Which programs to install on OS SSD?

I have my new Vertex II 120gb physically installed in the case, but I have not plugged it in. I'm planning a fresh Win 7 Pro x64 install tomorrow. I'm planning on using the SSD as my OS drive but I also want to use it for often-used programs. How do you folks normally set up your SSDs?

In addition to Windows, I'm thinking about installing all of my benching software: Coretemp, HWMonitor, Prime95, HyperPi, Cinebench, Vantage, etc. I'll probably also install Office on the SSD. I'm planning on installing my antivirus and other utilities on the SSD. I'm thinking about installing a couple games that I play often enough to want the extra speed: FarCry 2 and Starcraft 2.

The one I'm really curious about is FireFox. Considering what I've read about lots of writes leading to degradation of an SSD, would it be better to install my browser on my regular HDD? I guess I wonder about all the temp files that the browser creates and uses.

What's the best choice? Out of the programs above, what should I install on the SSD and what would I be better off installing on my HDD?

All of them! I put all apps on my SSD's with the exception of large sample libraries or anything excessively large that would really fill up the drive.

The whole point of SSD's is to make your apps and OS run as fast as is currently possible IMO. I gladly run Chrome on my SSD. I'm not worried about wearing out the drives in the least...

+1
I put large programs, temp folder, and users folders on seperate drives because my ssd is small. If I had a 120GB SSD I'd put them all on the ssd .

i wouldnt worry too much about your ssd degrading. my vertex's are benchmarking slower then they were when i first got them but ill tell ya what everything in my computer is still lightning fast even with all the spyware it has right now....

when i open up task manager it says im running 258 process and everything is still lightning fast...

just stay away from benchmarking your ssd all the time that will definitely hurt it

xtkxhom3r said:

Just stay away from benchmarking your ssd all the time that will definitely hurt it.

Click to expand...

Does this only apply for older SSD's that don't support TRIM, or all SSD's?

I'm asking because I just purchased my very first SSD (finally), an A-Data 64GB that says it has native TRIM support.
I'm trying to do my research on how to best use/care for it before I re-install Win7 on it!

PcChip said:

Does this only apply for older SSD's that don't support TRIM, or all SSD's?

I'm asking because I just purchased my very first SSD (finally), an A-Data 64GB that says it has native TRIM support.
I'm trying to do my research on how to best use/care for it before I re-install Win7 on it!

Click to expand...

Generally avoid benching all ssd's, it's wear and tear they don't need.

The way that TRIM works is when a file is deleted the OS (Win 7 in this case) sends a command to the ssd that some files were deleted. The ssd then copies the areas containing the deleted files to cache, erases those areas, then rewrites only the files that weren't deleted from those areas.

There is also garbage collection which is usually done when the drive is powered but at idle for an extended period of time, S1 sleep overnight is the perfect way for the ssd to do this.

As for use/care ssd's should be plug and play (and they are close to that now), not plug and babysit. I would check for a firmware update for the ssd before using it, other than that plug it in, install your OS, once or twice a month allow the computer to sleep in S1 state (set S1 in motherboard bios) overnight and enjoy.

Just got it up and running.


Holy crap, this thing is snappy! I don't plan on benching the drive itself, but after I activate Win7 again I'll run the performance evaluation and see how it scores. I'm guessing it will be a 7.9.

Sometimes it gets messed up for whatever reason, mine reports 5.9->7.6 depending on what Windows feels like (I think sometimes it actually benches the non system drive ). Use ATTO or AS SSD if you want a real comparison, a couple benches won't hurt it.