jeff.
nice research. v good points.
imho/ymmv ssd's all the way for me. i use the old rotating hard drives in a caddy connected over usb to do backups only.
just google "rotating hard drive vs ssd".
lots of tech info. eg
https://www.crucial.com/articles/about-ssd/ssd-vs-hdd

for me now, as ssd's are so cheap i'll use them for everything.
some people say they have had the odd failure. i never have had one problem.
my next system will have one ssd for win, and one ssd for recording duties.

rharv.
i urge you to just run a test with ssd. useing ssd my win 10 boots from cold 9 secs.
reaper from cold 3 secs with loaded traks. and these arent nvme or m.2 ssd's.
i love ssd's. with that nice ryzen of yours rharv , it would
be interesting to see if that rb test changes. i dunno.
i certainly noticed a diff when i went to ssd's with apps and win.

best.
ssd's rule muso.

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 01/10/21 09:28 AM.

New Song "PRETTY GIRL" for my wife...Dec 2023
(my vocs....mixed for good earbuds.)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs/prettygirlrbfinalcalfsongsdec2023mp3
(and rock song THE STALLION and bluegrass song... BANKER MAN....90 songs useing bb/rb.)