"Turn off hard disk" settings for SSD + HDD combo

[qcksilver]

I have an SSD + HDD combo. OS (Windows 8.1) on 1 small SSD, programs installed on a medium SSD, and data on a very big HDD.

What should I set the "turn off hard disk after" option to in my power settings? I have read many places that it should be set to "Never" for SSDs, but what if you still have a HDD in your system?

I've also read that SSDs are exempt from "turn off hard disk after." Is this true? If that is the case, it doesn't seem advantageous to set that option to "Never."

 

[Y0GI]

I have mine set to "Never" and it works quite well for me.

Yogi

 

[qcksilver]

Thanks for the reply Yogi! Could you explain why it is better to set it to Never for a computer with both a SSD and HDD? No ill effects on the HDD?

Also, does anyone know the answer as to whether or not SSDs are exempt from the "turn off hard disk after" setting?

 

[Y0GI]

I'm all about speed and instant access. I don't like to wait for something that was off to turn on and wake up.

Having said that I just changed my HDD setting to turn off after 5 minutes and I'll see if I can tell the difference.

Yogi

 

[Y0GI]

OK - After leaving my PC idle for about 10 min., I accessed the SSD and there was no perceptible lag. The HDD took about 5 sec. to spool up in Windows Explorer though.

Yogi

 

[maxwellmelon]

turning off a ssd can save power but would prevent background trim and garbage collecting from happening. If I were u I would set it to a value of like 30mins or more. that way it only powers down if your gone from ur computer for a long time. u could also set it to never if you use hibernation or sleep time outs because both of these states would power down ur harddrive n ssd when it engages these power modes.

 

[qcksilver]

OK - After leaving my PC idle for about 10 min., I accessed the SSD and there was no perceptible lag. The HDD took about 5 sec. to spool up in Windows Explorer though.

Yogi

Thanks for experimenting Yogi. I didn't notice a difference when it was set to the default 20mins either. If you set a longer time than 10mins, I bet you wouldn't notice any spool up time on the HDD.

turning off a ssd can save power but would prevent background trim and garbage collecting from happening. If I were u I would set it to a value of like 30mins or more. that way it only powers down if your gone from ur computer for a long time. u could also set it to never if you use hibernation or sleep time outs because both of these states would power down ur harddrive n ssd when it engages these power modes.

Good point about your sleep and hibernation settings!
I had my computer set to Sleep after an hour and turn off hard disk set to 20mins. Now I have it set to never turn off hard disks.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[RuinedXJake]

I heard about people experiencing issues worse than lag with the SSD. I will experiment with 20 minutes for hard disk.

Here's what you need to know: you can move the user folders you want on the HDD like videos, pictures and music, then keep downloads on the ssd. If you are in chrome and want to download something, then the HDD won't have to spin up. Also programs use the documents folder frequently, so I keep that on the SSD C drive as well. Spinning up the HDD more than a time or so in a day can lower the life span by increasing the probability of the disk breaking upon spin-start-up. Therefore if you spend a long time every day on your PC, the HDD being on saves time and lowers the risk of failure.

But if you use your computer for 3 hours a day and only use your hard disk for a short term, then having it sleep might wear it out in a shorter term. It is more common for HDDs to incur errors and issues with sectors than to randomly fail, so by the time your harddrive slows down, you should be able to notice, and sell it on ebay for a reasonable amount of cash xD, get a new HDD, and be on your merry way.

I always have everything backed up on a 3 tb seagate backup plus external, and have 1 128 GB ssd, and two 2 TB seagate barracudas internally. Hard drives fail, so back up your stuff on another fail-able drive....