With SSD/HD, where should the swap file go?

[Craig234]

Apparently SSD lasts based on writes, reads don't hurt them.

So for a boot SSD (who doesn't want the speed of the SSD for booting/OS), there's the question of swap file.

If it goes on the boot SSD, doesn't that add a ton of writes, using up the SSD?

On the other hand, if it's put on the HD, I assume there's a performance hit.

So, on balance, is there a location considered the clear best pick for the swap file?

 

[CoPhotoGuy]

I don't think it matters as much anymore because the more modern SSD's can handle a ton of writes. But putting it on spindles shouldn't be too much of a performance hit if you have a good amount of RAM. RAM is not that expensive. If you have 16GB then you shouldn't be hitting your swap file much really.

 

[BlueWeasel]

I thought the rule of thumb was to put it on the fastest spindle drive.

 

[Essence_of_War]

So, on balance, is there a location considered the clear best pick for the swap file?

If you're engaging in normal desktop workloads with modern SSDs, put it on the SSD and don't worry about it.

If you're using an SSD from 3-5 years ago in a perversely abusive-to-swap workload, consider putting the swap on a spinner.

 

[corkyg]

I have mine in a small partition on the SSD. I use a fixed swap file that rarely gets used - so writes are no biggie.

 

[Craig234]

OK. On the one hand, this is a several year old Intel M25 80GB SSD. On the other, it's for games, I don't think there is much abnormally large about writes.

On the third hand (ok, re-using the first, recycling), I'm only using 4GB RAM, and a while after I reboot it seems to thrash a *lot*.

 

[Ketchup]

OK. On the one hand, this is a several year old Intel M25 80GB SSD. On the other, it's for games, I don't think there is much abnormally large about writes.

On the third hand (ok, re-using the first, recycling), I'm only using 4GB RAM, and a while after I reboot it seems to thrash a *lot*.

Buy more RAM or put the swap file on the SSD if you are worried about life. Putting the swap on the HDD with the current 4 GB of RAM is going to hide a lot of the benefit of the SSD IMO.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Keep the swap file on the SSD, IMHO. It makes swapping so much less of an issue. But if you can afford it, get more RAM. 8GB is about the minimum that I like to use these days.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

SSD is fine, but if you are hitting the swap file much, your real problem is only fixed my MOAR RAMZ.

 

[Cerb]

For a typical MLC 256GB SSD, to "wear the flash out" in 5 years will take around 80GB/day of NAND writes, average. With a typical desktop workload, SLC-caching TLC drives like the 840 Evo and Sandisk Ultra II should be able to take around half that. So, figure 20GB/day host writes, for a single number. That's current ones. Older ones can handle much more, especially those Intels.

Unless you're trying to use a desktop PC with 512MB RAM, there's nothing to worry about, in terms of swap. You could not use a PC with an HDD that had to do that much writing to swap on a daily basis. It's only if you're constantly churning data in and out of the SSD that it even might become a concern.

 

[Cerb]

OK. On the one hand, this is a several year old Intel M25 80GB SSD. On the other, it's for games, I don't think there is much abnormally large about writes.

On the third hand (ok, re-using the first, recycling), I'm only using 4GB RAM, and a while after I reboot it seems to thrash a *lot*.

Go to 8GB. If it persists, try disabling ReadyBoot, and make sure Superfetch is off.

 

[Berryracer]

if you put it on your HDD, then if you ever get out of RAM, then you would encounter a major performance hit! put it on the SSD and stop worrying about it dying, the SSDs would last you way longer than the life of your machine and by the time it needs replacement, it would be an ancient SSD where you would simply want to upgrade

 

[KingFatty]

So far, the only thing I've heard is rumors and speculation that could ever support putting it on the hard drive.

So absent any real evidence, you should definitely go for the faster performance of the SSD.

I'm thinking that if you own an SSD that could potentially be harmed by putting the swap file on it, then you should just go ahead and throw it in the trash and buy one that is from a more modern vintage that won't fall apart if you look at it funny.

 

[hhhd1]

I have 6gb of ram, and 8+gb of page file on SSD, and that 8gb is NOT idle pre allocated, .. I leave the OS to dynamically grow the page file starting with 400mb, and it usually endup around 8+gb of page file.

The performance is descent enough that I am delaying ram upgrade, and I am monitoring wear on SSD regularly, and the numbers are telling me i still have ~10 years using the same rate of writing.

MLC SSDs are more than capable of handling pagefile/swapfile with high rate of writing, and the performance improvement when it is used is huge.

If you are worried that your usage have higher than normal writing, just monitor the SMART data for few months during normal usage, to see how fast it is wearing out.