Solid State drives for DAW

[Ericlingus]

is it worth getting a solid state drive to have my operating system and Cubase with my essential plugins installed on it? Then on my regular hard drive I could have my session files and samples. What would be the ideal way to my files and programs stored?

 

[Empathy]

I haven't noticed any significant increase in load times or general performance with a setup as you've described, however I have considered getting an additional 250gb SSD for session files, which would dramatically increase performance.

 

[meanmrmustad]

Solid State? I think you would be better off with a tube drive son, it will warm up your tracks real nice!

...but you'll have to rent a warehouse to house it

 

[raisedfist]

I think they are mint.
I tend to backup from on ssd to the other and 5gb files copy in a matter of seconds which is a massive time saver.

 

[Temps]

SSD hands down the best upgrade you can make to any computer. I have two in mine so I run Cubase and all of my big sample VSTs from a SSD... Superior loads instantly. About 30 seconds from the Windows desktop to a playable project file with all instruments loaded. I still have to pull my project files off a traditional hard drive.. so I would think my performance & yours would be comparable, you'd just have to wait a bit longer for your samples to load.

The jury is still out on SSD reliability though. Back it up, all the time.

 

[Ericlingus]

yeah reliability is a big concern for me. In fact it's problem the number one thing I am looking for right now.

 

[FIXXXER]

everything loads/starts up so much faster, especially the OS and programs like cubase, photoshop etc.

 

[RedDog]

Is it possible to transfer OS files to a new ssd using the same license key?

 

[SethTheGreat]

Is it possible to transfer OS files to a new ssd using the same license key?

How about taking an image of the old drive then imaging the new drive? Is that what you mean? It would be exactly the same OS and programs, just on a new drive.

Not sure if I'm misunderstanding you.

If I'm not, Acronis True Image 'Western Digital Edition' is free.

edit: But you need a western digital hard drive connected to your system for it to work (external is fine too).

 

[Chainsaw Calligraphy]

The jury is still out on SSD reliability though. Back it up, all the time.

I was under the impression SSD drives are inherently more reliable due to the lack of moving parts.

 

[Empathy]

Let me point this out to anyone that doubts SSD reliability: the 3 year-old stigma that they will all burn out and die within a couple of years use has been thoroughly shat on by modern versions of the technology. Any brand-new SSD on the market today will last you a lifetime. The limited read/write bullshit is so incredibly over-inflated as an issue, it's ridiculous. I've had mine for well on a year now and it's "health" as measured by the monitoring tool that came with it has only dipped to 99%. Every disk drive I've owned in a computer has gone to hell within 3 years, most in 2.

That said, your manufacturer of choice is an extreme factor in whether or not an SSD is going to do you any good. Stay the hell away from anything made by OCZ. I've bought two of their SSD's in the past and both of them ran on the worst firmware ever conceived by man. Completely unusable trash. Intel and Samsung know their shit, as you'll find all over the internet.

 

[RedDog]

How about taking an image of the old drive then imaging the new drive? Is that what you mean? It would be exactly the same OS and programs, just on a new drive.

Not sure if I'm misunderstanding you.

If I'm not, Acronis True Image 'Western Digital Edition' is free.

edit: But you need a western digital hard drive connected to your system for it to work (external is fine too).

The transfer of files is a Master Boot Record thing, windows won't even boot if it isn't registered within the MBR of the hard drive.

 

[SethTheGreat]

The transfer of files is a Master Boot Record thing, windows won't even boot if it isn't registered within the MBR of the hard drive.

Acronis copies the MBR too.

 

[drew_drummer]

SSD's are excellent. Just too expensive right now. No reliability problems with the latest generation of the tech.

 

[Patrick (Nemesis)]

Do yourself a favor and buy one of those things! Put your OS, DAW software and samples on it and be very happy about ultra fast loading times. No need to put your DAW projects on it, normal hard drives are sufficient for streaming your wav stuff.

You'll never want to go back to noisy, unreliable standard hard drives ever, except for large or ever-changing data.

 

[Temps]

Let me point this out to anyone that doubts SSD reliability: the 3 year-old stigma that they will all burn out and die within a couple of years use has been thoroughly shat on by modern versions of the technology. Any brand-new SSD on the market today will last you a lifetime. The limited read/write bullshit is so incredibly over-inflated as an issue, it's ridiculous. I've had mine for well on a year now and it's "health" as measured by the monitoring tool that came with it has only dipped to 99%. Every disk drive I've owned in a computer has gone to hell within 3 years, most in 2.

That said, your manufacturer of choice is an extreme factor in whether or not an SSD is going to do you any good. Stay the hell away from anything made by OCZ. I've bought two of their SSD's in the past and both of them ran on the worst firmware ever conceived by man. Completely unusable trash. Intel and Samsung know their shit, as you'll find all over the internet.

yes sorry I should have clarified. The SSD technology itself is fine, but the guys making the drives sometimes have issues with cutting corners on product testing. I have an OCZ drive as the main one in my computer because it was the biggest one I could get for the money at the time, but I don't trust it. Intel or Samsung will not give you any problems at all.

How about taking an image of the old drive then imaging the new drive? Is that what you mean? It would be exactly the same OS and programs, just on a new drive.

Not sure if I'm misunderstanding you.

If I'm not, Acronis True Image 'Western Digital Edition' is free.

edit: But you need a western digital hard drive connected to your system for it to work (external is fine too).

I remember reading awhile ago that if you go to a SSD, a fresh install will have even higher performance than a imaged copy of your traditional hard drive.

 

[kaomao]

Samsung 830 is hands down the best SSD on the market among all the cheap ssd drives.

 

[SethTheGreat]

I remember reading awhile ago that if you go to a SSD, a fresh install will have even higher performance than a imaged copy of your traditional hard drive.

Looks like you're right:

http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sh...-performance-on-a-SSD-(Solid-State-Hard-Drive

That sucks... I hate fresh installs! It always seems like it takes me weeks to get everything back the way I had it. I wonder how much value is in like "Migration Assistant" for that kind of thing? Never really tried it. Or maybe an image and then an "in-place upgrade" ? I'll probably try it whenever I get my SSD.

 

[SethTheGreat]

http://www.howtogeek.com/97242/how-to-migrate-windows-7-to-a-solid-state-drive/

This guide says otherwise.

?

Sounds like the secret to not degrading performance is in 'properly aligning' the SSD before you image it?

 

[Ericlingus]

thanks guys. I actually do plan on doing a fresh install anyways. I think I may get one then. Can't wait until tax return!