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Posted By: Teunis Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 12:09 AM
Hi, my C drive partition is fairly full less than 30gig Left. When I get updates etc I need move and delete stuff. BB for example lives entirely on my D drive partition. I am contemplating installing an SSD drive to greatly increase the C drive. Is it worth going to an SSD drive?

Thanks in advance Tony
Posted By: AudioTrack Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 12:37 AM
I've now got two machines that have each been retro-fitted with 2TB SSD's

One is a desktop, the other a laptop.

Both of these are used for fairly intensive software development.

Performance is remarkably better. No problems here.
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 01:03 AM
Thanks VT.

Tony
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 01:04 AM
I have SSD boot drives in all my computers. It is the single best updgade to a computer you can do.
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 01:11 AM
Thanks Matt, I thought that would be the answer but I needed reassurance.

Tony
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 01:16 AM
Tony, since you will be replacing a hard drive with an SSD, make sure auto defrag is turned off.
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 01:23 AM
Thanks
Posted By: sslechta Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 10:23 AM
I've been using SSD for the C:\ drive on my machines for a few years now. I still use HDD for my D:\ drives for all data and media since it's cheaper for a much larger amount of storage.

Tip: Just install your programs on the C:\, everything else to D:\. I even re-point all my Desktop, Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos default folders to D:\.

I just created a folder on the root D:\ called DataFolders and moved them all per the instructions:

Moving Your User Folders

Posted By: rharv Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/11/18 09:50 PM
Originally Posted By: Teunis
Hi, my C drive partition is fairly full less than 30gig Left. .. I am contemplating installing an SSD drive to greatly increase the C drive. Is it worth going to an SSD drive?

Thanks in advance Tony


From that I assume you are not only changing to SSD, but increasing the storage size, correct?
If this is the case, since your sig says you have 16 gig of RAM, I would agree that this is likely the most significant performance increase option for you.

If your new drive is larger, that solves problem 1 (less than 30 gig left on C:, though for many systems 30 gig is plenty)
If it is much much faster, that covers any problems that may be induced by solving problem 1.

In other words, it will not only be bigger, it will very likely be much faster.
Sometimes bigger means slower, in your case it'll likely be much faster for boot time, loading apps and other such functions when changing to SSD.

To me, yes it is worth it.
It is absolutely worth it. Since using a SSD, my computer no joke runs 10x faster - easily. That aside, the increase in space is a major bonus as well. If you work exclusively in .wav files as many of us do, it makes a world of difference.
Posted By: Ryszard Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/16/18 07:06 PM
Emphatically yes! My seven-year-old DAW with SSD C: drive boots to Windows in 20 seconds. I just this summer upgraded the drive from 128 Gb to 500.

Richard
Posted By: MikeK Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/17/18 10:55 AM
Yeah, my machine is about the same age as Richard's and have similar boot-up speeds. Still 43 GB free space, but have to go to a larger SSD drive at some point.

Worth it? I'd call it an "essential" upgrade!
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/17/18 06:13 PM
Thanks to the many responses. I will be taking my PC into a support shop to have a 512gig SSD installed on Saturday.

Tony
Posted By: Ryszard Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/17/18 11:39 PM
Tony, when I did the upgrade, I had the shop clone the old drive and install the new one. It worked flawlessly from the moment I booted up.

R.
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/17/18 11:46 PM
Originally Posted By: Ryszard
Tony, when I did the upgrade, I had the shop clone the old drive and install the new one. It worked flawlessly from the moment I booted up.

R.


Hi Ryszard, thanks, that is the plan it will be easier that way and not a lot more expensive.

Tony
Posted By: Mike Halloran Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 12:10 AM
Quote:
In other words, it will not only be bigger, it will very likely be much faster.
Sometimes bigger means slower, in your case it'll likely be much faster for boot time, loading apps and other such functions when changing to SSD


Really, when you don’t know the answer, it’s ok not to post one.

With an SSD, bigger does not mean slower—ever.
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 12:46 AM
Originally Posted By: Mike Halloran
Quote:
In other words, it will not only be bigger, it will very likely be much faster.
Sometimes bigger means slower, in your case it'll likely be much faster for boot time, loading apps and other such functions when changing to SSD


Really, when you don’t know the answer, it’s ok not to post one.

With an SSD, bigger does not mean slower—ever.

It’s unfortunate when quoting out of context might confuse the meaning. Taken in total, Rharv’s comments made perfect sense.

I think your point may be that SSDs come in different specs. Assuming the same manufacturer, quality and design, I agree the larger SSD will be faster. But that isn’t what Rharv was talking about.
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 02:10 AM
Hi, I got what Rharv meant and with his thoughts in mind and also Matts suggestions I changed my mind and upped the size of the SSD from 256G to 512G. With 256G I wasn't really gain a lot of space. With 512G I'll have headroom of over 50% in the short term. I have moved BB and RealBand back to the C drive in readiness.

Tomorrow for other reasons I won't need the PC for two weeks so the IT shop can have it.

Thanks again
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 10:32 AM
You will be amazed. Don’t forget, remind the shop to turn off Defrag on that SSD.
Posted By: beatmaster Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 03:13 PM
Matt Don’t forget, remind the shop to turn off Defrag on that SSD.


So you do not defrag the ssd drives is that what you mean Matt.
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 03:49 PM
That is correct. Here’s the story.

SSD drives do not need to be defragged; that process relates to reorganizing data on a physical drive and has no relevance to solid state memory. In fact, defragging an SSD shortens its life.

When you install Windows on a new SSD, it knows not to defrag it but when you replace a boot hard drive with an SSD, it keeps auto defrag on! You have to change the setting.

Make sense now?
Posted By: Ryszard Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 04:07 PM
Ooh, thanks for that! I’ll have to see how mine is set; I’ll get back to you…

R.
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 04:20 PM
Richard, I last did this about a year ago and that’s the way Windows 10 worked then. I am assuming it’s the same now, but they may have fixed this omission.
Posted By: Teunis Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 07:13 PM
Hi Matt, I did a look on the issue of SSD defragmentation and is it required. A number say similar to you, however, some more recent articles say that Windows now handle SSD differently and "Trim" SSD. Windows recognises SSD as opposed to HDD and does not defrag in the traditional sense. See http://www.thewindowsclub.com/defragmentation-of-ssd-windows or https://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheRealAndCompleteStoryDoesWindowsDefragmentYourSSD.aspx several other articles are similar.

Just a thought

Tony
Posted By: Matt Finley Re: Is it worth going to an SSD drive? - 01/19/18 10:11 PM
Thanks, I know this. The Trim command, when supported, had to be run manually on the early SSD drives (I had some). Yes, Trim is good now and automated. That article is four years old.

Defrag is still not recommended on an SSD. And if you are replacing a hard drive with an SSD, Defrag is still turned on. That’s the point; it’s about swapping drive types.
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