SSD Boot drive

[Knox Gelatin]

Hi,

I was wondering about the idea of using a SSD for a boot drive. Would this burn it out to quickly?

Thanks in advance

 

[Just a nickname]

Yes, boot time is extremely fast!
What is your budget?

You have to count at least 100$. You can grab the OCz vertex 2 60GB for that (I saw it at this price recently). This will allow you to put your OS, some games and maybe your anti-virus.

Most user will recommend 120GB as it is going to last way longer. Win7 64 bit takes 20Gb so you won't have much space left after that on your 60Gb drive...

The advantage to put games on the SSD, is that you can load game super fast. No moar 2 mins loading time

I am personally waiting after december to get one. I can bet you they'll put on the market new controller, higher capacity drive and also more efficient (like compressing files as the OCz vertex is doing).

 

[mark_k]

Wait wait wait.....

Did I say wait?

 

[Knox Gelatin]

Thanks for the responses.

What would be the lifetime for a drive performing this function?

 

[Just a nickname]

Check this:
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=138887

So as you can read from the link, it really depends for what you use them. If you only read from it (they only have limited writing cycles), it can last for really long as long as you treat it well

OCz have 3 years of warranty for their drives. I can't extrapolate how long it can last but if they can afford to cover them up to 3 years you can expect it to last at least 3 years!

 

[Deleted member 217926]

SSDs last longer than mechanical drives. Something like 15GB a day for 15 years is the lifespan. I love mine and am one who recommends 120GB. 60 is just too small and with 120 I have Windows, Office, all my programs and games on it and still have 27GB free.

 

[RetiredChief]

I tend to agree that many of the SSDs should outlast mechanical HDDs. But then again I'm still using some old HDDs (SCSI) that are over 10 yrs old. Not so sure that New HDDs will last that long.

Warrenties are not a good indicater of longevity. I hope most SSDs will last longer than 3 yrs. I have a Torqx that came with a lifetime warrenty - yea right. There are many factors that manuf use to determine warrent period, least of which is longevity. Not like the light bulb, warrented for 3 yrs and either they burn out in 1 yr (Who will try to get a replacement) and then tere is the bulb that is Made to last 3 yrs and 1 day.

 

[Just a nickname]

Link please. If think you're refering to LSC drives.
If the OP is not going to spend 1k for his drive then no, MLC drive won't last longer than normal drives.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Ok Intel says 100GB every day for 5 years.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2614/4

Edit. Article is from 2008. Pretty sure those numbers are no longer the same.

 

[Just a nickname]

That's intel

 

[RetiredChief]

@ Just a Nickname
(1) No my comments were directed at MLC not SLC drives.
(2) NO link - Should have stated "In my oppion" As there is no Empirical data for SSDs or the New crop of HDD (I'm excluding the enterprise HDDs which are manuf to a higher level of quality/durability - same as my comment was directed @ MLC SSDs). Old HDD had a much lower RPMs and a much lower platter density and in my experience they do infact last 10 yrs or better. The newer HDD's I'm not convinced that they will last as long as ther older counterparts. It's a question of "improved" manuf process vs the Higher RPMs/ higher platter density/ tighter head alignment tolerences required in todays HDDs. This is the reason I'M QUESSING that many of the SSDs will outlast many of the mechanical HDD (manuf in the last two years).

 

[Knox Gelatin]

Cool.

What kinds SSDs are you guys using?

Any recommendations?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Crucial C300, GSkill Phoenix Pro or OCZ Vertex 2 are the best right now.

 

[geofelt]

Cool.

What kinds SSDs are you guys using?

Any recommendations?

I highly endorse the SSD. Everyday things seem so much quicker.

You can use as little as a 40gb ssd. Windows-7 will take about 13gb without any attempt at space conservation. Put apps on the SSD. Put overflow, storage, and backups on a second slower drive if needed.

I would not worry about the lifetime for a normal user. The drive will be obsolete long before it wears out. If it does approach it's lifetime limit, you will lose the ability to write more, but your data will still be intact, giving you time to back it up to a different device. Think 10 years or so.

I am using an Intel X25-M gen2 160 gb drive. It does everything well. I have no need for more space, so I keep everything on it. I use a external drive for backup. Do not use synthetic benchmarks as a decision criteria. The usage patterns YOU have will be nowhere close enough, and the patterns make a lot of difference.

We should see gen3 drives using 25nm nand chips soon. They should be a bit faster, and somewhat cheaper. I think there are some sales of current ssd's in anticipation of this. I have not heard of any launch date rumors on SSD's. Perhaps along with sandy bridge at IDF on Jan 5.

When you get a SSD, enable the trim support by specifying sata mode as AHCI(not ide or raid) and yse windows-7 default drivers. trim is important to keep your drive from slowing down as it gets filled up.

 

[RetiredChief]

5 total and concur with anort3's recommendations
I5-750 - Phoenix Pro 128 Gig Replaced Intel 80 Gig G2 which I will put back in as a small data drive.
Laptop 1 - 128 Gig WD Blue and a 80 Gig Intel G1 (Have diferent programs on them and swap in/out.
Laptop 2 - 128 Gig Patriot Torqx