OS on SSD

[mystery42]

What would be the benefits if i put my OS on a 32GB SSD. Or is it a dumb idea just to buy one for the OS?

 

[ortoklaz]

Buy 2 set raid0=very fest boot

 

[geofelt]

I bought an Intel X25-V 40gb for a laptop. The results were amazing.

I think it is a great idea for the OS. That is where lots of small read and writes are done. It will take about 15gb for windows-7.

 

[sminlal]

An SSD for the OS is an excellent idea. You get the very fast access times of an SSD where you need it the most, and you don't have to pay SSD premiums to store all your document, music and video files which don't need the performance.

 

[geofelt]

Buy 2 set raid0=very fest boot

A single SSD w/o raid=0 is still a very fast boot. With raid, you do not get the trim support that windows-7 sata drivers give you. You need AHCI in the bios for trim which may require a reinstall of windows-7

 

[mystery42]

Trying to decide on the intel 80GB or 40GB i know the 80GB has much higher read speeds. Not sure i want to spend the money since its not going to have anything but the OS on it. So i'll probably get the 40 i can't see me getting 2 of them for RAID there cost per GB is rediculous lol.

 

[ortoklaz]

A single SSD w/o raid=0 is still a very fast boot. With raid, you do not get the trim support that windows-7 sata drivers give you. You need AHCI in the bios for trim which may require a reinstall of windows-7

If he chooses to go raid0 ,you got to reinstall windows anyway,insted of buying 40gb or 80gb...>>,2x30gb or 2x15gb in raid0..=fast
PS. You can switch to AHCI after win. installation and you do get trim support with raid..correct me if i'm wrong

 

[geofelt]

Trying to decide on the intel 80GB or 40GB i know the 80GB has much higher read speeds. Not sure i want to spend the money since its not going to have anything but the OS on it. So i'll probably get the 40 i can't see me getting 2 of them for RAID there cost per GB is rediculous lol.

The OS mainly does small random reads and writes. The speed will not be much different between a small ssd and a larger one. The larger one can do more concurrent accessed(a raid-0 like function) internally, but that is of advantage for large sequential processing and not for small random i/o's. A larger ssd will cost more than two smaller ones, making raid-0 solutions less economic. Research the market carefully. The controller used is all important. Also, the economics are changing rapidly. Plan for buyer's remorse; the cost per gb will drop considerably by the end of the year when denser chips arrive. But, if you wait for the next best thing, you will wait forever.

 

[RetiredChief]

All Comments good, except ortoklaz.
You cannot switch a Raid0 to AHCI after installation.

I think 32 Gigs is too small. As previous posts have indicated You will see a big improvement in booting, but how often do you boot. Daily task will not see a big boost. While the operating sytem may have a small footprint, the recommended "free" space is approx 15 % (larger for small SSDs and don't forget the overhead. Paging file, With 8 Gigs ram you can set to a small value, and have point to the HDD, Restore points can add up, You will need to disable Hibernation (but most do any way with an SSD.

I recommend a Min size for a SSD of 60 Gigs and install operating system and programs. Think you will be disappointed in the long run with suck a small size. I have the 80 gig Intel G2 on desktop and the 128 gig in laptop (No 2nd bay for HDD). Just purchased a 128 gig for another desktop.

 

[ortoklaz]

All Comments good, except ortoklaz.
You cannot switch a Raid0 to AHCI after installation.

I think 32 Gigs is too small. As previous posts have indicated You will see a big improvement in booting, but how often do you boot. Daily task will not see a big boost. While the operating sytem may have a small footprint, the recommended "free" space is approx 15 % (larger for small SSDs and don't forget the overhead. Paging file, With 8 Gigs ram you can set to a small value, and have point to the HDD, Restore points can add up, You will need to disable Hibernation (but most do any way with an SSD.

I recommend a Min size for a SSD of 60 Gigs and install operating system and programs. Think you will be disappointed in the long run with suck a small size. I have the 80 gig Intel G2 on desktop and the 128 gig in laptop (No 2nd bay for HDD). Just purchased a 128 gig for another desktop.

Hey RetiredChief ;
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/how-enable-ahci-after-windwos-7-installation-36559/

 

[Homeboy2]

Oh dear,

you've proven retarded chief wrong again!

 

[ortoklaz]

haha

 

[sminlal]

Hey RetiredChief ;
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/how-enable-ahci-after-windwos-7-installation-36559/

Your link talks about switching the SATA ports between "IDE" and "AHCI" modes.

RetiredChief was specifically talking about converting between RAID-0 and AHCI mode. That's not just a driver change, it's a change of the layout of the sectors on the drives and it certainly can't be accomplished with just a registry change and reboot.

"haha"

 

[ortoklaz]

and i was specifically talking and referring to "PS. You can switch to AHCI after win. installation " piriot.

 

[RetiredChief]

Sminlal thanks for enlighting one's that do not read

Sorry homeby 2, Please do homework before inserting foot

Someone once said you only have to be RIGHT 51% to be successful (O that's for managers)

 

[ortoklaz]

read the whole artical

 

[RetiredChief]

I did, And I still do not think that if you setup a Raid0 on a pair of HDs that you can then change it to AHCI in win 7 and then access that drive in AHCI mode.

Added: To refresh what you were saying - Setup 2 HDDs (or in this case SSds) in raid0, then go into win 7 and change to AHCI so that Trim will work. Don't think that will work.

 

[ortoklaz]

Thinking and knowing are to different things...is still wonder if that could be possible

 

[geofelt]

read the whole artical

sp: article

 

[geofelt]

Raid-0 will work with two ssd's. The problem is that raid-0 will use the intel raid drivers which currently do not pass on the trim command to the array. That means that deletions will result in added processing by requiring a read/write cycle. With the trim command, the area is simply made available by the ssd. If you do few updates, missing the trim command is not all that important. But, for a small ssd running an OS, it is a feature that I would not want to forgo. It is better on balance to get one 80gb ssd instead of two 40gb ssd's in raid-0. It is cheaper, and will perform better.

 

[ortoklaz]

sp: article

Yes i know....it is obvious that i myspellit..

 

[foscooter]

It is better on balance to get one 80gb ssd instead of two 40gb ssd's in raid-0. It is cheaper, and will perform better.

Agree. Stay away from RAID for SSD, unless you really know what your are doing. TRIM is NOT supported in RAID, unless the drive in NOT part of a RAID array. Windows 7 is also required for TRIM. My system is setup that way, see below. Many other threads about this topic: SSD vs. Raid vs TRIM.

Back to the Original Post: 32GB maybe big enough. You'll have to check the size of your OS. Hard to do if other things are on the drive, too (i.e. Document, Music, etc.).

However, My OS drive, I think, is 46GB with Win7 Home, Office 2007, Quicken, Norton 360, and a few other downloads, no games. I'll check and post my size later.

I have "My Documents, Music, Pictures, Video, and Downloads" on another drive, with yet another for backups.

To be sure, go with at least 60GB, 80GB would be better.