Which £150-£200 SSD and install questions?

LiamJ

LiamJ

LiamJ

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Hi guys :)

Going to be getting an SSD soon as I'm currently on a single 500Gb WD caviar blue. :o

So I have a budget of around £150, but prices for 120Gb models are slightly more so I'll be willing to go a bit higher. Main usage will be for Windows 7, gaming and possibly temp storage for video files during editing, if it will make a difference. Which one is best within my price range for me?

Regarding installation, is it as simple as just unplugging my current HDD, installing W7 on the new drive, then deleting the old Windows partition? I've also heard things about the page file and moving it and things like that, so what are the basics that need be set up or changed?

Thanks for all the help guys, it's really appreciated. :D

EDIT: Forgot to say that my motherboard only supports SATA 2, so is it worth buying a controller card?
 
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It will def make a big difference in Windows 7, load up times, game loading times etc.

For installation i'd personally recommend deleting current windows partition, unplugging old HD and then plugging in new SSD. Probably fine the other way, just always done it this way.

SATA 3 is backwards compatible with SATA II i think - you'll probably want to check this but shouldn't make a difference.
 
Crucial C300 128GB can be had for £154. Have a look around the net.

I would wait until tomorrow, see what SSDs Intel comes up with.
 
Would it be easier to install on the new SSD first? The thing is that I have no drives to use for backup. I have enough space to maybe backup the most important things on an old HDD, but I don't want to take any unnecessary risk. For example, if something goes wrong, I'll lose a lot of data.

Mr Krugga said:
Crucial C300 128GB can be had for £154. Have a look around the net.

I would wait until tomorrow, see what SSDs Intel comes up with.
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That's a great price, thanks for the tip. Hate to say it, but I'm always looking for a bargain! :p

EDIT: Forgot to say, will only having SATA 2 affect my choice of SSD in anyway? For example, is it worth paying more for a faster drive if the speed difference wouldn't increase due to being bottlenecked?
 
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I haven't got a SSD yet but from what I gather, the best way to do it would be to upgrade the firmware on the SSD first, do a Secure Erase (or not, not sure about that), unplug all drives apart from the SSD, do a clean install of Windows.

After that you could plug in all other drives you have, backup all the necessary data to one drive and clean the main storage drive.
 
Yes sorry, that's a typo :o

Thanks Mr Krugga, that sounds sensible enough. I'll do some research on Secure Erase and proper procedures and setup in detail tonight.

Still not sure on which SSD to actually go for. The Vertex has higher write times, and the Crucial has higher higher read times. Which are most important for my uses? At the moment, I'm guessing that only playing games and loading the OS will benefit most from read times?
 
LiamJ said:
Yes sorry, that's a typo :o

Thanks Mr Krugga, that sounds sensible enough. I'll do some research on Secure Erase and proper procedures and setup in detail tonight.

Still not sure on which SSD to actually go for. The Vertex has higher write times, and the Crucial has higher higher read times. Which are most important for my uses? At the moment, I'm guessing that only playing games and loading the OS will benefit most from read times?
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That's right, the read times are what you're after.

Get the Crucial C300 128GB while the offer lasts, I doubt that anything better will come any time soon seeing that all manufacturers are interested in filling in the top range market first.
 
R088ieS86 said:
The C300 won't run at full speed over Sata II and you'll get the same read performance as a vertex but lower write speeds.

This thread shows its performace over Sata II http://www.forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/Will-the-128GB-C300-work-on-sata-2/td-p/14351

But if you do upgrade your board at some point then you can then unleash the C300's speeds.
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That is true but 120GB drive for £154 is a steal anyway ;)

I'm also going to use it on SATA II btw. Hopefully it will do the job just fine.
 
I am pretty much set on an SSD now, but I'm not sure whether to buy a small one along with a good cooler and fans, or a bigger one, and just few case fans maybe.

For the SSD setup, does this sound alright?

Backup my Users folder to my old IDE HDD. Plug in the SSD, enable ACHI and update firmware, Secure Erase etc. Then unplug all but SSD, install Windows, then disable defray etc., by running WEI. Plug in other two drives, reformat WD which has old Windows install, then restore Users folder to it and change default Users location from SSD to HDD and continue to use that for data?

Am I missing anything regarding installation? Do I need to change anything manually on the SSD, and what drivers do I need to install? Also, I'm prett set on the Crucial C300, does it come with a SATA cable or do I need to buy one?

Thanks everyone!
 
Why secure erase a brand new drive...?

The OEM version doesn't came with cable btw. Well mine didn't.

Also, I personally used the Windows Easy Transfer tool to move my data about. Saved some hassle and moved a lot of settings across to the new install:)
 
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