SSD and Creative/Productivity Apps

[ronbo613]

I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on an OCZ Vertex2 and I am asking the final question; Is it really worth it and will there be a noticeable improvement?
I use my computer mainly for photo, video and website work, Adobe CS4; Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver, Sony Vegas 9 Pro, AutoCad 2011 and Office 2007. No games(I have XBox).
Will an SSD have a real impact when I use this kind of software? The scratch discs for the Adobe programs are already on a hard drive other than the boot drive, I'm a believer in having the programs on the boot drive and working to another drive. If an SSD just makes the programs open quicker, but not work quicker, I don't know if it will be worth it.
Anybody with an SSD do this kind of stuff?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I'm in the same situation. I read quite a few ssd technical reviews. Some of them actually tested productivity applications. I found a couple that tested processes in Photoshop and video applications. You should see some improvement but don't expect things to happen in the blink of an eye. Some of the results depend on ssd configuration and the type of software process.

Take a look at this article:

ftp://download.intel.com/design/flash/NAND/extreme/Photoshop_CS4_Performance_Comparison.pdf

There is an awful lot of user discussion in forums at web sites that seem to indicate other than load times there might not be much of an additional benefit for Photoshop users. Video processing seems to be a little more encouraging.

 

[ronbo613]

Hard to get relevant information on the subject. A lot of the information is old. That comparison from Intel used 15K hard drives and 4 SSDs in RAID 0, hard to get any real world information there.
No doubt the apps will open quicker, I wonder if it will move from task to task within the program quicker. If an SSD was used as the scratch drive for programs like Photoshop and Premiere, that would probably speed things up bit, but I saw a Samsung ad that claimed an SSD would speed up video rendering. Since that is mainly a CPU deal, hard to buy that one. As it always seems to be the case, much of the information is from test benchmarks and gamers, leaving the working stiffs to wonder if it might make the job easier.
Might have to just throw the money down and see what happens.

 

[saint19]

Programs from the Adobe's suite can get a highly inprovement in performance, as well AUtocad.

 

[ronbo613]

OK, I bit the bullet and got an OCZ Vertex 2 120G SSD. After using it for a few days, the overall speed of the system has noticeably increased. Bootup time is way faster, although the "pre boot" takes a few seconds longer, loading the Intel RST drivers I suspect.
I haven't used all my programs yet, but the ones I use the most; Photoshop and Premiere Pro are definitely quicker with the SSD. The programs open much quicker and going from task to task within the programs is quicker as well. Maybe only a second or two per task, but it adds up at the end of a work session. It's easy to tell where the SSD work ends and RAM or CPU kicks in; like editing HD video. I have my programs on the SSD and scratch discs, project and work folders on a 1 TB 7200rpm WD Caviar Black.
Overall, the SSD gives my rig a "snappier" feel. Sure, $200 for a 120G drive is a lot of money, but, if the SSD holds up in the long run, I think it's worth it.