What does Momentum Cache?

Momentum Cache is a Crucial-developed technology that is exclusive to SSDs bearing the Crucial brand. Users can utilize it to allocate a portion of their DRAM to accelerate their SSD. The SSD performs better due to the high-speed DRAM cache's reduction in I/O latency.

The proprietary software Crucial Storage Executive, which needs Microsoft Windows 7 or later, is responsible for managing Momentum Cache. Up to 4 GB of system memory can be used by the cache or 25% of it.

In order to improve burst speed and get around the fact that SSDs normally have greater read performance than write, Crucial's Momentum Cache technology is a sophisticated software driver that dynamically uses unused system memory. Up to 25% of the system's memory will be used by Momentum Cache, but no more than 4GB. Storage Executive, a tool from Crucial, can be used to toggle the technology on or off.

As you can see, activating the Momentum Cache has a remarkable impact on benchmark results. Reads also experience a significant improvement, particularly 4K reads. When Momentum technology is used, the drive's sequential read and write performance is astounding, with reads in the ATTO benchmark increasing from 561 MB/s to 1,652 MB/s and writes from 516 MB/s to 1,879 MB/s.

How is the Momentum Cache used?

Momentum Cache will receive a piece of your DRAM when you turn on the option, according to Storage Executive. The Crucial SSD serves as the OS's boot drive, but if the OS has to write data there, the data is really written to that particular area of DRAM (which is much quicker). After that, the information is permanently stored on the SSD after being "flushed" there.

Momentum Cache controls all writes and reads between a compatible SSD and the system as a software driver that is installed on Windows 1 operating systems. It optimizes input/output (I/O) data by storing it in system memory and then consistently committing it to the SSD when more bandwidth is available.

In general, SSDs perform better when reading data instead of writing data. It is especially obvious in drives with lower densities that have fewer parallel access points to NAND die. Almost all writes that are sent to the SSD are cached by Momentum Cache, which corrects it inefficiency. When the drive activity is low, the writes are moved from the cache to the SSD, creating a buffer to distribute heavy workloads over time and enhancing burst performance.

Other SSD design restrictions are addressed by Momentum Cache. Momentum Cache combines smaller write transfers into bigger ones when system memory is available to lessen the effect of small random writes on the NAND. The greatest influence on NAND longevity in an SSD comes from small transfer random writes. Momentum Cache also lessens SSD wear by removing repeating data from the drive's write operations.

Momentum Cache's memory use is how much?

Up to 25% of the system memory allotted to Momentum Cache will be used, but no more than 4GB.

How does the Momentum Cache behaves when a system loses power while it is active

When using Momentum Cache, there is a chance of file corruption and data loss in the event of a sudden power outage. Momentum Cache in a laptop will automatically turn off when the battery level drops below 25% in order to avoid this. It is advised that you use an Uninterruptible Power Supply while using the Momentum Cache feature since there is no equivalent feature on a desktop.

Why is Momentum Cache not having the impact that I had hoped it would have?

Momentum Cache impacts only the writing operations not read operations. Momentum Cache shouldn't slow down read speeds. Additional system resources that may be relevant include the SATA driver, power-saving settings, and the CPU's speed (which is frequently modified dynamically). Not all benchmarks may exhibit Momentum Cache's impact. Momentum Cache could not show a significant improvement on systems that contains 6GB of RAM. The speed impact of Momentum Cache will be significantly lessened by using software encryption, such as BitLocker in Windows® 7. Finally, larger SSDs have a faster write speed because they may access more SSD components at once, which causes the cache function to notice fewer benefits.

Two Crucial SSDs are set up in a RAID array in the system. Can Momentum Cache be enabled?

Hardware RAID configurations are not presently supported by Momentum Cache. You can only enable Momentum Cache on a supported drive, according to the notification "Not a Supported Drive" that appears on the Momentum Cache page in Storage Executive.