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  1. #11
    damned's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnD View Post
    I was thinking about a 500 GB internal drive, one with the new technology (forget M.2 or something...). The OS would go on there, plus my more used programs is what has been suggested to me (and there isn't a program I use more than FG...).

    On the other hand, damned makes a good point. The new system would have at least 16 GB of ram as well, so I would probably be just fine installing on a regular HD. I was simply wondering if there was any kind of a big advantage (or disadvantage) to putting FG on it as well.

    Thanks everyone.
    It wont hurt - FG will probably load quicker - but FG prolly wont run faster. Many other things will benefit more.
    Either way - SSDs are great.

  2. #12
    Valyar's Avatar
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    In the (unlikely) event of memory depletion on this 16GB machine, SSD will significantly reduce the performance penalty related to swapping
    The past is a rudder to guide us, not an anchor to hold us back.

  3. #13
    Xemit's Avatar
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    For long term survivability, it was recommended to keep at least 15% of a HDD free for defragmentation and other house cleaning. For an SSD, you no longer do defragmentation, but the flash nature does mean it has a more limited number of write cycles than a HDD (before failure). However, you won't really run into that problem unless you also run the SSD at nearly full capacity and do high volumes of delete and write. So it a best practice to keep an SSD at 30% free space.

    I used to write low level drivers for flash based storage a decade or so back. The technology has way better performance now, but also way better controllers to handle the flash erase/write durability and maximize lifespan of the hardware. Most will now spread the writes around uniformly on the hardware to prolong life span. For that to work well, you need to leave more free space.

    The read performance of SSD is much higher than a HDD and the seek performance is all but instantaneous. This makes loading files very fast, so a PC will boot in 10-20 seconds instead of 3 - 5 minutes. Opening/starting any program will definitely see an improvement, but once in DRAM, the SSD is no longer going to help (until the next file system access).

    High performance HDD sustained read speed is around 210MBps, Sata SSDs are around 550 MBps for read speed these days. Moving into the M.2 form (particularly NVMe) can gain performance of 3200 MBps. However the motherboard needs to support the NVMe format for the fastest performance.

    Most manufacturers of SSDs also have some maintenance software that you can install. This will check firmware and upgrade it as well as give you an overall health indication showing how much 'life' expectancy is left. Since you also frequently back up your computer, having a failure is usually only a minor inconvenience (a great time to put faster and larger SSD in). Combined with the monitor software, there really is no down side to an SSD, except maybe cost relative to a HDD.

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Xemit View Post
    So it a best practice to keep an SSD at 30% free space.
    Thanks for that info. I either didn't know that or had forgotten.

    Quote Originally Posted by Xemit View Post
    The read performance of SSD is much higher than a HDD and the seek performance is all but instantaneous. This makes loading files very fast, so a PC will boot in 10-20 seconds instead of 3 - 5 minutes. Opening/starting any program will definitely see an improvement, but once in DRAM, the SSD is no longer going to help (until the next file system access).
    I started Fantasy Grounds from my SSD after reading damned's comment about SSD load times for FG. It took 15 seconds for me to have access to FG files in the chosen campaign.

  5. #15
    Ok sorry to rez this thread but wanted to ask a question. Ok here is the situation. I currently use a laptop for running fg on. I often take it with me to prep campaign stuff while I'm at work. I have recently built a desktop. Would it be ok to store/run from a portable hard drive (i.e. passport)? So I can work on fg campaign stuff while away from home on laptop but when I'm home connect the portable drive to desktop to run sessions. Thank in advance.

  6. #16
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beemanpat View Post
    Ok sorry to rez this thread but wanted to ask a question. Ok here is the situation. I currently use a laptop for running fg on. I often take it with me to prep campaign stuff while I'm at work. I have recently built a desktop. Would it be ok to store/run from a portable hard drive (i.e. passport)? So I can work on fg campaign stuff while away from home on laptop but when I'm home connect the portable drive to desktop to run sessions. Thank in advance.
    I've done it in the past, I don't do it now. Just make sure you are not running FG when you connect or disconnect your drive. Make sure you eject your drive properly. Make sure you have a backup as external drives are more likely to fail than internal.

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  7. #17
    Ok thanks. Yes always do those things. Thank you for the advice

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