SSD cache for HDD

[Recneps01]

I want to use an older NVMe 512gb SSD as a cache to speed up things a little on my 8tb HDD. The HDD is mostly games library, not boot drive. Also the 512gb is not boot either.  I don't know what would be best to do. Is using the whole drive better, or is it best practice to use some of it for cache and keep some extra for other storage?

First, what's the best way to do this?

Second, what are, if any, the limitations on doing something like this?

 

Important specs of current system:

Intel 7700k

Asus Maximus hero ix z270 chipset

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by Recneps01

[Electronics Wizardy]

Is that hard drive your boot drive?

 

Id setup something like storage spaces tiering here, but other options include primocache, andvothers.

[FloRolf]

That seems like a waste for a 500gb nvme. 

 

[Recneps01]

The HDD is mostly games library, not boot drive. Also the 512gb is not boot either.  I don't know what would be best to do. Is using the whole drive better, or is it best practice to use some of it for cache and keep some extra for other storage?

[RejZoR]

Yes you can and it works beautifully. All you need is program called PrimoCache. It's not free, but at $30 for lifetime license it's a no brainer. You can try 30 day trial if you're unsure.

 

Basically you install everything on HDD (even Windows!), install PrimoCache, pair the 512GB SSD to the HDD and let it do its magic. Initially it'll feel slow, but with each reboot and each program you use, everything will become super snappy, responsive and also system will become quieter since most reads will happen from SSD's cache and not from HDD. I think 512GB is perfect for 8TB.

[e22big]

9 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Yes you can and it works beautifully. All you need is program called PrimoCache. It's not free, but at $30 for lifetime license it's a no brainer. You can try 30 day trial if you're unsure.

 

Basically you install everything on HDD (even Windows!), install PrimoCache, pair the 512GB SSD to the HDD and let it do its magic. Initially it'll feel slow, but with each reboot and each program you use, everything will become super snappy, responsive and also system will become quieter since most reads will happen from SSD's cache and not from HDD. I think 512GB is perfect for 8TB.

Primochache have a very limited cache capacity though, I think they can't use more than 64GB of the drive at the time or something, quite a waste to pair it with 512GB. They also drain your Ram quite a bit

[RejZoR]

2 hours ago, e22big said:

Primochache have a very limited cache capacity though, I think they can't use more than 64GB of the drive at the time or something, quite a waste to pair it with 512GB. They also drain your Ram quite a bit

Both statements are incorrect. The L2 (SSD) cache is limited to 2TB. RAM usage is minimal unless you dedicate RAM for caching purposes. It can be solely SSD caching where it just consumes RAM for the program itself which is few MB.

[e22big]

19 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Both statements are incorrect. The L2 (SSD) cache is limited to 2TB. RAM usage is minimal unless you dedicate RAM for caching purposes. It can be solely SSD caching where it just consumes RAM for the program itself which is few MB.

hmn,,, when I used it a couple of year ago the program spesifically show popup that for stability sake, L2 is limited to 64GB I guess they already fixed that up

 

It doesn't use much of your ram but still use some of it, something like Intel Optane will not use any of your ram at all (and I assume the AMD counterpart also do the same thing)

[RejZoR]

Maybe it's been more than just couple of years because I've been on SSD exclusively for several years now and before it II was using hybrid storage. RST is a stupid volatile system. Losing the cache screws up your entire drive accelerated by it. Where with primoCache, it just stops caching and you'll just notice everything will get slow again and you'll hear HDD grind more. And that's it. I'd take this any time. I've used RST and it's not a good system. Plus, you have zero control over it. Oh and if you do have Optane, you can even use write caching without much worries since Optane can accept a lot more writes than regular NAND drives. Meaning you can basically turn storage into near SSD speeds in both directions where with just read acceleration you only speed up reading things, but writing things to drive is still at HDD speeds.