2tb SSD - how much free space for optimal performance

[Peter_M]

Hi,

I recently bought a Mac Mini for music production, with a 2tb SSD.

However, I’ve read conflicting advices about how much free space I should leave to maintain optimal performance. Those large sample libraries quickly use up the storage capacity.

Some say 10% free space is enough, others up to 30%. Does the size of the SSD matter also? Will only 200-300gb of free space on a 2tb SSD slow down the performance over time?

Thanks!

 

[Fishrrman]

10-15gb will be fine.

 

[frou]

These soldered SSDs are so fast that even if the speed were cut in half, it would be imperceptible in many workflows.

 

[iluvmacs99]

Hi,

I recently bought a Mac Mini for music production, with a 2tb SSD.

However, I’ve read conflicting advices about how much free space I should leave to maintain optimal performance. Those large sample libraries quickly use up the storage capacity.

Some say 10% free space is enough, others up to 30%. Does the size of the SSD matter also? Will only 200-300gb of free space on a 2tb SSD slow down the performance over time?

Thanks!

The key is how much memory do you have installed on the Mini. The lesser the memory, the more swap free space is needed. For optimal performance and less swapping, you should always have more installed memory. 32Gb is the optimal point for a lot of sample libariies, but a friend of mine who I used to work with and is a professional musician and producer has his 12 core rig setup for 64Gb of ram with all the instruments and samples loaded for professional recording. But even he said; roughly 32-48Gb of ram are used if my memory serves me correct. The only time your 2Tb SSD will slow down is when the memory cells are dying and are using reserve provisional cells to replace those dead ones. Constant reading and writing of data in gigabytes can shorten the life of the SSD and slow it down. But if you up the memory, then you should be fine. You should check the memory pressure to see if you need more RAM.

 

[Peter_M]

Thanks for the replies! I have 64gb RAM (upgraded it myself), and have about 120-140gb free space now (those Superior Drummer libraries takes up a lot of space..lol). I only work with samples and midi, no video editing, so I don't need a lot of space for temporary files. Hopefully this will work out fine.