hd or ssd to speed up editing?

Lindquist

Lindquist

Veteran
right now Im trying to sell my old fantom 2tb usb2/esata drive, 500gb 7200 seagate and a 1TB seagate I got , Im keeping the 840 Pro 500GB ssd for windows and games aps ect, my main question is should I get another ssd 60-120gb for Adobe stuff ? like cache or preview files? will it make rendering or viewing the footage smoother or have any advantages?

thanks. im new to this kinda stuff
 
Are you on a Mac or a PC?

If you are on a Mac, I'd look into an OWC ThunderBay (RAID 5 edition). Connected via Thunderbolt, it gives me a ton of fast hard drive space. I have mine configured in a RAID 5 array so if I have one of the four drives go down, I can replace it and not lose any data.
 
yeah dont have thousands of dollards to spend on a raid setup, im on pc btw, Im more interested in having a more speed production with adobe premiere pro and after effects if I can get extra hard drive for preview files or what ever like I said im new to this so Im learning I might not sound Like I know what Im talkn bout but Ive seen some people say they have other drives for cache or previews or what ever I want to know if that is worth it.
 
On a PC in Premiere if you want faster video performance you have to increase both your RAM and your GPU.

16gig minimum on the RAM and 4gig minimum on your GPU.

And as usual - 2 internal hard disks. 1 for OS and Apps, and video files on the second.
 
Ok thanks,

I got 16gb ram, and a GTX 780 3GB Gpu.

I got 500gb samsung ssd for os and aps, and plan on getting a 2tb or 4tb int. for storage.
 
Hi
Yes, in theory a ssd for previews will speed things up. You mention wanting speed in After Effects as well. After Effects LOVES ram and you should keep this in mind even with 16GB existing on your machine. You are the judge of how much you are in After Effects vs. Premiere. Having said that you also need to look at how long a form your projects are, movies vs. commercials in relation to storage space. Then you need to also look at how many streams you want to work with at a time. 3 cameras or one? SD, HD, 4K? These two items (Media length and media streams / size) speaks to what size and speed you need your drives to be.

Ssd drives are so fast that they are the equal of a R.A.I.D. If you open up multiple streams you may find using your existing ssd for some of them better than putting them all on your new 2 TB or 4TB spinning drive. In a light use case you may find the additional ssd for previews isn't any faster than your primary ssd. You can always buy and try an additional ssd and return it if you aren't happy. As a Preview drive it can be added and removed without problems. The previews will be recreated on another drive by Premiere.

I am trying to keep a complex subject simple. I am sure others will join in and point out so many more details and situations where my generalizations aren't true! Best to you.
 
On a Larry Jordan course recently he was very clear. Raid for storage and editing, SSDs simply for computer operation. I'd not thought much about raids, but his explanations on raids was nice and clear and pretty black and white.
 
Hi
Doubledark links to a really great and much needed paper. Thanks!
The decision between R.A.I.D. and ssd is a fast moving target. R.A.I.D. is improving but ssd are improving very rapidly, especially in cost. Of course you can R.A.I.D. ssd drives too! Just an opinion but for users doing Premiere on a bought or made machine that is not a workstation and without professional IT support installing multiple ssd drives instead of a R.A.I.D is a very worthy consideration.

Ssd cost are dropping rapidly.
Installing software or hardware R.A.I.D. increases the technical complexity of the machine.
There are huge differences in brands and technologies for R.AI.D and even pros can get lost.
When things go wrong with a R.A.I.D. it can take a very skilled pro to sort it out, $$$.
As long as you can fit your media onto and afford ssd then there is little downside. Ssd drives seek and transfer way beyond spinning drives.
You can add ssd drives as you can afford them without reconfiguring a R.A.I.D.
One downside of ssd is if you move or come back to a project Premiere is looking for media on all those different ssd drive letters. A R.A.I.D. is one drive letter.

In conclusion: For lots of people R.A.I.D. is right. But I suggest for that slot of better than basic but not corporate /workstation $$$, ssd is the sweet spot. Remember either will work and help so we are talking about preferences and opinions. Maybe Paulears can shed more light on what Larry Jordan spoke to. I follow Paulears on this site and his advice is always great.
 
Blit said:
Hi
Doubledark links to a really great and much needed paper. Thanks!
The decision between R.A.I.D. and ssd is a fast moving target. R.A.I.D. is improving but ssd are improving very rapidly, especially in cost. Of course you can R.A.I.D. ssd drives too! Just an opinion but for users doing Premiere on a bought or made machine that is not a workstation and without professional IT support installing multiple ssd drives instead of a R.A.I.D is a very worthy consideration.

Ssd cost are dropping rapidly.
Installing software or hardware R.A.I.D. increases the technical complexity of the machine.
There are huge differences in brands and technologies for R.AI.D and even pros can get lost.
When things go wrong with a R.A.I.D. it can take a very skilled pro to sort it out, $$$.
As long as you can fit your media onto and afford ssd then there is little downside. Ssd drives seek and transfer way beyond spinning drives.
You can add ssd drives as you can afford them without reconfiguring a R.A.I.D.
One downside of ssd is if you move or come back to a project Premiere is looking for media on all those different ssd drive letters. A R.A.I.D. is one drive letter.

