"Rightsizing" storage, for "client" machines.

[VirtualLarry]

I used to build low-end "browser boxes", with whatever cheap Pentium and even sometimes Celeron that I could find, 4GB of RAM (now I use 8GB minimum), and an SSD, usually a 120GB, as the 60GB were a bit too cramped for Windows 7/10, and updates, and Office, and user files, and still maintaining good speed and longevity (needed spare area).

I still have a pile of 120/128GB-class SSDs, probably will have them for a while, maybe they'll get used up as StoreMI cache drives, but a 256GB NVMe is now only $50 or so on sale for a budget brand, and I think that an NVMe would make a better caching drive (lower latency than SATA6G).

Anyways, now that 240GB-class SATA6G SSDs are dropping down to $33 ea. shipped (*), what should be the "minimum" OS SSD drive capacity?

(*) Combo deal a few days ago, for Patriot something-or-other budget 2D TLC SSD. 2D 480GB TLC SSDs are $58 these days. 3D TLC 120GB SSDs are $20.

It seems that the current "sweet spot" for capacity for price, is a 480/500GB-class drive, but in absolute terms, that's still nearly as expensive as a 120GB or 240GB + 1TB HDD, which, with caching, can be made to seem like a larger, seamless, but speedy drive.

 

[cbn]

FWIW:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...u-store-on-your-primary-home-desktop.2500411/

How much data do you store on your primary home desktop? (Not server)

1. 1 GB to 100 GB
   5 vote(s)
   8.3%
2. 101 GB to 200 GB
   3 vote(s)
   5.0%
3. 201 GB to 400 GB
   10 vote(s)
   16.7%
4. 401 GB to 800GB
   12 vote(s)
   20.0%
5. 801 GB to 1200 GB
   4 vote(s)
   6.7%
6. 1201 GB to 1600 GB
   3 vote(s)
   5.0%
7. 1601 GB to 2000GB
   1 vote(s)
   1.7%
8. 2001 GB to 3000 GB
   4 vote(s)
   6.7%
9. 3001 GB to 5000 GB
   10 vote(s)
   16.7%
10. Greater than 5000 GB
    8 vote(s)
    13.3%

(Anandtech forum poll results taken from Feb 2017 to April 2017)

 

[cbn]

It seems that the current "sweet spot" for capacity for price, is a 480/500GB-class drive, but in absolute terms, that's still nearly as expensive as a 120GB or 240GB + 1TB HDD, which, with caching, can be made to seem like a larger, seamless, but speedy drive.

Yes, that is true for NAND.

For Optane the sweet spot appears to be concentrated in a lower capacity range via two specific products:

32GB Optane Memory $41.99 FS https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ink2&cjevent=206818cbde7811e882bc00ad0a1c0e12
280GB Optane 900p AIC $259.99 FS https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167437&cm_re=optane-_-20-167-437-_-Product
280GB Optane 900p 2.5" $269.99 FS https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820167439

(I actually wonder that because the Optane sweet spot is shifted so much lower than NAND that it will become more pertinent for AMD StoreMI Fast tier over the next few years? So "sweet spot" Optane (as fast tier) + SATA SSD or SATA HDD vs. "out of sweet spot" NAND based SSD (as fast tier) + SATA SSD or SATA HDD vs. "sweet spot" (ie, 480GB or greater) standalone larger capacity NAND based SSD).

P.S. Really like how Optane doesn't suffer from a dirty condition like NAND SSDs do. I'd imagine this would help GB for GB when used as fast tier in StoreMI.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It seems that the current "sweet spot" for capacity for price, is a 480/500GB-class drive, but in absolute terms, that's still nearly as expensive as a 120GB or 240GB + 1TB HDD, which, with caching, can be made to seem like a larger, seamless, but speedy drive.

It's not the same. *scowl*

Anyway, seems to me you should hold off on buying components until you have somebody who wants you to do a build for them, at which point you should discuss their specific needs and make purchase recommendations accordingly.

But the answer is 1TB SATA SSDs for "low end" rigs.

 

[mxnerd]

VL, for all these years being a desktop installer, for a browser box,

you should have known 120GB SSD is plenty for Windows 10 PC plus Office suite.

And StoreMI tech is for higher end x399, 400 series motherboards, isn't it?

 

[VirtualLarry]

VL, for all these years being a desktop installer, for a browser box,

you should have known 120GB SSD is plenty for Windows 10 PC plus Office suite.

I don't know about that. Unless they're an enthusiast, and KNOW how to keep their SSD "clean", or at the very least, run CCleaner every week, then ... after a few years, the 120GB SSD fills up with temp files, browser cache, System Restore points, Volume Shadow Copies, Windows Updates, etc. and starts to really lose performance, unless it was a top-tier MLC SSD to start with.

I feel a lot more comfortable giving a "casual" a 256GB SSD for a "browser / office box" than a 120GB, these days.

 

[mxnerd]

I don't know about that. Unless they're an enthusiast, and KNOW how to keep their SSD "clean", or at the very least, run CCleaner every week, then ... after a few years, the 120GB SSD fills up with temp files, browser cache, System Restore points, Volume Shadow Copies, Windows Updates, etc. and starts to really lose performance, unless it was a top-tier MLC SSD to start with.

I feel a lot more comfortable giving a "casual" a 256GB SSD for a "browser / office box" than a 120GB, these days.

I'm talking about the browser box that does not save tons of photos/videos.

