Running CS5 application off a SSD drive

Pete Bauer · September 24th, 2010, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Kalle

Also, it is better to use Windows 7 because it has TRIM support, which helps keep a drive 'clean' and performing at its best.

Yup, definitely. In fact, when the Raptor failed on my old system (it was a Vistax64 partition), I considered just replacing it with a cheap SSD but after doing a little reading decided it wasn't worth the bother and doubt about TRIM (for me) to get an SSD as a non-Win7 OS drive on an old system.

I'm really happy with the SSD in my Win 7 system, though!

Paulo Teixeira · October 26th, 2010, 07:32 PM

I'm currently building a new computer and some things are very simple to choose like the i7 950 processor and the NVidia GTX 470 card. I do have everything else all set but I'm struggling on what I'll be using as a boot up drive that will store Windows 7 and all the programs such as CS5 Master Collection. My video files will be stored in other hard drives.

At the moment I have the Corsair 160GB drive on hold but for around $50 more I can get this

Amazon.com: OCZ Technology 120 GB RevoDrive Series PCI-Express x4 Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSDPX-1RVD0120: Electronics: Reviews, Prices & more

It's about double the speed but has 40GB less storage. What does anybody think of it? I'm having Micro Center built my computer and for now they will put everything together except for that main drive in case I change my mind. I have a few days to think about this. That costs almost as much as the 12GB of RAM and the Corsair 160GB is already pushing it. Still, at least I'm not buying directly from Dell, HP or Apple. 12GB of RAM, a Blu-Ray burner and a solid state drive would have costs me a kidney! although it would have been nice to get one of those with 2 processors and then I can buy the extra stuff elsewhere to save money such as more RAM, etc but even then, I still wouldn't have been able to afford it. When I include taxes, the extended warranty and the costs of building the computer, it ends up being a little over $2,200. Obviously that price does not include the monitor. I need to buy a new HD TV anyway so I'll use that as the monitor.

Paulo Teixeira · October 27th, 2010, 01:51 AM

According to this review, it's definitely a speed demon but without TRIM support, it'll degrade slightly quicker than a regular solid state drive.
OCZ RevoDrive Review: SSD RAID + PCI-Express - HotHardware

If I'm going to be using the computer a lot for editing than maybe it wont be such a good idea.
For sure with the money I'll save, I can get another hard drive. I can save a little more if I choose a regular 120GB SSD drive rather than 160 although I wont have as much wiggle room. I really don't want to have a lot of hard drives but from reading a lot about people's set up, it looks like 4 should be the minimum in order to separate everything (I'm not sure if I really need a raid and I hear you need more than 4 hard drives for a proper raid set-up). If I were to have 1 SSD and 2 Hard drives for a total of 3 drives, would it really be that bad? Then again I do have an external hard drive with a fire-wire port which would make a total of 4 usable drives. I also have a USB drive but it's only for backup purposes in case my fire wire drive goes haywire. I know I can save money without getting an SSD period but I feel I'll be better off using it as a bootable drive for Windows 7 and programs. I think the computer will be working hard as is for the graphics card and the i7 processor. For the power supply, it's 700 watts. For my specs, is that high enough? For sure I'm assuming 600 is too low.

Also as far as editing is concerned, I'm not going to notice any performance difference in choosing Windows 7 verses the Professional version, right? I'd rather get the regular 7 64 bit in order to save money but if I'll benefit from the Professional version, I'll have to think about that. I'm already spending more on this computer than originally planned unfortunately since I'm also trying to get an HD TV.

Sorry that it appears that I'm hijacking this thread.

Pete Bauer · October 27th, 2010, 07:45 AM

IHMO: no TRIM, no buy. If you're not planning to burden this computer with a bunch of large programs, 160GB is more than enough for a C: drive and the Corsair should be fine. On my only-for-editing box (Adobe Master Collection) I have a 120GB Corsair SSD and its only about half full.

EDIT: I'll add that in my view, the value of using an SSD as a C: drive derives from the super fast disk access times (microseconds instead of milliseconds) to handle the many small file reads and writes that the OS and programs make, as well as being more reliable, quieter, and cooler than a traditional HDD. Having the super fastest read/write times isn't a bad thing except for cost, but a mid-cost SSD will still give you all the other benefits and still competitive or maybe faster read/write than most HDDs.

