SSD: upgrade for P6T Deluxe V2 system

tjopper

Distinguished
Aug 28, 2007
24
0
18,510
Hi,

I want to upgrade my PC by adding an SSD as a boot/application device. I have a P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard that supports Sata II (3 Gbs).

Currently I run Windows XP 64-bit on a WD Raptor drive and I have a Raid 1 data disk configuration.
BIOS for storage is set to RAID.

I will certainly use the drive for:

- Booting Windows 7
- Installing applications (Office 2010, Video Deluxe 16 and some smaller applications)

I might use the drive for:
- Video editing

What I want to do is the following:
1) Disconnect the WD raptor drive
2) Connect the SSD
3) Install Windows 7 on the SSD
4) Rescan the Raid 1 disks in Windows 7

In other words, I want to install Windows 7 on the new SSD and keep my current RAID 1 configuration. Is that possible?


I think I can go for a 120 Gb drive to suite my needs. The question is what drive will be best for my situation. At this moment I have
the following SSD's on my list:

- OCZ Vertex 3 120 Gb € 175,-
- Crucial M4 128 Gb € 160,-
- Intel SSD320 120 Gb € 175,-
- Crucial RealSSD 128 Gb € 190,-


At this time, having read some performance and issue threads, I favor the Crucial M4/RealSSD.

Do you also think that way or do you have another advice?

Thanks for the info.
 

Notleh

Distinguished
Aug 3, 2010
20
0
18,510
The Intel drives are much more reliable than the rest in nearly every benchmark/forum group I have seen, but cost a bit more. I have your mobo and the Intel X25 and have been very pleased with it.

I have read good things about the M4.

Other people will weigh in on the rest.

One tip (which you probably already know) is to go into you BIOS and under Storage switch to AHCI before you install the drive.
 

tjopper

Distinguished
Aug 28, 2007
24
0
18,510


Thanks for your reply.

I have my BIOS configured for RAID (which I believe also enables AHCI) as I have a RAID 1 data disk configuration.
 
For SSDs, you can leave your bios set to Raid and as long as the SSD is NOT a member of a raid array you are OK. AT least with Intel based system. Make sure you use the latest RST driver - Believe it is 10.6.
Just make sure that you disconnect your HDDs before installing the operating system. Once win 7 is installed, then reconnect your HDDs.

SSD choices:
.. OCZ and other SF22xx drives - MY oppion, PLUG & PRAY
.. Have used M4 and consider them a much better choice. My be slowwer in benchies, but day-to-day performance not a big difference.
.. Currently not recommending the Intel 320 series. Have a bug that may cause the drive to shrink in size to 8 MB. Intel recently came out with a newer firmware that did not fix the problem and resulted in more problems in some cases.
.. Samsungs New Sata II drive (I think its the 470), Ive not heard of many problems with it.
 

tjopper

Distinguished
Aug 28, 2007
24
0
18,510



I know why I should disconnect my HDDs. However, will the RAID 1 set I now have be intact when I reconnect the disk in the
right order after Windows 7 installation?
 
If the SSD is on the same controller as the 2 HDD that are in raid - Leave the controller set to RAID do NOT change to AHCI. If using the Intel MB controller as long as the SSD is not a member drive of a raid setup you will be OK, trim will be passed. Also if Intel chipset, make sure you use the latest RST driver, ver 10.6

If they are on different controllers, it does not matter and you can set the SSD Controller to AHCI and leave the HDD controller alone

In both cases, still disconnect your HDDs while doing the windows install to the SSD.
 
Any chance you will be upgrading in the near future to a motherbaord with SATA 3 6Gb/s capabilities? If not, then I recommend the Samsung 470 series mentioned by Retired Chief. The 470's have been available for a year now and are trouble free.
 

tjopper

Distinguished
Aug 28, 2007
24
0
18,510
Thanks for your replies everyone. A Crucial M4 is on his way.

I got one concern about disconnecting my HDD's before installing Windows 7:

I have a RAID 1 set. If I disconnect those HDD's and reconnect them in the same way as before installing
Windows 7, will my RAID 1 set be intact then? Or do I have to make a backup (I will do that anyway)
create a RAID1 set and restore all data?
 

tjopper

Distinguished
Aug 28, 2007
24
0
18,510
Hi,

Installation of Windows 7 Professional has been done. I disconnected all drives and installed Windows 7. After installation
I reconnected the drives and all drives showed up, including the RAID 1 set.

As there was already data on the disk I had to set some security settings to be able to have write access.

The only thing I did not succeed in was upgrading the firmware of the Crucial M4 from version 002 to 009. Note is that I didn't
change the BIOS setting from RAID to IDE as I was afraid I would lose the RAID 1 set. Can I adjust the BIOS to IDE, run the
fw updrade, and set the BIOS back to RAID when finished without loosing any disk settings?
 

tjopper

Distinguished
Aug 28, 2007
24
0
18,510


Worked out fine. Thx! ;)
No performance improvement according to AS SSD bench but I think that is due to running the Crucial M4 on a SATA2 port.


Overall I am very pleased with the SSD and Windows 7. Applications are instantly available. I like it :sol:

Everyone thanks for the good advices. Special thanks to RetiredChief :)