Pairing 5900 RPM HDD w/ SSD??

[MaelstromMaster]

So, I'm building a new rig and was wondering if it made sense to us a cheaper HDD to offset the cost of an SSD. I was going to pick up a Samsung 128GB SSD and was looking at some 5900 RPM HDDs.

I'm going to be using a number of music creation programs, including Ableton Live, Reason, and Pro Tools. I will also be using the Adobe Suite for video/photo editing.

If I keep the OS (W7) and the primary application files on the SSD and use the HDD for storing and calling up media files, will I notice any significant performance hit by using the 5900 RPM HDD versus going with a 7200 RPM HDD? I'm guessing no because the bottleneck in rendering performance is the processor, RAM, and the SSD OS page file, but I thought I'd ask some people who are more knowledgeable than myself. Thanks!

 

[rolli59]

I do not think it is a noticeable difference if the application is running of the SSD.

 

[ringzero]

I'm using a 160GB Intel 320 SSD + a 1TB Seagate Barracuda Green 5900rpm. I have a handful of apps on the SSD, but the rest are running off the Seagate. I'm perfectly happy with it. I think you can probably put most of your media-creation tools on your SSD with Windows and have room. You might have to pick and choose a few. But I think it would be a rare occasion that you'd notice any major difference.

Just remember to leave around 15GB free on your SSD. Performance degrades if it gets too full.

 

[MaelstromMaster]

Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity, what apps are you running from the SSD and which are you running from the HDD?

Also, I was wondering if anyone might have tried both the 5.9K and the 7.2K HDDs and noticed if there was any significant difference in performance and/or have some sort of quantitative insight as to the difference when paired with a SSD.

Thanks again!

 

[ringzero]

Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity, what apps are you running from the SSD and which are you running from the HDD?

Also, I was wondering if anyone might have tried both the 5.9K and the 7.2K HDDs and noticed if there was any significant difference in performance and/or have some sort of quantitative insight as to the difference when paired with a SSD.

Thanks again!

I'm obviously using the SSD for booting Windows, but I also have Photoshop/Illustrator, a few games, and a few other miscellaneous utilities. I'm not on it right now, so I can't remember everything for certain. On the HDD, I have a few dozen other games and I really can't remember what else I'm running off of there. I have Office, but I really can't remember which drive I'm running it from. Sorry, that doesn't really help. If I can, I'll try to remember to let you know later when I get home tonight.