Storage types for running programs

[tinpanalley]

While this is a question about storage on a notebook/tablet, it is also about storage types and data, so I'm hoping it's the right forum.

I'm looking at various storage options of a particular tablet/notebook combo (Asus T100) which here in France at least is offered in various combinations of SSD and 5400rpm SATA HDD but always with microSD, USB 3.0, and microUSB 2.0. Basically, to not bore you too much with the details, I can get...
1. less SSD for the main storage and Win8 Metro apps, have more HDD space OR
2. more SSD with no HDD
Both have a USB3.0 and microUSB2.0 port and in both cases, one can apparently (according to the community) use the microSD for running programs using really fast microSD cards.

Everyone talks about how to use the microSD for programs, how fast the cards need to be, etc etc but what I need more technical advice with for making my decision is: will microSD really be able to fluidly run Windows programs (photoshop, office, media players) as well as they'd run on a HDD? Fine, it can be done, but can it be done reliably? How do I determine whether Photoshop running off a microSD card will take 30 seconds to apply a simple colour correction or whether Office will grind to a halt whenever I open a 100 page document? I know that a lot of this has to do with system specs and program requirements but assume fast Class-10 microSD media or higher, 5400rpm SATA for the HDD, and the internal memory is SSD.

Thanks for any help understanding this.

 

[evilspoons]

MicroSD cards are really, really, really slow if you're not careful - you need to get exactly the right one. The "Class 10" designation is essentially meaningless. A lot of MicroSD cards sold today in Class 4 and Class 10 variants are identical, just with different firmware to prefer random (Class 4) vs sequential (Class 10) reads/writes. A $10 "Class 10" card may be MASSIVELY slower than a $75 "Class 10" card because of other things the Class designation does not tell you.

Once Photoshop/Word/whatever is OPEN, I think your speed is going to be roughly the same unless the program keeps stuff in reserve because the program is massive. Your storage choice is really going to alter the day-to-day "feel" of using the computer as it works getting the stuff from storage into RAM. The order will be something like this:

1. SSD (fast at everything if it's a good one)
2. HDD (slow at random, fast enough at sequential, like saving a big file)
3. MicroSD (slower than a hard drive at sequential, maybe faster than a hard drive at random reads if you get the right one)

Personally, I'd go with the one with the biggest SSD you can afford and put all your PROGRAMS on it. That will make your computer run fast (it will feel "snappy", to borrow the Mac phrase). Then put your large files, like, say, 500 MB Photoshop documents, on MicroSD cards or USB storage or whatever if you've run out of space. The document will stay in RAM as it is being edited and then will only slow your computer down as it is being written to the storage.

 

[tweakboy]

Grabg a Sammy line.

 

[tinpanalley]

MicroSD cards are really, really, really slow if you're not careful - you need to get exactly the right one. The "Class 10" designation is essentially meaningless. A lot of MicroSD cards sold today in Class 4 and Class 10 variants are identical, just with different firmware to prefer random (Class 4) vs sequential (Class 10) reads/writes. A $10 "Class 10" card may be MASSIVELY slower than a $75 "Class 10" card because of other things the Class designation does not tell you.

Once Photoshop/Word/whatever is OPEN, I think your speed is going to be roughly the same unless the program keeps stuff in reserve because the program is massive. Your storage choice is really going to alter the day-to-day "feel" of using the computer as it works getting the stuff from storage into RAM. The order will be something like this:

1. SSD (fast at everything if it's a good one)
2. HDD (slow at random, fast enough at sequential, like saving a big file)
3. MicroSD (slower than a hard drive at sequential, maybe faster than a hard drive at random reads if you get the right one)

Personally, I'd go with the one with the biggest SSD you can afford and put all your PROGRAMS on it. That will make your computer run fast (it will feel "snappy", to borrow the Mac phrase). Then put your large files, like, say, 500 MB Photoshop documents, on MicroSD cards or USB storage or whatever if you've run out of space. The document will stay in RAM as it is being edited and then will only slow your computer down as it is being written to the storage.

Thank you for this awesome recap!
I dug deeper into the specs and found that the SSD is only eMMC and has been benchmarked at about 140r/47w. But since you're saying that the SSD is best of all those storage modes for programs, it just so happens that the non-HDD, but 64GB SSD is available for an incredibly low price as of today.
When I said microSDs at Class 10, I did mean something like a SanDisk Ultra or Extreme. Not just some run of the mill brand name. But if you have another you can recommend, I'd love to know. I'm pretty thorough in picking flash storage because I have to get the fastest read/write cards for my DSLR 1080p video and for my digital audio recorder. But that's recording video and audio and what I want to do here is try to run software. So, my knowledge is more limited when it comes to all this sequential or random reading/writing.
I feel like I need to understand the order of speed of read/write on this notebook/tablet combo but I'm guessing with these eMMC's benchmarks it might be more like...
1. USB3.0 port, USB3.0 external HDD or flash drive
2. 5400rpm SATA HDD
3. eMMC SATA
4. MicroSD slot
5. MicroUSB2.0 port

Does that sound right? Because if so, I may be better off with the 32GB model that has the 500GB HDD.

Thanks!

 

[evilspoons]

Oh, yeah. Based on all that info I would go with the 32+500, not the 64+nothing.

Your fastest external storage will be an SSD in a good USB 3 enclosure or some of the "not quite an SSD" USB 3 flash drives that are showing up (probably as fast as the eMMC SSD in the unit!).

 

[tinpanalley]

Oh, yeah. Based on all that info I would go with the 32+500, not the 64+nothing.
Your fastest external storage will be an SSD in a good USB 3 enclosure or some of the "not quite an SSD" USB 3 flash drives that are showing up (probably as fast as the eMMC SSD in the unit!).

Ok, that's what it started to sound like. The only problem with that is that those 32GB get shared between Windows8 (not RT), Office, other system files, AND Metro downloads that can't be saved elsewhere since 8.1. That leaves me at about 2.5GB on my current 32GB Dell Venue 8 Pro. This is where my dilemma kicks in. Yeah, I would have an extra 500GB of 5200rpm SATA at 6Gb/s and microSD cards, but the HDD programs will only run when the keyboard dock is plugged in and the microSD cards it seems will run programs if you set up symbolic links but if that card pops out you're in trouble.
When you say you'd go with the 32GB, is stuff going to run like molasses on the 64, do you think? In the situation where let's say, I need to install something that's available in tablet AND notebook mode which means using the built-in eMMC.
There seems to be a lot of analysis about the 32 vs 64 models saying that the 64 is somehow faster because of its size?