#77
Post
by richard1980 » Mon Jan 09, 2012 5:15 am
You should NEVER keep your OS and your data files together. They should always be separated, either on different physical drives (the preferred method) or on separate partitions on the same physical drive. That means one drive/partition for the OS and installed programs, and a different drive/partition for your recorded TV, movies, music, pictures, etc.
Regarding the cache, just because something is marketed one way doesn't mean it actually makes sense to use it that way. Cache drives should only be used in scenarios where a performance increase is desired, but there is a large storage space requirement that makes an SSD cost-prohibitive. The key part of that statement is "there is a large storage space requirement". If there is no large storage space requirement, there is no reason to favor a HDD over an SSD, and thus there is no reason to have a cache. As I just stated above, the OS should always be kept separate from the data files. The OS does not require a large amount of storage space; you can fit the OS on any SSD you buy today. Therefore, there is no reason to have a cache for it. Just buy a regular SSD and put the OS on it. The benefit of doing so is two-fold. First, it's cheaper to buy a regular SSD than a cache drive (a lot cheaper...the 64GB OCZ Synapse Cache SSD (which only has 32GB of usable space) costs $155 at Newegg...for $10 less you can get a 90GB OCZ Vertex 3, and for $14 more you can get a 120GB OCZ Agility 3. That a big difference in cost/GB.) Second, you get a bigger performance boost by buying a regular SSD.
In short, when you buy a cache/hybrid drive for the OS, you end up paying more to get less. That does not make sense. What does make sense is using a hybrid/cache drive for your data files, if you need the performance boost on those files. Trying to replace a 1TB HDD with a 1TB SSD is going to cost quite a bit of money. Instead of buying the 1TB SSD, you either buy a 1TB HDD plus a cache drive, or you buy a 1TB hybrid drive (I'm not sure if that even exists).