Why the large SSDs now? Not just for OS & programs?

Triggaaar · 23 Mar 2014 at 14:29

Not easy to run SSD life when half the time my PC can't even see the drive.

Anyway, it can see it now, so...
Drive health is Excellent
M4-CT128M4SSD2 (Fw: 0009)
Work time: 6474 hours
Powered on 2937 times (no idea why so many)
Health 99%
Estimated lifetime 8 years 7 months 13 days

So looks like I need to update the firmware

Triggaaar · 23 Mar 2014 at 14:37

Arghhhh!

Just downloaded and run Crucial's firmware updater, and it says "There are no SSDs on your system that need to be updated"

Even though I can currently access the drive.

I continued anyway, and agreed the license, and the PC rebooted. Once the PC started again, I ran SSDlife and it says the firmware is still 0009.

Orcvader · 23 Mar 2014 at 15:59

Triggaaar said:
Arghhhh!

Just downloaded and run Crucial's firmware updater, and it says "There are no SSDs on your system that need to be updated"

Even though I can currently access the drive.

I continued anyway, and agreed the license, and the PC rebooted. Once the PC started again, I ran SSDlife and it says the firmware is still 0009.

Make sure the updater is on the root of the SSD itself (not in any folders).

Triggaaar · 23 Mar 2014 at 16:28

Orcvader said:
Make sure the updater is on the root of the SSD itself (not in any folders).

Thanks. My SSD was my E: (wasn't stable as an OS) and I tried that, and nothing. I managed to boot with my SSD as the OS (C

and tried it. Again it said "There are no SSDs on your system that need to be updated", but I tried to run it anyway. It rebooted, and did manage to update the firmware! (confirmed with SSDlife)

And it only took a couple of hours. So now I'm running my OS on my SSD. Sweepstake: how long until it crashes?

Questions:
Is it likely that my SSD was disappearing due to having over 6000 hours use, and being on old firmware?
Are my SSDlife results very reliable - ie, it says my SSD is very healthy, so is that likely to be accurate (given the troubles I've had).

If this doesn't crash, I'm going to be very happy.

wazza300 · 23 Mar 2014 at 16:32

it should be fine now on updated fw,no crashes or dissapearing

Triggaaar · 23 Mar 2014 at 16:46

wazza300 said:
it should be fine now on updated fw,no crashes or dissapearing

I can't tell you how happy I'll be if you're right. If so, I shall be back handing out thank yous like Santa hands out presents.

bledd · 23 Mar 2014 at 17:10

That's 100% the reason it was crashing. Old firmware

Triggaaar · 23 Mar 2014 at 18:50

bledd. said:
That's 100% the reason it was crashing.

Don't sit on the fence

So far so good.

C64 · 23 Mar 2014 at 22:06

Don't ssd slow down at a certain % full ? i swear my 64gb M4 gets slower if I don't leave 20% or so free space.

Triggaaar · 23 Mar 2014 at 22:17

C64 said:
Don't ssd slow down at a certain % full ? i swear my 64gb M4 gets slower if I don't leave 20% or so free space.

I think the OS needs a bit of space? With a small SSD, that will be a larger percentage of the drive.

Triggaaar · 24 Mar 2014 at 14:45

It's still working!

wazza300 said:
what model is the current ssd?

be sure to run latest motherboard bios,if its a crucial m4 then flash to latest firmware

wazza300 said:
the m4 has a freeze bug 5400 hour use,look in ssdlife and see if the hours usage is around that time you need latest fw

These posts have helped me so much, thank you thank you thank you.

Although I've since read that SSDlife is far from accurate, it did give me the impression that maybe my SSD was ok still. It also told me how many hours my SSD had been on, and that, together with the posts above lead to a difficult firmware update, that has made my PC a dream to use again. Given that I'm on my PC for 8 hours a day, that's a big deal.

bledd. said:
That's 100% the reason it was crashing. Old firmware

Happy days, thanks.

With a 250Gb SSD for £90, I'm tempted to get another for my huge photos.

Hagar · 24 Mar 2014 at 15:18

I bought a 240 sandisk a couple of years back for the OS and progs. Just bought a 480 seagate SSD, replacing a HDD which was getting a bit past it. I just use them as ordinary storage now.

AWPC · 24 Mar 2014 at 15:25

Most PC games see little speed difference installed on an SSD as the large data files do not see much benefit from an SSD at all as SSD's are not usually optimised for large data files. SSD's tend to be optimised for small files which is why they are ideal for OS or application installs.

Your still better off buying a large mechanical HD than an SSD if your going to be using it for PC gaming & or media storage which is why you still see a large market for 1TB+ mechanical HD's!

Look at the cost of a proper Enterprise class SSD (which is designed for large data files) :eek:

Triggaaar · 24 Mar 2014 at 15:45

AWPC said:
Most PC games see little speed difference installed on an SSD as the large data files do not see much benefit from an SSD at all as SSD's are not usually optimised for large data files. SSD's tend to be optimised for small files which is why they are ideal for OS or application installs.

I forgot about that. Maybe and SSD won't be so brilliant for my photos after all.

WuMyster · 24 Mar 2014 at 15:56

AWPC said:
Most PC games see little speed difference installed on an SSD as the large data files do not see much benefit from an SSD at all as SSD's are not usually optimised for large data files. SSD's tend to be optimised for small files which is why they are ideal for OS or application installs.

Your still better off buying a large mechanical HD than an SSD if your going to be using it for PC gaming & or media storage which is why you still see a large market for 1TB+ mechanical HD's!

Look at the cost of a proper Enterprise class SSD (which is designed for large data files)

If youre talking about loading times, then this is not true. Large files or not, the SSD still loads games extremely quick compared to a HDD.
I can personally do a video of loading speeds if I get the time

AWPC · 24 Mar 2014 at 19:03

Triggaaar said:
I forgot about that. Maybe and SSD won't be so brilliant for my photos after all.

Photos yes as SSD's are more reliable & supposed to not lose the data at all. I spread my photos around 4 different SSD's to ensure they are safe!

AWPC · 24 Mar 2014 at 19:04

WuMyster said:
If youre talking about loading times, then this is not true. Large files or not, the SSD still loads games extremely quick compared to a HDD.
I can personally do a video of loading speeds if I get the time

Would not bother with a video its been proved time & time again if a game has large data files an SSD makes little to no difference on loading times not on every single PC game ever made but on most which rely on large data files.

WuMyster · 24 Mar 2014 at 19:22

AWPC said:
Would not bother with a video its been proved time & time again if a game has large data files an SSD makes little to no difference on loading times not on every single PC game ever made but on most which rely on large data files.

Makes me want to make a video even more. But i guess, each to their own.

wazza300 · 24 Mar 2014 at 19:57

best compromise would be a hybrid hdd? (ssdhd)

Dervious · 24 Mar 2014 at 20:45

billysielu said:
if you install a few games you'll easily fill a 120GB

250GB makes things a lot easier

I guess you'd really be installing a lot to need more.

250GB should be enough for most people, IMO.

Unless you have lots of games that you play regularly, or have "serious" requirements, a 250/256GB SSD is the sweet spot.