I recently purchased three NVME SSDs in different capacities (1tb, 2tb and 4tb) but going to return one of em depending on the combo I go with. My plan is to house Windows and programs on a smaller SSD, and working files on the second SSD. I have a NAS so don't need these for storage. Also, I don't play any games. The smaller SSD would be for Windows and programs like LR, Photoshop, etc.
Initially, I was going to go with the 1tb + 2tb combo, especially since I got a screaming deal on the 1tb (roughly $60 for the Samsung 990 Pro). However, I am worried that 1tb may not be large enough for OS/programs, but not sure. If I go 2tb for the OS/programs, then it'll be the more expensive 2tb + 4tb combo.
Use the largest SSDs that are reasonable for your purpose, for example 1TB+4TB. The smaller ones generally perform worse, depending on the number of planes and dies, may not be able to maximize use of the controller channels. You also have more block level garbage and the pseudo-SLC cache buffer is smaller. If your OS/apps SSDs is not too full and is mainly read-intensive that will be fine. Most likely your data SSDs will be more of a mixed used case and should be larger and more performant for example if you download many files from memory cards in a continuous action. Using high grade TLC SSDs with DRAM can help quite a bit.
In my main system there are 40TB internal SSDs mostly for work in progress which is synced to multiple NAS. In order to maximize capacity with the puny M.2 FF (only 4 slots in a mainstream board) I use large capacity drives and partition the C: separately from the data. I also do that on laptops that have fewer storage options. But if I had enough slots and only a few SSDs I'd keep them separate. Up until the 8TB drives I was still using a 970 Pro for OS/apps (5 years continuous) and could still be today since it was MLC, but too small for the mid 2020s.
EB-1 wrote:
Use the largest SSDs that are reasonable for your purpose, for example 1TB+4TB. The smaller ones generally perform worse, depending on the number of planes and dies, may not be able to maximize use of the controller channels. You also have more block level garbage and the pseudo-SLC cache buffer is smaller. If your OS/apps SSDs is not too full and is mainly read-intensive that will be fine. Most likely your data SSDs will be more of a mixed used case and should be larger and more performant for example if you download many files from memory cards in a continuous action. Using high grade TLC SSDs with DRAM can help quite a bit.
In my main system there are 40TB internal SSDs mostly for work in progress which is synced to multiple NAS. In order to maximize capacity with the puny M.2 FF (only 4 slots in a mainstream board) I use large capacity drives and partition the C: separately from the data. I also do that on laptops that have fewer storage options. But if I had enough slots and only a few SSDs I'd keep them separate. Up until the 8TB drives I was still using a 970 Pro for OS/apps (5 years continuous) and could still be today since it was MLC, but too small for the mid 2020s.
Currently, I am using a 1tb SATA drive for my OS/apps/data. I've used about 1.6tb, but about 1.2tb is data. So the OS/apps only take up about 400gb. However, I am still running Windows 7 with older versions of LR, PS, etc. Do you think the 1tb capacity is enough for Windows 11 and newer versions of apps? Or would 2tb be the "safer" option as it would give me some overhead and future-proofing?
Newer OS and programs surely require a lot more space than they did in the Win 7 era, so it's probably better to go larger.
I was looking at some archives and it looks like one of my particular 2025 (compressed) Win 10 OS/program installs is about double in size compared to similar compressed archives Win 7 OS/programs in 2019. The newer programs with AI seem to have gained more size than some others.
The larger the SSD, the longer it lasts, as write operations are distributed across more memory cells. TBW (Total Bytes Written) indicates how many terabytes can be written to the SSD in total before the memory cells are statistically worn out. For example, the Samsung 980 has 150 TBW for 250 GB, 300 TBW for 500 GB, and 600 TBW for 1 TB. Extrapolated, a 4 TB version would therefore reach around 2,400 TBW, it can therefore write away about four times as much data before reaching the same level of wear.
EB-1 wrote:
Newer OS and programs surely require a lot more space than they did in the Win 7 era, so it's probably better to go larger.
I was looking at some archives and it looks like one of my particular 2025 (compressed) Win 10 OS/program installs is about double in size compared to similar compressed archives Win 7 OS/programs in 2019. The newer programs with AI seem to have gained more size than some others.
EBH
Thanks for the advice!
After some further thought, I am going to go with the 2tb + 4tb combo, especially since I'm not really the type to upgrade my PC often. So the next time I have to make this decision might be when Windows 30 comes out lol
Stefan Official wrote:
The larger the SSD, the longer it lasts, as write operations are distributed across more memory cells. TBW (Total Bytes Written) indicates how many terabytes can be written to the SSD in total before the memory cells are statistically worn out. For example, the Samsung 980 has 150 TBW for 250 GB, 300 TBW for 500 GB, and 600 TBW for 1 TB. Extrapolated, a 4 TB version would therefore reach around 2,400 TBW, it can therefore write away about four times as much data before reaching the same level of wear.
Thanks for the info!
Yeah, I'm going with the 2tb + 4tb combo as it's not much more $$$ when amortized over however long I plan to keep this setup, which will be a while lol
Not sure if you're going with an AMD or Intel processor, but many newer AMD have a built-in function where you can use a 4 x NVME Riser plugged into your secondary PCI-E 5.0 (or 4.0). Unfortunately, I have an Intel so can't do that split but use a work-around. Essentially, I like having multiple NVMEs (4 x 2GB) with a dedicated function in my workflow (not including the OS drive). And, when the time comes, I can easily upgrade any of those drives to a larger capacity.
