SSHD or HDD with SSD Scratch Disk?

Report · Jan 02, 2017

I'm new to video editing but I really want to try my hand at it and my current PC is far outdated, so...

My PC is now due to retire and make way for an upgrade, but since I purchased my current PC (several years ago) SSDs and SSHDs seem to have become the big thing. So I've been trying to read up and learn.

So my new PC is based on using programs such as premiere Pro, PhotoShop and web design. I don't really play games.

And this is what I have in mind so far:

Intel i7 - 6700k 4 Core 4-4.2Ghz (Over Clocked)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB

Asus Z170-A Motherboard

16gb DDR4 2133Mhz RAM (2x 8gb)

128gb M.2 PCIe SSD (OS)

2 x Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 7200rpm HDD

Blu-Ray Rewriter

Win10 Home

Budget wise, I can just about stretch to changing the two HHDs to SSHDs (FireCudas) but is it worth it? What will I gain/lose?

Either way is it also worth adding a 120gb Scratch disk (SSD)?

Report · Jan 02, 2017

Your build list looks very balanced for your budget - and that is a good thing!

Suggestions:

- upgrade the planned 128GB M.2 SSD to a 256 or 512GB capacity and put all of your Adobe scratch and cache files on your c:\ drive in addition to your Operating System and program files

- don't spend extra for hybrid drives (like the FireCudas); Adobe and Windows already do lots of optimizing that help Photoshop and Premiere already and the hybrid drives simply don't bring much more to the party

- do change default Windows settings for all drives: write caching should be turned on, write-cache buffer flushing should be turned off (check the box for disk device properties policies), and drive indexing should be turned off

Report · Jan 02, 2017

Thank you JEShort01.

im new to this SSD stuff so still learning.

So I'm guessing the M.2 Drive will show up as a normal drive in "My Computer"? And therefore treat installs as I have always done?

leaving the HHDs for storage only?

this is the system I'm looking at, I looked at purchasing the components and building my self, but for the extra £100, I would rather they built it.

(the only changes I thought of making was upgrading graphics card, add scratch disk)

https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-fusion-photo-oc-lite-ii-photo-editing-pc.html#product-details-...

Report · Jan 02, 2017

If you want to purchase from Chillblast, there pre-configured and "excellent rated" fusion core i7 custom video / photo editing PC looks perfect just as is. It would be a bit more expensive than the model that you picked, but it adds LOTs of improvements and requires zero upgrades for your needs:

- way more expandable (CPU, RAM, etc. for the x99 platform has lots of room if you ever want/need to grow)

- way nicer case (Fractal Define R5 is awesome - cool, quiet)

- better power supply (750 watt vs. 600 watt); quieter, possibly more stable too

- larger boot drive; while the 250GB SK is not a M.2 drive, the 250GB capacity will eliminate the need for a separate scratch drive and still be plenty fast for this system

- larger HD; HD performance starts degrading when HDs get full and this one has lots of capacity

Report · Jan 02, 2017

Thank You. It's a bit more than I was budgeting for but taking your comments on board I'm going to sit down and have a good think.

i also need to get a new monitor, hopefully 27"