Question Advantage NVMe.....for all storage?

[vwcrusher]

I am in the process of specifying a system for Premiere Pro, Lightroom and some gaming. CPU will be 9900K with 32GB RAM.

The issue of storage is where I am not clear on what to do. I will use an NVMe drive for W10 and applications, but for primary data is it advised to use another NVMe, or is there no advantage? And, please, why?

Thanks!

 

[ktriebol]

The primary advantage of NVME is speed, so if you have the open slots and want or need the speed, a good quality NVME like Samsung is a good choice. It will cost somewhat more than an HDD, but the HDD is slower. You will have to weigh the cost/benefit of each. Longevity of both types of those drives is good as long as you stick with good brands. Whatever you decide on, it is good practice to incorporate drive backup into your plan.

 

[vwcrusher]

Thanks for the reply; All good information. My approach is based on cost/benefit over the life of the system, so the extra cost of an NVMe drive is amortized over (for me typically) 6 or 7 years. So the initial price difference becomes less of a factor.

I read somewhere that having the boot drive NVMe provided great benefit, but not as much for the data drive...the suggestion was to use a 'standard' SSD. This surprised me as its pretty typical for the data drive to be tapped continuously while loading or viewing images in LR. Hence the post......

 

[ktriebol]

Thanks for the reply; All good information. My approach is based on cost/benefit over the life of the system, so the extra cost of an NVMe drive is amortized over (for me typically) 6 or 7 years. So the initial price difference becomes less of a factor.

I read somewhere that having the boot drive NVMe provided great benefit, but not as much for the data drive...the suggestion was to use a 'standard' SSD. This surprised me as its pretty typical for the data drive to be tapped continuously while loading or viewing images in LR. Hence the post......

I agree with the statement in your last paragraph, but not sure what is meant by standard SSD. PCIe SSD's are pretty much all NVMe these days. You should check the specs for your M.2 slot in your motherboard documentation before you buy your SSD(s). If you have a fairly modern motherboard, the specs for your M.2 slots will most likely be:

Form Factor: M.2
Slot key: M
Interface: PCIe 3.0 X 4
SSD size: Most common is 2280, but will probably accept a range of 2230-2280.

Once you know the specs for your slot, you will know what to look for in a SSD. Also, don't confuse an M.2 slot that is intended for a wireless card with one that is intended for an SSD. You can't mix them. Your motherboard documentation should identify the SSD slots as being Socket 3.

 

[vwcrusher]

Thanks....I meant for standard, SATA interface, 2.5" SSD.

The MB that I am thinking is the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite or Pro.

 

[ktriebol]

Thanks....I meant for standard, SATA interface, 2.5" SSD.

The MB that I am thinking is the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite or Pro.

Oh, OK. A SATA SSD will work fine too. A little less costly, and you probably won't notice any speed difference between that and an NVMe SSD.

 

[vwcrusher]

Oh, OK. A SATA SSD will work fine too. A little less costly, and you probably won't notice any speed difference between that and an NVMe SSD.

Ah Ha! Now we are getting down to the genesis of my post....I assume we are talking about the data drive, not the boot drive. If so, please explain why no difference in performance. If not....again, why?

Thanks

 

[ktriebol]

Ah Ha! Now we are getting down to the genesis of my post....I assume we are talking about the data drive, not the boot drive. If so, please explain why no difference in performance. If not....again, why?

Thanks

The way I look at it, it is nice to have an NVMe boot drive because it loads Windows nice and fast. Most likely that drive is big enough to also hold several of your most-used apps. They will also load nice and fast when needed. Other apps and data that are on a SATA SSD can be accessed quickly as well, and you may not even notice a difference in speed between the two drives even though the specs state differently. I thought you might be considering a HDD for data as well, and if you were, that would be noticeably slower.

