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SSD? Go or no go?

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  • Hard Drives
  • SSD
  • Windows Vista
  • Storage
Last response: in Storage
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December 10, 2008 6:37:20 AM

hello all

so family is giving me 300$ for xmas for tech. stuff as presents (what's better right?)

i don't have much (or any at all) experience with SSD drives, so i was wondering what do you guys think? I've done a bit of research and i feel the general consensus is to stay away from MLC (multi-level cell) SSD as they don't last as long as SLC ( single leve cell), and have quite a bit of trouble writing random data. but SLC is soooo expensive with minimal storage. If i do get one, it'll be primarily for my OS (vista 64) and programs that i use frequently.

anyone has experience with SSD's first hand, with either MLC or SLC drives that can help me with a decision or recommend any good products? it's either the SSD or 300$ to save for the ATI R800 when it comes out x), i'm leaning towards the R800 atm.

thanks in advance.

More about : ssd

December 10, 2008 6:56:07 AM

Well the SSD is now starting to show some results instead of promises, but it's still guite expensive alternative to normal harddrive. If you are looking extremely silent and low heat output system, the SSD is answer if you have the money for it. If you are looking for good user experience, or gaming use, then it's better to out your money to new GPU or putting more memory to your system. But you allready have Vista 64, so you most propably allready have enough memory, so that is not problem.
I am guite sure, that SSD drives will get faster and cheaper and bigger guite fast, from now on. They can be competive with normal harddrives in only a couple of years from now, and in some special cases even today (silent / mobile computing).
a b G Storage
December 10, 2008 10:10:46 AM

I am not ready to buy into them.
I prefer to be a value buyer, who looks at performance vs cost, and I don't need the lastest greatest most expensive. I'll wait until they get a lot bigger, and a lot cheaper, which they will, in time.
Ask yourself, "what is it that I do that I feel I just have to drop a ton of money for a few gig of fast super expensive storage?"
Surely you can use the money elsewhere and get a much bigger bang for your buck, how is your monitor?
Related resources
December 10, 2008 10:36:40 AM

Save for upgraded Video...........
a b G Storage
December 10, 2008 10:54:07 AM

A better question is what do you have now for a PC so we can better answer you.
December 10, 2008 11:02:15 AM

$300 will get you one SSD - fast but low storage
$300 will get you 4 x fast 500-750Gb HDD in a RAID 0 array with speed on-par with the SSD but 10-20 times more space.

Can't see the point of a single SSD right now unless it is for power saving in a laptop, if you have a fast core2/quad i'd save for the graphics card.
December 10, 2008 11:03:05 AM

With that price range, I would definately stick to a video card upgrade. I personally have 4 Samsung 64GB SLC SSDs and I wouldn't trade them for anything. The downside is with a budget of only $300, that puts you in the market for a MLC SSD...and you are correct, it is something you would want to stay away from. The MLC drive is handy for setting up a reliable long-term storage device, but not too handy when it comes to speed.
December 10, 2008 7:13:44 PM

I'd stay away from SSD's for another couple of months.

300$ can be a velociraptor 300gig or a new gtx260+ or a new 24inch screen or ...
December 10, 2008 7:38:03 PM

Also to consider is that the increase in SSD performance and decrease in cost will likely outstrip the gains that might be had in other parts of your computer. Thus, waiting will give you more bang for your buck than it would elsewhere.

Of course, they're shiny.

Me personally, I'll wait until their cost drops first.
December 10, 2008 11:43:29 PM


@jit - i have a 22" LCD. 1680x1050. my 3870x2 isn't cutting it anymore at this resolution so i'm probably going to upgrade once the R800 hits

@baddad - Q9450 @ 3.3ghz, 2x2gb ddr2 800 4-4-4-12, 250gb seagate 7200.10, 500gb 7200.10 seagate for storage. GA-X38-DS4, 3870x2 845/915

thanks for the replies guys. this just reinforces what i was thinking. initially i wanted an SSD before i did the research on it but once i saw the cost for SLC drives, i immediately reconsidered. i was just wondering if there were some miracle SSD out there for 300$ price range that i didn't know about but i guess it's best to wait now. , i'm gonna go w/the new GPU :)  (whenever that hits) >_> cheers!
December 11, 2008 12:18:35 PM

To further Shadow703793's last comment, you should do a RAID-0 if you decide to purchase a MLC SSD. SLC SSDs have no need to be raided.
December 11, 2008 7:07:43 PM

stuart72 said:
$300 will get you one SSD - fast but low storage
$300 will get you 4 x fast 500-750Gb HDD in a RAID 0 array with speed on-par with the SSD but 10-20 times more space.

