SSD Newbie

[Leopoldo]

Hello,

 

I searched a bit on the forums, but couldn't find precise and direct information,

 

I just got a SSD to myself, 256GB one, i come from years of HDD use only, so it's a nice upgrade for my desktop,

 

However, a few things that i want to know before i build the system:

 

1- Considering i'm not a hardcore gamer(but i do play quite a lot), what kind of things should be installed on the SSD and what on the HDD? [Considering 4 types of applications: OS, Heavily used programs(most played games, steam, etc), Less used applications,  and storage(although i think i know the answer to this one)]

 

2-What cares i have to do to the SSD? What i can/cannot or at least, should/shouldn't do to it

 

3-Any specific type of configuration/physical to be done once i start the system?

 

 

Thanks a lot everyone

 

 

[Krzyimprt]

1. You answered it yourself.

2. Don't defrag an SSD.

3. You have to enable AHCI in the bios for optimized performance.

[acidprototype]

Use the ssd for the os and programs you use alot and the hhd for main storage of all other files.

If you want to install some games on the ssd that you play alot, it will help with loading and give you a better gaming experience. 

As mentioned above, dont defrag your ssd. Make sure you change the SATA setting in your bios to AHCI mode and you might want to do a fresh install of your OS onto the ssd. Cloning your OS is fine but a fresh install is always better IMO.

To configure the drive (if your not doing a OS install on your ssd) would be to initialise it in the drive config. Then you should be able to use it. If your installing an OS on it, Windows will do this automatically.

[Captain_WD]

Hello,

 

I searched a bit on the forums, but couldn't find precise and direct information,

 

I just got a SSD to myself, 256GB one, i come from years of HDD use only, so it's a nice upgrade for my desktop,

 

However, a few things that i want to know before i build the system:

 

1- Considering i'm not a hardcore gamer(but i do play quite a lot), what kind of things should be installed on the SSD and what on the HDD? [Considering 4 types of applications: OS, Heavily used programs(most played games, steam, etc), Less used applications,  and storage(although i think i know the answer to this one)]

 

2-What cares i have to do to the SSD? What i can/cannot or at least, should/shouldn't do to it

 

3-Any specific type of configuration/physical to be done once i start the system?

 

 

Thanks a lot everyone

 

 

Hey there Leopoldo,

 

Congrats on getting a SSD. Here's my advice on this:

1. Store your OS, games and everything that you use frequently (movies, music not included as HDDs are fast enough to play those and you don't need to fill your SSD with such things). For less frequently used things (rarely played games, small programs, things you don't mind running a bit slower or loading initially slower, torrents, etc.) I would suggest sticking to the HDD.

 

2. As it was mentioned, don't defrag it as it wears it off pretty quickly. Also, it is recommended to leave about 15% free for optimal performance and speed. Another thing is to keep programs that do writing, updates and caching on the drive away from the SSD as it will fill pretty quickly. Windows updates also tend to fill it up pretty fast. Other than that - everything else is fine.

 

3. AHCI is what you need as settings. A fresh install of the OS is always the best decision. Other than that - it is a regular storage drive.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Captain_WD.  

[Recon97]

I wonder,if i buy a new ssd and install it.Do i have to change the mode to AHCL? What is that and what does it do?

[Captain_WD]

I wonder,if i buy a new ssd and install it.Do i have to change the mode to AHCL? What is that and what does it do?

 

 

Hey

 

Here's a quote from Crucial's community which I believe explains it well:

 

"What is AHCI ?

 

AHCI stand for Advance Host Controller Interface. AHCI is a hardware mechanism that allows software to communicate with Serial ATA (SATA) devices (such as host bus adapters) that are designed to offer features not offered by Parallel ATA (PATA) controllers, such as hot-plugging and native command queuing (NCQ). The specification details a system memory structure for computer hardware vendors in order to transfer data between system memory and the device.

 

Many SATA controllers can enable AHCI either separately or in conjunction with RAID support. Intel recommends choosing RAID mode on their motherboards (which also enables AHCI) rather than the plain AHCI/SATA mode for maximum flexibility, due to the issues caused when the mode is switched once an operating system has already been installed.

 

AHCI is fully supported out of the box for Microsoft Windows Vista and the Linux operating system from kernel 2.6.19. NetBSD also supports drivers in AHCI mode out of the box in certain versions. Older operating systems require drivers written by the host bus adapter vendor in order to support AHCI.

 

 

Advantage of AHCI

 

Hot-Plugging (will not cover here as it will not affect computer performance)

Native Command Queuing (might improve computer/system/hard disk responsiveness, espcially in multi-tasking environment

Will it slow down my computer

 

Several websites claim, NCQ (one of AHCI component) will cause performance degradation in single threaded benchmark, but other author claim otherwise. Let put our think hat here.

 

Their claims might correct at certain extent, but it is hard to prove that those single threaded benchmark will reflect real world application. Nowadays, hard disk is the slowest component in any modern PC (except we are using SSD). Antivirus, firewall, anti-spyware, windows update, background defragmentation, indexing (search), user applications (firefox, word, media player) ; all contribute to super multi-tasking, which I believe NCQ (AHCI) will show it advantage. So, in order to have better understanding on how NCQ (AHCI) could improve system responsiveness, let see what is NCQ actually is.