Randall Leong · October 27th, 2010, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Bauer

IHMO: no TRIM, no buy.

In addition, even if the SSD of the PC owner's choice does support TRIM, the TRIM support will get disabled if that person configures the SSDs as part of any RAID array. So, the SSD must be configured as JBOD (not in a RAID array), and must be run with the SATA controller set to either AHCI or RAID. (Running an SSD with the SATA controller set in IDE mode will also disable TRIM.) This is due to the limitations in the current version of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver.

Rich Perry · October 27th, 2010, 08:06 PM

Not sure if this was mentioned but for those folks using Intel SSD's I would highly recommend installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager and setting "Volume Write Back Cache" as enabled for each drive. Also enabled cache for any arrays you have, it increased performance for me by about 30% in drive speed read/writes. Also 2 x SSD drives in raid 0 for O/S drive and CS5 seems to work well for me, just make sure you have a good ghosted image of the O/S in the event you loose a drive and need to recover.

Paulo Teixeira · October 27th, 2010, 11:17 PM

I think for safety reason, I'll probably either keep the 160GB Corsair or get a cheaper 120GB drive. Micro Center has the 160GB Corsair for a little over $100 less than the Amazon price I believe. Although Solid State drives have gone down considerably, I wish they were a lot cheaper.

When I was shopping around, the extra fast SSD was one of the recommendations I received but in the end the 160GB drive ended up being my final choice until I saw a new built computer being boot up with that fast drive and I was in shock! That's when I started having second thoughts about the 160GB drive and told them to build everything except for that drive in case I change my mind. I might have changed my mind on that very day if it wasn't for the store selling out of that fast drive. That's probably a good thing.

It seams like the Intel drives are hot so to speak but it might cost a lot more than what I'm paying for the current one I got. For sure I'm going to notice a gigantic difference over my laptop in which I was usually using an external hard drive with my media and the computers hard drive for everything else. I'll also notice a big boost every-place else. The 2 year old laptop is only a 2.4Ghz Core2Duo with 4 gigs of RAM and a 512GB ATI card. I have to keep convincing myself that although I can sometimes get jealous over computer systems with a couple of 4 or 6 core processors, at least 24GB of RAM and a nice raid set up, I'm still getting something that will make my laptop look like a netbook.

October 26th, 2010, 07:32 PM	#17
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	I'm currently building a new computer and some things are very simple to choose like the i7 950 processor and the NVidia GTX 470 card. I do have everything else all set but I'm struggling on what I'll be using as a boot up drive that will store Windows 7 and all the programs such as CS5 Master Collection. My video files will be stored in other hard drives. At the moment I have the Corsair 160GB drive on hold but for around $50 more I can get this Amazon.com: OCZ Technology 120 GB RevoDrive Series PCI-Express x4 Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSDPX-1RVD0120: Electronics: Reviews, Prices & more Amazon.com: OCZ Technology 120 GB RevoDrive Series PCI-Express x4 Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSDPX-1RVD0120: Electronics: Reviews, Prices & more It's about double the speed but has 40GB less storage. What does anybody think of it? I'm having Micro Center built my computer and for now they will put everything together except for that main drive in case I change my mind. I have a few days to think about this. That costs almost as much as the 12GB of RAM and the Corsair 160GB is already pushing it. Still, at least I'm not buying directly from Dell, HP or Apple. 12GB of RAM, a Blu-Ray burner and a solid state drive would have costs me a kidney! although it would have been nice to get one of those with 2 processors and then I can buy the extra stuff elsewhere to save money such as more RAM, etc but even then, I still wouldn't have been able to afford it. When I include taxes, the extended warranty and the costs of building the computer, it ends up being a little over $2,200. Obviously that price does not include the monitor. I need to buy a new HD TV anyway so I'll use that as the monitor. __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoVi...esEtc/featured https://www.pond5.com/artist/paulot

