So, my new build will use Samsung Evo 970 500GB NVME.m.2 for OS, etc. I am use to having 2 HDs besides the OS\app drive. I have quite a few. But I am wondering, will it make sens to usean SSD for storage or audio drive? Seems maybe too much r\w for an SSD or is that an old wives tale? My 3.5" hds are all Sata 3 and pretty new.
 
Thanks

Yes, the concerns about SSD writing endurance have been downgraded to 'old wives' status as the flash arrays have gotten better over time, and write endurance (measured in TBW, terabytes written) for even average consumer-grade drives is encroaching on the petabyte range for 500GB drives.
 
As for speed, I've been noodling around with various combinations of audio drives for my CbB environment. I've used dual SSD in RAID-0, single SSD, dual HDD in RAID-0 and of course single HDD.  The usage experience doesn't change enough at all between those combinations to make me choose one over the other.  As long as the CbB code, plug-ins, and picture cache are on an SSD, the rest (up to about 120 tracks) is a matter of bragging rights. 
 
Now that the Win10 updates have un-broken my mouse and USB interface problems, I'm going to update 4th-article in 4-article series on my website called Homemade Hybrid Disk Drives.  I'm now back to the original intent of a RAM cache backed by an SSD cache.  The benefits in a for video editing are rather obvious.  The benefits for audio tracking/editing/mixing are rather hard to see. 
 
 

Thanks GaryMedia. very informative.
Appreciate it!

Use that M.2 for samples!
A 250gb SSD for OS.
Personally where I see the SSD shine for the OS is the VST scan time when Splat and CbB launch. IMHO, most of the improvement in OS speed is the “clean” install to the SSD.
Other than the VST scan, migrating to SSD in my old Cat was mostly a big yawn; just my personal experience and opinion.
Your sata 3 HD’s for your audio and data will be fine.
Just my nickel 98’s worth.
I wouldn’t “waste” that m.2 on the OS!
It will load your samples almost before you open the project.
You can thank me later.
T

A small, fast OS disc makes imaging simple (not required, but nice to have). I use a second SSD for programs that eat C drive space via junctions. Third drive is HDD that houses most data. My OS is 256GB, and I float it around 100GB via the junctions.

In your situation, you can actually house a lot more on C, so is really more preference. Image time is the only thing that would be affected. My HDD gets both image files as well as data backups (via xcopy), so having a large drive is useful internal to the machine.

Hmmm. Funny you 2 guys posted because I was now coming back to ask about the heat issue with the nvme m.2. Seems they run really hot. Mine is the Evo 970 500GB.
 
Maybe I will use it for samples as suggested, I do use softsynths and midi all the time.
I do have a new unopened Evo 850 250gb SSD. Perhaps thats a better choice for the OS.
The last few years I have had an Intel 240GB SSD as my os drive and it has 108GB free.
 
The Asus borad de oes have a huge heatsink for one of the m.2  slots. 
 
I know I'll be back with questions...............Thanks so much

Most new Dell's that come with an M.2 SSD, use that for the OS.  Other conventional hard drive(s) for storage "unimportant" programs, etc.  I've seen ads for other brands and the M.2 SSD and conventional hard drive seems to be the common offering.
 
I bought a new Dell Inspiron 15 laptop last year mainly to use for off-site recordings.  It is a 7th gen i5 CPU and came with an M.2 SSD, it boots Windows 10 faster than my i7 6700K desktop that has a Samsung EVO 850 SSD. Programs that are on the SSD are the same way, load faster.  

• Conventional HD sustains ~190MB/Sec
• SATA SSD sustains ~540MB/Sec
• Two SATA SSDs in RAID-0 sustain ~1000MB/Sec
• M.2 Ultra (NVMe) SSD sustains ~3400MB/Sec

 
Choose/scale your drives based on your needs.
For a boot drive, a single SATA SSD is more than adequate.
If you need massive disk-streaming polyphony from numerous sample-libraries, one drive scenario is not equal to the others.  
 
We have a client who scores a lot of video games (dense orchestral pieces).
Sean needs the ability to run 4000 stereo voices of disk-streaming polyphony from Kontakt sample libraries (many are multi-mic position so the polyphony piles up fast).  That can't be done from a couple of SATA SSDs.
 
Everyone's drive needs are different.
Scale the type/number of drives based on your individual needs.
If you're recording 24-track projects that are primarily audio, using a M.2 Ultra (NVMe) SSD for "Audio" is complete overkill.

Thanks to all....
Wound up with the Evo 850 SSD 250GB as OS drive and the evo 970 nvme m.2 500GB as sample drive.

That 970 EVO sustains ~3400MB/Sec.
It'll load sample libraries fast... and you'll be able to achieve high disk-streaming polyphony.
 
M.2 Ultra (NVMe) SSDs are perfect for libraries that load a bit slow.
ie: HALion 6 loads a bit slow...
Put the library on a M.2 Ultra SSD... and it's much more snappy.