Crucial's Newly Announced Drive Aims To Mix SSD Speeds With HDD Storage Capabilities

[beer]

There’s no denying that SSDs are blazing fast and an all-around pleasure to have in your system, but for many folks, being limited to 128GB or 256GB just isn’t going to cut it. Enter Crucial: today, the memory maker announced the “Adrenaline Solid State Cache Solution,” which hopes to solve that problem (as the name implies). It could’ve been called the “SSD Band-Aid;” it’s basically an itty-bitty SSD that teams up with your HDD to deliver quick access speeds while keeping the high storage capabilities of traditional drives intact.

The Adrenaline Solid State Cache Solution is a 50GB Crucial m4 SSD that ships with a 3.5-inch adapter bracket and some cache software. Setup sounds pretty easy: connect the SSD to your mobo with a SATA cable, then install the software and get to work. The clever-sounding software tricks your computer into thinking both drives are a single storage system and automatically drops your most-used files onto the SSD. The things you use most often get the full SSD speed boosting treatment, while everything else stays sitting on your HDD, still fully accessible.

Robert Wheadon, Crucial’s worldwide product manager, calls the product “a compelling and affordable upgrade solution." We’d be inclined to agree, except, um, Crucial left pricing details out of its press release. The Adrenaline Solid State Cache Solution is expected to start shipping sometime in the first quarter.

At first glance, it certainly seems like an intriguing little product for those who can’t abide the abysmally small storage space found in current SSDs and don't want to swap out their current HDD for a pricey hybrid drive. Is this something you would pick up assuming the price is right?

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sounds like ssd caching on z68 motherboards.

[Alanon]

Hell, I've been stuck with a 160 GB HD for a loooooooooooooooooooong time.

Managed to buy an external 160GB drive which I use for backing up, and since the HD market isn't going to get any cheaper this in lifetime, I'm not going to be buying a new one in a while. -.-

Oh, and I would gladly be adding this little attachment, but it won't arrive here for about 2 years. :(

[beer]

sorry to hear that man... 2 years...

[rseiler]

2 years? The press release says it'll be out this quarter. Why would it take 2 years to reach certain locations? By that time, it'll be obsolete.

[DKT27]

Hell, I've been stuck with a 160 GB HD for a loooooooooooooooooooong time.

Managed to buy an external 160GB drive which I use for backing up, and since the HD market isn't going to get any cheaper this in lifetime, I'm not going to be buying a new one in a while. -.-

Oh, and I would gladly be adding this little attachment, but it won't arrive here for about 2 years. :(

That's because HDD prices are seriously high right now due to Thailand floods. Before Thailand floods, one 500GB HDD used to cost around $28-30, now it costs $95...

True, it does take time to come to all the countries. But should take max 1 year, or it won't arrive at all. We face similar situation here in India, where the market is very big, but companies keep ignoring us.