Can I speed up my HDD using a small SSD as cache?

[9third]

I have a 7200 Rpm Toshiba HDD, and I play lots of large games like GTA V. When I load the game, it can take 5-10 minutes to load. It gets even worse when trying to INSTALL a large game or program like that, because that takes forever, too. I want to somehow speed up my HDD for somewhere around $150 dollars or less, but I don't want to get a 1TB SSD because those are $250+ which is way too much. I was thinking about buying a small SSD (around 60gb) and using it as cache for a hard drive. BUT, I cannot use Intel's smart cache technology because I am also planning to upgrade to Ryzen, because of my video editing needs. (still deciding if I should upgrade to Ryzen or upgrade to a 7700k) I do not think Intel's tool for this will work for this. Is there any other way?

PC part list:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cmD9vV

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 7200 Rpm Toshiba HDD, and I play lots of large games like GTA V. When I load the game, it can take 5-10 minutes to load. It gets even worse when trying to INSTALL a large game or program like that, because that takes forever, too. I want to somehow speed up my HDD for somewhere around $150 dollars or less, but I don't want to get a 1TB SSD because those are $250+ which is way too much. I was thinking about buying a small SSD (around 60gb) and using it as cache for a hard drive. BUT, I cannot use Intel's smart cache technology because I am also planning to upgrade to Ryzen, because of my video editing needs. (still deciding if I should upgrade to Ryzen or upgrade to a 7700k) I do not think Intel's tool for this will work for this. Is there any other way?

PC part list:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cmD9vV

That won't work nearly as well as you hope it will.

Best solution? A 500GB SSD, instead of a 1TB.
MX300, 525GB, $150
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX300-525GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B01IAGSD68

 

[Barty1884]

^ Agreed. While there are methods that you can use to achieve what you want, the 60GB (or so) cache is never going to show the gains an outright SSD will, and with a 500GB SSD being within budget, that's the simpler & smarter option.

 

[9third]

Intel Optane is coming out soon, should I wait for that? And why won't an SSD for cache work? Isn't it the same as using Intel Optane memory for my HDD? And will it work with Z170 motherboards?
Sorry for all the questions


EDIT: On LinusTechTips's channel, he shows that intel optane memory can greatly reduce load times for applications.

 

[USAFRet]

Intel Optane is coming out soon, should I wait for that? And why won't an SSD for cache work? Isn't it the same as using Intel Optane memory for my HDD? And will it work with Z170 motherboards?
Sorry for all the questions


EDIT: On LinusTechTips's channel, he shows that intel optane memory can greatly reduce load times for applications.

Sure...Linus says this and says that.
'Greatly reduce', compared to what?
And what price will you be paying for this, and to what benefit?

Optane? This is still not even brand new. I'd wait AT LEAST 6 months from now before considering to spend actual money in that.

"Load times for applications"
Opening Excel, and a mediumly complex Excel worksheet, from any random SSD...opens almost before your finger stops moving from the double click.
You're talking about the difference between 0.3 secs and 0.2 secs.

Whereas doing that from an HDD was maybe 4 secs.

Just get a regular SSD.
A cache drive is only fast in read, and of only that data which resides on that small SSD. Write still happens at HDD speed.
500GB SSD fits in your budget. It is fast across the whole 500GB, read and write.

Do that.

 

[9third]

Thanks!

 

[The_CG_Orion]

Check out Primocache (60 day trial), it can use RAM l1 and SSD l2 to speed up HDD. Depending on how often you switch playing your installed game titles, will determine how large of an SSD you would need. 128-256GB SSD will easily cache a 1TB HDD. I'm not sure if it drops the larger files once it gets full, but if you tend to play only a portion of your library in say a week period of time, it will essentially always have the ones you're playing on SSD. Change the game, and it will replace the oldest on the SSD. VeloSSD is another program that does a similar thing, but only uses SSD. You have to buy MaxVeloSSD to get RAM caching too. As long as you buy a decent SSD with a good TBW figure, you don't have to worry about wearing it out too quickly. Modern SSD drives will be obsolete before they're worn out, for most users. Using even a small l1 cache can greatly reduce unneeded writes to the SSD if deferred writes are enabled (not recommended without a UPS). Just keep the latency at 20-60sec. Long enough to miss the small spooling writes, but short enough to not cause issues. I personally only use it on a gaming or file drive. I would disable deferred writes on an OS drive.