SSD: sata3 or PCI e. how to decide

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monkeyskin

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Mar 24, 2013
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sorry for the noob question. im sure i could find the information if i wanted but seems much faster to ask the pros. I have noticed a price difference between the 2 types of interface and am wondering why. Im building an intel rig with an rog board and looking to add a 240/256 gb ssd for games and os. would you please recommend a good ssd for around 200.00 for either slot? would like it to be as fast as it is reliable.

second question is, i have a 500 gb usb 3.0 external hdd, do i need to add an internal hdd for backing up important files or will it suffice?

thanks
 
Solution
manofchalk
Depends, are you an enterprise user with an enterprise budget?

PCI-e SSD's are so much more expensive because they are aimed above the enthusiast crowd (with one exception to my knowledge, the ASUS Raider) to an enterprise user. Basically your web servers, university supercomputers or other professional applications. They have a ridiculously faster speed than SATAIII SSD's as they are basically multiple drives in RAID0 on the one device, given an interface that can provide the bandwidth required. But are a ton more expensive.

If your just the average enthusiast, and this is going to be a standard boot/programs drive, just go for a SATAIII SSD. I usually recommend the vanilla Samsung 840 in these cases, though if Write speeds are a...
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Kingbob

Kingbob

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Kingbob

Kingbob

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A external drive will be ok as long as you dont have to have fast transfer speeds. I would, however, get one for down the road when your SSD runs out of space, plus its a good idea to back up all of the important files.
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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Depends, are you an enterprise user with an enterprise budget?

PCI-e SSD's are so much more expensive because they are aimed above the enthusiast crowd (with one exception to my knowledge, the ASUS Raider) to an enterprise user. Basically your web servers, university supercomputers or other professional applications. They have a ridiculously faster speed than SATAIII SSD's as they are basically multiple drives in RAID0 on the one device, given an interface that can provide the bandwidth required. But are a ton more expensive.

If your just the average enthusiast, and this is going to be a standard boot/programs drive, just go for a SATAIII SSD. I usually recommend the vanilla Samsung 840 in these cases, though if Write speeds are a concern (Going to be using it as a scratch disk, render output drive) then the 840 Pro is a good option.

Your external drive is a better solution for backing up than an internal drive. No internal drive or level of RAID will save your data if your machine gets hit by a power surge or stolen, the external drive that isn't plugged in or even within the building will survive.
Basically, more internal disks and levels of RAID will only protect against drive failure. A back up solution will protect against drive failure and events that can compromise the whole computer.
 
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monkeyskin

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thank you both very much. i really was dreading buying an extra spinning internal and now im glad i dont have to. i think ill save the 80 bucks or so and grab the 840 non pro. it will be a gaming only rig with a win 8 os. my buddy is trying to talk me into multiple ssd's for something called mirroring? i dunno what it is yet but it sounds like double the cost for the same capacity at an increased speed. i havent looked into raid formats enough to understand operating multiple drives as much as i should. just seems to complicate something im only going to game on anyay and im not sure i could justify the cost and sacrifice another build item.

if i could pick 2 solutions i would. thanks
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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Mirroring is another way of saying RAID1.
Basically, two drives with the same data on them. If one fails, the other has the data and you can keep going. Assuming equal drives, you get the same performance (maybe a slight boost to reads) and capacity of a single drive, but double the reliability.

RAID0 is what you want if you need more performance, but that comes at double the risk of data loss through drive failure. It really shouldnt be called RAID at all.

Heres a couple of good tutorials on RAID.
RAID 1 and 0.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYBtmVMtH1g
RAID 10 and RAID5 (there is also 6, but is similar enough to 5)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuwjadbtUCY
 
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monkeyskin

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those are great tutorials. watched both and am more informed for it. one thing that wasnt covered that being a cost effective biased consumer, i immediately theorized as a solution but dunno if is possible. could 2 256 gb ssd's be set up in raid 0 and that array be mirrored on a 3rd drive? like i said in theory it looks good. maybe linus covered that but i dont remember seeing it.

im thinking out loud here but raid 0 256 gb ssd's would create 512 gb storage which could be mirrored on to a hdd?
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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What your thinking of is just an SSD RAID0 that backs itself up to a HDD. RAID10 is when you have two RAID1 arrays in RAID0.
Also, when using RAID you want to be using identical drives. If you pair an SSD and HDD in RAID, you will be limited to the HDD's performance and the SSD's capacity.
 
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monkeyskin

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Mar 24, 2013
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wow that completely defeats the purpose of either storage. lose speed and capacity. i think ill keep the original plan to get the 840 non pro for now and possibly add another later and setup a raid 0 while backing up to my external. i dont know if write speeds are as important playing mmo games so the pro, while very attractive, doesnt fit my needs as much in a performance/price comparison. if im wrong and i would see any noticeable difference in performance, please correct me. id rather spend the extra now and not have to replace later.

thanks again chalk
 
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