koobas.hobune.stream
Build and Switch Platform Performance with SSD
I'm working on an old Mac Mini that is starting to show it's age when running Unity. Unfortunately I can't upgrade to a new system right now I have to make do with the Mini and it's Core 2 Duo CPU. I've already maxed out the memory to 8GB and I've replaced the slow 5400 rpm drive with a 7200rpm Seagate Momentous XT Hybrid drive.
Memory doesn't seem to be the issue and I can't do anything about the CPU, so I'm thinking of adding a small SSD specifically to host my Unity and Xcode Projects. Does anybody have any experience with SSD's and Unity performance? Are the effects on Build and Switch Platform tasks noticeable?
Thanks
Geoff
Well I run on SSDs and it's pretty fast - BUT the SSDs I'm using would pay for a new computer with normal drives.... Not sure a cheap SSD is going to give you the performance you want.
i'm running unity 3.5.5 on a maxed out macbook pro 2011 (16gb ram, raid-0 ssd, 2.2ghz i7), and i am pretty much annoyed by the fact that every single time i'm switching between iOS and Windows platform it takes ages, even for my small project. this really should be addressed by unity 3d!
A quick update to this. I swapped out the 5400rpm HDD in my 2009 MBP for an M4 240GB, and build times have gone from 10 minutes to 4 minutes (2.5 with dSym disabled). Unity opens in ~5 seconds vs 30 seconds before, MBP generally feels like a new machine.
It's possible mileage will vary of course; my drive was really struggling before so obviously an SSD would improve things in my case.
Shouldn't matter, but FYI this is in Mavericks with just 4GB system RAM.
Be sure to enable TRIM with Trim Enabler.
Answering my own question... I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Crucial M4 SSD because Amazon had them for a decent price. While it made my machine snappier it didn't really help much with Unity.
Overall: Most applications load faster. Office apps now start in a reasonable amount of time. Start up and shut down times have improved.
Unity 3d Unity starts quicker which is nice, but MonoDevelop still loads as slowly as ever. Not sure what it's issue is. Every other application if used on this machine loads noticeably quicker now. It didn't help much with the time required to switch platforms. Switching from Standalone to iOS was 13 mins before and 12 mins after the upgrade. The initial step where it looks for assets to be re-imported was speed up, but all the actual re-importing is still slow. This process seems to be really CPU bound.
I guess the moral of the story is, if you want to buy an SSD to breath some life into an old machine it will do the trick. But if you are looking to speed up Unity, don't get your hopes up.
