are always demanding the best performance possible at the lowest price point would be Toshiba, and this time around, they have unveiled the new Toshiba Q Series Pro PC Internal Solid State Drive.
This is a new high performance drive upgrade for PCs that will offer consumers with a reliable and convenient way for them to increase productivity and also deliver safe storage for all personal data. It is ideal for folks who are looking at the opportunity to boost their PC storage performance to the next level without breaking the bank, of course, and also to enjoy faster boot-up and operation for the PC.
Maciek Brzeski, vice president of product marketing and development of branded storage products, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division, shared, “Toshiba’s comprehensive ecosystem of devices positions the company at an advantage when understanding consumer needs for storage. The Q Series Pro PC Internal Solid State Drive offers industry-proven caliber and authenticity with leading performance, speeds and capabilities.”
The new Toshiba Q Series Pro PC Internal SSD is said to be ideal for avid gamers, graphics professionals, and basically multi-taskers who want to provide a boost for their PC performance to a best in class level. In fact, it consumes less power than a standard hard drive, and users will be able to enjoy more time to work and play on their laptop without having to worry too much about locating the next power outlet. It measures just 7mm slim and is backed by a 3-year limited warranty. You will be able to choose from 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities that will retail for $159.99, $309.99 and $739.99, respectively.
Company Page
[ Toshiba rolls out a new SSD for consumers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Facebook serves up a huge amount of data each and every day from the millions and millions of users of its social network. When Facebook introduced its graph search feature, the amount of data the social networks served up increased significantly. Not only did the amount of data served up increase, the speed at which […]
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