You can always come back and do another upgrade for your clients.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You can always come back and do another upgrade for your clients.

I have some of those upgrades "planned", just have to pitch it to them. I think, in conjunction with a "Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, on a NEW 256GB SSD, double the space of your old 120GB. (Good to have more space for Windows 10, you know, hint hint)."

 

[VirtualLarry]

And StoreMI tech is for higher end x399, 400 series motherboards, isn't it?

Yeah, just thinking of doing some new custom builds with B450 micro-ATX boards, and Athlon 200GE APUs, using StoreMI, and my stock of 120/128GB-class SSDs for caching drives, with some 2TB spinners.

 

[mxnerd]

Yeah, just thinking of doing some new custom builds with B450 micro-ATX boards, and Athlon 200GE APUs, using StoreMI, and my stock of 120/128GB-class SSDs for caching drives, with some 2TB spinners.

Just checked, didn't know that some B450 motherboards are under $100 and ASRock B450M-HDV is just $59 now.

 

[seagate_surfer]

When we talk to builders planning their rigs on other forums, probably the most common we see is a 240GB/250GB SSD in tandem with a 1-2TB spinner. The other most common is just to go straight up 500GB SSD lately with the way pricing is going, then adding in TB's of spinning capacity down the road as/if needed.

 

[cbn]

In the SSD price floor thread I noticed 128GB PCIe 3.0 x 2 NVMe and 240GB SATA SSD were the same price.

So for an economy StoreMI build what one is better to pick for fast tier?

I'll bet the 128GB NVMe wins most of the time unless the tasks are very random.

Yeah, just thinking of doing some new custom builds with B450 micro-ATX boards, and Athlon 200GE APUs, using StoreMI, and my stock of 120/128GB-class SSDs for caching drives, with some 2TB spinners.

Sounds like a good plan.

Maybe the only SSD to avoid is 120GB DRAM-less SATA using planar TLC? (This due to the potentially high wear from writes. I doubt you have one of these though.)

 

[mikeymikec]

FWIW:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...u-store-on-your-primary-home-desktop.2500411/

(Anandtech forum poll results taken from Feb 2017 to April 2017)

If I polled my customers, I suspect I'd see 90% in the first polling option.

I don't know about that. Unless they're an enthusiast, and KNOW how to keep their SSD "clean", or at the very least, run CCleaner every week, then ... after a few years, the 120GB SSD fills up with temp files, browser cache, System Restore points, Volume Shadow Copies, Windows Updates, etc. and starts to really lose performance, unless it was a top-tier MLC SSD to start with.

I feel a lot more comfortable giving a "casual" a 256GB SSD for a "browser / office box" than a 120GB, these days.

I can't remember the last time I saw a user's temp folder grow in a way that would worry me on a 120GB SSD. All modern browsers maintain their browser caches effectively (I see maybe once instance a year of a browser cache growing out of control), and unless you remember to switch on System Restore (which is necessary on a 120GB SSD in my experience), it very much depends on what settings you apply. Windows maintains all the other stuff itself. I strongly suspect your notion of "losing performance" is based on your ideals of keeping an SSD as empty as possible for optimal performance as opposed to observing quantifiable and noticeable performance drops. I was using 128GB SSDs for ages, I'm about to replace the first of those with a bigger one in the next month.

The other thing to consider is whom you're pitching the SSD to, and look for observable data usage trends.

Anyway, seems to me you should hold off on buying components until you have somebody who wants you to do a build for them, at which point you should discuss their specific needs and make purchase recommendations accordingly.

So many times this. I learnt this in the first year or two in my career, one of my jobs was to maintain a hardware inventory 'just in case', and soon learnt that stocking more than one HDD (and such tech that generally only comes down in price) was an utter waste of time and money. I'm seeing my usual pick of SSD coming down in price sometimes between one week and the next.

 

[cbn]

FWIW:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...u-store-on-your-primary-home-desktop.2500411/

(Anandtech forum poll results taken from Feb 2017 to April 2017)

If I polled my customers, I suspect I'd see 90% in the first polling option.

That doesn't surprise me....are you customers mainly college students or office workers?

With that noted, I wish I included another poll option beyond "5,000GB and greater".....because 13.3% voted for that option. Maybe I should have included "5,001GB to 8000GB", " 8001GB to 12000GB" and "Greater than 12,000GB" as well.

 

[bigboxes]

So many times this. I learnt this in the first year or two in my career, one of my jobs was to maintain a hardware inventory 'just in case', and soon learnt that stocking more than one HDD (and such tech that generally only comes down in price) was an utter waste of time and money. I'm seeing my usual pick of SSD coming down in price sometimes between one week and the next.

I usually like to have parts to swap as one way to troubleshoot. Once I've found the culprit then I can make recommendations and THEN purchase the customer's part based on need. I don't stock anything for sale.

 

[mikeymikec]

That doesn't surprise me....are you customers mainly college students or office workers?

With that noted, I wish I included another poll option beyond "5,000GB and greater".....because 13.3% voted for that option. Maybe I should have included "5,001GB to 8000GB", " 8001GB to 12000GB" and "Greater than 12,000GB" as well.

Self-employed, retirees, a fair old mish-mash. An AT poll is only so much use as we're either techies or tech enthusiasts: a pretty thin sliver of the market. I'm not going to claim that my customers constitute a definitively large section of the market either.

 

[cbn]

An AT poll is only so much use as we're either techies or tech enthusiasts

Totally agree.