SSD how much faster than standard hard drives with a large cache?

[Joe]

I'm planning to purchase a new Dell PC. I'm a fairly typical user- I use MS
Office, Paintshop Pro for some amateur photo stuff, and I now enjoy amateur
video editing- and I do lots of web surfing.

I'm comparing a Dell with a SSD boot drive (and a 2nd drive for data) with a
standard hard drive with a 32 gig cache.

Is there likely to be a dramatic difference in speed between the two?

no doubt the SSD will boot up faster- but beyond that, will ordinary use of
the computer seem much faster?

if the SSD boot drive will be much faster I'll spring for the extra cost-
but if it's only, say, 20% faster- I probably can't afford it for that
benefit.

Joe

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I'm planning to purchase a new Dell PC. I'm a fairly typical user- I use
MS Office, Paintshop Pro for some amateur photo stuff, and I now enjoy
amateur video editing- and I do lots of web surfing.

I'm comparing a Dell with a SSD boot drive (and a 2nd drive for data)
with a standard hard drive with a 32 gig cache.

Is there likely to be a dramatic difference in speed between the two?

no doubt the SSD will boot up faster- but beyond that, will ordinary use
of the computer seem much faster?
Yes.

if the SSD boot drive will be much faster I'll spring for the extra
cost- but if it's only, say, 20% faster- I probably can't afford it for
that benefit.

My boot times went from 1:30 down to 0:20, that's including the startup
times for all programs, not just to the initial welcome screen. I dare
say that an SSD was the biggest boost to performance that I've ever felt
since the time I went from an 8088 PC-XT straight to an 386DX processor.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Joe]

Right, but I'm wondering if Dell's alternative of a HDD mated with that 32
gig SSD as a cache would be almost as good. It would be nice if Dell and
other firms did some tests to find out.
Joe

 

[Rod Speed]

Right, but I'm wondering if Dell's alternative of a HDD mated with that 32
gig SSD as a cache would be almost as good. It would be nice if Dell and
other firms did some tests to find out.

I haven't bothered to check if this one has.
http://www.storagereview.com/

 

[Joe]

the rate of change in the computer world seems to be accelerating! I bet
those of you who try hard to keep up with it can hardly do so, never mind
those of us who only try to catch up ever several years- but it is
fascinating stuff- I wonder what our PCs will be like in 20 years from now?
Joe

 

[Shadow]

the rate of change in the computer world seems to be accelerating! I bet
those of you who try hard to keep up with it can hardly do so, never mind
those of us who only try to catch up ever several years- but it is
fascinating stuff- I wonder what our PCs will be like in 20 years from now?
Joe

Something like the screens in "1984", you won't even have to
carry one around with you, they will be everywhere. But then I'm a
realist.
[]'s

 

[Rod Speed]

the rate of change in the computer world seems to be accelerating!

Dunno, its more that we do see surges at times.

I bet those of you who try hard to keep up with it can hardly do so,

I don't have a problem doing that myself.

never mind those of us who only try to catch up ever several years- but it
is fascinating stuff-

Yeah, that's the main reason I got into computers
now more than 50 years ago now.

I wonder what our PCs will be like in 20 years from now?

Most likely some variation on goggle glasses IMO
with a lot more voice input than the use of keyboards.

 

[Rod Speed]

Something like the screens in "1984", you won't even have
to carry one around with you, they will be everywhere.

Likely, but I expect something google glasses as well.

We're already seeing a lot more viable voice input.

But then I'm a realist.
[]'s

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Right, but I'm wondering if Dell's alternative of a HDD mated with that
32 gig SSD as a cache would be almost as good. It would be nice if Dell
and other firms did some tests to find out.
Joe

I'm sure that'll be a good choice too, especially for cramped laptop
environments where it's either a lot of capacity with an HDD, or a lot
of speed with an SSD. This gives you a nice compromise of both, the
compromise being that a bit of extra cost involved, since it's a
combined HDD and SSD.

Yousuf Khan