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"Turn off hard disk after" & SSD?

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

In Windows 7, is there any reason to "turn off hard disk after" some time period with an SSD (that's under Power Options)? I just realized I had it set for 20 minutes, but I can't really see why I shouldn't set it to "Never" now that I have an SSD.

4 REPLIES 4

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

I think the opposite is true. Since I have an SSD, I send my HDDs to sleep after 15 minutes. They only hold my data now, no OS or programs and thus are not accessed by windows randomly and woken up. It saves a little power but mostly reduces noise.

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

It sounds like you have an SSD for the OS and rotating disks for data. I have ONLY the SSD. So, HDD noise isn't a factor. The only thing I can think of is the power consumption. But, I don't know what the SSD's power consumption is at "idle" vs it's being "off." According to this:

http://download.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/x25m/sb/intelx25_msatassdpb34nm.pdf http://download.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/x25m/sb/intelx25_msatassdpb34nm.pdf

the SSD uses 150 mW when active and 75 mW when idle. I have no idea what Windows means by "turn off hard disk..." when referring to an SSD (i.e., does it draw any power at all or is it just the idle power draw). Regardless, assuming I'm doing this right, 75 mW x 24 hrs/day * $0.10/wH * 10^-3 w/mw = $0.18/day if I left the thing idling all the time (a whopping $0.36/day if active all day).

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

Ah I see, yes indeed it wont make much sense for you then. On the other hand, it wont hurt either. Flip a coin!

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

If it's a windows system disk, It will never be turned off, because windows is allways using the disk...