Need advice for 32GB SSD - what to allocate it for....??

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JTMusicVA
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2013/03/08 20:29:48 (permalink)

Need advice for 32GB SSD - what to allocate it for....??

I have a pretty good PC system, with lots of stuff loaded on it (audio and video editing.) Its performance has been quite good, but damn, it takes forever to boot up!
Ah ha! I saw the SanDisk ExpressCache 32GB SSD system, which is supposed to vastly improve boot-up and start-up times of commonly-used programs.
So, bought it, installed it, followed instructions and got it running. Guess what? NO HELP AT ALL! If anything, it caused a long pause at boot-up.
So, I disabled/uninstalled the ExpressCache software, reformatted the SSD, and deleted the C-drive Windows Virtual Memory, and set the Virtual Memory to the SSD (the full 32GB.) Got rid of that long pause at boot up....
Question - I already have 16GB of RAM, and seldom even begin to load it up. Is what I did, allocating the SSD to Virtual Memory, going to give me any performance boosts at all?
I use Sonar X2a Producer. Is there something I can allocate that SSD for that will help with performance?
What about moving/reinstalling Windows and/or Sonar to the SSD? Is 32GB large enough for any of those options?

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

JT

The Stuff: Sonar X2a Producer 64 AND 32-bit installed (!!!), jBridger, old-school analog VST synths, PC (AMD 4-core CPU @ 3.7GHz, 16GB RAM, SSD drive (32GB)), Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64, Lexicon Omega & EgoSys Waveterminal 192L audio interfaces, ART DI/O tube A/D/A converter-Tung Sol tube, Novation RemoteZero SL controller, Novation X-Synth, BOSS DR-660 drum mach., Mackie MR5 monitors, Focusrite VRM Box, AT M50 headphones... blah blah blah...
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    MoodyB
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    Re:Need advice for 32GB SSD - what to allocate it for....?? 2013/03/09 04:07:57 (permalink)
    Can't comment on the  Virtual Memory side of things, but a 32GB SSD would be cutting it very fine as an OS boot drive. I'd recommend 64GB as the minumum for a Windows 7 boot drive.

    As for Sonar, putting your vst folder & sample libraries on the SSD would definately help with project loading times, assuming they would all fit on it.

    If you bought it online less than 7 days ago, and your distance selling laws are the same as the UK, then I'd return it & get an SSD big enough for a boot drive, or for your vsts & project files /  sample libraries.

    Just depends what annoys you more - the slow startup time of the OS or the project loading.


    This is quite a good guide for optimizing your ssd / hd performance & Windows installation :

    http://www.overclock.net/...on-guide-for-ssds-hdds



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    Jim Roseberry
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    Re:Need advice for 32GB SSD - what to allocate it for....?? 2013/03/09 13:10:38 (permalink)
    The only time you'd see a performance advantage of using the SSD for VM Swapfile is if you're using more than 16GB of RAM.  The system would hit the VM Swapfile... and the SSD would be faster than a conventional HD.  That said, both are slower than RAM... 

    32GB would be quite lean for your OS drive.
    I'd recommend using it for disk-streaming sample libraries.

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
    #3
    MPM11
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    Re:Need advice for 32GB SSD - what to allocate it for....?? 2013/03/24 14:29:49 (permalink)
    I had a slightly similar situation. I bought a 32 G SSD with the original intent of using it for audio with my laptop. I never did actually use it for that, so I thought, "Why not put it in my tower computer?"

    I agree with Jim Roseberry - Disc streaming sample libraries is probably the best application for the drive.

    For me though, my libraries take up more space than that, so i use it now for my audio drive.

    I put my sample libraries on another drive and also archive my audio projects to that drive. When my SSD starts to get 2/3rds full, i'll just migrate them to the other drive, so I'll use the SSD for audio recording/projects that I'm currently working on.

    I also agree with MoodyB above....64 G is a bare minimum...I would be personally be nervous with that little wiggle room and suggest that you go more than that - say 90 or 120.

    I migrated my system to an Intel SSD - 240G - and paid $180 for it.

    I didn't see any performance improvement at all until I changed my drives from IDE to AHCI mode in the BIOS. the difference was amazing. Windows has a Fix-it that makes all the registry changes for you! It couldn't be simpler: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

    If your computer was hanging up before boot, then I wonder if your BIOS needed to be twiddled with some more....just a thought. I wouldn't give up on the idea of an SSD system drive just yet.

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    losguy
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    Re:Need advice for 32GB SSD - what to allocate it for....?? 2013/04/06 23:10:34 (permalink)
    If you are still interested in faster boot time, you might try using it as a ReadyBoost drive (assuming that you're on Windows 7). You can Google on how to set it up for multiple blocks of 8 GB so that it better utilizes your drive space. You can even leave some space for your VM cache.
     
    The caching built into Windows with ReadyBoost appears to work for more systems than one might think. Reviews I've read on the third-party software+SSD caching solutions like the one you bought confirm your experience. Anyway, it's free for you to try, so it might be worth a shot.

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