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A
ah_photo
Legend
February 18, 2017
Answered

Looking for advice on Premiere install drive

  • February 18, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 3332 views

Hi all,

Well I am building a PC for the first time (with some help thankfully). I've loved Macs but hey, budgets are a real thing and I'd rather not spend $3k for dated hardware. So in this build I will be having a 256GB SSD (M.2 at 8Gb/s) and a 1TB HDD (both WD Black drives).

My theory here was I was going to use the SSD for Windows and my core, everyday applications: web browser, anti-virus, etc. The HDD would however house Premiere, as well as all media content (raw, render/temp files, projects, etc.) The reasoning is I thought (and have had this thought reinforced by a friend) that having the media on the same drive as the program is quicker, since there's less cross talk between drives as Premiere tries to communicate with the media.

What do people think about this? Is it worth keeping Premiere with the media, would it be faster if the program was on the SSD, or would it not really matter either way? I know, ideally I would have 2 SSDs but you know how it is haha.

Just looking to hear more feedback and thoughts from users who are in a similar situation and have done something roughly equivalent.

Also on a completely unrelated sidenote: Our machines at work started to get the 2017 builds of Premiere installed (up from 2015.1)...is there any way to get rid of the expanded borders on the panels? I looked around but couldn't find anything. The lost screen space is driving me nuts! haha

Thank you!

[Moderator note: moved to best forum]

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer RoninEdits

if you are getting the WD black m.2 drive, don't bother, send it back or cancel the order. for a little bit more money you can get a samsung 960 evo that will run circles around the WD black m.2. placing the premiere installation folder/files on the same drive as the media drive doesn't help premiere access media files. there is no cross-talk happening on a hardware level as you might be imagining. the work is done by the cpu and its the speed of the storage drive(s) that will impact performance of data transfer to the cpu.

if you get a m.2 like the samsung 960 evo, and its large enough to hold your media, you can run everything on one drive and use the hdd for backups and archived projects.

samsung 960 evo - os/apps/cache/projects/media

hdd - backups/archives

if you get something slower like the WD m.2 or sata ssd, you might want to split things up more

ssd - os/apps/cache

hdd - projects/media/backups

or

ssd 1 - os/apps

ssd 2 - cache/projects/media

hdd - backup/archive

3 replies

RoninEdits
RoninEditsCorrect answer
Inspiring
February 18, 2017

if you are getting the WD black m.2 drive, don't bother, send it back or cancel the order. for a little bit more money you can get a samsung 960 evo that will run circles around the WD black m.2. placing the premiere installation folder/files on the same drive as the media drive doesn't help premiere access media files. there is no cross-talk happening on a hardware level as you might be imagining. the work is done by the cpu and its the speed of the storage drive(s) that will impact performance of data transfer to the cpu.

if you get a m.2 like the samsung 960 evo, and its large enough to hold your media, you can run everything on one drive and use the hdd for backups and archived projects.

samsung 960 evo - os/apps/cache/projects/media

hdd - backups/archives

if you get something slower like the WD m.2 or sata ssd, you might want to split things up more

ssd - os/apps/cache

hdd - projects/media/backups

or

ssd 1 - os/apps

ssd 2 - cache/projects/media

hdd - backup/archive

    R Neil Haugen
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    February 18, 2017

    Bill Gehrke​ is the total Guru of real-world practical test results of the Adobe video projects. His recent tests show that although the disc layout shown by shooternz (and used by many of us, especially from Bill's previous results and recommendations was the best way to do things, times are changing.

    PrPro 2017 seems optimized for SSD media storage.

    Yes, your system drive should be as you thought, but of course ... use that for system/OS, programs, and system cache.

    Using additional new style SSDs for the main parts of the rest of the process gives better results by far with playback/renders for 4k media than spinning disks or even large RAID 0 arrays.

    The Samsung EVO's for example, can give outrageous sustained read/write speeds. Such that where before we've built rigs with (like mine) a pair of SSD's in RAID 0 for system, and 6 big fast spinners for parting out the other parts of PrPro's workload, now ... a system on an NVMe or m.2 drive, and a second drive of similar nature for media, project files, and exports ... can handle 4k workloads just fine.

    I'm currently rebuilding my system with a number of SSD's for main work, and will keep a few of my newer, larger spinning drives for longterm mass storage. Although ... SSD prices are falling so using a few more SSD's to get the same storage isn't so much more expensive any more.

    Neil

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    A
    ah_photoAuthor
    Legend
    February 18, 2017

    Neil,

    Thank you for your response. Yeah, I think I have to agree that, eventually, I'll have additional SSDs for media content and other parts of the Pr process.

    If anything I won't be doing as MUCH editing as I do at work (which is usually off NAS / playout servers which make me want to cry speed-wise) so in the long run it probably won't be the end of the world either way. It's just nice to see what people are doing now and as you mention, see what the latest theory changes are behind evolving tech.

    So to be clear, are you suggesting that I should go and put Premiere on the SSD, instead of putting it on the HDD simply to let it co-exist with the media? Then maybe over time, put the media and other workflow locations onto new SSD units as I make those purchases

    Thanks again for your time

    shooternz
    shooternz
    Legend
    February 18, 2017

    Example setup

    ONLY - Applications and Programs on Boot Drive C:

    Media on Drive D:

    Project Files on E:

    Exports on F:

    Use additional drive(s) for other assets eg Audio/Music/Graphics... or more Video Media

    ......

    .is there any way to get rid of the expanded borders on the panels? I looked around but couldn't find anything. The lost screen space is driving me nuts! haha

    There was a thread on this in the last ten days.  Premiere and it's wasted screen space  

      A
      ah_photoAuthor
      Legend
      February 18, 2017

      Hi shooternz​

      Thanks for the response. I can see the benefit of having all of those drives in a way, especially if they were all SSD however like I said budget is a part of that restriction.

      Is there no (noticeable) increased latency from having the program on a drive separate from the media? I know this may be less of a issue than say networked drives or removable storage (USB, XDCAM, P2, etc.) but I wonder if the same still applies or if it is negligible.

      If not, then per the ideal setup, then maybe It would make sense for me to install the program on the boot drive, and keep media, projects, temp on the data HDD.

      A
      ah_photoAuthor
      Legend
      February 18, 2017

      Also thank you for the link to the screen space post, but I'm not sure if that is referring specifically to the screen space lost due to panel borders added in an update somewhere between 2015.1 and 2017 (not sure which but I'd assume 2017).

      The discussion there seems more on how people arrange their work-spaces efficiently or not in their monitor.

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