Intel SRT question

I'm using a 64GB mSATA SSD to cache a WD 1TB HDD that will be used entirely for games/game related software. I read a lot of negative comments about using the maximized mode but most of them were related to boot/system drives; I'm running a separate SSD for that. I was thinking it wouldn't be that big of a hassle to reinstall a game in case of data corruption, although losing a saved game might make me wanna throw something...

I guess I'm just fishing for someone to acknowledge the benefits of maximized mode, especially in my case (gaming).

 

I guess another question I'm looking to answer is whether games benefit mostly from read or write speeds. If reading speeds are the only concern, then there is no point in using the maximized mode.

 

Your running your OS on your Samsung SSD and your games on your WD HDD? Why not just install your games on your SSD. You should get mucha more performance out of them. But in answer to your questions, here is a comparison of maximized vs enhanced mode. It seems the only difference is response times: Intel 311 Larson Creek 20GB SLC SSD Review - Intel SRT: Enhanced versus Maximized - Legit Reviews

As for your second question, most games, apps, or programs don't modify much or any of their files after they're installed other that the logs, configuration settings or in your case, game saves. Best way to prove that is for you to install the Drive Meter widget and watch the read and write speeds of your separate volumes.

But I still recommend my first option, installing your games on your SSD. But even with your HDD and cache drive, there should be very little chance of data loss or corruption. The SRT is there to prevent data loss by keeping the data cached on the SSD until it can write it to the Hard Drive. ( Enhanced vs. Maximized Mode.). And data corruption usually occurs when their is a power failure while the data is in the process of being written. That shouldn't be an issue with a laptop since you have a battery that automatically kicks in when the power goes out. And in the even that your system does shut down, data loss/corruption should be minimal since the cache drive will retain any data waiting to be written to the hard drive until the hard drive becomes available again. Hopes this answers your questions.

EDIT: for most game usage, yes the game application and files will only be read from, and not written to. Ergo, most games will benefit from read speeds more than write speeds.

 

I'm not a gamer, but I'm wondering the same thing. It seems like there is no way power could be cut to the laptop, so why not used Maximized? I've had dead cells show up on batteries and the power would suddenly cut out, but that happens so rarely and my laptop is brand new. It would be nice to cache the read on programs like iTunes and CAD.

 

Really? I've never had a battery fail on me yet. Not my own laptops, or friends' laptops that I maintain for them. Theoretically, there is no way to cut power to a laptop as long as the battery is in it and charged. The laptop can still shutdown unexpectedly from overheating or component failure, but those are more of an unknown variable. But yeah, those instances are just so rare that you shouldn't worry about it. CAD can definitely benefit from caching, but I don't think iTunes can. Its a portal program and the only information stored on the system are the core files and media library.

 

You are lucky! My old Lenovo's battery failed after about 4 years, it would only last fifteen minutes and then just quit, and the replacement (aftermarket) 9-cell can go down to about 20% left and then will quit unexpectedly too. And yes, I do practice battery maintenance. Maybe it's a hardware thing with the Lenovo. But I agree, it's a rare thing and almost impossible with a brand new computer. I think I'm going Maximized

The iTunes .itl library file is now much smaller than it used to be, about 6MB instead of the 20-25MB with older versions, so you're right, the benefits of write caching probably won't be very noticeable. Anyway, the computer is so fast that library operations are almost instantaneous. On the Lenovo it used to take about ten seconds to add an album to the library. I barely see the window flicker now!

 

Well like I said. Adding an album whether downloading or via CD to iTunes isn't really dependent upon which cache mode is running. And if you're downloading from the iTunes store it will always depend on your internet connection. If from a CD it will depend on how fast your optical drive is. Being a portal program, iTunes doesn't really do any data collection or processing. If it needs the album metadata, then it needs to search for it from the iTunes server. That might have been why certain albums took 10 seconds to add.