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Windows on an SSD - now what?

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  • UncleLou Moderator 4 Jul 2012 10:35:19 34,673 posts
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    Bought an SSD recently (256GB, for € 200,-, they have become rather cheap quite suddenly), have now installed Windows 7 on it - so far, so good. I am a little confused now how I continue from here on though. Obviously, music, photos, videos, etc., get stored on a classic hdd.

    What about games though, for example? I hear the advantage of an SSD isn't all that great for gaming, but 256 GB would just be enough to have games I currently play on there I guess.

    And do I install all other applications/programs to the SSD? Or just selected few where it makes a difference? Classically, you'd put your OS on an extra hdd to allow for easy reinstallation of the OS if necessary, and put everything else on another drive, but wouldn't that be a waste of the SSD?

    Grateful for any tips.
  • Deleted user 4 July 2012 10:38:44
    SSD - OS / Apps / Docs
    HDD - Games / Music / Video / Potatoes
    HDD2 - Backing that shit up
  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 10:39:02 73,728 posts
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    Not a lot of point in putting games on there unless they have long loading times. Putting your programs on there is a good move though.

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  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 10:39:44 73,728 posts
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    CrispyXUK wrote:
    SSD - OS / Apps / Docs
    Nope.

    Generally stuff that does a lot of writing to, you'll want on the HDD, otherwise you'll just reduce the life of the drive.

    Edited by Dirtbox at 10:41:03 04-07-2012

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  • Deleted user 4 July 2012 10:41:01
    Well mine are all in dropbox on the SSD, probably should have mentioned that but I'm hungover :D
  • mrpon 4 Jul 2012 10:41:18 24,107 posts
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    Personally speaking, I just have the OS and my most used apps installed on mine and one or two Steam games. All docs, music, videos, installs etc.. are stored on a NAS.

    Give yourself ½ gig or a £, you're worth it.

  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 10:42:10 73,728 posts
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    Change your dropbox folder to the HDD.

    Actually, change your My Docs and Desktop folder to a directory on the HDD. I also put my internet cache on the HDD.

    Edited by Dirtbox at 10:42:29 04-07-2012

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  • UncleLou Moderator 4 Jul 2012 10:42:20 34,673 posts
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    Cheers all of you!

    Can I actually teach Windows to put docs to a different drive, or rather, do programs understand that? Talking about savegames etc.

    Edited by UncleLou at 10:43:24 04-07-2012
  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 10:42:48 73,728 posts
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    Yeah, it's fine that way.

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  • Deleted user 4 July 2012 10:43:35
    You could mount the HDD as a folder on your SSD if you wanted in drive management or whatever it's called.
  • sport 4 Jul 2012 10:53:02 10,904 posts
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    Is it really bad if everything's on the SSD? Is it mainly a reliability issue?

    I'm just about to put together my budget build that includes a 128GB Samsung 830 SSD. Important docs and photos will go on a external HD, but I don't store music, games etc.
  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 10:54:34 73,728 posts
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    The drive won't last all that long if you do that. Depends what's on it though.

    If it's constantly writing to it (web browsers and system swap files spam so much shit) then you might want to think about another drive for caching purposes.

    Edited by Dirtbox at 10:56:26 04-07-2012

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  • Whizzo 4 Jul 2012 10:57:27 41,155 posts
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    Considering how much cheaper SSDs have become reducing the life span down to 5 years with pretty heavy usage makes worrying about what to put on it is fairly pointless.

    I've noticed a lot of games perform significantly better when run from SSD, some don't but that's why you experiment.

    Download SteamMover and try things out.

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  • UncleLou Moderator 4 Jul 2012 10:58:07 34,673 posts
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    Is your Windows swap file on you hdd as well, or did you leave that on the SSD, deebs?
  • UncleLou Moderator 4 Jul 2012 11:00:02 34,673 posts
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    Thanks, Whizzo.

    Will try it tonight with Shogun, the load times keep me from playing it as often as I'd like, really.
  • sport 4 Jul 2012 11:00:41 10,904 posts
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    Dirtbox wrote:
    The drive won't last all that long if you do that. Depends what's on it though.

    If it's constantly writing to it (web browsers and system swap files spam so much shit) then you might want to think about another drive for caching purposes.
    o_O - how long are we talking? weeks? days?
  • Whizzo 4 Jul 2012 11:01:16 41,155 posts
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    I'd certainly move the swap file off the SSD.

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  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 11:02:58 73,728 posts
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    I think I prefer having 9 to 10 years.

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  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 11:03:48 73,728 posts
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    Whizzo wrote:
    I'd certainly move the swap file off the SSD.
    Get more ram and turn it off. I have 16gb, turned it off and it's run a charm ever since.

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  • Whizzo 4 Jul 2012 11:04:40 41,155 posts
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    So you're going to be using a 120 gig drive in 2021? Yeah I think mine will have been thrown in the bin or be propping up a wobbly table by then.

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  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 11:06:49 73,728 posts
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    No, it'll probably be in a server in the garage by then, but it's nice to know it'll still be around with a minimum of effort.

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  • Dirtbox 4 Jul 2012 11:08:51 73,728 posts
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    I don't have one.

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  • warlockuk 4 Jul 2012 11:18:09 18,618 posts
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    I don't think I could install my Steam Directory to an SSD... the bastard thing has to be a few hundred GB; Main HDD only has about 4Gb free :/

    I'm a grumpy bastard.

  • Whizzo 4 Jul 2012 11:19:51 41,155 posts
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    *cough*SteamMover*cough*

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  • Deleted user 4 July 2012 11:21:48
    One thing to consider - when an SSD has run it's course of life it'll still be readable.
  • Goodfella 4 Jul 2012 11:23:31 2,012 posts
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    Whizzo wrote:
    I've noticed a lot of games perform significantly better when run from SSD, some don't but that's why you experiment.
    This, I don't know why but certain games load a lot faster on a SSD, others there is no improvement at all. WoW is MUCH faster on SSD (20 seconds HDD - 5 seconds SSD) but takes up a large amount of space so really not worth it.

    Diablo III was very fast indeed too. I haven't really tried any other games on mine as I put them all on my HDD.
  • woodnotes 4 Jul 2012 11:27:05 4,791 posts
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    Is upgrading to SSD worth it? Does it make a big difference to the Windows experience in general?
  • Deleted user 4 July 2012 11:29:11
    Yes, it makes a massive difference.
  • warlockuk 4 Jul 2012 11:31:25 18,618 posts
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    Whizzo wrote:
    *cough*SteamMover*cough*
    Yeah I saw that - still need a 2nd drive to move it to. My plan would be to get a 128Gb or something, reinstall the OS and then keep most things installed on the HDD 'cept for some audio apps and the occasional game.

    I'm a grumpy bastard.

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