Does adding an SSD along side a hard disk improve performance?

Victek · 28 May 2014

I recently replaced a 7200 RPM laptop hard drive with an SSD and it improved over all performance quite a bit. I'm thinking now about installing an SSD on my desktop computer along side the 1tb hard disk - move the OS and programs to the SSD and use the hard drive just for data. Has anyone done this? I would be interested in hearing about people's experiences and in particular if it made much difference for performance.

DavidE · 28 May 2014

Yes, moving the OS + programs to an SSD is well worth it ...
Here's a tutorial that might be of help
SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System

Brink · 28 May 2014

Hello Victek,

You will see a very nice improvement in performance when using a SSD for your OS and programs instead of a HDD.

I have mine set up that way with a 256 GB SSD, and 2 x 1 TB HDDs for data and backups. It runs great.

Kaktussoft · 28 May 2014

Yes it will increase overall performance a lot!
You know how to shrink current C partition? So how to move documents, music etc to another partition? After that C is has a lot of free space and can be shrunk. The small C partition can be cloned to SSD aftwerwards. WIN7 is the only OS you have? Please post screenshot of "disk management" if you want further instructions.

Victek · 28 May 2014

Brink said:

Hello Victek,

You will see a very nice improvement in performance when using a SSD for your OS and programs instead of a HDD.

I have mine set up that way with a 256 GB SSD, and 2 x 1 TB HDDs for data and backups. It runs great.

Thanks for the replies. It looks like SSDs come in a 2.5" form factor. I guess for a desktop case you just put them in an adapter to fit the bigger bay slot ( ? ) Is there much performance difference across SSDs at the moment and should I look for a particular "spec"? TIA

Brink · 28 May 2014

Yep, you can use a "2.5 to 3.5 adapter" to install it in a bay. Some SSDs come with the adapter.

The Samsung 840 is a good SSD. You really can't go wrong with today's SSDs, but look at the sustained read/write speeds. The higher the better performance. :)

LMiller7 · 28 May 2014

Starting and running an application tends to involve the reading of relatively small pieces of multiple application and system files scattered over different portions of the drive. That will be the case even with a completely defragmented drive. That produces a great deal of head movement in a conventional drive and is the real performance killer. But SSDs have no moving parts so seek time (if the term has any meaning at all) is almost nothing. That equates to much better performance.

Typically access to data files tends to be more serial with only limited had movement. Conventional drives perform quite well for this usage.

The ideal would be to use an SSD for all storage but with current prices that is going to be expensive. A good compromise between cost and performance is to place the OS and important applications on an SSD and use a conventional drive for mass storage. That uses the SSD where performance really matters and the conventional drive where it is less important.

Victek · 28 May 2014

Kaktussoft said:

Yes it will increase overall performance a lot!
You know how to shrink current C partition? So how to move documents, music etc to another partition? After that C is has a lot of free space and can be shrunk. The small C partition can be cloned to SSD aftwerwards. WIN7 is the only OS you have? Please post screenshot of "disk management" if you want further instructions.

Thank you for offering to help. I actually just went through this process when I replaced the hard drive with an SSD in my laptop, ie I had to downside and then image/restore the partition, so it's still fresh in my mind.

Victek · 28 May 2014

I want to thank everyone again for replying. I feel that my question has been answered and so I'll mark the thread "solved".