Solved Looking at using SSD as boot drive with HDD as data drive

blackroseMD1

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So, I was thinking about buying a 128GB SSD and installing Windows 8 on it, but installing my programs and games to my secondary HDD drive. My question is, how much performance would I gain if I'm still launching my programs and games from the HDD instead of the SSD?

Also, would it just be better to get more RAM (double from 8 to 16GB) instead?
 

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Check to see how the Seagate hybrid is setup. You are thinking of doing something similar. See what Seagate claims for performance improvement. I don't think we can judge whether it would "be better to get more RAM (double from 8 to 16GB) instead." I'll say this, though, if you are serious about performance on demanding tasks, then more RAM is an absolute necessity. In this regard, I am assuming you are running 64 bit. I'll also mention that Apple is moving to hybrids so you can be sure there is a significant performance enhancement, other things equal. Do both, your drive setup and more RAM. You only live one or more times, after all. :D
 

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That hybrid drive is pretty interesting. I'm gonna do some more research on that. Thanks!
 

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    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
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    16GB DDR3 1333
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Cool. Glad I could mention something that interests you. I like the hybrid idea too.
 

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I would get the SSD, the performance will be much better than a hybrid drive.
Put all of your programs on the SSD, that will fit leaving 15% free space. Once you get a SSD you will never go back to a spinner.
SSDs are the best performance upgrade you can do, unless you really need the RAM for VMs or something similar you will not see a performance increase going from 8GB to 16GB.

SSDs are very durable and the performance is very noticeable, everything on the SSD will open very fast.
You won't regret the move to a SSD.
 
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FWIW, he was talking about using both.
 

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Check to see how the Seagate hybrid is setup. You are thinking of doing something similar. See what Seagate claims for performance improvement. I don't think we can judge whether it would "be better to get more RAM (double from 8 to 16GB) instead." I'll say this, though, if you are serious about performance on demanding tasks, then more RAM is an absolute necessity. In this regard, I am assuming you are running 64 bit. I'll also mention that Apple is moving to hybrids so you can be sure there is a significant performance enhancement, other things equal. Do both, your drive setup and more RAM. You only live one or more times, after all. :D

Hi there
More RAM ISN'T a pre-requisite for more "demanding" tasks -- that depends ENTIRELY on the nature of the task involved.
For home computers once you get up to 8GB RAM increasing RAM size doesn't really buy you anything unless you want to run a load of Virtual Machines (These eat RAM for breakfast !!).

I can't imagine any task that a home user would typically do that requires a lot of Ram (over 8GB). - Servers, multi-user systems, absolutely MEGA MEGA size databases with 100's of queries a sec would certainly benefit but for the average person it's overkill -- spend the extra money of BETTER and FASTER DISKS -- a DECENT SSD if you can.

I don't like hybrids myself as it's a compromise between two different technologies --get a proper SSD and a good spinner --SATA2 preferably.

(I'm running a Test user development SAP system quite nicely on a W7 Virtual machine defined with 4GB RAM -- no problem on performance and anybody who's ever worked with SAP will understand that these systems are fairly resource hogging).

A choice between a proper SSD or another 8GB RAM -- I'd go for the SSD every time.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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I think most of your comments are better directed to the OP--who says he wants to do an ssd/hd combo and that he likes the hybrid idea. So, I'll ignore those--except to say that I believe my comments on these matters are reasonable in the light of his first post.

I could have been more careful about seconding his double the RAM idea--without knowing more about the heaviness of the tasks he has in mind. Still, there is no doubt that some "experts" will argue for 12 or more GB of RAM depending on the tasks to be performed. I will leave it to the experts. While a little loose, I don't think I am far off base in saying "if you are serious about performance on demanding tasks, then more RAM is an absolute necessity." The idea I was getting at is that one doesn't want to come up short in the RAM department when doing a demanding task--where performance matters to you. In this regard, you might choose to over-RAM to be on the safe side. Maybe I should have said "if you are serious about performance on demanding tasks, then having exactly the right amount of RAM is an absolute necessity." Unfortunately, posting, as we do, does not always result in manuscript quality narrations.
 

