Intel 520 as a boot drive???

[toolmaker_03]

hello out there I was wondering how much success anyone has had with the Intel 520 series SSD as a boot drive for the win 7 OS?

I am new to the SSD idea and have never tried it so all info is greatly appreciated.

would also like to know about the setup for a performance array on this type of drive and if it works right?
do you still need a A drive to setup a array for the system if the array is the boot drive for the win 7 OS?

 

[rolli59]

Most people set up their SSD as an OS + program drives, here is some useful info if you have not come across it http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/270102-32-useful-articles-part

 

[smorizio]

i have asus z77 sabertooth wiht 8g of ram and the intel 520 as the windows boot drive..take about 20 sec from cold boot to me surfing the web. web is a lot faster then a standard drive. install is easy on a new mb. you just unplug the data drive so that windows boot cd or usb stick only see the ssd. it makes the recovery partion and main partion...reboots and all you have to do is install the drivers for your mb/vidoe card/net cards and sound. just make sure your sata ports are in achi mode not ide mode.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

SSD is wonderful as a boot drive!

 

[toolmaker_03]

thank you very much for your replies I feel much better now I have read a lot that say the SSD can become unstable but that is older models so I went with a very stable model from reviews but I really wanted to hear that from real people like you guys

 

[geofelt]

I use an Intel 520 180gb as my only drive. It is a great way to go.
Don't be influenced by synthetic benchmarks. The reality is that all Modern SSD's perform very well, and differences are not noticeable to the desktop user.
You want to set the sata mode to AHCI(not ide or raid) so that windows 7 will install the drivers that pass on the trim command.
A clean windows 7 install is best, but Intel does provide a clone utility that will copy your current hard drive to a ssd.
Past that, don't bother with "tweaks". Any benefits are not noticeable, and not worth the complexity.

I like the choice of intel, samsung 830 is good also. They seem to be better developed.

There may be a bit of a dilemma on how large a ssd to buy. You want to leave room for expansion, which most of us do anyway.
For a ssd, extra free space keeps performance high.

On the other hand, ssd prices continue to fall, so replacing the current one or adding another will be cheaper per gb in the future.

 

[RetiredChief]

Fantastic price for M4, just as good as samsung 830 and Intel 520.
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Limit 3 per customer.
$249.99Your Price: $179.99With Promo Code EMCYTZT1768

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS061612&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS061612-_-EMC-061612-Index-_-SSD-_-20148443-L06B

But sale ends soon, and this is less than I paid for the 128 gig m4!!!
There is very little diff between the M4, 830s and the 520, My recommendation between the 3 has always been, which ever one is cheapest!!!
I have 2 128 gig m4s, and 2 128 gig 830s, and 2 120 gig Agility IIIs (ugh)
The price premium for the Intel 520s has always been to high for the difference. Also tend to prefer the controllers in M4's and 830s over the SF22xx controller in the Intel 520 (NOTE the Intel 510 used the Marvel controller).

 

[toolmaker_03]

I got the Intel 520 120 GB $169.99 not to bad on price almost got the 60 GB for $119.00 but thought I would need more space, and I am adding another later in order to try the 0 array on the SSD tech but if tweaks are not necessary than I won't bother with the array.

 

[RetiredChief]

For just $20 More, you could have gotten the 256 gig Curcial M4 - evey bit as good as the 520.
in my oppion, and in this case a "2nd 128 Gigs" for only $20 would have more than made up for any diff.
When you move up in size, the performance increases, that is a 256 gig SSD brand X will run faster than it's smaller 128 gig brother from Brand X.

On Raid0, Not a lover of, when it comes to SSDs. Currently you loss trim suport (although Intel should be coming out with a fix in the near term).
Raid0 provides a big boost to Sequencial performance, BUT this is only important when working with LARGE data files. Sequencial performance is the least important parameter for a OS + Program drive.
In all 4 of my systems with daul SSDs, I prefer a seperat OS + Program drive and a Seperate "Working" SSD drive.

 

[toolmaker_03]

i will keep that in mind thank you

 

[toolmaker_03]

Best answer selected by toolmaker_03.