SSD or not

markwilliams82 · 25 Sep 2011 at 12:10

I have a HTPC that currently has a 250GB SATA HDD as the Windows and main drive.

I'm going to be adding a 2TB drive to the machine and also some more memory to improve storage and performance but I was wondering whether it was worth replacing the existing 250gb drive with the Crucial M4 64gb drive?

In comparison what speed increases would I see? Also is it quieter and more energy efficient too?

SoundsGood · 25 Sep 2011 at 12:11

They're silent and windows will boot very quickly. That's the main advantages.

kevbiss1 · 25 Sep 2011 at 12:16

i just fitted the m4 and my read speeds have doubled over my f3
everything runs a lot more smoothly and you dont have to wait for anythin to open,to me as money was tight it was a cheap upgrade

gwobbles · 25 Sep 2011 at 12:27

the m4 is a really good drive, the system feels snappier and waiting for stuffto open is a thing of the past now, i dont think i can ever go back to hdd anymore...

markwilliams82 · 25 Sep 2011 at 12:31

sounds good enough to me.

i remember buying a raptor a few years back to improve performance but didnt really feal like it made any improvements, so thats made me reluctant now. just worried that the performance gains wont be noticeable

SoundsGood · 25 Sep 2011 at 12:39

I went from a 15k raptor to SSD.. huge difference.

opethdisciple · 25 Sep 2011 at 13:05

The difference is defo noticable, and it is a very nice experience having an SSD.

But it is pure luxury and not really essential.

ChrisD. · 25 Sep 2011 at 13:41

SSD in a HTPC? Bit of a waste isn't it?

The only difference you'd notice is faster boots. Now a HTPC stays on most of the time surely? And since all your media will be stored on the large drive, the performance of the SSD will be wasted.

Launching apps will be a lot quicker, but don't you just load XBMC on startup and leave it?

markwilliams82 · 25 Sep 2011 at 13:47

Fair comment, and I can see where you're coming from

Although its set up as HTPC with XMBC etc I do use it for some gaming, web browsing etc and obviously ripping films to the drives

ChrisD. · 25 Sep 2011 at 13:48

Then you would notice a difference. But for a HTPC sat under a TV and used only for media streaming and playing I'd say it's a waste.

markwilliams82 · 25 Sep 2011 at 13:52

yeah that was my initial worry, but I do use it for other things too

i'm kinda 50/50 at the moment whether I'll go for it but it is tempting

kedge · 25 Sep 2011 at 18:50

Remember though that a M4 64GB ssd will be about 59.5 GB formatted even before you install the operating system to it. Depending on what operating system and software you use a small sized ssd becomes even smaller very quickly in a short space of time. I have 39.4 Gb free of 59.5 GB but i have reduced or turned off certain features in a full and updated windows 7 x64, and only have a few small sized applications installed.