Are only SSD Files getting Speed Advantage?

sorryboi · Dec 30, 2016

Greetings. This might seem like a foolish question to most of you. I am thinking of buying an SSD and wondering if I'll get an advantage on speed on the files on my HDD if I just let the SSD sit there with all of its space open. So are only the files on the SSD getting the speed advantage (write & read speeds)? Thanks, Mark.

elbert · Dec 30, 2016

Yes but all programs will see performance gain due to under laying windows files the use. There is also the page file on the SSD that may help more on systems short of memory.

theyeti87 · Dec 30, 2016

Only data stored on the SSD itself will have the read/write speeds of the SSD. Your HDD's performance will not change at all.

SchizTech · Dec 30, 2016

In some systems a small SSD is attached as a cache, with a driver which automatically uses it to store the most commonly used files. Otherwise, the SSD won't affect HDD speed. Most enthusiasts build a system with an SSD set as boot drive (windows and programs/games) and the HDD used for file storage. This uses the SSD to it's best advantage, where the system boots and feels much faster. There are guides for setting Windows to move the default storage for Documents, Pictures and other libraries to a separate D: drive.

JohnBonhamsGhost · Dec 30, 2016

file access(read/write speeds) depend on a lot of system aspects. but just adding blank SSD space is not going to have any effect on anything whatsoever except the small amount of power being drawn from your system to power on the SSD drive.

USAFRet · Dec 30, 2016

sorryboi :

If it is just a secondary drive with nothing on it...it is just a lump, doing nothing except sucking up a watt or two of power.
Files or applications must live on that drive to see any benefit.

Solandri · Dec 30, 2016

If you've got a motherboard which supports Intel's Smart Response Technology, you can configure a small partition on the SSD to act as a cache for your HDD. Essentially it'll turn the HDD into a SSHD. It'll speed up reads of commonly-used small files dramatically. So might be a good option if you have a bunch of games on the HDD.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/smart-response-technology.html
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/boards-and-kits/000005501.html

http://www.overclock.net/t/1227655/how-to-set-up-intel-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching

If the SSD is going to be your boot drive, the setup becomes considerably more complicated. But it is still possible.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1404323/guide-using-1-ssd-as-system-drive-os-and-acceleration-drive-raid-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching

If you go this route, I'd recommend keeping the cache partition size down to about 8-16 GB. SSDs don't really speed up sequential reads by much (about 4x). It's mostly the small files which are sped up (25-100x), and 8 GB can cache a lot of small files.

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