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    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
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    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
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    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
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    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
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    EVGA 570 SC
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My SSD boot drive and data hd

I have a 120GB Intel SSD to boot Win7 and it hold my main apps (Office, Visio, etc...) and I have a WD 2TB Caviar Black 64MB cache hard drive to hold my data. My board only supports SATA II, so the SSD is held back by that, but the difference in performance is simply amazing and is more obvious (to me) than the official benchmarks indicate.

Here's the SSD and the Hard drive benchmarks...
 

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My Computer

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    Win 10 Pro 64bit
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    Home built Intel i7-3770k-based system
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    Intel i7-3770k, Overclocked to 4.6GHz (46x100) with Corsair H110i GT cooler
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    ASRock Z77 OC Formula 2.30 BIOS
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Personally I can't speak as to hybrid drives, I have never used one, but I have been running SSDs now for about 3 years. The performance increase over a HDD is very significant. Right now, I am running my Windows installation and all my programs on a 128 Gb SSD and still have room to spare. The only thing I use a HDD for anymore is file storage. I won't say how I do things is the best way, because everyone has their own personal preferences.
 

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    Windows 8.1 Pro x64 bit
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I think most of your comments are better directed to the OP--who says he wants to do an ssd/hd combo and that he likes the hybrid idea. So, I'll ignore those--except to say that I believe my comments on these matters are reasonable in the light of his first post.

I could have been more careful about seconding his double the RAM idea--without knowing more about the heaviness of the tasks he has in mind. Still, there is no doubt that some "experts" will argue for 12 or more GB of RAM depending on the tasks to be performed. I will leave it to the experts. While a little loose, I don't think I am far off base in saying "if you are serious about performance on demanding tasks, then more RAM is an absolute necessity." The idea I was getting at is that one doesn't want to come up short in the RAM department when doing a demanding task--where performance matters to you. In this regard, you might choose to over-RAM to be on the safe side. Maybe I should have said "if you are serious about performance on demanding tasks, then having exactly the right amount of RAM is an absolute necessity." Unfortunately, posting, as we do, does not always result in manuscript quality narrations.

Hi there
I'm running at times on a laptop !! 2 concurrent VM's running SAP evaluation and testing software (what used to be known as Minisap - now netweaver abap trial), one on W7 X-64 testing 64 bit version of SAP software and and another on W2003 server testing the 32 bit version of the software with no performance hit on the laptop with 8GB of RAM (16 in this case would be better) but if you aren't running VM's I still maintain that a home user would be hard pushed to it to find applications where they really would need 16 GB of RAM --I asked for some examples of where they would use this extra RAM --so far nobody has actually answered that question. (Those SAP systems have quite large DB's too even in DEMO / Trial mode.)


SAP if you want to try and learn a bit yourself can be trialled (FREE) from here
SAP NetWeaver Main Release Downloads

Note It's not for the fainthearted - but those contractors seem to get paid a FORTUNE so might be interesting learning about this stuff -- but its NOT EASY and documentation when it does exist is CLASSICALLY TERRIBLE. !!

The consensus here on this thread that for most people the best thing you can do is to get an SSD. Computers these days usually have enough RAM in them --Lack of RAM is unlikely for typical users to be a bottleneck but poor disks definitely WII BE.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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My personal list of upgrade priorities (this assumes a lot, though)

1. SSD to boot and run Windows and most often used apps
2. Good video card (depends on user needs)
3. At least 4Gb of RAM, more is better up to 8, then diminishing returns for most people
4. Big, fast hard drive to store data (7200rpm or more, 64MB cache)
5. High quality power supply
 

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    LG 27EA33 [Monitor] (27.2"vis) HDMI
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    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (system drive)
    WD 6TB Red NAS hard drives x 2 in Storage Spaces (redundancy)
    PSU
    Corsair 750ax fully modular power supply with sleeved cables
    Case
    Corsair Air 540 with 7 x 140mm fans on front, rear and top panels
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    Corsair H110i GT liquid cooled CPU with 4 x 140" Corsair SP "push-pull" and 3 x 140mm fans
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1. I still maintain that a home user would be hard pushed to it to find applications where they really would need 16 GB of RAM --I asked for some examples of where they would use this extra RAM --so far nobody has actually answered that question. (Those SAP systems have quite large DB's too even in DEMO / Trial mode.)

2. The consensus here on this thread that for most people the best thing you can do is to get an SSD. Computers these days usually have enough RAM in them --Lack of RAM is unlikely for typical users to be a bottleneck but poor disks definitely WII BE.

