SSD Cache for HDD?

1. yes you can do it

2. I have never seen anyone say they observed a performance increase doing it; using SSDs as a cache was a marketing idea that never saw any significant adoption.

Hello... because of your low Ram amount, your Windows OS will be using "pagefile.sys" on a hardrive as "Temp" storage.
Go to Control panel-System-advanced system settings-Performance "settings" - Advanced-Virtual memory "change" and setup the page file on to one of your SSD... and turn it off from your slower HD.

http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/difference-between-h67-p67-z68-and-h61-chipsets-a-22.html

Finally, another feature of a Z68 chipset is known as SSD caching which is where it allows the use of a small (say 10 or 20 GB) Solid state hard drive to act as a cache for a larger ‘traditional’ hard disk. If you are already planning the use of a Solid State drive this feature is redundant.

If you can’t afford a decent size SSD (40GB+) then there are more cost effective ways around using a small SSD and SSD cashing like spending less on a motherboard, (H67 chipset or even a P67 chipset) and putting the saved money into a decent size SSD.

Click to expand...

The article you linked to is flawed in that it presents half the story

Copying from the SSD to the SSD + HD, they record the time it takes to move the data from the SSD to the other SSD .... but not the time that it takes the cache SSD to move it to the HD

The SSD for the boot / program drive and an SSHD for the storage drive is the optimum reasonably priced solution. It works the same way as a SSD + HD except it doesn't need to move the data off the cache unless it at some point decides that the file is little used and will do that in the background.

Like many things related to storage, the benefit is observable only in benchmark performance.

But that's just it.... when used a dedicated gaming storage drive, that's what typically happens. Of course there are some folks who fire up 8 different shooter multiplayer games a day and there is little benefit there. But, from my observation, most folks play a game thru to completion.... I played FC3 and didn't play another game until that was completed. I played an MMO for 10 years in 6 - 18 months bursts and it's entire footprint could be stored on that 8GB.

Using my test box ....

C:\ Boot Drive (256 GB Samsung Pro)
D:\ Multiple Use Drive (256 GB Samsung Pro)
E:\ Games Drive (2 TB SSHD)
F:\ Backup Drive (2 TB HD)

I have played the same games off D, E and F, and while there is a noticeable drop off on F:\, performance from D and E was indistinguishable. I even did blind tests with my sons (19 - 26) by copying game files from one drive to another and then reassigning drive letters .... neither noticed.

The algorithms are very good in that, you really have to establish a frequent usage pattern for files to get moved there.... I have wondered why, with the drop in the cost of SSDs the manufacturers never increased the size and the only conclusion was that it didn't really chage much.

It works the same on the data drive.... typically the engineers / CAD operators are working on the same project day to day so they stay on the SSD portion. I can open old 10-12 old drawings a day looking to copy / paste specific standard details and these will load at normal speed but they do not get moved to the SSD because, while many other files where opened, none of the files was opened frequently enough to move them.

I am surprised about 1 thing.... back when I had my Treo 650 my most frequently used programs were stored "in memory" ... the rest were stored on a SD card. I had a little utility which let me choose what I stored where and it would leave a hook to the program in memory and put the rest of it on the SD card. Why no one ever came up with a utility this for PC storage escapes me. You could install your entire game library to your SSD and move off those games you weren't actively playing without messing up registry entries, drive letters or anything.

With that typical mixed setup, with a 120 GB you looking at best 1 or 2 of today's AAA games on the SSD and I think most peeps care about the speed of those 2nd, 3rd and 4th games. For those that tend to play just 1 or 2 games at a time, the SSD works great ...... and when you switch games, it only takes 3 or 4 loads before it's optimized for the new choice.