Is a small scratch disk with boot good for a workstation

AshesAndWool · February 10, 2020

Hey, I looked at the pinned threads on the storage forum which recommended a small, fast reliable scratch disk for professional workstation applications. I am considering a 256 gb evo pro to work as a scratch disk along with my nvme pcie 500 gb drive which holds my programs and OS. My application is audio production and I want to move finished projects from the scratch disk to a 10+ tb NAS whenever they are finished. The topic that recommended a small reliable ssd was like 8 years old, but is this still the best option for my application? (if you ignore my choice of SSD, yes I am sure there are 1000 better ones, but my local retailer sells them at a very good price) Thanks.

Bombastinator · February 10, 2020

35 minutes ago, AshesAndWool said:

Hey, I looked at the pinned threads on the storage forum which recommended a small, fast reliable scratch disk for professional workstation applications. I am considering a 256 gb evo pro to work as a scratch disk along with my nvme pcie 500 gb drive which holds my programs and OS. My application is audio production and I want to move finished projects from the scratch disk to a 10+ tb NAS whenever they are finished. The topic that recommended a small reliable ssd was like 8 years old, but is this still the best option for my application? (if you ignore my choice of SSD, yes I am sure there are 1000 better ones, but my local retailer sells them at a very good price) Thanks.

The major change I would assume is that SSDs have gotten bigger and cheaper. If you look at PcPartPicker, look at both total cost and cost per gb. The smaller SSDs have lower total cost, but their cost per gb is often much higher. You don’t need more scratch disk than you need of course and if you’re throwing everything into a big nas it’s less important. I wouldn’t pick a small one just because it’s small though.

AshesAndWool · February 10, 2020

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

The major change I would assume is that SSDs have gotten bigger and cheaper. If you look at PcPartPicker, look at both total cost and cost per gb. The smaller SSDs have lower total cost, but their cost per gb is often much higher. You don’t need more scratch disk than you need of course and if you’re throwing everything into a big nas it’s less important. I wouldn’t pick a small one just because it’s small though.

Ok yeah I'll keep that in mind. The 256 gb disk here is almost exactly half the price of the 512 gb one, so I think I'll go for the 256 gb one since there is no way I am ever going to have more than 256 gb of active files in pro tools and I'd rather spend the money I save on instruments. Thanks for your answer:)

Bombastinator · February 10, 2020

3 hours ago, AshesAndWool said:

Ok yeah I'll keep that in mind. The 256 gb disk here is almost exactly half the price of the 512 gb one, so I think I'll go for the 256 gb one since there is no way I am ever going to have more than 256 gb of active files in pro tools and I'd rather spend the money I save on instruments. Thanks for your answer:)

One more point that may be useful cache on an ssd is handy. Not so much for speed(though it helps a bit) but for reliability and some other stuff. Doesn’t need to be much cache, but apparently it makes a difference.