Optane Memory vs SSD Caching

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anthonymcgivern529

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Oct 1, 2017
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What would be better to get? A 120gb m.2 for OS with a 4tb barracuda and 32gb of optane or an ssd with hdd + 120gb m.2 for OS. I feel a hdd with optane memory is better as it has more storage for less and all games will load faster. Other threads say get an ssd and hdd but then only a few games would fit on the ssd meaning only some wouldnt load as fast. This doesnt seem the best choice. However I wondered could you partition the ssd to have some for the hard drive cache. which is better as i dont want games on separate drives that load at different speeds.
 
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USAFRet


The 500GB for the OS and some games, sure.
I wouldn't bother partitioning it, but you can if you want.

Siphoning off 30GB for a cache? Again, I wouldn't bother.
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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How do you figure all games will load faster?
At some point, data needs to be read off the spinning platters. Unless there is some major predictive analysis of what is to be read next, it all comes off the spinning platter.

Using part of the SSD as a cache works exactly the same way.
 
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anthonymcgivern529

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Well i thought it's like sshds. After a while the application files (.exe) are moved onto the optane memory so it can load quicker?

 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Exactly. "after a while".
SSHD or SSD as a cache or Optane works pretty much the same. Just that the Optane is 'faster' than the SSD space.

But it only does this after the fact. And it is not 'games' or 'applications', but rather sectors on the drive.
If you use some data that lives on a sector that has never been used before (going to a new level), that comes off the spinning platter at regular HDD speed.
Play that level for a bit, and it is now in the SSD or Optane space.

But that flushes out older stuff. Go back a level or two? No longer in that small space, and again, read off the HDD.


And its not the ".exe", but rather specific blocks or sectors on the drive.
All the level details, images, data....are not part of that exe.
 
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anthonymcgivern529

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So what about this then. I get a 500gb m.2, partition 120gb for OS and the rest for some games. Then a 2tb barracuda for any other games and documents etc.
Also if I wanted to, could i partition ie 30gb of m.2 as a hdd cache for some possible faster times or is that not worth it?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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The 500GB for the OS and some games, sure.
I wouldn't bother partitioning it, but you can if you want.

Siphoning off 30GB for a cache? Again, I wouldn't bother.
 
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anthonymcgivern529

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Ok thanks

 
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gatitomiaumau

Mar 4, 2018
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@USAFRet Excuse me why trying to use a small part of the SSD to cache the HDD is not worth ir?

I really am a noob in this matters and have no idea how an ssd works but ad i understand it it only grants speed to what is stored inside it (OS, main games installed on it, etc) and the rest of your data (when you download a movie to the HDD, when you copy a movie to your HDD, etc) goes at the speed of the HDD (5400rpm, 7200rpm if you are lucky).

So caching with the SSD wouldnt be like using the optane with the HDD? BTW i have no idea how you partition a small amount (ie: 30gb) and make them work as cache for the HDD.

Thank you everyone
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Because if you have an SSD for the OS and applications, and maybe the games...whatever ends up on the HDD usually doesn't need that speed.

And, what ends up in that cache space is only the 'most used blocks'.

You don't 'install' things in that cache, the software learns the most used blocks of data, and that is what ends up in that space.

If that HDD is for movie/music storage, or games....only those most used blocks of data end up in that cache space.
Watch a new movie? No faster than just the HDD.
New game level you've not been to? Same as the regular HDD.
And the write speed to that drive is again, only the regular HDD speed.
 
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gatitomiaumau

Mar 4, 2018
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@USAFRet Okay got it, so that makes sense to me now.

Anyway any chance you could explain me how you caché an HDD with an SSD small partition? I barely know how to do a partition, doing a caché for another drive from that its over my league and maybe I mess searching for answers all over the internet.

Just curious btw, will stick to just put OS and most applications and games on SSD
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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ExpressCache
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-11e-Windows-13-E-and/What-is-Express-Cache-supposed-to-do/td-p/1242939
https://www.condusiv.com/partners/oem/technologies/expresscache/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExpressCache

For a readymade solution, look at the current crop of SSHD drives. The Seagate FireCuda, for instance.
Regular spinning drive, with a small 8GB SSD cache portion.

It presents itself to the OS and the user as just a single drive. It 'learns', over time, which blocks of data are used most often, and those end up in the cache space.
If this is the OS drive, that would generally be parts of the OS.
Write speed is the same as a spinning drive, and read speed is only benefited with those blocks of data (NOT applications or files), which reside int he 8GB SSD portion.
 
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