Can't see the point of a single SSD right now unless it is for power saving in a laptop, if you have a fast core2/quad i'd save for the graphics card.


Man you seriously need to update your info... Your RAID only has an illusion of speed, your access time sucks compared to any SSD That's for sure and SSDs are not yet the powersavers they promess to become, most of the time they shorten battery life.

My suggestion to stuart72: get a Velociraptor for your system drive or double your RAM (come on, only 4 GB?) and live with no swap file...
a b G Storage
December 11, 2008 7:18:43 PM

^ Or put your swapfile on a RAM disk assuming you get 4GB+. RAM disks can be used to store large images while editing, etc. BUT it WILL NOT KEEP YOUR DATA PERMANENTLY! When you reboot every thing in the RAM disk is gone.

1GB RAM disk results:

Over 1GB transfer rate! Image is NOT Photoshoped/edited in any way.
December 13, 2008 11:55:41 AM

Shadow703793 said:
^ Or put your swapfile on a RAM disk assuming you get 4GB+. RAM disks can be used to store large images while editing, etc. BUT it WILL NOT KEEP YOUR DATA PERMANENTLY! When you reboot every thing in the RAM disk is gone.


Except that you still have a swap file and you loose efficiency moving data from one part of your RAM to another. Might as well use your full RAM right away unless some software won't execute without a swap file, some games like Guitar Hero III are made that way.
a b G Storage
December 13, 2008 2:02:10 PM

MSI has a motherboard with 8 "hybrid" DIMM slots: 4 are DDR2 and 4 are DDR3:
MSI P45 8 DIMM slots
so, we recently wrote to them suggesting that they consider 8 slots all DDR2 (to save money):
that will allow cheap 2GB DDR2 sticks to max out the P45 chipset, which supports 16GB RAM.
Then, Version 9 of RamDisk Plus from www.superspeed.com now supports ramdisks in
unmanaged Windows memory, so the RAM above ~4GB can be assigned to ramdisks w/ WIN32.
Or, populate all 6 DIMM slots on a Core i7 motherboard and get 12GB RAM (for now) 24GB later,
but DDR3 is much more expensive at present.

MRFS
a b G Storage
December 13, 2008 9:51:27 PM

^ Usually those "hybrid" boards are buggy.

snotling said:
Except that you still have a swap file and you loose efficiency moving data from one part of your RAM to another. Might as well use your full RAM right away unless some software won't execute without a swap file, some games like Guitar Hero III are made that way.

Exactly, in my case SolidWorks needs a swap or else it becomes un stable.
December 14, 2008 7:19:08 PM

Shadow703793 said:
^ Usually those "hybrid" boards are buggy.


Exactly, in my case SolidWorks needs a swap or else it becomes un stable.


Would that be Solidworks x64 or 32-bit?
a b G Storage
December 14, 2008 11:40:36 PM

^ x64.
a c 187 G Storage
December 19, 2008 3:49:31 AM

I recently installed an intel X25-M 80gb SSD. It did not make as much of an impact as when I installed a velociraptor.

I think the most satisfying upgrade is to add a second monitor.
a b G Storage
December 25, 2008 6:55:17 PM

> RAM disks can be used to store large images while editing, etc. BUT it WILL NOT KEEP YOUR DATA PERMANENTLY! When you reboot every thing in the RAM disk is gone.


RamDisk Plus from www.superspeed.com has an option to save and restore ramdisk contents between shutdown and startup.

When you re-boot everything in the ramdisk is still there.


MRFS
a b G Storage
December 26, 2008 2:38:03 PM

^ It dose, how ever I found that option to not work correctly on XP x64 and Vista x64 and x32.
a b G Storage
December 26, 2008 9:03:49 PM

Shadow703793,

I forwarded your last comment to Tech Support at www.superspeed.com
with a link back to this thread.


Thanks!


MRFS


a b G Storage
December 27, 2008 4:40:59 PM

^Thanks man!
!