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SSD Cache. What is the benefit?

EternalSunKing

I'm looking to build my first computer. When looking at storage option you may find a 500gb SSD with a 512mb cache. What is the benefit of an SSD that has a cache vs not having one? Ex. Western Digital has an SSD with no cache will Crucial has an SSD with a cache. 

 

I am not trying to implement a server caching solution, just working with the basics here... Thanks. 

First build, nothing to see here...

 

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600  MOBO: Gigabyte Aorus B450 Pro Wifi  RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory STORAGE: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB + Crucial MX500 500GB 

GRAPHICS: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS Black Edition OC+ CASE: Phanteks Eclipse P400S POWER: SeaSonic EVO Edition 620 W Bronze Fully Modular

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Faster random access of the files you tend to access more often.

Personal Desktop":

CPU: Intel Core i7 10700K @5ghz |~| Cooling: bq! Dark Rock Pro 4 |~| MOBO: Gigabyte Z490UD ATX|~| RAM: 16gb DDR4 3333mhzCL16 G.Skill Trident Z |~| GPU: RX 6900XT Sapphire Nitro+ |~| PSU: Corsair TX650M 80Plus Gold |~| Boot:  SSD WD Green M.2 2280 240GB |~| Storage: 1x3TB HDD 7200rpm Seagate Barracuda + SanDisk Ultra 3D 1TB |~| Case: Fractal Design Meshify C Mini |~| Display: Toshiba UL7A 4K/60hz |~| OS: Windows 10 Pro.

Luna, the temporary Desktop:

CPU: AMD R9 7950XT  |~| Cooling: bq! Dark Rock 4 Pro |~| MOBO: Gigabyte Aorus Master |~| RAM: 32G Kingston HyperX |~| GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX (Reference) |~| PSU: Corsair HX1000 80+ Platinum |~| Windows Boot Drive: 2x 512GB (1TB total) Plextor SATA SSD (RAID0 volume) |~| Linux Boot Drive: 500GB Kingston A2000 |~| Storage: 4TB WD Black HDD |~| Case: Cooler Master Silencio S600 |~| Display 1 (leftmost): Eizo (unknown model) 1920x1080 IPS @ 60Hz|~| Display 2 (center): BenQ ZOWIE XL2540 1920x1080 TN @ 240Hz |~| Display 3 (rightmost): Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 3840x2160 IPS @ 60Hz 10-bit |~| OS: Windows 10 Pro (games / art) + Linux (distro: NixOS; programming and daily driver)
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In an SSD there's a map for different pieces of data in the drive. A cache-less SSD puts that into the slower NAND while cached SSD puts it in the faster and shorter latency DRAM (same stuff on system memory sticks). This means faster response.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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Okay, so it should be a reasonable performance difference. Here are the two 500GB SSD's I've been looking at. Would it be worth an extra $10 dollars for the Crucial SDD. With all fanboy opinions set aside.

 

Western Digital https://pcpartpicker.com/product/LRkj4D/western-digital-blue-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-wds500g2b0a

Crucial https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ft8j4D/crucial-mx500-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-ct500mx500ssd1

First build, nothing to see here...

 

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600  MOBO: Gigabyte Aorus B450 Pro Wifi  RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory STORAGE: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB + Crucial MX500 500GB 

GRAPHICS: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS Black Edition OC+ CASE: Phanteks Eclipse P400S POWER: SeaSonic EVO Edition 620 W Bronze Fully Modular

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