Storage upgrade feedback needed

[overclick]

Sadly my trusted Copperhead just bit the dust so going to buy a Deathadder respawn 3500 and have decided to get some new storage at the same time.

I have not kept my knowledge up since building my rig 2 years ago so was just hoping for some feedback before I splash my cash.

My Mobo is a Asus P7P55D Pro so from what I can tell limited to 3Gb/sec SATA.
My current HDD is a pretty full Samsung F3 Spinpoint.

Originally I planned to get a second HDD at a later date and Raid 0. But a SSD will be faster right? (games, map loading time etc). I plan to use this for the Win7 64bit install and my most played games.

I hear good things about Crucial M4's? I am currently thinking of the http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-008-CR&tool=3
Is it smaller than a standard internal HDD and do i need one of those brackets I have seen on ocuk? It shows as 6Gb/s but am I right in thinking this will still work on my MObo just limited to 3Gb/s? And most importantly would I expect to see better game performance on this? I can't just plug this in and load windows onto it right? Do I have to mess about and play with Bios flash it to Archi (whatever that is) e.t.c.? Finally Re SSDs is there anything else of importance I should know?

Is their a limit to W7 64bit storage amounts as I am considering also getting a further 1 or 2TB HDD for general storage?

Any feedback welcome!

 

[overclick]

1 last question, looking at the 2TB HDDs would a 64Mb cache make much difference over a 32Mb for gaming? To be honest I don't really get what a HDD uses a cache for? And again i imagine the 6Gb/s ones i am seeing will work on a 3Gb/s mobo?

 

[Mr.V]

Originally I planned to get a second HDD at a later date and Raid 0. But a SSD will be faster right? (games, map loading time etc). I plan to use this for the Win7 64bit install and my most played games.

I hear good things about Crucial M4's? I am currently thinking of the http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-008-CR&tool=3
Is it smaller than a standard internal HDD and do i need one of those brackets I have seen on ocuk?

yes you will need a bracket to install in a normal 3.5" bay

It shows as 6Gb/s but am I right in thinking this will still work on my MObo just limited to 3Gb/s?

Thats correct! if you only have Sata2 then it will operate at sata2 speeds.

And most importantly would I expect to see better game performance on this? I can't just plug this in and load windows onto it right?

performance of a sata ssd whipes the floor with regular mechanical drives so yes you will see a huge difference! it works like a normal hard drive doesnt need anything special

Do I have to mess about and play with Bios flash it to Archi (whatever that is) e.t.c.? Finally Re SSDs is there anything else of importance I should know?

you wont really need to flash it as your bottlenecked with your motherboard being sata2 only but you could flash it first then install windows so its future proof. if you choose to flash it you need to set your sata ports to IDE first then run the firmware upgrade then once completed set the ports back to AHCI mode

Is their a limit to W7 64bit storage amounts as I am considering also getting a further 1 or 2TB HDD for general storage?

Any feedback welcome!

no there isnt any limit you could have as many hard drives as you like you'd probably run out of sata ports first.

1 last question, looking at the 2TB HDDs would a 64Mb cache make much difference over a 32Mb for gaming? To be honest I don't really get what a HDD uses a cache for? And again i imagine the 6Gb/s ones i am seeing will work on a 3Gb/s mobo?

higher cache is always a bonus, the cache acts as a buffer between the drive and controller. correct all 6Gb drives are downward compatible to 3Gb speeds

Hope that helps

 

[overclick]

Cheers Mr V, a great response which has pretty much answered all my questions. Time for a bit or reading before i order.

 

[Mr.V]

no porbs, your welcome. sorry for the late reply