Soldato
Good post.
When I upgraded to my Intel X25-M it was the best upgrade I've ever done. Simply phenomenal. I'm really at a loss when you say that apps open no quicker than your mechanical drive or not noticeable quicker.
Still not convinced by these SSD's
- Thread starter Buchanan0204
- Start date
Good post.
When I upgraded to my Intel X25-M it was the best upgrade I've ever done. Simply phenomenal. I'm really at a loss when you say that apps open no quicker than your mechanical drive or not noticeable quicker.
Of course let's not forget the other advantage of ssds: noise. I'm currently sitting at my desk in total silence. My laptop, when not doing anything strenuous, literally doesn't make a sound. It's awesome!
I wish I could say the same for my desktop, but unfortunately the retail amd hs+fan and a samsung F3 put a stop to that.
Good point, before I went SSD I was running a RAID0 of 150GB Raptor X's - the noise was intolerable and performance was nowhere near as good.
Found a vid that gives you an idea of what they sounded like - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpOemBY4IBQ
Does anyone else here use SSD as a Windows 7 Readyboost drive?
As mentioned in another thread i'm using an SSD as a Windows 7 readyboost drive, in effect I have over 3TB of hybrid storage!
First load is not effected, however after first load all applications and data begin to improve, the machine is very responsive once it's got going. This is on an i5 750 with 8GB ram.
I've monitored the Readyboost stats and have seen upto near peak SSD transfer speeds when loading data from HDD.
As mentioned in another thread i'm using an SSD as a Windows 7 readyboost drive, in effect I have over 3TB of hybrid storage!
First load is not effected, however after first load all applications and data begin to improve, the machine is very responsive once it's got going. This is on an i5 750 with 8GB ram.
I've monitored the Readyboost stats and have seen upto near peak SSD transfer speeds when loading data from HDD.
See post 51. I've mentioned it quite a few times now. I am not installing from a dvd or any form of optical media. I have tried both installing directly from the C: and also D: (no difference)
Though I could be a little slow in the head and just not noticing. I am chasing 93 after all. When my SSD arrives I think its going to be the best upgrade I have done to my PC in many years. I use Maya, Mudbox, Photoshop and UDK on a daily basis and when I am diving inbetween programs, closing, testing, reopening...etc it can get a little slow. With my new SSD I hope to solve these issues.
Don
You could try either a 7200rpm laptop hard drive (most are 5400rpm, which are very slow. I upgraded my old laptop 3 years ago and it's performance was dramaticly increased), which can be had for roughly £30 or a Hybrid Hard drive, which puts both a small 4GB SSD and a 7200rpm drive in the same package, giving you a speed increase whilst still being relatively cheap with better storage space than a regular HDD. Examples are below.
7200rpm Drive: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-223-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896
Hybrid Drive: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-233-SE
Hope this helps.
In regards to SSDs, I'm very happy with mine.
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Soldato
See post 51. I've mentioned it quite a few times now. I am not installing from a dvd or any form of optical media. I have tried both installing directly from the C: and also D: (no difference)
installing a dodgy version? tut tut
Soldato
- Joined
- 10 Apr 2004
- Posts
- 13,489
Agreed.
My X25-M made a HUGE difference and that was coming from a 300Gb Velociraptor! So much so I get frustrated with my MBP because it takes so long to load things.
I think it's a case of putting them side by side and seeing the difference. The X25-M wipes the floor with the velociraptor!
Soldato
I think SSD's make more sense in laptops right now...
I've been using an 80gb X25-M for about 18 months now, and I would never go back to a mechanical drive. I had to resort to a 640GB WD drive for about 4 weeks while I was getting my GTX460 sorted out, and the difference was very noticeable. Obviously the OS boots up a bit more quickly, but it's not so much the time the desktop takes to appear, it's the time it takes for the "thinking and blinking" to stop. When I switched back to the HDD, I noticed the slower startup time for apps. I don't use anything "heavy", just Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, NetBeans etc, but they all feel more "snappy" when running from an SSD. Virus and Spyware scans are also much quicker.
