Things to not put on an SSD

[Dude]

Hey guys,

My new Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD arrives tomorrow and I will be installing Windows 7 on there but I must ask one thing:

What should I not put on an SSD?

I'm talking in terms of programs though, I know that typical files such as word documents and images should not be stored on an SSD because that is not what they are for. Also, I don't want to bog down the SSD by putting random crap on it.

Thanks

[WinNut]

OS+applications+frequently used games

[Sernyhough]

I don't install games on my SSD unless I'm using 500GB, 256GB at the least.

[Archangel1994]

The things you want on it: OS, every single driver, Utilities that are not big in size, game you play often with relatively long load times (not too big in size though).

 

What you do not want on it: Giant things unless it's about the only thing you put on it (For instance full DLC BF4: 52GB). Things that have no real load times or benefit from SSD's.

[Damikiller37]

Your downloads destination since you might as well have that on an HDD especially if you download and delete things a lot. Any editing software since it will make a lot of temporary files every time you work using them. I'd say just keep it down to essential programs and selected games then keep the other data that you will store away (music, photos and videos) on an HDD.

[hojnikb]

Put everything you want on it. Start with OS and most commonly used programs.

Also check this http://www.overclock.net/t/1507897/samsung-840-evo-read-speed-drops-on-old-written-data-in-the-drive/90

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

For the love of god, do not install the likes of Minecraft into an SSD.

 

That game will kill your unit faster than you can plan for a vacation!

[Enderman]

For the love of god, do not install the likes of Minecraft into an SSD.

 

That game will kill your unit faster than you can plan for a vacation!

wtf are you talking about?

[pjm0925]

If you mod your games, especially with hi res texture packs, you might want to put them on another drive.

[Enderman]

If your SSD is large enough, it is beneficial to put all your files and media on it. If you have limited SSD space this is what you should do:

 

60GB - OS only

120GB - OS and some programs/games

240GB - OS all games and programs, and maybe documents if they fit

480GB - everything except pictures and videos (unless you have very few pics/vids)

960GB - all you can fit! video files can take up a lot of space if you record, so those should be kept on a several TB HDD

 

Note: SSDs don't slow down the more they get filled up. They will only start having speed issues if you fill it past 90% capacity, so if you keep 25% of the SSD empty you will not have any problems at all.

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

wtf are you talking about?

 

I see your Member ID; LOL

 

But seriously, that game uses the read/write cycle of the storage so rapidly, that it is unfeasible to use an SSD for it. If you want to make the game faster, then set up a RAMdisk.

[Enderman]

I see your Member ID; LOL

 

But seriously, that game uses the read/write cycle of the storage so rapidly, that it is unfeasible to use an SSD for it. If you want to make the game faster, then set up a RAMdisk.

I've had minecraft and several servers on an SSD for the past 4 years and its perfectly fine. It actually does not use up read and write speeds on your drive, because the game data is cached to ram. It only writes to the SSD when the game saves, and even then it's only a few megabytes of data.

 

Compared to an OS like windows, minecraft does nothing to the SSD. Operating systems constantly read and write thousands of files every second, yet people use SSDs for their OS and have no problem. There is absolutely no issue with minecraft on an SSD.

[set_flo]

You can set "Program Files" and TEMP on to your HDD using registry edits. Google this but beware that modifying your registry may lead to instabilities if you go to far.

 

You can set "My Documents", "Desktop" etc. on to your HDD by going to C:\users\yourname and then right-click on "Desktop", go to "Properties" then "Location" and change the location to be on your HDD. That way, every time you click "Create shortcut on desktop" it will put it on your HDD rather than your SSD.

 

Personal preference though, not really necessary. Does decrease the amount of space used on your SSD though.

Either way, keep drivers on your SSD and create a backup on a HDD.

[decer304]

I just have my OS and all programs (ms visio, office etc) and a few games that have poor loading times (civ 5). i still have over 40 gigs left on my samsung evo 120gb

[ConfusedTapeworm]

You can set "Program Files" and TEMP on to your HDD using registry edits. Google this but beware that modifying your registry may lead to instabilities if you go to far.

I advise against this. A lot of programs don't even look at your system's default installation folder and just find themselves a cozy spot in C:\. Also some programs, including MS Office and Windows Photo Viewer, refuse to launch when they are installed on a different drive than the default one. I had my def Program Files set to "D:\Program Files" but my Office was installed on "C:\Program Files" and it insisted on not cooperating with me until I changed my default back to C:\.

 

You're much better off manually selecting the installation folder before clicking "next".

[Sidiox]

Well mainly of course you want the OS on it, but for programs that you don't want on it: large games, your download folder probably (if you download and delete a lot it usually doesn't give much benefit to put it on an SSD it just wears it out more), if you use editing software stuff like Photoshop, After Effects or Vegas Pro make sure that they use the HDD as scratch disk and file cache since that kind of programs when installed on your SSD will also cache their data there, and those files wear your SSD out fast. Although it is handy, imo, to have the programs themselves installed  on your SSD since that will grant you much faster loading times. 

 

And another tip, if your SSD isnt too big and you have enough HDD space, back the entire SSD up to the HDD every once in a while, because when it fails you won't be able to retrieve data from it (while sometimes you can more easily do that with crashed HDD's)

[hojnikb]

I see your Member ID; LOL

 

But seriously, that game uses the read/write cycle of the storage so rapidly, that it is unfeasible to use an SSD for it. If you want to make the game faster, then set up a RAMdisk.

 

Stop spreading bullshit. Minecraft will absolutly never destroy an SSD in its usefull lifetime.

[Dude]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone. My SSD is set up and everything is now a lot faster. It's almost as if I gave my PC steroids.

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

Stop spreading bullshit. Minecraft will absolutly never destroy an SSD in its usefull lifetime.

 

In respect to SSD, @Enderman has made his point and i accepted that; no need to be so pissy about it!

 

As for RAMdisk, my argument still stands. Minecraft is a small game, and RAM is objectively faster than SSD.

[Enderman]

In respect to SSD, @Enderman has made his point and i accepted that; no need to be so pissy about it!

 

As for RAMdisk, my argument still stands. Minecraft is a small game, and RAM is objectively faster than SSD.

Minecraft already caches almost the entire game into ram, so a ramdisk would just give you the same speeds. This is why minecraft uses tons of ram.

[Swndlr]

im a pro at this believe it or not, just make sure all the stupid shit goes on an external hdd (in my case) or for you just the hdd not the ssd. only the os and everyday programs or apps go on it. so like if youre a graphic designer, keep all of your adobe apps on it

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

Minecraft already caches almost the entire game into ram, so a ramdisk would just give you the same speeds. This is why minecraft uses tons of ram.

 

Fair enough.