Windows 10 Pro supports integrated tiered storage for better performance and efficiency.
Windows 10 Pro supports integrated tiered storage for better performance and efficiency.
In the last 20 days I've been testing Primocache with a 120GB SSD on my gaming PC, and it really improved load times across most games. Now that the 30-day trial ends, I'm considering buying the license but first wondering if Linus mentioned something about Windows 10's storage tiers in a video—possibly from the Petabyte Project? It seems hard to find details online, so I'm checking if my understanding was correct or if it applies only to Enterprise/Server versions. I'm using Windows 10 Pro. While I'm willing to pay for Primocache, I'd prefer using Windows natively if possible. My goal is to speed up my two HDDs with the spare SSD. Thanks ahead!
The only Windows 10 function linked to what you referred to is SuperFetch (originally in Vista). It now appears as SysMain, which preloads frequently used libraries and app parts into memory according to analytics about your habits. I’m not sure how much space you actually require, but I’d recommend a solid SSD setup. Investing around $30 could pay off later with a high-performance one. SSD costs are falling quickly—prices can swing now due to market conditions, but demand should stabilize soon. Still, an SSD won’t match RAM speed if you rely on this feature. The newest consumer SSD (PCI-E 4.0 M.2 NVMe) rivals typical DDR2 RAM speeds around 400MHz. I don’t like relying on RAM caches because of power risks and the delay while data moves between storage and memory. You’ll likely spend time doing other tasks instead of waiting. Generally, game load times see little gain from faster storage once you’re past a certain point, since most work happens in RAM, not on disk. To sum up: HDD vs SSD differences matter, especially for games. A good SSD can help, but it’s not the only factor.
Thanks for the update! I actually discovered Windows Storage Spaces now. It leverages an SSD similar to Intel Optane to enhance performance, acting like a solid-state cache for mechanical drives. This capability exists in Windows 10 Pro, though you can only set it up via the GUI on Windows Server versions. For other editions, you must use PowerShell commands. Still, Storage Spaces isn’t something I’d choose because it demands all drives be formatted, which would make managing my 6TB gaming storage a real challenge. I ended up spending around 30€ for it.
You're correct—no one can beat a solid SSD setup. Realistically, I’d opt for 2-3TB of storage instead, just to have extra space regardless of whether I’m using PCs or phones. That way, I avoid constant space management and always keep a buffer. Although a full 6TB SSD isn’t cheap, especially when I’m saving for a PS5 and a new GPU (GTX 1070), it makes sense given my performance needs.
I’ve also learned that getting 6TB of SSD storage is pricey, particularly when factoring in my plans for DLSS. Past experience taught me to buy more than just what I need. Using a small SSD as a cache for an HDD has proven effective—during a trial with Primocache, my game load times dropped significantly, sometimes cutting them in half or more. For titles like *Metal Gear Rising* or *Final Fantasy XIII*, which have large file sizes, this approach saves a lot of space and boosts performance.
Examples include games such as *Metal Gear Rising* or *Final Fantasy XIII*, where actual files range from 10GB to 30GB. If I store these on an SSD, I’d waste around 20-30GB just loading video content—no real gain. While I could manually handle things and use Junctions, it would be cumbersome. Solutions like Windows Storage Spaces or Primocache are much better because they intelligently mirror frequently accessed files to the SSD cache, letting games load faster without needing the whole drive on SSD.
My biggest win was with *Anno 1800*, where loading times dropped to a quarter of what they were before I used Primocache. You can watch a video that highlights these improvements in other titles (though it’s not my own).