In summary, yes, an SSD seems like a "luxury", but if £150ish won't break the bank, I'd say you get your money's worth over the (3 - 4 years ?) that you will use it as your C drive.
In summary, yes, an SSD seems like a "luxury", but if £150ish won't break the bank, I'd say you get your money's worth over the (3 - 4 years ?) that you will use it as your C drive.
Permabanned
Make sure you've the latest firmwear for the SSD. Then drivers for your chipset. If you have option of using 6GB/s SATA speed do it! Enable writeback catch.
I downgraded from a 60gb OCZ Vertex 2 to a 600GB Velociraptor last month, 10x the storage space, slower boot times (but I never watch it boot anyway, multitasking ***) and no noticeable loss in performance (im a human not a benchmarking tool)
I downgraded from a 60gb OCZ Vertex 2 to a 600GB Velociraptor last month, 10x the storage space, slower boot times (but I never watch it boot anyway, multitasking ***) and no noticeable loss in performance (im a human not a benchmarking tool)
Just not worth it? Was the space an annoying issue? Just interested
this is my feelings too, atm ssd's arent worth their money for me just yet
You'll never know what you're missing until you've tried one. Besides, it's the only thing missing in your signature.
Associate
hell i can remember when a 1gb hard drive was £1500
now thats what i call expensive . things ( electronics ) seem to come in price so quick nowadays
now thats what i call expensive . things ( electronics ) seem to come in price so quick nowadays
I disagree with other peoples posts that state that gamers don't benefit as much from an SSD. I have a 120GB Vertex 2E which is more than enough to install Windows along with usual apps and some development programs with room left over for a number of games. A lot of people on here have high performance systems and already have high end graphics cards/cpus. The addition of an SSD basically eliminates load times for loading a game and in game loading between levels. This is great!
On top of this, I play Bad Company 2 a lot online and if the level changes and the server has the spawn time set to 0seconds, I am nearlly always the first person who spawns into the game (thanks to the quicker loading time) giving me a slight advantage!
Overall SSDs are so much quicker at loading applications, installing programs (from installers on the SSD) and anythign that requires reading/writing of data such as extracting files. The biggest bottle neck in a computer is likely to be the mechanical drive. This is the one upgrade that will actually make a difference.
On top of this, I play Bad Company 2 a lot online and if the level changes and the server has the spawn time set to 0seconds, I am nearlly always the first person who spawns into the game (thanks to the quicker loading time) giving me a slight advantage!
Overall SSDs are so much quicker at loading applications, installing programs (from installers on the SSD) and anythign that requires reading/writing of data such as extracting files. The biggest bottle neck in a computer is likely to be the mechanical drive. This is the one upgrade that will actually make a difference.
You could try either a 7200rpm laptop hard drive (most are 5400rpm, which are very slow. I upgraded my old laptop 3 years ago and it's performance was dramaticly increased), which can be had for roughly £30 or a Hybrid Hard drive, which puts both a small 4GB SSD and a 7200rpm drive in the same package, giving you a speed increase whilst still being relatively cheap with better storage space than a regular HDD. Examples are below.
7200rpm Drive: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-223-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896
Hybrid Drive: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-233-SE
Hope this helps.
In regards to SSDs, I'm very happy with mine.
I'm glad you said that, because I'm seriously tempted (have been for the last year) to just use 2.5" hard drives in my desktop (it is matx anyway). The loudest things in my rig are the hard drives - not the clicking, this is fine; it's the persistant hum which resonates through the desk, unless I actively try to damp them.
I'm not sure about those hybrid drives - I think for the moment a standard 2.5" would be easier, and then switch once SSD capacities increase considerably for a given price.
Of course I've still got doubts (will they be up to the task for things like fraps recordings), but if not that will be the final nail in the coffin for 3.5" HDD for me.