# SSD cache drive ?



## cute.bandar (May 18, 2014)

I am sure most of you must have heard of hybrid drives. Mechanical hdd with an ssd cache. I like the concept , but they are not exactly cheap and the cache on those appears kind of small.

But this post is not about hybrid drives, its about using any ssd as a cache drive .
It turns out my motherboard supports something called intel srt, which in short means that my computer can use any ssd as a cache drive for any hdd ! wow. 
This means (this is all from my googling ) that the performance of such a ssd in cache mode can be near to that of an ssd for frequently used applications, in subsequent requests. THe best part an ssd in cache mode need not be greater than 64 gb. SO even with a cheap ssd one can get a major boost . 

Some reading: 
*www.reddit.com/r/gamingpc/comments/1kagqb/a_quick_tip_about_ssds_and_using_them_for_caching/
*forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2261463
*www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/pv3if/guide_to_intel_smart_response_technology_srt_aka/

Some bench: 
*www.reddit.com/r/gamingpc/comments/1kagqb/a_quick_tip_about_ssds_and_using_them_for_caching/


So my question: what do you think of it ? If I have been late to this , which if any ssd are you running as  a cache drive.


----------



## seamon (May 18, 2014)

It's much better to get a full fledged SSD to use as a boot drive and a HDD for storage.


----------



## The Sorcerer (May 18, 2014)

SanDisk has an SSD Cache drive. Its works the way it should. However, you're better off saving cash and buying off an SSD.


----------



## cute.bandar (May 18, 2014)

> It's much better to get a full fledged SSD to use as a boot drive and a HDD for storage.


well almost. The thing with cache drives are that they will cache everything you access. So you not forever monitoring c:/ for low disk space, or moving frequently used stuff from hdd to ssd. Setting up the cache is a one time thing..
OFcourse if one can afford a large ssd, then nothings better. But games are getting big and ssd drives are still kind of expensive...


----------



## seamon (May 18, 2014)

cute.bandar said:


> well almost. The thing with cache drives are that they will cache everything you access. So you not forever monitoring c:/ for low disk space, or moving frequently used stuff from hdd to ssd. Setting up the cache is a one time thing..
> OFcourse if one can afford a large ssd, then nothings better. But games are getting big and ssd drives are still kind of expensive...



One has to just use the SSD for storing windows and 1-2 programs such as office. Everything else is perfectly usable when stored in HDD. I think only a few programs use the caching SSD such as adobe softwares. It's basically useless other than reducing boot time.


----------

