SSD cache still a good idea?

rare · 27 May 2012 at 11:25

I've currently only got a corsair 120GB ssd in my recently built system and as you can imagine its all but full. I'm not sure what to do next, I can't afford a big (512) ssd though I would like the storage space. I'm thinking either buy a 256 ssd or buy a cache ssd drive and a 1tb+ hard drive. Would the cache drive really improve the performance or am I just best to buy a smaller ssd and make do with less storage space?

I will mainly be using it to store games on to.

wazza300 · 27 May 2012 at 11:40

just buy a 2tb hdd and keep the ssd as it is and use the hdd for additional storage

rare · 27 May 2012 at 12:57

So you don't think I will see any improvement from having another ssd drive to cache a hard drive?

Also surely I could just use any SSD to cache with? I know the cache specific drives come with extra space etc for durability, but I could just use one of the cheap small SSD's as a cache drive on a 2tb hard drive? Or just go with a 2tb hard drive and be done with it. I really want to have it all, speed and space, but without the cost of large ssd drives! :/

wazza300 · 27 May 2012 at 13:03

you can only use one ssd to cache a hdd and max amount of ssd space that can be used in caching is 64gb so the rest would be waste

if you did buy a big 2tb hdd you can use your current ssd as the os drive and the 2tb for storage,you can reinstall or move your programs/games ect to the big hdd and free up space on your ssd

youu can also reduce your pagefile on your ssd from 8gb to 4gb and turn off s3 sleep resume to give you a few more gb of space

im currently running a 60gb ssd with 25gb free space and a 2tb hdd for storage with all my big games/videos/files on there ect

when you install games/programs if you click custom then create a folder on your storage hdd it will install to there

Surveyor · 27 May 2012 at 13:08

If you haven't done any optimisation yet on the SSD then you can try the following to free up space.

16GB of RAM will be giving you a large page file and reserve 16GB for hibernation.

You can adjust the Page File to a much smaller size and disable hibernation if you don't use it.

Open an elevated Command Prompt with administrator rights by typing Cmd in Start Search, and then hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter keyboard shortcut.

Or select Run as Administrator from the Cmd in search results.

Type the following command and hit Enter: powercfg /hibernate off

Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs

LexLuthor · 27 May 2012 at 14:18

Cache drives have a full usage only when accessing the same files over and over again (like an OS does).. That's the general idea of having a large cache size (more than the actual 32-64MB you'll find in mech drives)..
So, if you have only a 128GB drive, nothing more, then get a mechanical one (like the guys have told you before) for storage/backup, and clean/free your SSD..

And apply some of the tips of the guide provided you..

Best regards..

AllBodies · 27 May 2012 at 15:32

Also what has filled up this 120GB drive? If all that is on it is the OS and games, then are you sure you can't just save money and do a bit of spring cleaning, surely you can't be playing around 80GB of games at once?

rare · 27 May 2012 at 15:55

Cheers guys. I have pretty much filled it with games. I had started to delete some but it's a pain having to reinstall them etc to play, especially when games like max Payne ate supposed to be 35GB!!

I think I might get 2 HDD's and raid 0 them, epic space and extra speed. Thanks guys

Mercutio · 27 May 2012 at 17:06

Pretty sure you can get intel storage matrix to setup like so (on a Z68 or newer):

SSD:
40GB cache
80GB windows drive

Regular drive 1 & 2
50% Raid 0
50% Raid 1

So have the SSD work as the cache, the rest of it you set as the main windows drive.
Have 2 regular hard drives. Set them up in a matrix raid so half is Raid 0 (speed) and half Raid 1 (safety/redundancy). It will give you 2 drive letters.
Set the cache on the SSD to work caching the Raid 0 part of the 2 disk raid.

So you have:

C: Windows
D: Raid 0, SSD cache'd drive for games/stuff you can loose and want to work fast
E: Raid 1 for treasured pictures of pet goldfish/whatever

IF it's possible (pretty sure it is) that would probably be about the optimal use of the SSD you have + 2 extra drives. I tend to get a bit carried away on my storage setup though (as per the below raid). It's generally the slowest part of a PC so getting it working optimally helps the user experience quite a bit.
Thinking about it, I should probably do something like this on my own setup. 60% Raid 0 over 4 drives for silly speeds with 40% raid 5 over the rest for ok performance and redundancy. The raid card slows my power on by a good 30 seconds while it does it's own bios. Not a major issue but a nice speedy boot could be cool. It would save me a fair ****-tonne of cabling too.