Good SSD to install Windows 7 64-bit

scwilson

scwilson

scwilson

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Hi Folks,

I am thinking about changing my current HDD for an SSD but am unsure which ones to go for or even how to go about installing them.

I have an Antec 300, Antec TruePower 650w modular PSU, Asus Crosshair III Formula mobo, AMD X6 1090T, 4GB Corsair 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM, Blu-ray ROM, Blu-Ray Writer plus a few addition HDDs.

Am thinking of adding an ATI HD 5830 also.

So any recommended ones? Is the install the same as you would with a normal HDD? I have AHCI enabled.

I presume you just plug-in the same sata cable and power connectors you would an ordinary HDD and switch on with a boot disk?
 
I think you probably should give a price range and size that you're interested in before people can give good suggestions on ssds :).

As for fitting, it's exactly the same as a normal hard drive. The usual sata+power cables etc all apply. The only issue is you need AHCI enabled, which you do, so all is well :). Windows will detect that it's an ssd and will make the necessary software changes itself (partition alignment, trim support, disable defrag etc).
 
as most SSD's are 2.5" they dont fit in a standard 3.5 slot in your case

some cases can installed 2.5 drives
but for others, u'll need the 3.5" bracket
some SSD's come with the bracket included, my old intel did

u can get 3.5" SSD's thou, like the Bigfoot, which will install like a standard HDD
 
scwilson said:
Does the above SSD come with any fixings? Where are you supposed to install them?
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The vertex 2E does come with a 3.5" adaptor, however the agilities do not. With that you can fit it to a normal hard drive bay.

However, even if you get one which doesn't come with a 3.5" adaptor it's not a big issue. SSDs produce basically no heat, are unaffected by vibrations and don't need to be flat to run. As a result, you could literally screw, velcro or sellotape* it anywhere you please. Mine is attached to a 5.25" bay by two screws, just so it doesn't restrict air flow to the hard drives.

As long as it's not going to fall off and damage anything, it really doesn't matter how you attach it to the case :).

*For the record, sellotape might not be a good idea, but you get the jist :p.
 
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Amraam said:
Only really worth it if your motherboard supports SATA III which my 680i doesn't. SATA II is only up to 300MBps so a faster SSD is pointless on SATA II. Or am I wrong?
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Are they backwards compatible - I mean I only have SATA II at the moment but I'd imagine I'll be getting a SATA III mobo at some point - surely worth the extra tenner for the future speed increase as long as it will work on the current SATA II connection?
 
They are yes. Don't take what I said as fact however, I may be wrong by that's my understanding. The SATA III SSD will work with SATA II but you won't get 6gbps
 
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