To Get an SSD?

[selayan]

I have a core i52500k, asrock extreme3 gen3 board, 8gb corsair vengeance ddr3 (1600) ram, 1tb seagate 7200rpm HDD, nvidia 560ti.

I was thinking of getting a 128gb SSD. I would only be able to boot windows and move user directory files to the 1TB hdd. Is it a big difference, just for windows? I don't imagine I would be able to use the SSD for anything else as it is limited in space. I wish they were less expensive I would get a 500gb one if it was cheaper as a primary drive. What are the opinions?

 

[alvine]

with a 128gb your os will take max 20gb so you got 100gigs to install the applications or games you want to open quickly ( you use often)

 

[xtremegamer2da-max]

get a corsair force series 3 60gb it'll fit win7 just fine

 

[mildsend]

Only install Your most favorite software on your SSD drive..
If you rarely use one software and then, just uninstall it from your SSD or..
only instal software that rarely you use into your clasic harddrive..

I think 64 is a nice choose..
or
128 if you need more spares, and dont want to often doing instal-uninstal game on your SSD...

 

[JackNaylorPE]

As for choices in the 120 / 128 GB size:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-review-benchmark,3115-6.html

Tier 3 (21 % faster than Tier 5, 33% faster than Tier 6, 61 % faster than Tier 8, 95% faster than Tier 10)
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120 GB
Patriot WildFire 120 GB
Samsung 830 SSD 128 GB

Tier 5
Intel SSD 510 120 GB
Crucial m4 128 GB

Tier 6
Adata S511 120 GB
Corsair Force GT 120 GB
Kingston HyperX SSD 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB
Samsung 470 SSD 256 GB

Tier 8
Corsair Force 3 120 GB
Intel SSD 320 300 GB
OCZ Agility 3 120 GB
OCZ Solid 3 120 GB
Patriot Pyro 120 GB
Samsung 470 SSD 128 GB

Tier 10
OCZ Agility 2 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB

As far as how much space Windows takes up.....the box says 20 GB. Taking into account temp files, user files, program installs that force "common files" to C:\ , default mail storage locations, etc, a user without detailed knowledge of Windows inner workings could easily fill a 60 / 64 GB SSD in 6 months time.

My approach is use 120 / 128 GB Tier 3 unit as a minimum, 240 / 256 GB Tier 1 unit if ya can afford it.

I also suggest partitioning the HD for example .....

C:\OS
D:\Page and Temp Files
E:\Games
F:\Programs
G:\Data

Installing the OS to the C drive on the HD and having the rest separate in one or more partitions....this way when the SSD gets added, all the other stuff can remain as it. After installing the SSD, just install programs and games over themselves (not always necessary) to populate the Windows installation on the SSD with the necessary registry entries. This will maintain all tweaks and customizations from the original install. It also keeps teh stuff you want to go fast on the fastest part of the drive and the stuff you don't care about on the inner part of the drive. The outside portions are twice as fast as the inner allowing you to benefit accordingly.

 

[canyoudigit489]

grab the crucial m4: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/69104/tigerdirect.com-crucial-128gb-m4-2.5-sata-iii-mlc-internal-solid-state-drive-ct128m4ssd2

great price for it, worth it, boot up is super fast...great responsiveness. vast difference between that and my mechanical drive.

 

[selayan]

I will most likely get a 128gb one. I just hope that I can setup the user directory before I finish installing windows 7. I still have 7 installed on the HDD I won't unplug it when I reinstall on my ssd. I figure I could go through the hdd and get what I need off it then format it as a data drive.

Oh and the crucial link is dead, looked like a good deal.

 

[canyoudigit489]

I will most likely get a 128gb one. I just hope that I can setup the user directory before I finish installing windows 7. I still have 7 installed on the HDD I won't unplug it when I reinstall on my ssd. I figure I could go through the hdd and get what I need off it then format it as a data drive.

Oh and the crucial link is dead, looked like a good deal.

ah bummer, yeah i picked it up last week for $149, and have been very pleased. i have my old 500gb drive still installed as a slave, and boot off of the new 128gb crucial which has my OS, music, programs, and documents. i just did a fresh install on the new drive.. and boot times have gone from 1:45ish to about 20 seconds. moving data was super easy going from drive to drive too. generally opening of programs is stupid fast... and overall I couldn't be happier.

this isn't a poor price for the drive: http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329498834&sr=8-1 but i've noticed a lot of sales lately on it. in terms of reliability and performance, crucial and samsung are really the only options you should consider.

the 64gb version is really cheap on newegg too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441 but I have to pay tax on newegg.

just consider that 7 is gonna eat up around 20 gb after updates and stuff, so you really only have 30 gb to play with.

