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December 14, 2017
Answered

Using SSDs - where best to store programs and also the Catalogs

  • December 14, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 414 views

Hi all,

I am just about to take delivery of a new PC. It comes with 2 x 250Gb SSDs (and a 3Tb RAID). I believe that the Lightroom and Photoshop programmes themselves should be loaded onto one of the the SSDs (where the Windows program will also be stored). I also believe from others (but maybe I am wrong) that the Lightroom Cache should be set up on the 2nd SSD? My question then is, where should the Catalog and Preview files be loaded-onto the 2nd SSD? My image files themselves will be stored on a 3Tb RAID.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Keith

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Ian Lyons

Ideally, your catalog and previews should be stored on the SSD. This means the catalog contents and preview can be accessed a lot faster than would be the case for a standard hard drive.

2 replies

KR Seals
Community Expert
Community Expert
December 16, 2017

Yes, you are correct, the program files (LR, PS, etc.) should go on the operating system (Win 10 drive C: ).

Your Lightroom Catalog and preview files should go on the second SSD along with the Lightroom Cache (recommended more than 20GB). Depending on how big your LR catalog and preview file folders are, you may run out of space on a 250 GB SSD since you should leave about 2/3 to 3/4 of the SSD free for OS breathing room.

You can set the Cache size and location in the LR menu: Edit > Preferences > Performance tab about 1/3 of the way down.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
Ian Lyons
Community Expert
Ian LyonsCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
December 14, 2017

Ideally, your catalog and previews should be stored on the SSD. This means the catalog contents and preview can be accessed a lot faster than would be the case for a standard hard drive.