SSD vs HDD

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

I am planning on getting a new hard drive soon, but I am torn between a 120 GB Kingston SSD, or a WD 1 TB HDD. I can't decide. On one hand, I would love to have the extra speed of the SSD, but on the other, I only have 200 GB left on my main 1 TB drive, so it would be nice to double that so I won't need to worry about space. If anyone can help me decide, I would really appreciate it.

inerax · Oct 2, 2014

SSD all the way. 120 is very small and I would wait till you can get at least 256. 500 would be ideal.

You want to install windows 7, all programs and games on to the SSD. That way everything runs very fast and opens fast.

So, if I was you, I would wait to get a 500GB SSD. Then next get another 1TB HDD. That way you are set. (thats the setup i run)

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

If you can afford a Crucial SSD 256GB MX100, that's the best SDD for the price.

Now if you have around 210 USD, get the 512GB SSD MX100.

geofelt · Oct 2, 2014

I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games. If you can go 240gb, you can use your existing hard drive for bulk storage.

Samsung EVO is a good choice

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

inerax :

I don't really have enough money to go out and get a 256 GB unfortunately. The only reason I am considering the SSD in the first place is because its on sale on Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820721107&cm_re=120_gb_ssd-_-20-721-107-_-Product

geofelt · Oct 2, 2014

I think I would defer until you can buy Intel or Samsung.
The V300 seems to have ome issues, look at the number of 0 and 1 egg reviews and compare to intel or Samsung.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

geofelt :

How about this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167180&cm_re=120_gb_ssd-_-20-167-180-_-Product

geofelt · Oct 2, 2014

Shaya Selincourt :

I like that more.

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

You have better options:

Check here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001455&IsNodeId=1&Description=MX100&name=Crucial&Order=BESTMATCH

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

So which one should I get? The Intel or the Crucial drive?

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

Personally, I would go with Crucial.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

saint19 :

Alright, that's what I'll get. You have experience with Crucial drives I see. And, on another note, is there a specific procedure for moving Windows to the new SSD while leaving all my 700 GB of data intact? A lot of that I can't just re-download again.

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

Shaya Selincourt :

I hope that with "Moving" you mean a fresh OS install. In my case, I always disconnect the disk with all the info while I install the OS and all those stuffs, after that, I reconnect the old drive and restore the data.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

saint19 :

How will it work after I install Windows on the SSD, then plug the HDD back in, can I just drag and drop data from there, or is there more work to be done? (Sorry for all the questions! I am new to this!)

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

Yes, but use copy and paste, it's better for security in the restore process.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

saint19 :

What happens to the install of Windows on the HDD, what happens to that?

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

That OS still exist in the HDD, you have to remove it later with a format of that disk.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

saint19 :

Then what happens to all the data on that disk?

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

Shaya Selincourt :

I would guess that you can't format the disk right? Just connect both disk and you can "remove" the other OS using the MSCONFIG of the system.

geofelt · Oct 2, 2014

Samsung has a ssd migration utility that will clone your hard drive to one of their ssd's.
If you can't fit the entire contents on the ssd, the utility has options as to what to move.

Otherwise, you are looking at a clean windows install. Your data will be fine, but you will be faced with reinstalling any apps that needed the windows registry. That will be almost all.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

Thanks for everyone's help, I really appreciate it. Two more things. One, is there a specific step by step guide to migrate data, and two, what kind of performance gains can I expect?

saint19 · Oct 2, 2014

1) Not really a step by step, just use copy and paste and not drag and drop.
2) Your rig will boot time very fast (around 10s or less) as well as shutdown times. Very fast program load and games if you install it on the SSD.

Shaya Selincourt · Oct 2, 2014

saint19 :

How will I delete Windows off the HDD again? I feel really stupid for asking so many questions.

StaticDrift · Oct 2, 2014

Go for the HDD. 100%. Get the WD Veloci Raptor, its INSANELY fast. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236243&cm_re=western_digital_veloci_raptor-_-22-236-243-_-Product I am a really patient person so I don't care for an SSD but in my new build im buying one

geofelt · Oct 2, 2014

A SSD makes many things quicker.
Opening files and populating thumbnails takes lots of random I/0. That is 50x faster than even a velociraptor.
A windows install might take 15 minutes vs. an hour.
If you must do a clean install, use windows easy transfer to export your settings to the hard drive.
Install windows on the ssd without your hard drive connected. If you leave it connected things get messed up. Windows will try to put a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive.
After windows is installed, you can reconnect the hard drive, and you will have access to all your files.
You can import your settings, and there will be a report on which programs need to be reinstalled.
Your programs will not be available because you have a new registry and your aps are not known to it. You will need to reinstall them.

I have Used the Samsung migration utility to clone a hard drive to a ssd. It works well(must be to a Samsung ssd)
If your source drive is too large, they have an option to do a selective clone.
(which I have not needed to use)
I think you can tell it to not move your large files. That would let you clone windows and some apps which is a much easier conversion.

When you are all done, you can simply delete the windows files on your old hard drive.
There will be some boot stuff and a small hidden partition, but it is probably more trouble than it is worth to try to recover that space without reformatting and dealing with your data files.

There may be some other clone utilities with the same capability, but I don't know them.

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