Cheers
jimbo
1. I have found some references through searches. I am not providing them. I don't want to argue about their validity. You could search for such references, and see/let us know what you think.

2. The OP's posts don't mention wanting to get an SSD by itself. I am not sure what the consensus you mention has to do with the OP. And, actually, I don't see anything here I would call a consensus up to your post. For example some extolled the virtues of SSD's while ignoring the OP's apparent desire to combine speed (SSD for Win installation) and adequate storage/space for apps (HD). And, another talked about the excellent performance of his system while having an SSD for Win/Applications and an HD for storage--which is similar what the OP mentioned thinking of getting in his first post--drive-wise. I believe that, other things equal, an SSD is preferable to an HD provided it has adequate storage at a price I consider to be reasonable enough. I could easily live with an SSD/HD combo as mentioned by the OP and by another poster--provided that I could not get a large enough SSD for a price that is satisfactory considering the alternative. Similarly, I could easily live with a hybrid. And, yes, computers often come with enough RAM for many, many users these days even if not upgraded via customization.
 
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    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
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    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
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    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
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    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
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    EVGA 570 SC
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    Dual Boot:
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    Cooler Master 932 HAF
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    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
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    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
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    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
The only issue I have going with just an SSD is that I have a ton of games...so even a 256GB SSD might not be enough for the Windows install, plus programs (Office, Photoshop, etc) and then all my games. Ideally, I could get a big enough SSD to do that, but it's much more likely that I will need to have a second drive (HDD) for running my games off of.

The hybrid drives are interesting, and something I plan to take more of a look into. My main question was just if I would actually see any performance gain using a SSD for Windows if I were still running my programs and games from a 7200 RPM 32MB cache HDD.
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 10 Tech Preview 10041 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350 8-core Black Edition @ 4.0 Ghz (4.2 Turbo)
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus R9 290 DirectCU II OC, Gigabyte R9 290 Windforce OC in Xfire
    Sound Card
    Integrated w/ Creative A250 2.1 speakers
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Main: Asus VN289H 28" Secondary: Acer G246HL 24"
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1080
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SanDisk Ultra Plus (Windows drive)

    240 GB Crucial M500 SSD (Data drive)

    1 TB WDC WD10EACS 7200RPM HDD (Data drive)

    2 TB Seagate Expansion Desktop external HDD (Backup drive)
    PSU
    900w Antec HCG-900
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    Raidmax Agusta Full ATX
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    Corsair H80 liquid
    Keyboard
    Cooler Master Devastator KB24
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    Cooler Master Devastator MS2K 1000/1600/2000 DPI
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    100 Mbps cable
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Probably minimal performance increase WRT programs installed on HD. But, certainly, there would be gains from having Win8 on SSD--performance gains WRT booting and accessing SSD for post-boot Win8 operations in some cases.
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
I put the OS and my most-often-used apps on the SSD, things like Office 2013, etc... Programs that I only use once-in-awhile are stored on the 2TB WD Caviar Black drive. My system is very speedy!!
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Win 10 Pro 64bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built Intel i7-3770k-based system
    CPU
    Intel i7-3770k, Overclocked to 4.6GHz (46x100) with Corsair H110i GT cooler
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 OC Formula 2.30 BIOS
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 2133 Corsair Vengeance Pro
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GTX 980ti SC ACS 6GB DDR5 by EVGA
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD, Corsair SP2500 speakers and subwoofer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 27EA33 [Monitor] (27.2"vis) HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (system drive)
    WD 6TB Red NAS hard drives x 2 in Storage Spaces (redundancy)
    PSU
    Corsair 750ax fully modular power supply with sleeved cables
    Case
    Corsair Air 540 with 7 x 140mm fans on front, rear and top panels
    Cooling
    Corsair H110i GT liquid cooled CPU with 4 x 140" Corsair SP "push-pull" and 3 x 140mm fans
    Keyboard
    Thermaltake Poseidon Z illuminated keyboard
    Mouse
    Corsair M65 wired
    Internet Speed
    85MBps DSL
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro and CCleaner Pro
    Other Info
    Client of Windows Server 2012 R2 10 PC's, laptops and smartphones on the WLAN.

    1GBps Ethernet ports
I haven't ran a system with a SSD for OS and some programs/games and other programs/games on a HDD, but have read where others say your OS on a SSD and games on a HDD does improve the game performance, which makes sense as the OS is running faster.