In conclusion: For lots of people R.A.I.D. is right. But I suggest for that slot of better than basic but not corporate /workstation $$$, ssd is the sweet spot. Remember either will work and help so we are talking about preferences and opinions. Maybe Paulears can shed more light on what Larry Jordan spoke to. I follow Paulears on this site and his advice is always great.
Click to expand...

thanks guys, Ima probably jus get a 250gb samsund ssd for preview files and project files for adobe. I use mostly 1 stream if 2 streams tops. I edit between 1080 high bitrate and 4k, On my gh4.
 
Hi
I will bet you know this but a reminder for many others who will read this and may find this useful. Always put ssd drives on a SATA 6 / SATA iii {diferent names same thing} (600 MBs) motherboard connections. Lots of motherboards have some SATA 3 / SATA ii (300 MBs) connections. A new decent ssd can and will outrun the older connection. They might be labeled or you might have to look in the motherboard docs to id them. Often they are color coded, but not to any universal standard really. Things can get more complex with primary and secondary SATA controllers. But for your purpose just stick it on a SATA 6 port and you're good.

CABLES SATA ii or SATA iii cables are fine. Most important is good quality and that they don't slip off, some have latches. No need to spend many $$$. No magic here.
 
Im thinkin bout a msata one for cache, then a normal samsung 240gb ssd for rest of files.
should i get msata or pcie card ?



C: Drive : OS, Programs, Pagefile
D: Drive : Media, Projects
E: Drive : Previews, Media Cache, Exports

1. OS / Software / Pagefile = Samsung 480 Pro 500GB SSD
2. Media / Projects = Samsung 480 EVO 256gb SSD
3. Media Cache / Previews / Exports = Samsung 480 EVO 120GB SSD

somthibng like that? I dont need some huge expensive raid setup jus somthing like that and 2 backup normal 7200rpm drives.
 
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I have in my custom editing rig Samsung 540 evo 256 ssd for OS, Programs, pagefile a Silicon power s70 120g SSD for cache, and a barracuda 7200 500 gb for mattes overlays and 2tb hdd for media and projects. My system works well and I can edit in full resolution with effects and transitions.
 
hmm ok, well maybe i only need 1 128gb ssd for cache ect. guy on forums selling a bunch of OCZ 128gb ssds for $40, was gunna get two but i think ill jus get one for now an have my storage and other files beon 7200 rpm drive.
 
Hi
-> Rellyrale looks like a nice system.

-> Linquist I would AVOID old or used ssd drives. They have evolved very rapidly and only a short time ago many had issues. I would stick to Samsung. I would buy Samsung 850 Evo.
A Samsung 850 Evo 128Gb for about $80 as of this writing is great choice for cache drive. You can flush the cache as needed for space. I am cutting some long form HD stuff and my cache drive is 50GB used as one example.

For OS, Programs and stuff same Samsung 850 Evo in whatever size you feel you need.

For media look at how big your files are and how many outputs you might create (and there file size). Also how many projects you want to keep online at one time. Then check your credit card statement and make decision. Remember you can add drives as time and $$ allow.

You want SATA iii drives not MSATA or pcie standard drives to hit the sweet spot for price performance.
 
thanks ill be getting a 128gb samsung evo 850 for adobe stuff them im using a 500gb samsung evo 840 i think for os ect.
 
I wanted as much speed as possible and for as cheap as possible.
Firstly, im editing video and photos on mac retina pb (8 gig / 256hd). I use mostly Final Cut for video (GH4 4k and high bitrate HD), and Adobe for photos (Nikon D800).
I own a nice G-Tech raid duel 1TB black drives (2TB strip raided) with a ESATA connection (3Gbps) to USB 3... probably maxes out around 200MB/s.
The external SSD I got is the Crucial M550 512GB mSATA, so i could get this cool case (Amazon.com: Sabrent USB 3.0 mSATA II or III/6G SSD Enclosure Adapter [Support UASP] (EC-UKMS): Electronics)
Anyhow, long story short: The SSD sped up all my processes with regards to editing and rendering. Exporting not so much, but definitely my editing needs. Faster rendering and faster processing.
Chances are, anything over 3Gps would be more then most computers can handle. So a cheap SSD drive will do the job, especially with the faster response time an SSD offers.
 
ok cool, yeah I got a 120gb samsung 850 evo and a 5.25inch bay converter to put the ssd and my hdd up there to free up airflow space.
this ssd will make it smoother for playing back footage on premiere pro and after effects too right? Ill do a comparison when I get the ssd this week
between a ssd and a hdd. to see the difference
 
So I just bought a SSD. Question is, for speeding up editing is it best to put Media Cache on the SSD or Preview files? I already have an SSD for OS, 1TB 7200 RPM internal for media, and 7200 USB 3.0 external with preview files on it now.
 
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