Does the Mysql install location affect write speeds? Up until lately, I used a 32 bit version of Mysql 5.7, bundled with a WAMP server (EasyPHP) on Windows for local development, all running on an SSD. I ran into database size issues, and had to upgrade to a 64 bit version which can handle bigger file sizes. Since no 64 bit version was available for the WAMP server, I opted for a separate install of the Mysql Community server 8.0. It now works fine with my bigger databases.

The default install location on Windows is in Program Files (the MSI installer did not offer to install anywhere else), which on my machine is a regular hard drive. To speed things up, I modified the Mysql configuration to store the data files on the SSD, which also works fine. However, importing the same 2GB SQL dump file takes a lot longer than the 32 bit version did before (30 minutes vs 8-10 previously).

The only major differences between the two SQL servers are:


The server version (5.7 vs 8.0)
The architecture (64bit vs 32bit) 
The install location (SSD vs regular hard drive)


I am tempted to dismiss 1) and 2), since I could not find any specific related speed issues online.

Thus my question: could it be that although the data files are stored on the SSD, that the server itself being installed on a regular hard drive slows things down? My searches regarding Mysql cache files showed that InnoDB temporary files are stored in the data folder, so that should be okay.

I have a nagging feeling that I'm missing something obvious.
As a comparison, I uninstalled the Mysql 8.0 server, and replaced it with a 5.7 64-bit version, with the same setup: Server binaries on the regular hard drive, data files on the SSD. The speed went back to 8-10 minutes to import the SQL files.

I can only assume that the issue is with the v8.0 server, but I cannot speculate as to why. Since I have no particular reason to need the v8.0, I will stay with the v5.7 for now.