 

[canyoudigit489]

I will most likely get a 128gb one. I just hope that I can setup the user directory before I finish installing windows 7. I still have 7 installed on the HDD I won't unplug it when I reinstall on my ssd. I figure I could go through the hdd and get what I need off it then format it as a data drive.

Oh and the crucial link is dead, looked like a good deal.

ah bummer, yeah i picked it up last week for $149, and have been very pleased. i have my old 500gb drive still installed as a slave, and boot off of the new 128gb crucial which has my OS, music, programs, and documents. i just did a fresh install on the new drive.. and boot times have gone from 1:45ish to about 20 seconds. moving data was super easy going from drive to drive too. generally opening of programs is stupid fast... and overall I couldn't be happier.

this isn't a poor price for the drive: http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329498834&sr=8-1 but i've noticed a lot of sales lately on it. in terms of reliability and performance, crucial and samsung are really the only options you should consider.

the 64gb version is really cheap on newegg too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441 but I have to pay tax on newegg.

just consider that 7 is gonna eat up around 20 gb after updates and stuff, so you really only have 30 gb to play with.

 

[selayan]

Yeh that is why I wanted the 128gb model. I use my pc mainly for games, music, internet, and development so an SSD seems right. I am more focused on reliability though. Newegg seems to be the best in terms of price, these things are going like tasty cakes on ebay for naturally the same price as Amazon or newegg.

With the 1tb HDD right now I boot windows in 44 seconds with everything loaded. So I expect the SSD to improve that.

 

[inzone]

If you have not had a SSD before then you will be surprised at how fast Windows loads and applications open , you will never go back to a regular hdd again. As for games the actual gameplay depends on your internet connection but the loading of maps is what the SSD will efect and you will be consistantly the first to be in and the map load times are just a few seconds.
A 128gb SSD is big enough for Windows and a game or two plus your frequent apps. I have found that the ideal SSD to use for the OS drive is a 240gb , it seems to be the sweet spot for that use and it's not too small and not too big and you can fit a lot of things on it without worrying about filling it up. Granted it's not the same as a 1tb drive and you still have to watch what you put on it somewhat.

 

[selayan]

240gb is a lot of money though! I remember when regular hdd were 240gb and we were like yeh that is more than enough! I will be searching newegg daily until I pick one up. Would be nice if I could get a deal. I was debating SSD or saitek x52 pro for my flight sim game, they are essentially the same price.

 

[inzone]

Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F240GB3-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$279.99 and a $30 rebate makes it $249.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233182

OCZ Agility 3 240GB SATA 6Gb/s AGT3-25SAT3-240G 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) with up to 525MB/s read and 45K IOPS write
$289.99 and a $20 rebate makes it $269.99 , plus Newegg gives a $30 gift card with this purchase and free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227727

These are two very good deals that Newegg has right now , I don't know what your budget is but these deals aren't bad and you can always look for better deals if your not in a rush or go with the 128gb SSD.

 

[RetiredChief]

Have in use: 2 128 Gig M4'2, 2 Agility III 120 gig, 1 Samsung 830, and 9 other ones.
128 gig is fine for OS + Programs + several games.
A) 128 gig usable space is really about 115 Gigs - Have to subtract the conversion from decimal to Powers of 2 + the 10 -> 15% that you must leave unused. Note a 64 gig is really only about 55 gigs usable.
B) Have windows 7 + Office + adobe standard + Photo editing + Blue-ray playing software + about a dozon other utilities and software and that equals about 35 -> 40 gigs leaving about 70 gigs free for what ever.
C: some tweeks that I do:
... Disable Hibernation. save amount of disk space = to size of ram.
... Set min and max for page file (virual Memory) to 1 Gig. Saves about 5 gigs. Can be placed on HDD with a SMALL performance hit.
... Move my docs to 2nd drive.
.. Move internet temp files to 2nd drive.

As to recommend SSDs: Curcial M4 or Samsung 830, (Not enough feedback (from real users) on New intel Sata III drive. Do not recommend the Agillity III (cheap for a reason) and tend to not recommend Sanforce 22xx SSDs as they are more probmatic.
The Sanforce based drives do come out higher on Benchmarks - But in real life the difference between them and say the M4/Samsung 830 just is not high enough to offset the higher "consummer" satisfaction with the m4 / 830.

 

[selayan]

I am reading about failure rates even for the corsair model that was posted above. I am not sure I want to spend around 260-300 on a hard drive when I am afraid it will get BSOD's. I think I will just go with the 128gb since it should be enough.

 

[selayan]

Best answer selected by selayan.