How can i tell if my mobo can utilise a ssd

[pallymach]

hey guys, i am intrestd in adding an ssd to my pc for the operating system to improve boot up times etc.

Simple question how can i tell if my mobo will accept the drive and utilise it efficiantly?

any help would be much appreciated, i do have cpuz and everest, but tbh i am not sure what i am looking at

 

[Dereck47]

An SSD will work on any motherboard with SATA ports.

To see what type motherboard you have, run CPU-Z, and click on the "Mainboard" tab.
It will list your motherboard manufacturer and model number.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

What is the brand and model of your motherboard?

Different motherboards have different ssd caspabilities.

 

[Twoboxer]

Dereck47 answered your specific question correctly. If your chosen SSD is fast enough to exceed the data rate of SATA 2.0, and very few are, it will be restricted in top speed. But frankly you won't notice it except in benchmarks. A SATA 3.0 SSD will run fine on a SATA 2.0 mobo.

To add, your case and OS may be more the "issue".

If your case does not have a 2.5" cage, you will want an adapter to fit the SSD into a regular HD cage.

If you're running Windows7, the "trim" command is implemented that keeps your SSD running (close to) as new. In other OSes you may have to do some periodic manual maintenance.

 

[LordConrad]

Agreed. SSDs work on any SATA motherboard, even in IDE mode, although AHCI mode is preferred as it has more advanced features that SSDs can utilize.

I believe Mac OS X "Lion" also supports TRIM now, if I remember correctly.

 

[pallymach]

thanks for the responses, i do have windows 7 64bit running.

The motherboard is out of my xps 730x and listed as a 0p270j as the model in cpu-z with an x58 chipset.

What exactly is the "trim" command and what does it do?

Also any particular type of ssd i need to stay clear of? Any that can be recomended?

 

[Twoboxer]

Trim Command: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM

Since SSD storage has limited life (vs HD platters), SSD controllers implement many techniques to optimize writing data. These techniques can/will lead to significant degradation of performance if the SSD is not "cleaned up". A full and totally accurate explanation is quite long, hence the wiki refernece.

Best SSD's for the Money: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-solid-state-nand-reliability,2998.html

The article on SSD is refreshed often and allows you to choose based on budget, desired performance, capacity requirements, etc. Its a must read if you are new to the market, or buying an SSD any time.