What SSD should I get?

[TheNuzziNuzz]

I currently have a Samsung 840 Evo 128gb (100gb Usable). I've run out of space on it, and really want more faster storage for more things. I'm thinking I will get another, faster, bigger SSD and use the 840 EVO as a scratch disk.

 

I want to store lots of music (50+gb) and install the Adobe suite and Ableton Live 9 on it for faster loading times, and maybe one game. All my work and media in Ableton and Adobe is stored on another larger HDD so that's not a concern and I can always move things there, but I want the speed of an SSD>

 

Questions

1. 250gb enough or is 500 worth it?

2. What SSD could I get as an upgrade? (850 pro/evo? What's the difference?)

3. And would this be a good configuration for my use case?

 

[Guest]

Why store music on an SSD?

 

You can get a 850evo/pro or a 950/960 depends on how much you can spend

[rafazafar]

1. depends on u, for me 256 is enough for most apps esp since u will be adding it to the 128gb.
2. for SATA SSDs, any good brand is ok. doesnt matter. doesnt even need to be samsung.
3. Try to run all Apps and temporary files on the SSD.

and having two SSDs, one for scratch will help.
Keep music and such files on the HDD, it doesnt need the speed. if you notice the HDD is slowing down file access like music, theres something wrong with that.

all in all, get something thats simple and with enough storage, dont worry about the brand/model so much as long as its a recent model build by a good brand. tho stay away from kingston for a while.
Samsung, Sandisk, WD, Intel, Adata, Transcend all make good SSDs.

If you really want to hammer the SSD hard non stop. go with Samsung or Intel.

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I currently have a Samsung 840 Evo 128gb (100gb Usable). I've run out of space on it, and really want more faster storage for more things. I'm thinking I will get another, faster, bigger SSD and use the 840 EVO as a scratch disk.

 

I want to store lots of music (50+gb) and install the Adobe suite and Ableton Live 9 on it for faster loading times, and maybe one game. All my work and media in Ableton and Adobe is stored on another larger HDD so that's not a concern and I can always move things there, but I want the speed of an SSD>

 

Questions

1. 250gb enough or is 500 worth it?

2. What SSD could I get as an upgrade? (850 pro/evo? What's the difference?)

3. And would this be a good configuration for my use case?

 

If your using it as a scratch disk and plan to do lot of heavy writes to it may be a good idea to consider stepping up to the pro model. It has MLC NAND over TLC of the Evo which also makes it have the higher number of writes (durability) and longer waranty. 

 

For size that is mainly up to the user but I would probably recommend the 500GB if you've maxed out a 120GB already. 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

If your using it as a scratch disk and plan to do lot of heavy writes to it may be a good idea to consider stepping up to the pro model. It has MLC NAND over TLC of the Evo which also makes it have the higher number of writes (durability) and longer waranty. 

 

For size that is mainly up to the user but I would probably recommend the 500GB if you've maxed out a 120GB already. 

 

Is the pro any faster?

 

I was planning to move my OS to the new SSD and use the 128 as a scratch, but I see it might make more sense to use a 500gb pro for OS and scratch + other stuff and use the 128 gb for programs and a game?

[XenosTech]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

If your using it as a scratch disk and plan to do lot of heavy writes to it may be a good idea to consider stepping up to the pro model. It has MLC NAND over TLC of the Evo which also makes it have the higher number of writes (durability) and longer waranty. 

 

For size that is mainly up to the user but I would probably recommend the 500GB if you've maxed out a 120GB already. 

I was gonna say keep the current SSD as is and get 2 other SSD's if they could afford them... One for the apps they intend to install and one for the scratch disk

[TheNuzziNuzz]

3 minutes ago, rafazafar said:

1. depends on u, for me 256 is enough for most apps esp since u will be adding it to the 128gb.
2. for SATA SSDs, any good brand is ok. doesnt matter. doesnt even need to be samsung.
3. Try to run all Apps and temporary files on the SSD.

and having two SSDs, one for scratch will help.
Keep music and such files on the HDD, it doesnt need the speed. if you notice the HDD is slowing down file access like music, theres something wrong with that.

 

 

5 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Why store music on an SSD?

 

You can get a 850evo/pro or a 950/960 depends on how much you can spend

 

I do alot of raw music files and VST plugins that I want on an SSD to speed up loading times. I won't have everything on the SSD just the things I use often.

 

Maybe I could partition the 128gb in half. Half for cach on HDD and other as scratch disk?

[XenosTech]

Recommended to clean install... OS migrations can be whacky with SSD's at times

[W-L]

Just now, TheNuzziNuzz said:

Is the pro any faster?

 

I was planning to move my OS to the new SSD and use the 128 as a scratch, but I see it might make more sense to use a 500gb pro for OS and scratch + other stuff and use the 128 gb for programs and a game?

Speed wise no, unless your looking into NVME drives there is no difference. In most cases 120GB is more than enough for windows and vital programs you use. 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

1 minute ago, XenosTech said:

I was gonna say keep the current SSD as is and get 2 other SSD's if they could afford them... One for the apps they intend to install and one for the scratch disk

What two SSDs? I could probably do it if I see a large enough benefit, I don't need to go too crazy though. Why would I need two? My Motherboard is the MSI Z97S Sli Krait Eddition.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

Speed wise no, unless your looking into NVME drives there is no difference. In most cases 120GB is more than enough for windows and vital programs you use. 

My 128gb SSD is full.

 

How much more are NVME drives? Could you suggest one?

[rafazafar]

 

1 minute ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

Is the pro any faster?

