SSD windows 7 settings vs. HD

Configure and optimize you computer for Audio.
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Since SSD is more and more common, older approaches become redundant.
Such defragging.

But about other settings when having ur OS (windows 7 64bit in my case)
and ableton live 9 running or ur SSD?

Things like cache and indexing on HD drive should be disabled in order to increase performance.

http://support.presonus.com/entries/119 ... -windows-7

but is that still the case when using SSD (samsung evo 840 in my case)

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SSD's are said to have a shorter lifespan compared to HDD, although there does not seem to be substantial proof of this.

If true, this makes SSD's much more expensive compared to HDD, over the long haul (not to mention the price for them at purchase). Comparing lifespan/size/cost of drive. I'm sure at some point we will see HDD's go way of 3.5 floppies.

I plan a new build now and will go with SSD for OS and some programs. I do not plan to use it for storing data files that need to be changed (rewritten to disk.) HDD's will be used for those purposes.

I also plan to turn off Windows updates and anything that causes frequent writes - like indexing.

This will minimize the number of writes to the SSD, which seem to be the reason stated around the net for the shorter life span theory.

TBH, I don't know if these statements are true or not. I will find out at some time :hihi:

SSD's do still need to be defragged, of sorts.

If you delete from them the information remains on the drive, much as it does with HDD's. A process known as TRIM must be implemented to completely remove deleted information. As I understand it it is an automatic process in Windows (if you have set it up that way) that runs behind the scenes. There is additional criteria, however, I do not know the full process at this time.

That's about the extent of my knowledge of SSD's. I look forward to learning more as I go along in my research.

I more look forward to using them in my new build. :D

HTH

Happy Musiking!
dsan
My DAW System:
W7, i5, x64, 8Gb Ram, Edirol FA-101

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SSDs don't need to be defragged due to the way data is handled. An SSD a bit like RAM. Thats one of the benefits of and ssd besides speeds. Lifespan wise, I wouldnt be worrying much about that. Some tests results i have seen showed than in normal use an SSD can preform 7+ years before it starts declining. By than, there will be lots of improvement and much bigger SDDs out there for low prices as it has become more and more common. (which i think it already is at this point).

For huge files like sample libraries, HDD is the best way to go. The combination; SSD for OS and HDD for the rest is my best solution.

OT; the settings i made according to the instructions in the link above resulted in a slower PC.
So it seems that at least some of the settings, which are for HDD's, don't apply to SSD at all.

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I'm confused by this thread :(

@defragging: don't do it on a SSD. It's not necessary and only (possibly) shortens the drives life
@lifespan: This is an ongoing debate. I don't have the specific tech specs but the bottom line is for an 840 (CLEARLY the SSD leader) it's like 10+ years of average use. I wouldn't be worried.
@libraries on SSD: I do. It's read only for the most part other than the occasional update (which really should be nothing to worry about) and it's faster.

However, for projects, and audio, I still use an HD. This might change because SSD's are so much faster/quieter/cooler than an HD. But currently, I'm SSD for OS/libraries, and HD for projects/audio.

This is how it was put to me when I built this system. It could all fail tomorrow, but frankly it's worked ace so far.

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Forgot to mention, in case it's relevant, price is a concern. BUT, there are performance diffs that make up for it. I recently messed around with my "older" computer that is not SSD and it was PAINFUL! I've really gotten used to the speed advantages. It doesn't mean everything is perfectly fast, but it's a really large improvement. My SSD is 750gb and even with live, S1, kontakt, omni/trillian and a bunch of other stuff, it's PLENTY big enough. PLUS newegg is always having specials. So if you NEED another drive for SSD, it's usually around for the price.

STill, I understand for the budget conscious person that it's REALLY expensive.

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Hello hibidy,
I considered SSD only for my system and libraries but have run into some obstacles:
1st. Kontakt is my goto VST. I have two 1Tb HDD's dedicated to Kontakt libraries, each about 75% full. To acquire an SSD with this capacity, at this point, is outrageously expensive as it is.

Add to that the multiple other libraries and media I own, a 2Tb SSD will not be sufficient to house all the data. Smaller drives will require many units.

Which brings me to point

2nd. I have limited number of SATA ports inside the computer and mounting spots so I have to limit the number of drives I could use.

Potentially I could mount and connect 4 drives as the additional slots must be reserved for other SATA devices.

Now, I could go with external SSD's but then you have the clutter on the desktop and the drop in performance via USB. I haven't looked recently but I don't recall any SATA PCIe cards.

It's not that I would prefer not to have SSD's it's just that at this time and space, given the limitations, I'll have to go for the best of both worlds; old and new.


Thanks for the input! :tu: You have helped me in considerations of SSD drives.

