SSD On Boot Drive

[KenNickels]

Has anyone noticed an improvement in DP's ability to keep up with heavy processing loads by putting the OS on a SSD? I'm thinking not, but I wanted to ask. Right now DP's audio disk is separate from boot disk and samples are already on an SSD.

Thanks

[FMiguelez]

There are 2 things that make me lose it and I don't cope well with.... Slow computers and traffic. Aaaaqrrgghhh.

After using SSDs, I simply cannot go back to spinners. They make the computers slow and stupid. I would definitely recommend an SSD for your OS. Not only will DP launch 10x faster, but everything else will seem better too.
However, as for its "ability to keep up with heavy processing loads", I can't comment, since part of any improvements I've seen are also due to my better computer specs, but my guess would be that it does not make a difference for that.

What I would NOT do is record audio to an SSD. I use a fast 7200 RPM HHD for that.
However, putting your samples in SSDS also makes the data load much faster, less stress, heat and noise.

So I recommend SSDs for OS and samples, and a fast HD for recording audio. The DP proyects would live in this spinner as well.

[HCMarkus]

I run an all SSD ship except for my backup drives. Concur with FM, SSD boot is great but unsure if it will lighten CPU load significantly.

[mikehalloran]

I run an all SSD ship except for my backup drives. Concur with FM, SSD boot is great but unsure if it will lighten CPU load significantly.

Yea...

The overall improvement in system performance is dramatic. You will notice it immediately.

Does it lighten the CPU? Yes but it's complicated and not easy to measure. Writing to an HHD can take much, much longer than an SSD and the CPU is involved in the process. Shortening the write times does benefit the CPU load and frees it to handle other tasks.

Everything affects everything. Bounce to Disk is an example. A 4 minute 25 track song with lots of effects takes around 2 minutes or so on my iMac i7 to an HHD and less than a second to an SSD, SATA or eSATA. The amount of RAM makes a difference and the i7's FPU also has an effect. I have a nearly identical i5 (no FPU) and have been able to run these tests using the same file.

[KenNickels]

Thanks guys. I have not been able to run DP 9.12 at all. Even 9.02 is problematic and unstable. My template is expanding, so I have to solve this problem. Maybe it is time then to buy a newer model Mac Pro which has a faster processor than the 2008 model. I think I can install DP there and see if it solves the problem. If not I can use the old Mac as a slave and run Vienna Ensemble Pro. People extol the virtues of VEP, so maybe that's the way to go.

[buzzsmith]

Mike, HC and FM have more experience than I (and have helped me!) but I looked at your specs. 32 Gigs of RAM and an 8 Core processor running at 3 Ghz. That sure sounds like enough CPU power to me.

And yes, SSDs definitely speed up lots of things. In my case, DP is on my primary SSD along with the OS and a few other things that insist on installing on the primary drive.

Buzzy


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tommymandel]

FM, why don't you recommend recording audio tracks in DP to an SSD?
Thanks, and nice to be in touch here again after a few years

[mikehalloran]

FM, why don't you recommend recording audio tracks in DP to an SSD?
...

I'm curious to see that answer, too.

[FMiguelez]

FM, why don't you recommend recording audio tracks in DP to an SSD?
...

I'm curious to see that answer, too.

Uh-oh....

First off, thanks for calling me out on that. If I'm mistaken, I'd certainly like to know.

This might be one of those things that "were" before but don't apply anymore with newer models?
I remember reading that it wasn't good writing more than x amount of data on them on average because this might shorten the cell's lives. It was recommended to use them for reading VIs or normal OS usage, but not for writing audio or video constantly.

Is that not the case anymore? Was it ever the case?

Sorry if I spread misinformation, guys. But if there is a place where that is stopped, it is here with you in MOTUNation

So is it ok to record audio projects on SSDs then?

[terrybritton]

What I've read (I think over at tomshardware.com) is that although the repeated writes to the cells do decrease their life, it is many thousands of writes, and so typically even with writing and re-writing to an SSD the cells will last several years - at least up to when you are likely going to want to upgrade your computer again anyway. Also, although the cells may no longer accept writes after a while, the cells already written to do not "die" and are still readable. The available "free" capacity of the disk simply diminishes over time.

I'll need to hunt around for the references for that, though - don't believe me until you find those yourself if you don't want to wait for my links!

The article I was reading that had the most eye-opening information had to do with whether one should or should not use a portion of an SSD as one's paging file disk. The answer was, it would not matter - you'd be replacing your computer before it made a difference.

I'll look for the references Wednesday for that if I get some time free!

Terry

[cuttime]

I'd say it's okay to record to an SSD, but not to an SSD Boot drive. Even then, I'm sure there might be exceptions.

[mikehalloran]

The ratings are based on continual R/W over many years. Continual means 24/7.

The Samsung 850 EVO is guaranteed for 5 years and has become the de facto standard. It took awhile for the industry to get these right but they did. The 850 PRO has a 10 year warranty if you're really concerned but few believe they're worth the extra money, myself included.

SSDs have 'garbage collection' in the firmware. In addition, the OS (Win, Mac and Linux) has what is called T.R.I.M which levels the wear as you use the drive. On a Mac, this is enabled by a simple Terminal command (OS 10.4 and later) or a complicated series of them in earlier OS (there's a $10 app for that). Because of this, you never, ever run disk optimization software on an SSD.

[James Steele]

I'd say it's okay to record to an SSD, but not to an SSD Boot drive. Even then, I'm sure there might be exceptions.

Wondering why? I have a MacBook with an SSD for backing track playback in a live context. I have my projects on the same SSD that I boot from. Keep in mind, it's a system for playback and I rarely record on it. I think the only time I recorded to it was to record a verbal confirmation cue of the name of the song that the drummer could here before his click track started.

[HCMarkus]

Concerns about durability of SSDs have been overstated by many. As Mr. Halloran notes, quality SSDs can handle anything a DAW can throw at 'em and do it for many, many years. I would stay away from economy 2-d TLC drives, but 3-d TLC drives like the Samsung 850 Evo series have been proven extremely robust. Even Samsung's last generation 840 Evo drives (which had some stale data issues that resulted in slow read speeds and are not recommended*) held up incredibly well in durability testing.

Anyone concerned about SSD durability should review this:

http://techreport.com/review/27909/the- ... e-all-dead

Here are Anandtech's latest SSD recommendations:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9799/best-ssds

As far as using an SSD for boot and data storage... if you can use multiple drives, great. If not, with its superior random access times, an SSD makes a far better combo boot and data drive than any spinner ever could.

Although we have been subject to the (what some might call) ravings of an opponent of using Trim with macOS, evidence is clear that the benefits Trim provides warrant enabling of this important function when using SSDs.

What is Trim?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trim_(computing)

Here's how to enable Trim under macOS:

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/29/use-trim ... -mac-os-x/

Also, SATA3 SSDs are backward compatible with the SATA2 ports many Mac Pros provide. Although transfer speeds for large files is hampered somewhat by the slower SATA2 interface speed, most DAW operations won't be severely impacted. Inexpensive SATA3 PCIe cards are available if you are concerned. For the fastest SSD speeds, look into PCIe SSDs, but note that NVMe drives are not compatible with most Macs. The best currently available PCIe SSD for cheesegrater Mac Pros may be this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K5NKS12/re ... LD92U?th=1

*Yes, there was an 840 Evo firmware fix, but it basically involves re-writing stale data periodically to refresh it. If you own an 840 Evo, use it, but if you don't own one, buy something else!

[mikehalloran]

I'd say it's okay to record to an SSD, but not to an SSD Boot drive. Even then, I'm sure there might be exceptions.

Nonsense.