Windows 7: SSD storage accelerators from Intel and Corsair face off

A Guy · 09 Aug 2012

Quote:

SSD cache drives have emerged as a means of addressing this gap. They are small, typically containing between 20-60GB of NAND flash and are paired with a standard hard drive. Once installed, drivers monitor which applications and files are accessed most often, then cache those files on the SSD. It can take the software 1-2 runs to start caching data, but once this process is complete, future access and boot times are significantly enhanced.

Source

A Guy

smarteyeball · 10 Aug 2012

It's a great compromise idea for those who regularly access apps on mechanical drives.

Wishmaster · 10 Aug 2012

I understand how this can help with say, a mechanical drive that contains the OS, but what about a game drive.

For example, I have a SSD for my OS/Apps. But, I also have a mechanical drive thats dedicated to Steam, where the large majority of games are. Im guessing in that scenario the difference would be little to none. Especially considering that with many games, a SSD doesn't make a huge difference, and with others just the load time increses a bit.

smiths22 · 10 Aug 2012

but lol this technology has more than 1 year out. Intel rapid response technology. BTW im using a corsair one as a cache...mmmmm not reliable.

smarteyeball · 10 Aug 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by Wishmaster

For example, I have a SSD for my OS/Apps. But, I also have a mechanical drive thats dedicated to Steam, where the large majority of games are. Im guessing in that scenario the difference would be little to none. Especially considering that with many games, a SSD doesn't make a huge difference, and with others just the load time increses a bit.

I haven't tested it so I can't say for sure, but I suspect if you play games x,y,z regularly and frequently enough for the cache to go 'ah ha' I'll cache that, you might me see some of those load time improvements etc.

I thought about adding a cache drive, but since most of my apps/games are on either SSD or RAID 0, I doubt I'd notice any difference.

**x BlueRobot** · 11 Aug 2012

It's a good idea (:

smarteyeball · 12 Aug 2012

It is if you have a lot of frequently used apps that are primarily on the mechanical drive.

lehnerus2000 · 15 Aug 2012

Didn't Seagate do this at least a year ago?

A Guy · 15 Aug 2012

Do you mean the Momentus Hybrid Drive? It was very similar, but I believe had much less NAND. A Guy

lehnerus2000 · 16 Aug 2012

I'm not sure of the name.
I think that it had a tiny amount of Flash (4GB?).

Windows 7: SSD storage accelerators from Intel and Corsair face off

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