October 27th, 2010, 01:51 AM	#18
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	According to this review, it's definitely a speed demon but without TRIM support, it'll degrade slightly quicker than a regular solid state drive. OCZ RevoDrive Review: SSD RAID + PCI-Express - HotHardware If I'm going to be using the computer a lot for editing than maybe it wont be such a good idea. For sure with the money I'll save, I can get another hard drive. I can save a little more if I choose a regular 120GB SSD drive rather than 160 although I wont have as much wiggle room. I really don't want to have a lot of hard drives but from reading a lot about people's set up, it looks like 4 should be the minimum in order to separate everything (I'm not sure if I really need a raid and I hear you need more than 4 hard drives for a proper raid set-up). If I were to have 1 SSD and 2 Hard drives for a total of 3 drives, would it really be that bad? Then again I do have an external hard drive with a fire-wire port which would make a total of 4 usable drives. I also have a USB drive but it's only for backup purposes in case my fire wire drive goes haywire. I know I can save money without getting an SSD period but I feel I'll be better off using it as a bootable drive for Windows 7 and programs. I think the computer will be working hard as is for the graphics card and the i7 processor. For the power supply, it's 700 watts. For my specs, is that high enough? For sure I'm assuming 600 is too low. Also as far as editing is concerned, I'm not going to notice any performance difference in choosing Windows 7 verses the Professional version, right? I'd rather get the regular 7 64 bit in order to save money but if I'll benefit from the Professional version, I'll have to think about that. I'm already spending more on this computer than originally planned unfortunately since I'm also trying to get an HD TV. Sorry that it appears that I'm hijacking this thread. __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoVi...esEtc/featured https://www.pond5.com/artist/paulot

October 27th, 2010, 07:45 AM	#19
Pete Bauer Wrangler Join Date: May 2003 Location: Eagle River, AK Posts: 4,100	IHMO: no TRIM, no buy. If you're not planning to burden this computer with a bunch of large programs, 160GB is more than enough for a C: drive and the Corsair should be fine. On my only-for-editing box (Adobe Master Collection) I have a 120GB Corsair SSD and its only about half full. EDIT: I'll add that in my view, the value of using an SSD as a C: drive derives from the super fast disk access times (microseconds instead of milliseconds) to handle the many small file reads and writes that the OS and programs make, as well as being more reliable, quieter, and cooler than a traditional HDD. Having the super fastest read/write times isn't a bad thing except for cost, but a mid-cost SSD will still give you all the other benefits and still competitive or maybe faster read/write than most HDDs. __________________ Pete Bauer The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Albert Einstein Trying to solve a DV mystery? You may find the answer behind the SEARCH function ... or be able to join a discussion already in progress!

October 27th, 2010, 11:17 PM	#22
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	I think for safety reason, I'll probably either keep the 160GB Corsair or get a cheaper 120GB drive. Micro Center has the 160GB Corsair for a little over $100 less than the Amazon price I believe. Although Solid State drives have gone down considerably, I wish they were a lot cheaper. When I was shopping around, the extra fast SSD was one of the recommendations I received but in the end the 160GB drive ended up being my final choice until I saw a new built computer being boot up with that fast drive and I was in shock! That's when I started having second thoughts about the 160GB drive and told them to build everything except for that drive in case I change my mind. I might have changed my mind on that very day if it wasn't for the store selling out of that fast drive. That's probably a good thing. It seams like the Intel drives are hot so to speak but it might cost a lot more than what I'm paying for the current one I got. For sure I'm going to notice a gigantic difference over my laptop in which I was usually using an external hard drive with my media and the computers hard drive for everything else. I'll also notice a big boost every-place else. The 2 year old laptop is only a 2.4Ghz Core2Duo with 4 gigs of RAM and a 512GB ATI card. I have to keep convincing myself that although I can sometimes get jealous over computer systems with a couple of 4 or 6 core processors, at least 24GB of RAM and a nice raid set up, I'm still getting something that will make my laptop look like a netbook. __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoVi...esEtc/featured https://www.pond5.com/artist/paulot

October 27th, 2010, 08:06 PM	#21
Rich Perry Major Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Nashua NH Posts: 278	Not sure if this was mentioned but for those folks using Intel SSD's I would highly recommend installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager and setting "Volume Write Back Cache" as enabled for each drive. Also enabled cache for any arrays you have, it increased performance for me by about 30% in drive speed read/writes. Also 2 x SSD drives in raid 0 for O/S drive and CS5 seems to work well for me, just make sure you have a good ghosted image of the O/S in the event you loose a drive and need to recover.