Newbie starting a new build with a SSD 64GB drive which I intend to use as
the boot and a separate 1TB drive for programs/storage.

Question: should I only put the Win-7/64 files on it and/or other files
to utilize the speed of the drive?
Thanks.

On 11/17/2010 9:27 AM, Frank wrote:
> Newbie starting a new build with a SSD 64GB drive which I intend to use as
> the boot and a separate 1TB drive for programs/storage.
>
> Question: should I only put the Win-7/64 files on it and/or other files
> to utilize the speed of the drive?
> Thanks.

I did an 80gB Intel SSD and a 2tB data drive with 3 partitions on the same
OS but I guess the principle is the same. I finally decided that all of the
OS files along with the most-frequently-used programs and utilities would
go on the SSD and everything else would go on the data drive. Having the
programs I load most would allow me to take advantage of the speed of the
drive -- a program which gets run once a month, even if it took a
relatively long time to load from the rotating drive, would cost me little.
Smaller programs loaded frequently would add up to a lot more time coming
from the slower drive. I just checked and the SSD shows 43.5gB free out of
72.2gB and I try to make sure that the SSD never gets more than 1/2 to 2/3
full out of concern for NAND wear and sparing (this may just be paranoia on
my part).

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:27:03 -0000, Frank <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Newbie starting a new build with a SSD 64GB drive which I intend to use as
>the boot and a separate 1TB drive for programs/storage.
>
>Question: should I only put the Win-7/64 files on it and/or other files
>to utilize the speed of the drive?
>Thanks.

I installed Windows7/64 on a newly assembled computer for a friend
with a 64 GB ssd (Crucial C300) and a 1 TB Samsung hdd, so I know
about what I speak. :-)

I installed the OS and some apps for him and he has installed the rest
of the programs, p.e. MS Professional suite 2003. I advised him to put
only OS and programs and Documents on the ssd and the rest on the
Samsung.
Then after a week I saw him again and saw that the ssd only had a
little bit more than 5 GB of free space! That took me by surprise and
I advised him to only place the most frequently used programs on the
ssd. Which he will do.
After all, I should have chosen a bigger ssd for his computer...
I myself use a 90 GB Vertex2 on one of my computers with WindowsXP SP3
and that is enough.

You must realize that Windows7/64 uses quite a lot of space for itself
and I would give you the same advice as I gave to my friend: only the
OS and the most frequently used programs on the ssd and even the
documents on the other hdd to spare space but that is up to you
because if like me you use many documents frequently it is a great
pleasure to see your doc's opened instantly.

Massimo

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:03:48 -0000, Massimo <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:27:03 -0000, Frank <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Newbie starting a new build with a SSD 64GB drive which I intend to use
>> as
>> the boot and a separate 1TB drive for programs/storage.
>>
>> Question: should I only put the Win-7/64 files on it and/or other files
>> to utilize the speed of the drive?
>> Thanks.
>
> I installed Windows7/64 on a newly assembled computer for a friend
> with a 64 GB ssd (Crucial C300) and a 1 TB Samsung hdd, so I know
> about what I speak. :-)
>
> I installed the OS and some apps for him and he has installed the rest
> of the programs, p.e. MS Professional suite 2003. I advised him to put
> only OS and programs and Documents on the ssd and the rest on the
> Samsung.
> Then after a week I saw him again and saw that the ssd only had a
> little bit more than 5 GB of free space! That took me by surprise and
> I advised him to only place the most frequently used programs on the
> ssd. Which he will do.
> After all, I should have chosen a bigger ssd for his computer...
> I myself use a 90 GB Vertex2 on one of my computers with WindowsXP SP3
> and that is enough.
>
> You must realize that Windows7/64 uses quite a lot of space for itself
> and I would give you the same advice as I gave to my friend: only the
> OS and the most frequently used programs on the ssd and even the
> documents on the other hdd to spare space but that is up to you
> because if like me you use many documents frequently it is a great
> pleasure to see your doc's opened instantly.
>
> Massimo

I also have on order the Crucial C300 SSD but went with a WD drive
with SATA III which I am hope will give the non 'favorite' files a boost.
Thanks for the tips.
Frank

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:22:53 -0000, John McGaw <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 11/17/2010 9:27 AM, Frank wrote:
>> Newbie starting a new build with a SSD 64GB drive which I intend to use
>> as
>> the boot and a separate 1TB drive for programs/storage.
>>
>> Question: should I only put the Win-7/64 files on it and/or other files
>> to utilize the speed of the drive?
>> Thanks.
>
> I did an 80gB Intel SSD and a 2tB data drive with 3 partitions on the
> same OS but I guess the principle is the same. I finally decided that
> all of the OS files along with the most-frequently-used programs and
> utilities would go on the SSD and everything else would go on the data
> drive. Having the programs I load most would allow me to take advantage
> of the speed of the drive -- a program which gets run once a month, even
> if it took a relatively long time to load from the rotating drive, would
> cost me little. Smaller programs loaded frequently would add up to a lot
> more time coming from the slower drive. I just checked and the SSD shows
> 43.5gB free out of 72.2gB and I try to make sure that the SSD never gets
> more than 1/2 to 2/3 full out of concern for NAND wear and sparing (this
> may just be paranoia on my part).

Never thought about multi files v large files. Being lazy will probably
just
load the SSD with most used. However, you do have me on NAND?
Thanks for the tips.
Frank

On 11/17/2010 1:27 PM, Frank wrote:
> On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:22:53 -0000, John McGaw <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On 11/17/2010 9:27 AM, Frank wrote:
>>> Newbie starting a new build with a SSD 64GB drive which I intend to use as
>>> the boot and a separate 1TB drive for programs/storage.
>>>
>>> Question: should I only put the Win-7/64 files on it and/or other files
>>> to utilize the speed of the drive?
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> I did an 80gB Intel SSD and a 2tB data drive with 3 partitions on the
>> same OS but I guess the principle is the same. I finally decided that all
>> of the OS files along with the most-frequently-used programs and
>> utilities would go on the SSD and everything else would go on the data
>> drive. Having the programs I load most would allow me to take advantage
>> of the speed of the drive -- a program which gets run once a month, even
>> if it took a relatively long time to load from the rotating drive, would
>> cost me little. Smaller programs loaded frequently would add up to a lot
>> more time coming from the slower drive. I just checked and the SSD shows
>> 43.5gB free out of 72.2gB and I try to make sure that the SSD never gets
>> more than 1/2 to 2/3 full out of concern for NAND wear and sparing (this
>> may just be paranoia on my part).
>
> Never thought about multi files v large files. Being lazy will probably just
> load the SSD with most used. However, you do have me on NAND?
> Thanks for the tips.
> Frank

NAND is the type of flash memory used for data storage inside the SSD. The
memory has a definite number of cycles it can run through and part of the
SSD controller's job is to keep track of used/unused and when a given area
of memory "wears out" the controller moves the data elsewhere. I'd prefer
to be cautious and leave the SSD sparsely populated but, like I wrote, this
is probably just my own paranoia about component failures.