Now OT, timmy01 - I am surprised you found the tweaks to slow your system. Perhaps you are correct and the tweaks are not meant for systems with SSD. I would think the opposite though.

Have you reverted to previous settings to see if the tweaks actually do slow your system? Benchmarks?

Maybe you have something else going on to cause this.

I really don't know what else to tell you. Sorry.

Happy Musiking!
dsan
My DAW System:
W7, i5, x64, 8Gb Ram, Edirol FA-101

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dsan@mail.com wrote:I haven't looked recently but I don't recall any SATA PCIe cards.
6 extra channels enough? http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/578

or go the whole hog - pciE dual ssd card : http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempossdproplus.html

as for getting >1gb of ssd in a single volume - just set them up as a RAID-0 array

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Fantastic jdnz! :tu:

Thanks for the heads up of these. I will definitely look into.

Happy Musiking!
dsan
My DAW System:
W7, i5, x64, 8Gb Ram, Edirol FA-101

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hibidy wrote:Forgot to mention, in case it's relevant, price is a concern. BUT, there are performance diffs that make up for it. I recently messed around with my "older" computer that is not SSD and it was PAINFUL! I've really gotten used to the speed advantages. It doesn't mean everything is perfectly fast, but it's a really large improvement. My SSD is 750gb and even with live, S1, kontakt, omni/trillian and a bunch of other stuff, it's PLENTY big enough. PLUS newegg is always having specials. So if you NEED another drive for SSD, it's usually around for the price.

STill, I understand for the budget conscious person that it's REALLY expensive.
I jumped into SSDs with an expensive OCZ Vector a little over a year ago.

The issue I found wasn't performance (the thing was fast!)
or price (the performance was valuable to me)
but rather, reliability.

I found my SSD to be less resilient to the kinds of unexpected issues that do show up from time to time with computers. Specifically, my SSD didn't enjoy unexpected loss of power, and didn't recover as well from this as an HDD did.

I had a particular situation a while ago where my BIOS settings would get my computer stuck in a bootloop if I had Maschine hooked in during startup.
It took only one sudden reboot in this bootloop in order to not only corrupt all of the data on the SSD, but also render the entire drive invisible to the BIOS (and subsequently, the OS).
The RMA I received responded to the situation in the exact same way.
Before I finally got in the habit of checking to make sure my Maschine was unplugged before starting my computer, I got stuck in this bootloop after becoming frustrated with my SSD and swapping an HDD into the same spot. No issues. No fried drive.

Now, you could argue that it wasn't the SSD's fault that I had an absurd situation going on (which I have since fixed, by the way ;)),
but these kinds of absurd situations do pop up from time to time:
From a simple driver lockup and bluescreen,
to an old former issue in Windows which caused the OS to stay stuck in the "rebooting" screen indefinitely after an update, forcing you to flip the power button on your system.

I never stored any client files on this SSD, but it became tedious to keep reinstalling and reauthorizing all of my software.

Different brands and models have different levels of reliability; the SSD market is kinda the "Wild West" of storage for the time being. As long as you're not storing mission-critical data on one (or you have your mission-critical data backed up), it's definitely a fun experience, and VERY fast.

-Ki
Salem Beats

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hibidy wrote:This might change because SSD's are so much faster/quieter/cooler than an HD. But currently, I'm SSD for OS/libraries, and HD for projects/audio.
In some scenarios, the ssd speed allows the cpu to work more,
which generates more overall heat. I read that ssd's like 10% of their space
to be unformatted, which is then used as the workspace for it's i/o managing,
preserving a lot of the read/write life of the formatted 90%.

It seems like these gizmos are winners, only the margin of victory varies,
as one wades through all the opinions, tutorials, and configurations :party:
Cheers

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Interesting, I've never heard that before.

I have no idea what the right combination is. I wanted a faster computer, I admit I overpaid, but I enjoy the speed.

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glokraw wrote:....... In some scenarios, the ssd speed allows the cpu to work more,
which generates more overall heat. I read that ssd's like 10% of their space
to be unformatted, which is then used as the workspace for it's i/o managing,
preserving a lot of the read/write life of the formatted 90%.

It seems like these gizmos are winners, only the margin of victory varies,
as one wades through all the opinions, tutorials, and configurations :party:
Cheers
glokraw, can you point me to the article(s)?

I'm still debating on whether or not I will use ssd's in my next build and find your post interesting.

Thanks!

Happy Musiking!
dsan
My DAW System:
W7, i5, x64, 8Gb Ram, Edirol FA-101

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hibidy wrote:Interesting, I've never heard that before.

I have no idea what the right combination is. I wanted a faster computer, I admit I overpaid, but I enjoy the speed.
That's the most important part of the equation hibidy :tu:

Happy Musiking!
dsan
My DAW System:
W7, i5, x64, 8Gb Ram, Edirol FA-101

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