Boot SSD or SRT caching

[Nebul0us]

Hi,

I am beginning to buy parts for a new build and am wondering if I should use my SSD as a boot drive or use Intel's SRT? Here is my configuration:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

 

[TheBigTroll]

i have no idea why you would fall for a 10k rpm hard drive when they will not benefit you over a SSD. like there is absolutely no reason to get one unless you are doing a 2.5k workstation build

and same goes for the SSD. there is not much point of getting such a small drive when you can only put the OS on it.

anyways, use it for caching

 

[TheBigTroll]

and if you have not built it yet, get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qvDY

if this is supposed to be a budget gaming rig, get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qvEY

 

[Nebul0us]

i have no idea why you would fall for a 10k rpm hard drive when they will not benefit you over a SSD. like there is absolutely no reason to get one unless you are doing a 2.5k workstation build

and same goes for the SSD. there is not much point of getting such a small drive when you can only put the OS on it.

anyways, use it for caching

I can see your point with the 10k spinner but putting windows and apps on a ssd dramatically improves the responsiveness of a pc. Have you not messed with an ultrabook?

 

[stickmansam]

I would save more for a 128GB SSD as with the 64GB SSD, after windows you barely have 32GB left for apps/games. Also think they offer a better size/price ratio. There were some decent SSD's 128GB for like 70 bucks during black friday, maybe they'll drop during the Christmas sales too =) If you plan to stick with the 64GB, use SRT with it.

 

[Nebul0us]

What are the pro/cons to 64GB SRT versus 128GB boot drive?

 

[FinneousPJ]

No don't get a caching drive. A real, boot up/install drive is much, much faster.

 

[TheBigTroll]

a 64gb is the bigggest caching drive you can use. 128gb is for boot.

 

[stickmansam]

Caching drive will automatically optimize for frequently used app +OS. In boot drive you manually optimize it. It would preform about the same since if you had to load an app not in cache/boot drive it would still be using HDD drives. Caching can adjust to a change in usage pattern without you havin to swap programs from your HDD to the SSD.

 

[twelve25]

What are the pro/cons to 64GB SRT versus 128GB boot drive?

Do you want guaranteed fast read/write performance every time on 128GB of Data, or fast SSD-like read/launch performance on 1TB of data, but maybe not 100% of the time? (you can enable SRT write caching, but it comes at risk of data loss). There are SRT benchmarks on this and other sites. You get most of the benefits of an SSD with SRT.

SRT is nice because then you just have one big drive and you don't have to worry about what deserves placement on your small SSD. I just had to move a ton of games off my SSD because it was getting full and I'm always running disk cleanup.

I have a 128GB for OS and I just enabled a 60GB SSD to cache my 1TB data volume (After moving above mentioned games). Best of both, maybe?

 

[twelve25]

No don't get a caching drive. A real, boot up/install drive is much, much faster.

It will be for less frequently used apps, but with a good sized cache, your OS and main apps will be launching off an SSD everytime.

 

[FinneousPJ]

How do you figure that?

 

[twelve25]

Because that's what SRT does.

 

[stickmansam]

Cache looks at your usage patterns to load in programs to the SSD.
With a boot SSD, you just choose the programs you want and put it on the SSD.
Both pretty much results in a very very good speed boost for the system.
With Cache, you don't have to worry about removing programs you don't use frequently anymore off the SSD since it will do it for you. With manual, you have to shuffle the programs yourself.

 

[TheBigTroll]

im pretty sure that what is what a hybrid drive would do. like my seagate momentus xt

 

[stickmansam]

Yep, a SSD cache drive pretty much acts like a momentus but with more space for the cahce so a lot more programs will get speeded up.

 

[Nebul0us]

Best answer selected by Nebul0us.

 

[Nebul0us]

Do you want guaranteed fast read/write performance every time on 128GB of Data, or fast SSD-like read/launch performance on 1TB of data, but maybe not 100% of the time? (you can enable SRT write caching, but it comes at risk of data loss). There are SRT benchmarks on this and other sites. You get most of the benefits of an SSD with SRT.

SRT is nice because then you just have one big drive and you don't have to worry about what deserves placement on your small SSD. I just had to move a ton of games off my SSD because it was getting full and I'm always running disk cleanup.

I have a 128GB for OS and I just enabled a 60GB SSD to cache my 1TB data volume (After moving above mentioned games). Best of both, maybe?

Thanks, Twelve25, makes sense. I am going to go with just 128 GB SSD boot drive. That should be plenty of space for my OS and all my apps. Don't have to worry about data loss as much that way.

 

[twelve25]

Just to clarify, the risk of data loss is only if you enable "maximum cache" mode which also caches writes to the SSD. If you just use "enhanced mode" it only caches reads and there is no risk of data loss. So your machine boots as fast as an SSD, but installing apps isn't as fast as an SSD because writes are not accelerated. I chose the "enhanced mode" for mine.

If I run crystaldiskmark, I get the same read numbers as I do with the SSD alone, but I get the write performance of my 7200RPM disk alone.