New GPU or Crossfire?

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 19:31

AHCI is a mode for running SATA devices and allows full performance out of SSDs. You can run your board in other modes (like IDE mode) but expect SSD performance to be decreased.

To enable it on your motherboard press <del> when the PC is booting up to enter the BIOS. From the main menu select "Integrated Peripherals" > "On-Chip ATA Devices" > "RAID Mode" and select "AHCI" or "RAID" if that option isn't available.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 20:55

Are these drives any good, as they are pretty cheap!

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-233-SE

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 21:06

Its a nice idea, but for general usage you would be MUCH better off buying a lower priced SSD (for the OS and key applications) and a 500GB mechanical HDD for almost the same total price.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 21:12

Ok, so would a 60gb ssd be sufficient?? Also, would a SATA 3 one be much quicker, as I only have sata 2 ports on my mobo, and I could get a SATA 3 card, but this would require using a x4 PCI-E slot on my mobo, which I do not currently have one, so I would have to use the other x16 slot (PCI-E)

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 21:18

To be honest, the jump from mechanical hard drive to SSD (SATA2) is massive. Once you have made that jump, the real-world performance increas going from a SATA2 to a SATA3 drive is much more modest. Since getting a SATA3 SSD to work with your system will be quite a hassle then I would suggest sticking with a SATA2 SSD and enjoying the new speed. If you budget can bear it, this is an excellent SATA2 SSD using the excellent sandforce SF1200 controller- definitely worth the step up in price compared to the Vertex 1.

As for 60GB being enough. Windows 7 takes up around 15GB, this leaves you plenty of room to install all your main applications, documents (perhaps photos and music depending on your collection size) and one or two modern-size games. Put all your videos and the majority of your games on the mechanical HDD.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 21:26

ok thanks for all you help

Will leaving win 7 on my other HD work then when I come to install it on my SSD, as it is an OEM copy.....

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 21:30

Wiry said:
ok thanks for all you help Will leaving win 7 on my other HD work then when I come to install it on my SSD, as it is an OEM copy.....

Aye, it will work fine. From a legal stand-point it is fine as you are still using the same motherboard.

From a practical stand-point, just set the SSD to the highest HDD boot priority in the BIOS and the system will always boot into the SSD not the mechanical HDD. You may as well do this at the same time you set the DVD drive to be the highest priority boot drive so you can install windows off the disk (and setting AHCI mode).

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 21:49

Also, to top it off! Would a sound card benefit me over onboard mobo sound... I see you have a sound card?

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 21:54

Wiry said:
Also, to top it off! Would a sound card benefit me over onboard mobo sound... I see you have a sound card?

It really depends on your sound system. If you use good quality headphones or PC speakers costing £50 or more then going for a sound card would be a good idea in my opinion as there would be a clear increase in audio quality/clarity. If you are using an amp+speakers system then you may as well bitstream the audio off your motherboard.

Personally, I use Z5500 speakers and a sennheiser headset so I feel the add-on sound card is made use of.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 21:59

well I have some roccat kave headphones and I have 2.1 speakers, but they are about £45 ish, If I was to get a sound card, what are the better ones and what are the differences.

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 22:01

I would suggest going for one of the Xonar sound cards- they really are very good. Ideally go for the Xonar D1 or DX (same card, just a different connector). If you don't want to spend quite as much then the Xonar DS is still a nice card and for £35 at the moment it is a bit of a steal.

Here and here are reviews of the DS.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 22:11

OK, so whats the difference between the D2x and the D2??

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 22:16

Wiry said:
OK, so whats the difference between the D2x and the D2??

As with the D1 and DX, its the same card, the DX just has an onboard PCI to PCIE converter so it works in PCIE slots. If you are buying a new card today I would suggest going with a PCIE one, as PCI slots seem to be dying out and you will probably want to keep a quality sound card for quite some time.

The D2X is a nice jump up from the D1/DX, but If you are pushed for budget and/or having to compromise on the SSD to afford it then I would suggest prioritising the SSD, since the D1/DX (or even the DS, have a look at the reviews) is still an excellent sound card and jumping up to an SSD is a really worthwhile upgrade.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 22:52

cmndr_andi said:
As with the D1 and DX, its the same card, the DX just has an onboard PCI to PCIE converter so it works in PCIE slots. If you are buying a new card today I would suggest going with a PCIE one, as PCI slots seem to be dying out and you will probably want to keep a quality sound card for quite some time.

The D2X is a nice jump up from the D1/DX, but If you are pushed for budget and/or having to compromise on the SSD to afford it then I would suggest prioritising the SSD, since the D1/DX (or even the DS, have a look at the reviews) is still an excellent sound card and jumping up to an SSD is a really worthwhile upgrade.

I think I might just buy a ocz vertex 2e 60gb, I think I might aswell just unplug my other 3 hard drives when installing WIN 7 onto the SSD though as it will make the job a lot easier!

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 23:00

Wiry said:
I think I might just buy a ocz vertex 2e 60gb, I think I might aswell just unplug my other 3 hard drives when installing WIN 7 onto the SSD though as it will make the job a lot easier!

Good choice, I have the 120GB version and I'm really pleased with it, very much an SSD convert now.

You will need to change the boot priority if you want to run more HDDs than the SDD otherwise it will most likely default back to loading windows off your current primary mechanical HDD once you plug them back in. Changing the boot priority in the BIOS really isn't tough, you just need to find the right page on your motherboard manual (i think it's in the advanced BIOS features part of the BIOS). Also, make sure you enable AHCI (or RAID) mode in the BIOS before installing the OS on the SSD.

Wiry · 15 May 2011 at 23:17

cmndr_andi said:
Good choice, I have the 120GB version and I'm really pleased with it, very much an SSD convert now.

You will need to change the boot priority if you want to run more HDDs than the SDD otherwise it will most likely default back to loading windows off your current primary mechanical HDD once you plug them back in. Changing the boot priority in the BIOS really isn't tough, you just need to find the right page on your motherboard manual (i think it's in the advanced BIOS features part of the BIOS). Also, make sure you enable AHCI (or RAID) mode in the BIOS before installing the OS on the SSD.

Will this enable AHCI on all drives, or just the SSD then?

cmndr_andi · 15 May 2011 at 23:25

It will affect all the drive drives on the Intel controller, however they will continue to work fine. Have a read of this thread. This article that is mentioned is also worth a read.

The guy in the thread recommends removing the other HDDs when installing windows on the SDD, I'm pretty certain this is just to ensure no issues with hard drive priority and not an issue with AHCI.

Wiry · 16 May 2011 at 07:42

I'm tempted to get the Crucial M4, because it's a fiver more than the vertex 2E's and you get the extra 8GB and its SATA 3, 6GBPS, so If in the future I upgrade to a mobo with sata 6GBPS on, I can benefit more with this drive, and atm, I will still be getting amazing read speeds.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-009-CR&groupid=1657&catid=1660&subcat=1669

.....Or, what about this?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-076-OC&groupid=1657&catid=1660&subcat=1669

cmndr_andi · 16 May 2011 at 10:27

Ah, if you are looking at the 120GB SSD level then I would definitely be going for the OCZ Agility 3 SSD with its Sandforce SF2200 series controller. When running on a SATA2 port it should run as fast or faster than a vertex 2, and when you upgrade and get a motherboard (or add-in card for SATA3) you will get a nice big speed boost.