 

[seagate_surfer]

Where you're going to have an NVMe for your operating system and apps, another NVMe drive likely won't be very beneficial for extra storage. The biggest gain of NVMe over SATA SSDs is transferring of very large files, like if you work with video editing. For most other use-cases, a SATA SSD is a better value. Think of the respective performances of the drive types this way:

HDD: +++
SATA SSD: ++++++++++
NVMe SSD: +++++++++++

 

[vwcrusher]

Where you're going to have an NVMe for your operating system and apps, another NVMe drive likely won't be very beneficial for extra storage. The biggest gain of NVMe over SATA SSDs is transferring of very large files, like if you work with video editing. For most other use-cases, a SATA SSD is a better value. Think of the respective performances of the drive types this way:

HDD: +++
SATA SSD: ++++++++++
NVMe SSD: +++++++++++

Thanks for the post; the system's primary use will be video and still photo editing, and occasional gaming, as I noted above. Does that make the use of an NVMe drive for data a benefit?

 

[Chrushop]

I think you will need to combine an NVMe SSD with a SATA SSD; unless you have serious money, because you'll need somewhere to store your completed files etc and if its professional use then there is a big difference between those two vs HDDs.

There are various comparison videos on youtube that will make you never want an HDD again except for backup.
Typically NVMe and Sata SSD has 1-10 seconds speed difference; whereas HDD can be up to 60 seconds behind for various tasks.

NVMe vs Sata SSD is not massive, but if your editing in 4k I've read that certain professional say it's a must, others just say it's a nice to have.

In gaming - GTA V is your best bet to look into, 1 - 3 seconds between SSD and NVMe, HDD is 20-90 seconds slower.

I think we all still need traditional HDDs for backup because economically they make sense. Having only SSDs and NVMe helps remove the last of your system bottlenecks though, which is really cool

 

[seagate_surfer]

Thanks for the post; the system's primary use will be video and still photo editing, and occasional gaming, as I noted above. Does that make the use of an NVMe drive for data a benefit?

It's one of those situations where, if you didn't have/weren't already going to have an NVMe drive, then the recommendation would definitely be to get an NVMe drive. For what you're doing, personally the most beneficial setup might be to have the SATA SSD for OS, then store projects on the NVMe for working, and moving to HDD for longer term.

 

[vwcrusher]

It's one of those situations where, if you didn't have/weren't already going to have an NVMe drive, then the recommendation would definitely be to get an NVMe drive. For what you're doing, personally the most beneficial setup might be to have the SATA SSD for OS, then store projects on the NVMe for working, and moving to HDD for longer term.

Interesting; a little more detail. The system is actually an upgrade; I already have two 1TB HDD for data storage and a 500MB 2.5" SATA SSD....which is why I was asking. Sounds like I should keep OS and Apps on the SATA SSD and purchase a 1TB NVMe drive for real time data usage and move the HDDs for longer term......

I guess it begs one question: why would you not want the boot/apps drive on an NVMe?

 

[Chrushop]

.....
I guess it begs one question: why would you not want the boot/apps drive on an NVMe?

I second this question, my NVMe is my boot drive and used for my biggest, slowest or most used programs, my SATA is my alternate program files and my HDDs are media / back-up / non-working folders

 

[seagate_surfer]

Interesting; a little more detail. The system is actually an upgrade; I already have two 1TB HDD for data storage and a 500MB 2.5" SATA SSD....which is why I was asking. Sounds like I should keep OS and Apps on the SATA SSD and purchase a 1TB NVMe drive for real time data usage and move the HDDs for longer term......

I guess it begs one question: why would you not want the boot/apps drive on an NVMe?

I second this question, my NVMe is my boot drive and used for my biggest, slowest or most used programs, my SATA is my alternate program files and my HDDs are media / back-up / non-working folders

Specifically because of the large files involved in video editing & photo editing, that's where NVMe is going to pay the most dividends and holds a significant advantage over SATA SSD. The difference in OS and app loading won't be as noticeable.

In use-cases that don't involve anything like video editing where very large files are moved around much, then it makes more sense to just put the OS and apps on the fastest drive you've got and leave anything else for the other drive.

 

[vwcrusher]

Ah...so if I understand you correctly:

Video Editing: NVMe on both OS/Apps drive AND working data drive. HDD for longer term storage (not counting off PC backup)

Photo Editing: NVMe on OS/Apps drive; SSD for working data drive. HDD for longer term storage (not counting off PC backup)

Yes?

 

[mdd1963]

Intel's 660P M.2/NVME 1 TB drive is currently $109 on Amazon, less than half of the cost of a 1 TB 970 EVO....