Ssd options

paul10 · 27 Jul 2013 at 13:51

Hello I'm currently using a intel ssd 320 120gb as a boot drive and want to get a larger capacity drive what are the best options reliability a factor and needs to be backward compatible to sata 2 due to motherboard old type although I think most will be ,so 3gbs as opposed to 6gbs ,I think?

My options narrowed to Samsung pro 840,crucial m4 ,intel 520

I'm tempted to go intel as my drive at moment has been reliable more so than a previous ocz I owned ,although probably use same controllers ,

Anyway price is dropping so not so difficult to get decent size drive so a question of best deals

Also would like to use my existing 120gb for my video editing will this work well

wazza300 · 27 Jul 2013 at 14:18

either drive is a good choice,even the Samsung non pro models

and yes your old ssd will work fine for editing

paul10 · 27 Jul 2013 at 14:34

Good ,are the Samsung non pro ssd reliable ,if so I might jump for one might even be able to get a larger capacity.

wazza300 · 27 Jul 2013 at 15:23

paul10 · 27 Jul 2013 at 17:35

ok just purchased my Samsung 840 under 150 delivered ,now the problem of making it my ops drive which I haven't a clue how to do this .can it be cloned I think I read that Samsung comes with the software for this ? im interested in magician as well ,
looks like Samsung are getting good at making electronics s4 phones large lcd panels etc
now my computer will be Korean like my car ,

wazza300 · 27 Jul 2013 at 17:37

you can use Samsung cloning tool that comes with the drive or it's in magician tool cant remember

then clone your old ssd to the new Samsung ssd and set the Samsung as first boot device in the bios and that's it

Dervious · 27 Jul 2013 at 21:26

The Samsung cloning tool is a separate app.

I downloaded it a couple of days ago to check it out. I thought it might clone HDDs to a Samsung SSD, but it seems to be SSD to SSD only.

wazza300 · 27 Jul 2013 at 21:42

@ the op you can use macrium reflect if you get stuck,its free cloning tool(well free 30 day trial) but it will do the job

paul10 · 27 Jul 2013 at 21:45

Ok ,what connectors am I looking for to plug the ssd drive into will this be the same type as my existing drives ,and does the drive come with connectors ,this is obviously going to be different from just swapping out a graphics card on mob.

wazza300 · 27 Jul 2013 at 21:52

Your psu might have a spare SATA power connector if not you'll need a molex to SATA power lead ,then look in your mb box for another SATA data cable,connect both cables to the ssd and to the mb for the data cable and your ready to clone

Dervious · 27 Jul 2013 at 22:43

wazza300 said:
@ the op you can use macrium reflect if you get stuck,its free cloning tool(well free 30 day trial) but it will do the job

Macrium Reflect is free (or there is a free version). I`ve used it and never had a problem using after 30 days.

I often use Easeus Todo Backup Free, as it has an "optimise for SSD" option (I assume that makes sure partitions are aligned properly). I check alignment after using it, and it does seem to work.

http://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Todo-Backup-Free/3000-2242_4-10964460.html

It seems to do (no pun intended) the trick, most of the time.

paul10 · 28 Jul 2013 at 09:16

Ok problem my x58a mob only has 2 sata 2 sockets .and both are being used but spec says there are ten with some using south bridge one of them is the marvel socket for 6gb s but if I remember correctly I was told to avoid this .

Dervious · 28 Jul 2013 at 10:48

paul10 said:
Ok problem my x58a mob only has 2 sata 2 sockets .and both are being used but spec says there are ten with some using south bridge one of them is the marvel socket for 6gb s but if I remember correctly I was told to avoid this .

Sata 2 should not be a major problem. You'll lose some performance, but it shouldn't be a reason not to use a Sata 3 SSD. You could test your new SSD on the Marvel port, but make sure it is AHCI enabled and you have the latest drivers. I think the "safe" bet is to use an Intel port, if available.

Having said that, I`ve just checked, and I think your motherboard (Gigabyte) uses it's own controller for the Sata 2 ports. The general consensus is that Intel ports are the best ones to use for SSDs, but if your existing SSD works OK on one of the Gigabyte ports, you should be OK with a newer SSD. There are reports of some SSDs being incompatible with certain types of ports, but I`ve not encountered any issues with the Samsung and Crucial SSDs that I`ve installed (mostly on Intel, but a few have been on Nvidia ports and AMD).

I assume you currently have an SSD and an optical drive attached to the Sata 2 ports. If you do install a new SSD and want to keep your existing SSD in the system, you could test the new SSD on the Marvel port (make sure it has AHCI enabled and use the latest drivers). If in doubt, put the optical drive on the Marvel port, and keep both SSDs on the Sata 2 ports. Yes, a new SSD will be "bottlenecked" by Sata 2, but it should still perform well.

paul10 · 28 Jul 2013 at 11:48

yes I have three existing drives 1 ssd drive intel 1 hdd drive wd green and 1 optical drive lg blue ray recorder ,so the Samsung makes four ,might have to sell the intel on ebay if cant configure into system as you say might be best to put either the ssd drive intel on sata 3 or the optical drive ,and have the Samsung run on sata 2 ports as my operating/main drive .

wazza300 · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:13

you should have two marvell sata3 speed ports and four intel sata2 ports

you can use the marvell ports just fine,they might cause issues if you try running raid0 on them but for non raid they are ok

Dervious · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:21

He might not have Intel ports, according to this.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3449#sp

Although an image of the board does seem to show plenty of Sata ports.

paul10, can you clarify how many ports you can see on your motherboard ?

In fact, it may help if you can specify the exact make/model of your board.

Edit : Reading further down Gigabyte's spec list, it does appear that the board has plenty of Sata ports. Maybe the OP's board is a different make/model.

paul10 · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:34

Ok exact model is gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R intelx58 socket ddr3 motherboard

Dervious · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:39

South Bridge:

6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_0, SATA2_1, SATA2_2, SATA2_3, SATA2_4, SATA2_5) supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices
Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10

Marvell 9128 chip:

2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3_6, GSATA3_7) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices
Support for SATA RAID 0, and RAID 1

It seems you should have plenty of Sata 2 connectors to play with.

paul10 · 28 Jul 2013 at 15:49

Ok brilliant ,I got a feeling ill be back asking for some more tips and advice ,I think one of them is leaving your machine earthed whilst working on it ,obviously turned off with the plug ,plugged in and me earthed also

Dervious · 28 Jul 2013 at 16:10

Yes, it's a good idea to leave our machine plugged in, but switched off at the wall or the power switch on the power supply. You should (in theory) earth yourself with an earthing wrist strap, but removing your shoes and touching the PC's case before starting work is all that's really required. In fact, I don't bother with the removing shoes bit !

If your footwear/carpets tend to cause you static shocks, then you really do need to be careful, but otherwise just touching the case should prevent any damage to components.