SSD / HDD Setup

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Kizzado0dle

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Hi all - I've seen a fair few questions similar to mine online (including this website) but the answers have always confused me as much as the questions! I'm moving back from mac to pc for the first time in 5 years and bought myself an alienware 17 r2 laptop (no need to start arguing about how much you hate alienware!) with a 1TB HDD and a 128GB SSD preinstalled.

From what I can tell, the OS will come pre-installed on the HDD, not the SSD. I've been reading about 'boot' or 'cache' drives and as far as I know, 'boot' is when the SSD is setup as an actual storage device I can drag files into, and 'cache' is where it's sort of inaccesible to me and applications use it to store things that are used most often and improve overall performance?

If i'm right - which setup is best? I've seen some people argue using the SSD as a boot drive is better as you can install the OS on it as well as things like your mail app and web browser to speed up lots of things. But I've also heard that the OS will take up lots of space unnecessarily with infrequently used files, and so a cache setup is better so that only what I use often is stored on the SSD.

Secondly - If using the SSD for the OS would be better, is there any way for me to move the OS from the HDD to the SSD without a copy of windows other than the software version pre-installed on the laptop!?

Thank you so much in advance for any help!
 
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WyomingKnott
Forget about "cache" drives. They were a way to make use of SSDs that were too small to install your OS on. They are not relevant anymore.

The generally accepted setup is to install your OS and most-used games onto the SSD. Having the OS there will make the system run more "snappily," start faster and seem to respond to commands faster. Having a game there will let levels load faster but not affect frame rates.

Whether one hates on Alienware or not, I don't think that they would ship a machine with an SSD and install the OS on the HDD - that seems like a pretty good way to screw up usable performance.

If you've read anywhere that a 128 GB SSD should be used for caching, add a link to that location to this thread and any number of...
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WyomingKnott

WyomingKnott

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Forget about "cache" drives. They were a way to make use of SSDs that were too small to install your OS on. They are not relevant anymore.

The generally accepted setup is to install your OS and most-used games onto the SSD. Having the OS there will make the system run more "snappily," start faster and seem to respond to commands faster. Having a game there will let levels load faster but not affect frame rates.

Whether one hates on Alienware or not, I don't think that they would ship a machine with an SSD and install the OS on the HDD - that seems like a pretty good way to screw up usable performance.

If you've read anywhere that a 128 GB SSD should be used for caching, add a link to that location to this thread and any number of us will pounce on it like ravenous weasels on raw meat. With about as much mercy, too.
 
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Kizzado0dle

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Thanks for the reply! I read about alienware shipping windows installed on HDD not SSD from alienware user forums so I wouldn't be surprised.. mine arrives tomorrow. If you think OS on SSD is the best setup, do you know a way to move the OS from HDD to SDD without any windows install CD? If it comes installed on the SSD then great, just trying to figure out what i'm going to do ahead of time...
 
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Kizzado0dle

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I've given up on posting a screenshot - this site asks for a URL and I can't figure that out (bear in mind i'm using windows for the first time in 5 years :(). However, in the "This PC" folder - There is an "OS (C:)" which is 8gb free out of 110 (after me adding my own files too) and a "Data (D:)" which is 898GB free out of 931, so from what I can tell, the OS IS on the SSD??

On a side note - despite what dell told me on the phone, they have shipped a windows recovery media usb stick with the laptop so I guess I could move the OS with the help of this if necessary, though I think it won't be now?
 
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JohnnyLucky

JohnnyLucky

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There is a lot of misunderstanding about caching. Intel developed caching for clients and businesses that could not afford a large capacity ssd. Back when the concept was on the drawing board, Intel hoped clients and businesses would purchase a small 10Gb or 20GB for about $100.00. Microsoft Windows and all software applications would remain on hard disk drives. The cache only produced a minor boost in hard drive performance. Intel hoped that once clients saw the slight performance boost they might be inclined to purchase a larger ssd for much better performance. There are some individuals who view ssd caching as a marketing gimmick.

Intel also researched the size of the cache. They tried a variety of ssd capacities all the way up to 512GB. Intel determined that a 60GB ssd was the point where it made no sense to use the ssd as a cache for a hard drive. Instead if you have a 60GB or larger capacity ssd, then Windows and software applications should be installed on the ssd to take full advantage of the ssd capabilities.

It makes more sense to install Windows and software applications on an ssd. The ssd performance boost is greater than the hard disk drive performance increase.

I have been posting that for quite a few years now. In fact, I just copied the comments above from an old thread from 2011. That's 4 years ago. The only thing that has changed is ssd performance has improved and the cost of a new ssd has been reduced. Today one can purchase a 256GB ssd for $100.00 USD. Prices will vary depending on geographic location.

According to the specifications at the Dell web site, the 128GB ssd is a boot drive. It will have Windows installed on it. It is not used as a cache for the 1TB hard disk drive:

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-17-r2/pd?ST=+alienware%20+17&dgc=ST&cid=246144&lid=4244500&acd=123098073120560&ven1=sWDIW97L3&ven2=b&ven3=872502880960193227

Those specifications are from the Dell USA web site. I don't know if the specifications are different down under.
 
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WyomingKnott

WyomingKnott

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Smells like you are set up correctly with the OS on the SSD. 8 GB free is awfully tight, though. What files did you put on it? Your pictures and videos and mail and music should really go on the HDD. An HDD is fast enough for those and you've got lots of HDD capacity.

It's possible to set up the machine so that the My Pictures, My Music, My Documents, and My Whatever Else are actually stored on the HDD. If these are the files that you copied to the SSD, either one of us can tell you how to move them.

JohnnyLucky, you keep showing up in the same threads I'm in. Leave some BAs for me.
 
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Kizzado0dle

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Thanks both of you... Yeah I had just copied across some things from an external hard drive and haven't yet looked into where i'll store them - i just dumped them on the desktop as a temporary measure. If i go into the SSD, then "users" and move things like "my documents" across to the HDD, will it work as expected?

I'll add some games and things to the SSD instead of the current documents etc, thanks.
 
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