Adding larger SSD for general file storage - should I make it the boot drive?

Dec 9, 2018
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I already have a Samsung EVO 850 500GB SSD and now I want to add a larger SSD (Crucial MX500 2 TB) to my PC.

Would there be any significant differences between using the Crucial MX500 simultaneously as a boot drive and general storage drive (the Samsung would only provide 500GB additional storage in this scenario) and using the Samsung as the boot drive and the Crucial as the general storage drive? Which of these two options would you choose?

I'm doing a lot of music production, so I have to load many different plugins and tracks into my DAW.

Is it even worth using the 2TB Crucial SSD for file storage or should I just stick to an HDD for larger audio related software and files?
 
Solution


In theory, it is faster. But for these uses, not 'faster enough' to make up for the price per GB difference.

Moving large sequential blocks of data? Yes.
A bunch of music and photos? No so much.

I just did a test, copying 50 RAW files (32MB each), 1.53GB total, from one SATA III SSD to another.
3.5sec.
We're getting way into diminishing returns here.
An NVMe drive might reduce that to 2 sec. At the expense of significant drive space.

Now....if I were moving a 200GB 3D movie render between 2x NVMe drives, and the difference was 2 minutes vs 40 seconds...that would be significant enough to...
Yes, the problem with that is that the OS drive is subjected to a lot more reads and writes AND is a lot more prone to something becoming corrupted by way of malware/virus infections, or just a corrupt operating system. If that happens you might lose data and files stored on that drive or you might have to reinstall the OS and figure out where to store those files until after you do that. It's ALWAYS a good idea, in fact, it should be mandatory good practice, to also have any important data backed up to a second location anyhow so if you do then it's a moot point.

If you don't, that's bad, but it's at least less likely to be a very likely issue if the drive does not also house the operating system. Even with separate partitions there could be problems.

The larger SSD however is PROBABLY faster than the smaller SSD. Usually they are. You might actually consider a hybrid drive if all you are doing is storing data on that drive and won't be transferring large files to and from the drive FREQUENTLY enough for the speed to be an issue. If you were using this drive to store and access for use, large files, that you use in, say, 3D rendering or graphics applications, then you might want to make it an SSD then.

Hybrid drives are somewhat faster than a standard HDD, but considerably less expensive. Nowhere near the speed of an SSD though. Really, it depends on what the usage is for the files you'll be keeping on the drive.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Leave the current 850 EVO as the boot drive.
500GB is the perfect size.

Use the new Crucial for all your other stuff.

I'm in the process of doing almost exactly the same.
Moving my boot drive from a 500GB 850 EVO to a 500GB 860 EVO, and replacing the 850 with a 1TB 860 EVO.
 
Dec 9, 2018
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Thanks for your answers, guys!

Just to be absolutely sure: If I use an instrument plugin that is located the boot drive SSD, will my audio programm load it (noticeably) faster than the same instrument plugin located on the generic file storage ssd?

Also, would you consider an M.2 drive for audio work or would this be overkill?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Between those two drives, it would make no difference where that file was.
On the 850 EVO C drive or the Crucial MX500 D drive.

My system is a series of SSD's, mostly Samsung 8xx.
OS and applications on the current 850 EVO 500GB, and other drives for other uses.
Instead of your music plugins, I have photo/video work and plugins on my secondary drives.
 
Dec 9, 2018
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What would be the main benefit of an M.2 drive? I guess it loads tracks faster into the DAW or pictures into photoshop than SATA SSDs?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


In theory, it is faster. But for these uses, not 'faster enough' to make up for the price per GB difference.

Moving large sequential blocks of data? Yes.
A bunch of music and photos? No so much.

I just did a test, copying 50 RAW files (32MB each), 1.53GB total, from one SATA III SSD to another.
3.5sec.
We're getting way into diminishing returns here.
An NVMe drive might reduce that to 2 sec. At the expense of significant drive space.

Now....if I were moving a 200GB 3D movie render between 2x NVMe drives, and the difference was 2 minutes vs 40 seconds...that would be significant enough to warrant NVMe drives.
 
Solution
Yes, loading, writing and reading from the M.2 drive, IF it was an NVME PCI M.2 drive and not a SATA M.2 drive, would all be faster, and if you were needing it to record in real time it might have some benefits. But SATA SSD is still pretty fast so unless you already know for sure that the gains in speed would benefit you because something is lagging, it's probably not helpful to you.

If loading large music files takes a long time EVEN on your current SSD, then it might be helpful in that way too.
 

ishanshmalviya5

Prominent
Nov 23, 2017
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i would rather suggest get a nvme m.2 of around 500 gb and replace samsung ssd with it.
use nvme as boot drive and install all plugins and softwares on it.
use samsung ssd for live projcts
and use a 2/4 TB hdd or sshd as mass storage