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Thread: SSD Caching

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    SSD Caching

    I am looking to cache my 2TB sata 3 drive to get better performance from the day to day programs that i want to run from it. I currently have a 120Gb SSD Intel 520 as drive C with win 7 64Bit on and my main game BF3 and all other appz, programs and games running from drive D which is the 2TB drive. My motherboard is the Asus P8Z68VPROGEN3 which has 2 intel 6Gb ports and 4 intel 3Gb ports and another 2 Marvell 6Gb ports.

    My plan was to purchase a second 60Gb SSD for the caching and setup with the 120Gb SSD on the intel 6Gb port with the 60Gb SSD on the 2nd 6Gb port and put the 2TB drive on one of the 3Gb ports. I would then install OS and BF3 on the 120Gb SSD and then SRT the 60Gb SSD and 2TB drive and use it for all my games and other programs.

    Ive put the Sata 3 2TB drive on one of the Sata 2 ports because i didnt think transfer speeds would get anywhere near 300Mb per/s, if it would be better on a 6Gb port i would have to put the 120Gb SSD onto the Marvell 6Gb port so that both other drives are on the intel ports for SRT.

    Which way is best for performance?

  2. #2
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: SSD Caching

    The way you proposed sounds good, no need to change anything.

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    Re: SSD Caching

    Thanks

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    Re: SSD Caching

    How much memory do you need for caching? Could you get away with a 30gb and still see good results?

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    Re: SSD Caching

    I considered a similar setup for my PC. After reading a bunch of reviews I decided that it wasnt really worth-while for my usage. All STR will do is duplicate the 60GB of most used data on the 2TB drive onto the SSD.
    So its great if you only regularly play 2 or 3 games (or a selection of videos etc), but if you play a wide variety of games then most of these wont get any boost.
    The SSD cache is 'active' tho, so if you get a game, play it to death then repeat with another game after 2 or 3 sessions on the new game STR will move the data to the SSD.

    Another option (which I favor) is to RAID0 your 2TB HDD, and unless your need 4TB of data you can also short-stroke the drives. This will give you much faster read/write times for all of the data stored on the drives.

    Also, I see you have 16GB of RAM. Have you considered RAM-caching? Its pretty easy to setup and can give you insane read speeds on heavily used data (like 5000Mb/s).
    RAM-cache + RAID0 would be crazy-fast (something i'm hoping to get running soon)
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    Re: SSD Caching

    I'm running a 64gb cache drive and a 1tb HDD which I find significantly faster for boot times and for frequently played games. I'm not using the Intel caching features, I use Nvelo Dataplex on an OCZ Synapse drive. In most cases my PC seems noticeably faster, however I think it would run faster if I could get all my most important data onto a dedicated SSD but that limits what I can put there and I don't want the hassle of having to manage how or where my data is stored.

    If I could I would swap over to using the Intel Smart Response and Rapid start options as I belive it is a good way to improve all round performance but I think that might require a reinstall to set it up.

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    Re: SSD Caching

    Ive not considered ram caching at all at this stage because i am just in the process of working towards improving performance one step at a time, it may be something i will look into and see how it works because i have over half the ram doing nothing mostly. Ive gone with a new 60Gb drive for the 2TB cache and will take some benchmarks before reinstalling the setup to see what improvement i get.

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    Seriously casual gamer KeyboardDemon's Avatar
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    Re: SSD Caching

    Quote Originally Posted by RhinoUK View Post
    Ive not considered ram caching at all at this stage because i am just in the process of working towards improving performance one step at a time, it may be something i will look into and see how it works because i have over half the ram doing nothing mostly. Ive gone with a new 60Gb drive for the 2TB cache and will take some benchmarks before reinstalling the setup to see what improvement i get.
    Can you not activate it for caching without re-installing the OS?

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    Re: SSD Caching

    I started reinstalling late last night so have already took the plunge and i had the controller set at AHCI and not raid and for some strange reason i had the 2TB on the marvell 6Gb port so thought a clean install would be best. I am hoping to have it all sorted out over the weekend.

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    Re: SSD Caching

    Quote Originally Posted by KeyboardDemon View Post
    Can you not activate it for caching without re-installing the OS?
    Yes you can. RAM caching is done via software. i.e. http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...for-Disk.shtml

    You just need to install the software, run it, decide how much of your RAM you want to assign to the RAM cache (i'd suggest 2-4GB) and assign it to a drive. It has no effect on your OS or any programs or files, other than improving access speeds to regally used data.
    You can adjust or remove the cache at any time, so its worth having a play around with, you can always get rid of it whenever you want.
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  11. #11
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: SSD Caching

    Windows own caching will use spare RAM to improve access speeds to regularly used data, no need to install a ramdisk or other software.

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    Re: SSD Caching

    Hi SSDs are finally coming my way and the nice speed boosts are really appealing, but I don't particularly like the idea of spending a lot on a single SSD knowing I will have to use my HDD anyway.

    I know this is someone else's thread sorry! But seems like the right place to ask

    Will SSDs prices be dropping any time soon? I have my eye on this SanDisk 32GB Readcache SSD, seems not bad for £35 and it's own little monitoring software seems quite the deal. I am only really looking for snappy responses with file transfers, Windows load up time etc

    Or there is a 64GB SanDisk SSD for £40.

    What's the best option to go for you think? Definitely not paying £40+ for an SSD, only looking for snappy response times because I am impatient!

    Thanks for the input everyone

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    Re: SSD Caching

    I use SDDs and drives almost exactly as you've outlined and it works well for me.

    My "Users" folder is also on the HDD, so the caching helps there to, as commonly used documents, photos, downloads etc get cached, and as others have say helps with bootup further too.

    The bigger the cache the less likely stuff will get "aged" out before you use it again.

  14. #14
    Senior Member mikeo01's Avatar
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    Re: SSD Caching

    There's an Agility 3 60GB SSD or a SanDisk 64GB SSD, both are £40. Worth it? I will probably put my OS on it as everyone is saying I will benefit more. Probably the OS and couple of games, 128GB are just too expensive.

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