 

I was planning to move my OS to the new SSD and use the 128 as a scratch, but I see it might make more sense to use a 500gb pro for OS and scratch + other stuff and use the 128 gb for programs and a game?

Realistically its highly unlikely that you will use the SSDs till its write limit.

You can go for the MLC Pros, but really if you want performance, look at NVMe straight away. If not dont worry to much. the difference is too little, just by us talking here we have wasted more time than given by the gains lol.

For your large RAW audio files yeah it will definitely help. Just store them in HDD, plop them over in the Scratch SSD when you want to work on it. Once done, save it back on HDD.
 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

2 minutes ago, XenosTech said:

Recommended to clean install... OS migrations can be whacky with SSD's at times

If A do a clean install on a new SDD

 

1. Will windows activate on the new one/will I have to de-active the old install first?

2. Can I access the files on the drives I have setup now (The current windows SSD and Media drive)? I would need to transfer files.

[XenosTech]

1 minute ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

What two SSDs? I could probably do it if I see a large enough benefit, I don't need to go too crazy though. Why would I need two? My Motherboard is the MSI Z97S Sli Krait Eddition.

Some people have one drive dedicated as a scratch disk (it's not large capacity drive) and they have one just for storing apps... Kinda like how my workstation is set up at work (we don't have anything on the C: drive but the OS and them we have a 3 TB HDD for general storage

[TheNuzziNuzz]

2 minutes ago, XenosTech said:

Some people have one drive dedicated as a scratch disk (it's not large capacity drive) and they have one just for storing apps... Kinda like how my workstation is set up at work (we don't have anything on the C: drive but the OS and them we have a 3 TB HDD for general storage

 

 

I think two new drives would be a little much for my situation. But I could dedicate the 128gb SSD as a scratch disk, then get a 500gb SSD for OS and apps.

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

My 128gb SSD is full.

 

How much more are NVME drives? Could you suggest one?

They are a bit more than the regular SSD the 960 evo or pro series are some of the best currently out there. 

 

Just remeber though you won't really see a difference in speed other than in data transfers and such from one NVME to another. Most programs won't be able to utilize the full speeds of NVME. 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

3 minutes ago, rafazafar said:

 

Realistically its highly unlikely that you will use the SSDs till its write limit.

You can go for the MLC Pros, but really if you want performance, look at NVMe straight away. If not dont worry to much. the difference is too little, just by us talking here we have wasted more time than given by the gains lol.

For your large RAW audio files yeah it will definitely help. Just store them in HDD, plop them over in the Scratch SSD when you want to work on it. Once done, save it back on HDD.
 

 

Not Likely. The only writing I do is video capture, game downloads, and document saving. So should I get another 840 Evo? Whats the benefit to a 850 evo?

[rafazafar]

5 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

If A do a clean install on a new SDD

 

1. Will windows activate on the new one/will I have to de-active the old install first?

2. Can I access the files on the drives I have setup now (The current windows SSD and Media drive)? I would need to transfer files.

You can do a migration first. If its not stable or somthing, then do a windows reset. If still not ok, then do a fresh install.

Suggested setup:
Disk 1: 240GB+ Sata SSD  - OS and Applications
Disk 2 :120GB 840 Evo - Temporary work files and scratch
Disk 3 : Archive HDD - Storage

 

This way theres no need to partition or anything

ps. Update your 840 Evo firmware if you havent.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

They are a bit more than the regular SSD the 960 evo or pro series are some of the best currently out there. 

 

Just remeber though you won't really see a difference in speed other than in data transfers and such from one NVME to another. Most programs won't be able to utilize the full speeds of NVME. 

 

Will it affect windows startup time? Im verry impacient.

[XenosTech]

2 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I think two new drives would be a little much for my situation.

Well get another SSD and partition it but keep the 128 gb as is and move over the apps/files you want on the new SSD and your current HDD

[W-L]

1 minute ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

Will it affect windows startup time? Im verry impacient.

No not in any meaningful way. 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

1 minute ago, rafazafar said:

You can do a migration first. If its not stable or somthing, then do a windows reset. If still not ok, then do a fresh install.

Suggested setup:
Disk 1: 240GB+ Sata SSD  - OS and Applications
Disk 2 :120GB 840 Evo - Temporary work files and scratch
Disk 3 : Archive HDD - Storage

ps. Update your 840 Evo firmware if you havent.

 

Im concerned Im going to fill 240gb too fast after putting games and software on it. It will come down to price. 

 

I have a 1tb drive I have been using for programs and media. I will move the programs to a larger SSD and just use it for my Media and backup.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

No not in any meaningful way. 

Okay so it wouldn't make sense for me.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

3 minutes ago, XenosTech said:

Well get another SSD and partition it but keep the 128 gb as is and move over the apps/files you want on the new SSD and your current HDD

I have had so many programs with symlink and installing things in different locations. For the sake of my sanity im going to spare myself the struggle ever again and just get a big enough SSD considering I can spend the money on it.

[rafazafar]

1 minute ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I have had so many programs with symlink and installing things in different locations. For the sake of my sanity im going to spare myself the struggle ever again and just get a big enough SSD considering I can spend the money on it.

 

3 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

Im concerned Im going to fill 240gb too fast after putting games and software on it. It will come down to price. 

 

I have a 1tb drive I have been using for programs and media. I will move the programs to a larger SSD and just use it for my Media and backup.

You should not put games on the SSD so much as the load times wont be hugely different. Unless you do PC benchmarking for a living where you will be reloading levels repeatedly. Then its worth it.

Really. I think the 3 drive setup will suit you very well. theres no need to change much aside from some temporary file settings in your production applications. Its cheaper and faster than a single large SSD with no sratch.