Getting a new computer, SSD or SSHD hybrid?

[Guts]

My trusty old tabletop warhorse is starting to be on it's last legs, it's powering itself down or restarting by itself, not to mention it can barely run games from 2007, so it's time for an upgrade.

My question is about hard drives as I'm trying to choose from a few options. What major differences are there between SSD and SSHD hybrid hard drives? Are the hybrid ones any good or should I just ignore them? The more expensive option I'm looking at has 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA3 + 128 GB SSD and the cheaper one has 1 TB 7200 rpm SATA II + 16 GB mSATA SSD Hybrid.

Also, what is the general opinion on these video cards? Again, the more expensive one has NVIDIA GTX760 192-bit 3 GB while the cheaper has AMD Radeon R9 270 2 GB DDR3. Is the AMD one any good for casual gaming?

Both configurations have Intel? Core(TM) i5-4440 (6M Cache, 3,1 GHz) processor and 8 GB RAM.

I really don't have a lot of knowledge about PC hardware stuff, so any additional advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[briareos_kerensky]

My question is about hard drives as I'm trying to choose from a few options. What major differences are there between SSD and SSHD hybrid hard drives?

SSDs only use flash memory to store information, hybrid HDDs use flash memory to cache most used data (like boot data) with everything else residing on old-fashioned mechanical platters. There are nuances between "real" hybrid drives (flash memory and platters in the same drive) and dual drive setups (like the second option you list), but the end result is essentially the same: you'll see one HDD in your system, and the actual performance boost (in terms of transfer speed to and from the drive) will be limited. You'll have OS, programs, and data on one big drive.
The first option uses one "large" SDD plus a second mechanical HDD: you'll see two independent drives, with everything on the SSD being loaded/written faster than on the HDD. In this case the SSD would be configured for OS and programs, while the HDD for data. I would totally go for this option.

As for the video cards, I would go AMD, but it's mostly because I run multi-monitor setups that are easier to setup and manage with AMD cards.

Lastly, I would go for 16GB of RAM.

[Guts]

Thanks briareos.

I probably won't be using multiple monitors, so that aspect doesn't affect me. I guess either of those video cards will suffice for my PC gaming needs as I'll probably play older stuff anyway and they should probably run new stuff also decently? My most wanted PC games are Wasteland 2 and Pillars of Eternity which probably aren't very demanding graphics-wise.

My sister's boyfriend who recommended me these sets, said that 8 GB of RAM should be enough for the next few years for most games etc. so I think I'm fine with it (my current one has 512MB, lol). I mean I can always buy more in the future if I need it, right?

[briareos_kerensky]

Those two cards are plenty for your gaming needs.
About the RAM, I my perspective might be a bit skewed, I tend to have several programs open at the same time and 8GB won't cut it for me. I don't play much with the PC either, probably Brad would be better in assessing if 8GB are enough for now. If you plan to add RAM in the future, be sure to keep some motherboard slots free, otherwise you'll have to buy the RAM all over again.

[Guts]

Yeah, I don't really run many programs at the same time, most likely it's a web browser and Spotify simultaneously at most.

I did some googling and the general opinion seemed to be, that 8 GB of RAM is plenty enough for games at the moment and in the near future, as most games only use 4 GB so I think I'm good with that.

[speedlolita]

I almost always have TERA running along with many other programs. The only time I ever hit memory capacity is when I had TERA open and was rendering 200 or so images in Lightroom. So yeah, I'd say 8GB is pretty much fine.

SSD + HDD too, pretty sure the 760 is the stronger card too.

[Kit]

Man, I seriously need to upgrade reading this. How far behind am I now? I have a q9550 and a ati 6870.

[k0pp0]

If you like playing with virtualisation (or think you might) then go for 16GB (or more).