You should put your most used games on the SSD.
All other data, pics, videos, all personal data on the HDD.
You must have a lot of games to require more than 256GB of space, approximately 200GB of games is a lot of games.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64/ Windows 7 Ult x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    76~2.0
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570K 4.6GHz
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-Z77X UD3H f18
    Memory
    8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600 CORSAIR Vengeance CL8 1.5v
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB DDR5
    Sound Card
    Onboard VIA VT2021
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LCD Dell SP2208WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samaung 840Pro 128GB, Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb, Seagate 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb,
    PSU
    Corsair HX650W
    Case
    Cooler Master Storm Scout
    Cooling
    Corsair H80 w/Noctua NF P12 12cm fan, case fans 2X14cm
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
    Mouse
    CM Sentinel
    Internet Speed
    Abysmal
    Browser
    Opera Next
    Other Info
    Dell Venue 8Pro: Baytrail Z3740D, 2GB Ram, 64GB HDD, 8" IPS Display 1280 x 800, Active Stylus.
    Haswell laptop: HP Envy 17t-j, i7-4700MQ, GeForce 740M 2GB DDR3, 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080, 16GB RAM, Samsung 840 Pro 128GB, 1TB Hitachi 7200 HDD,
    Desktop: eSATA ports,
    External eSATA Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm,
I haven't ran a system with a SSD for OS and some programs/games and other programs/games on a HDD, but have read where others say your OS on a SSD and games on a HDD does improve the game performance, which makes sense as the OS is running faster.

You should put your most used games on the SSD.
All other data, pics, videos, all personal data on the HDD.
You must have a lot of games to require more than 256GB of space, approximately 200GB of games is a lot of games.

Well, I have games for my kids (Sims 3 plus all expansions is over 50GBs by itself) and then games for myself. I don't know if I have 200GB worth of games, but I'm sure that I will at some point.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Tech Preview 10041 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350 8-core Black Edition @ 4.0 Ghz (4.2 Turbo)
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus R9 290 DirectCU II OC, Gigabyte R9 290 Windforce OC in Xfire
    Sound Card
    Integrated w/ Creative A250 2.1 speakers
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Main: Asus VN289H 28" Secondary: Acer G246HL 24"
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1080
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SanDisk Ultra Plus (Windows drive)

    240 GB Crucial M500 SSD (Data drive)

    1 TB WDC WD10EACS 7200RPM HDD (Data drive)

    2 TB Seagate Expansion Desktop external HDD (Backup drive)
    PSU
    900w Antec HCG-900
    Case
    Raidmax Agusta Full ATX
    Cooling
    Corsair H80 liquid
    Keyboard
    Cooler Master Devastator KB24
    Mouse
    Cooler Master Devastator MS2K 1000/1600/2000 DPI
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps cable
    Browser
    Chrome
Let us know what SSD you decide to get, and how it's performing.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64/ Windows 7 Ult x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    76~2.0
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570K 4.6GHz
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-Z77X UD3H f18
    Memory
    8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600 CORSAIR Vengeance CL8 1.5v
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB DDR5
    Sound Card
    Onboard VIA VT2021
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LCD Dell SP2208WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samaung 840Pro 128GB, Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb, Seagate 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb,
    PSU
    Corsair HX650W
    Case
    Cooler Master Storm Scout
    Cooling
    Corsair H80 w/Noctua NF P12 12cm fan, case fans 2X14cm
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
    Mouse
    CM Sentinel
    Internet Speed
    Abysmal
    Browser
    Opera Next
    Other Info
    Dell Venue 8Pro: Baytrail Z3740D, 2GB Ram, 64GB HDD, 8" IPS Display 1280 x 800, Active Stylus.
    Haswell laptop: HP Envy 17t-j, i7-4700MQ, GeForce 740M 2GB DDR3, 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080, 16GB RAM, Samsung 840 Pro 128GB, 1TB Hitachi 7200 HDD,
    Desktop: eSATA ports,
    External eSATA Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm,
If you have a large amount of data it may pay to checkout cache ssd drives by Googleing . The may be just what you require.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win7 64
    CPU
    athlon2x2 240e
    Motherboard
    asus m4a87td evo
    Memory
    2x4gb ddr3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    ati 5670
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