 

So, what is NCQ?

 

In principle, Native Command Queuing is relatively simple. It allows the drive to execute write /read commands that are transmitted randomly in order to optimise the movement of the reading head.

 

 

Speed is increased but there is also an impact on power consumption and noise level which is reduced. Of course, applications don’t have to work simultaneously and don’t have to wait for the previous result to send the next command. This of course isn’t always possible. Another possibility in using NCQ is multitasking in the case where you run two very heavy applications simultaneously from the drive point of view.

 

To better explain this situation, imagine an elevator, in which two people enter simultaneously on the ground floor. The first pushes the 12th floor button and the second the 2nd floor. It would be counterproductive to go to the 12th floor and then to the 2nd floor. The principle of NCQ was already in the ATA norm since 1997 with TCQ (Tagged Command Queuing). This heavier protocol could sometimes lead to significant performance losses in the case of low loads (no or very little command reorganisation to do) and has been integrated in a limited number of controllers. Hitachi supports it on 7K250 drives, like Western and the Raptor WD740GD, while on the chipset side, we can count on NVIDIA but not Intel.

 

SATA 3.0 Gbits /s defines a new speed of data transmission for the Serial ATA interface. Initially, SATA reached up to 1.5 Gbits /s, which really corresponds to 150 mega-octets per second as 20% of information is dedicated to error correction. The transfer rate is now increased to 300 MB/s but we have to keep in mind that this is the interface speed. It has nothing to do with disc speed alone. At most, cache speed would be affected.

 

For NCQ to be enabled, it must be supported and turned on in the SATA host bus adapter and in the hard drive itself. The appropriate driver must be loaded into the operating system to enable NCQ on the host bus adapter. Many newer chipsets support the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), which should allow a generic driver supplied by the operating system to control them and enable NCQ. In fact, newer mainstream Linux kernels support AHCI natively. Unfortunately, Windows XP requires the installation of a vendor-specific driver even if AHCI is present on the host bus adapter. Windows Vista corrects this situation by including a generic AHCI driver."

 

TL;DR: allows software to communicate with Serial ATA (SATA) devices (such as host bus adapters) that are designed to offer features not offered by Parallel ATA (PATA) controllers, such as hot-plugging and native command queuing (NCQ). 

 

Hope this clears it up a bit

 

Captain_WD.

[Leopoldo]

 

Hey there Leopoldo,

 

Congrats on getting a SSD. Here's my advice on this:

1. Store your OS, games and everything that you use frequently (movies, music not included as HDDs are fast enough to play those and you don't need to fill your SSD with such things). For less frequently used things (rarely played games, small programs, things you don't mind running a bit slower or loading initially slower, torrents, etc.) I would suggest sticking to the HDD.

 

2. As it was mentioned, don't defrag it as it wears it off pretty quickly. Also, it is recommended to leave about 15% free for optimal performance and speed. Another thing is to keep programs that do writing, updates and caching on the drive away from the SSD as it will fill pretty quickly. Windows updates also tend to fill it up pretty fast. Other than that - everything else is fine.

 

3. AHCI is what you need as settings. A fresh install of the OS is always the best decision. Other than that - it is a regular storage drive.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Captain_WD.  

 

Hey cap, cheers for the great info, just so i don't fall into a trap, do you have any examples of those "heavy writing" programs? 

 

cheers

[Captain_WD]

Hey cap, cheers for the great info, just so i don't fall into a trap, do you have any examples of those "heavy writing" programs? 

 

cheers

 

 

Here is a quote on Disk Caching: 

"Disk cache:

Main article: Page cache

While CPU caches are generally managed entirely by hardware, a variety of software manages other caches. The page cache in main memory, which is an example of disk cache, is managed by the operating system kernel.

 

While the hard drive's hardware disk buffer is sometimes misleadingly referred to as "disk cache", its main functions are write sequencing and read prefetching. Repeated cache hits are relatively rare, due to the small size of the buffer in comparison to the drive's capacity. However, high-end disk controllers often have their own on-board cache of hard disk data blocks.

 

Finally, a fast local hard disk can also cache information held on even slower data storage devices, such as remote servers (web cache) or local tape drives or optical jukeboxes. Such a scheme is the main concept of hierarchical storage management."

 

Basically, any progrm that does temporary files would do lots of writing on the drive. Every program that does editing (video, photo, audio) is such and you should deviate the writing of temp files to your HDD.

 

Also, forgot to mention, you shouldn't use old OS such as WIndows XP or Vista as they don't support the TRIM feature and would wear down your SSD pretty fast.

 

Captain_WD.

[LogicalDrm]

Some advice from me too. Map all your file storage folders like pics, videos and music to HDD. Have folders names Program Files and Program Files (x86) on both drives. This will help you a lot when installing new software. Since all software will install to C: by default, you only need to change letter for installation path to what your HDD is using.