Some doubts about SSDs.

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

ads295

Honorable
Feb 11, 2014
3
0
10,510
Hello everyone.
I have an ASUS K55VM-SX086D laptop, and my hard drive looks set to fail soon (it hangs randomly when I copy lots of files, and the HDD indicator stays on constantly. I can't even shut down the laptop once it hits the bad sectors). I can use the laptop normally for everyday usage, but when I want to install something, it just freezes midway. I can't even use large torrents because when it starts rechecking the big files, it hangs.

So. Having tried using chkdsk and all, I'm convinced I need a replacement. I'm looking at the Samsung EVO 128GB SSD right now, and I have the following questions:
1. I need my laptop to last for at least 3 more years. I will have moderate usage spanning different CAD programs, and maybe a game or two. Will this SSD last that long? I have external hard drives for movies, this will be only for work and maybe music.

2. I've read that SSDs are very sensitive to voltage fluctuations. I take out my laptop's battery sometimes to run it directly on the mains since ASUS doesn't support selective battery charging like Dell laptops do. Sometimes there's a power loss and my laptop obviously shuts down. How would the SSD respond to this? I'm not too keen on keeping it plugged in all the time; but I can't find 3rd party programs that stop battery charging.

3. How do I know what SATA version my laptop supports? Searching for the Intel chipset in Google yielded only drivers, not specifications. Intel's own data seems to be a reference one, because it says it supports about 12 SATA ports. HWinfo shows my drive as SATA 3Gbps. but I don't know whether this is what the chipset supports or the version the drive is using.
But after some research it seems it doesn't make much difference what SATA version I use, so this question is somewhat secondary.

4. Many recommend 25% which seems like a lot, but how much free space should I keep on the SSD? Also, I understand that I should turn off processes like indexing and paging, but the basic procedure to install Windows 7 afresh remains the same as that on an HDD, right? And is TRIM activated automatically?

5. Is the SATA port on it the same size as that on any 2.5" HDD? I'm somewhat confused between normal and mSATA. And I don't know whether the screw positions on the drive will be the same as that on the current HDD inside my laptop.

Thanks!
 
Solution
J
Been using a Samsung for a couple of years now I think, ever since the 840 pro first came out anyway. Once you go to a good SSD, you will never look back to a conventional drive again except for storage maybe. SATA mode technically doesn't matter, the drives are all backwards compatible. Anyway, the big thing you will like about an SSD is the instant access speed. All the big sustained data transfer numbers of SATA 3 on a SSD are nice to look at, but in real world use, most people will never need those big numbers. You will notice the instant access speed and snap of an SSD though. It just makes using a PC a pleasure, especially on a laptop where everything runs marginally slower anyway to save power. The snap of an SSD is a welcome...
Sort by date Sort by votes
W

wudai_e

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2010
47
0
18,540
If you replace your HD with a conventional HD, it still doesn't mean you will get 3 years usage out of it. Same thing for SSD, 3 years isn't a problem provide you've got a good sample out of the product pool. I'll leave the rest of your questions to someone more familiar with the subject.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
inerax

inerax

Distinguished
Jan 8, 2010
1,266
0
19,660
I have a 512 Samasung EVO and would never go back. Samsung is a very good SSD. You will get 3 years easy on this drive.... then pull it out and put it into your next PC for even more use. Your laptop would work with the Samsung as long as your current drive is a SATA 2.5 inch connection.

You would need/want to do a fresh install of windows 7. By default TRIM is activated in windows 7. There is a way to check if trim is on in the command prompt (i would have to google how)


If you are looking for a speed upgrade the samsung SSD will not let you down. Go for it!


Edit below. how to check if TRIM is on.


Open Command Prompt with Administrative privileges (Run as administrator) and enter the follow command.
fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify
If the result is '0' TRIM is enabled.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
burdenbound

burdenbound

Splendid
Aug 9, 2011
3,225
0
22,960
Looking at the size of your laptop it more than likely uses a conventional 2.5" laptop HDD. This mean you can get a regular SSD and it will fit in just fine. The SATA 3GB/s is just fine, you will not get the advertised speeds that the SSD states simply because 3GB/s is going to be holding it back, with that said though your speeds will be leaps and bounds better than a regular HDD.

I would highly recommend getting at least a 256GB SSD versus a 128GB because it will fill up fast especially since you plan on putting a couple games on it along with torrenting. I would invest in an external hard drive as well depending on how much you download.

I wouldn't concern yourself too much on trying to keep 25% or so amount of the space empty, by keeping it empty it will prevent unnecessary reads and writes to the SSD which will make is slower over time. But the amount of writes needed before you would notice this slowdown would take several years and the amount of slow down might not even be noticeable outside of benchmarking tools.

I don't know much about the voltage fluctuation sensitivity but I feel really confident in todays SSDs and as long as you are shutting down your laptop before yanking the battery that should remove that risk. Your in more danger moving the laptop around with a conventional hard drive spinning vs the SSD and voltage fluctuation.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jitpublisher

Splendid
May 16, 2006
8,747
2
31,960
Been using a Samsung for a couple of years now I think, ever since the 840 pro first came out anyway. Once you go to a good SSD, you will never look back to a conventional drive again except for storage maybe. SATA mode technically doesn't matter, the drives are all backwards compatible. Anyway, the big thing you will like about an SSD is the instant access speed. All the big sustained data transfer numbers of SATA 3 on a SSD are nice to look at, but in real world use, most people will never need those big numbers. You will notice the instant access speed and snap of an SSD though. It just makes using a PC a pleasure, especially on a laptop where everything runs marginally slower anyway to save power. The snap of an SSD is a welcome change from slow mechanical drives. Get a good sized quality SSD, you will be glad you did.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom