Hello,Just placed an order for a 256GB SSD - Crucial "CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1 C300 2.5" 256Gb SATA6G MLC SSD". Seems to have really good reviews.My plan is to install this SSD as the boot drive with Win 7-64 Pro in my existing setup (spec in sig), along with FSX and all FSX add-ons and key programs which are used often such as MS Office 2010 and Photoshop Elememts. Most other programs and data such as photo's documents etc will go onto a regular 1.5TB HDD.Would this be the right way to go? I want a fast OS and a fast, stable FSX over all else.Cheers,

Hello,Just placed an order for a 256GB SSD - Crucial "CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1 C300 2.5" 256Gb SATA6G MLC SSD". Seems to have really good reviews.My plan is to install this SSD as the boot drive with Win 7-64 Pro in my existing setup (spec in sig), along with FSX and all FSX add-ons and key programs which are used often such as MS Office 2010 and Photoshop Elememts. Most other programs and data such as photo's documents etc will go onto a regular 1.5TB HDD.Would this be the right way to go? I want a fast OS and a fast, stable FSX over all else.Cheers,

That would be fine. I think some users will opt to have just FSX and its associated addons on the SSD. Some will just install the OS onto the SSD (makes no sense to me... but whatever)

I just looked at my main harddrive that has MS Office, Photoshop, FSX w/all addons including several megasceneries, and other photo type scenery programs, the Win7 OS, lifetime family photos (properly backed up), because I thought a 256GB SSD would be too small. I was shocked that I have so far only used 163GB's. So I think I can easily get FSX and the OS on the SSD, and put the rest on a fast 500GB HD. I personally think your 1.5TB HD is a bit much but it's not going to hurt performance for you either. Best regards,Jim

I personally think your 1.5TB HD is a bit much but it's not going to hurt performance for you either. Best regards,Jim

The higher capacity just allows more data at the outer edges of the HDD platters - 3x500GB platters vs 1x500GB platter = higher read/write speed. Don't know how much of a difference that makes, though.

Setting AHCI, in the bios before installing the OS is important with a SSD. This will degrade the mechanical drive some (which is why all SSD is better than mixing) but offer TRIM to the SSD which is important.Do not exceed 90% capacity of a SSD and 50% of a mechanical drives capacity.FSX should always go on the fastest drive.People like to keep FSX on a dedicated drive because:1) Conserve SSD capacity2) On a mechanical drive prevents FSX from fragmenting due to the OS activity. (My FSX drive nearly never frags).3) Increased performance in mechanical drives.Reason for large platter 1TB or larger, mechanical drives is due to the performance degradation that occurs near the centre of the disc. This is the reason not to load a mechanical drive past 50% absolute maximum 75% of capacity. You can see this degradation in HDTune http://www.hdtune.com run the Benchmark test and watch the performance drop as data is written across the disc.See my HDTune result. Notice the performance drop from 123 on the outside of the disc to 73 in the middle of the disc (at the 299gB mark). This phenomenon does not happen on SSD but you need leave 10% free space on an SSD to let it do its other stuff.

Greg,The best thing to do is to buy a small SSD drive for the OS and put FSX on the bigger SSD drive. A separate TB HD can be used for all of your other things and for an image of your drives.

Do not exceed 90% capacity of a SSD and 50% of a mechanical drives capacity.

LOL... right before my format I had about 15% free on my 7200rpm 250GB...Anyway, at the moment it's about half full.What do you make of this benchmark?

Greg,The best thing to do is to buy a small SSD drive for the OS and put FSX on the bigger SSD drive. A separate TB HD can be used for all of your other things and for an image of your drives.

I second this option!

LOL... right before my format I had about 15% free on my 7200rpm 250GB...Anyway, at the moment it's about half full.What do you make of this benchmark?

Your results are perfectly fine. But the question becomes where on that drive is FSX installed....you can see if it is not near the edge of the platter how poor the performance can be.The downward spikes are probably something writing/reading from disc, virus program or something running in the background.I only wanted to show how a drive transfer rates die as the head of the drive leaves the edge. HDTune is ok for a quick check but has no definite bearing on FSX performance. FSX is random read and HDtune is sequential read or writes. There are better programs like ATTO or the best Iometer to determine actual drive performance when compared to specs. IOPS and latency are as critical to drive performance as is transfer rate.These types of tools are real handy for comparing same drive to same drive results to see if things are working ok, or same drive to same drive to test tweaking results or hardware changes.

Greg,The best thing to do is to buy a small SSD drive for the OS and put FSX on the bigger SSD drive. A separate TB HD can be used for all of your other things and for an image of your drives.

This was what I was also planning with my new build solely for FSX. But a few doubts. Will a third SSD be of any advantage to improve smoothness and overall FSX performance if I install FSX(with add ons which must be in the FSX folder)on the second SSD and other FSX addons (which need not be in the same folder as FSX) on the third SSD? Can add-ons like REX,GEX,UTX,FS Genesis mesh, Mega Scenery etc which occupy large space on the disc be installed on the third SSD to boost performance ? (or what all addons can be on a separate disc instead of being in the FSX folder?) I also read something about page file:what exactly is it and how to generate/find it and on which disc should it be for optimum performance? A reply would be very much appreciated.Thanks in advance.Vinod.