best ssd for intel SRT for cache

[ross89r]

hey guys, just thinking of tinkering around with my PC a little bit just in the mood to get something new lol i use my PC as a 100% gaming machine(odd bit of browsing but this is really all for games) I've got windows 8 and i know windows 7 is better for gaming but I've invested quite a bit into 8 as i don't have a legal copy of 7, and i'm pretty sure this new direct x blue will eventually be used when it arrives. I looked at my system and can't see anything worthwhile upgrading...except for my HDD, I have a 1tb WD red(i think red, its the "performance" type one they have) that has my OS and all games on, also have another 400gb one for crap really. I've used up 500gb of this drive just on games and OS (pointlessly buying steam sale games -.-) so for me buying a dedicated SSD would be too much money which is why I'm thinking of a ssd cache accelerator, heard good reviews on these. unfortunately dataplex doesn't officially support w8 so I'm gonna have to go for the Intel version, does anyone still recommend this or have much user feedback in their latest version/software/windows 8? If this is still the way to go what SSD am I better off buying? size and brand wise. I've posted my specs below, as you can see I don't have much reason to upgrade since I run games no problem (I game on one 1080p screen) Thanks for any input and if you actually took the time to read all of this lol

asrock z77 extreme 4
intel 3570k (OC)
8gb vengence memory (1800mhz)
soundblaster z
evga geforce gtx 680 (oc edition)

 

[ross89r]

alsoooooooo, I really don't wanna have to do a fresh windows install lol

 

[JohnnyLucky]

We haven't been getting many questions about caching lately. The price of solid state drives has gone down and their performance has increased. In addition the market saw the introduction of solid state hybrid drives.

Have you considered one of the new solid state hybrid drives? They are a combination of a hard disk drive and a solid state cache in a single enclosure.

Here is a link to one example of an sshd:

http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/solid-state-hybrid/laptop-solid-state-hybrid-drive/?cmpid=ppc-_-hybrid-_-g-_-us-_-sshd-_-{matchtype}

Here is a link to a review of another example:

http://www.storagereview.com/toshiba_sshd_review_mq01abdh

 

[ross89r]

Thanks for the really quick response had a look at the sites, that sshd does sound quite appealing I wished I saw this before I built my PC, as I'm really against wanting to do a fresh W8 install along with everything else lol I have everything set up quite nicely now

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I always recommend a clean install. Microsoft operating systems have a tendency to accumulate a lot of items that are never deleted once they are no longer needed. Back in the good old days we used to call any version of a Microsoft operating system a bloated pig.

Your other option is to use cloning software. The software works reasonably well for the majority of users but sometimes there is a problem. It is not unusual to see questions in this forum about problems with cloning.

If it is any consolation, installing Windows to an ssd is much faster than installing to a hard disk drive. Writing to an ssd is faster than writing to a hard drive.

 

[popatim]

Its not to difficult to do depending on how your drives are connected currently. Care to share some more info?
What drives are connected and to which ports? You have intel and asmedi sata ports.

 

[ross89r]

Its not to difficult to do depending on how your drives are connected currently. Care to share some more info?
What drives are connected and to which ports? You have intel and asmedi sata ports.

It's been a while since I did pc building I done this one back in February and that's been my first in a good couple of years so sorry if I'm a bit slow with the new hardware lol when I first read your response I didn't have a cluewhat you meant but I just noticed the motherboard specs say x2 sata6gb Intel ports and x2 sata6gb asmedi ports, I'll have to have a look tonight to see how I've connected them as I don't actually know. But what I do use is a main 1tb hdd for os and games, a 500gb hdd downloads/pics/phone stuff and a DVD drive that doesn't get used at all, any info on if what I'm thinking of doing is worth while and any assistance with how to connect would be most appreciated

 

[ross89r]

I always recommend a clean install. Microsoft operating systems have a tendency to accumulate a lot of items that are never deleted once they are no longer needed. Back in the good old days we used to call any version of a Microsoft operating system a bloated pig.

Your other option is to use cloning software. The software works reasonably well for the majority of users but sometimes there is a problem. It is not unusual to see questions in this forum about problems with cloning.

If it is any consolation, installing Windows to an ssd is much faster than installing to a hard disk drive. Writing to an ssd is faster than writing to a hard drive.

Lol I know what you mean by Microsoft becoming bloated, hopefully this ain't a problem of mine since I never uninstall anything (cept for updating drivers of course) had more of a look into these drives and some user feedback say they only have 8gb of flash memoryaand while that's good for boot times, it's not so great for applications, is this something you'd agree with? A quicker boot time would be nice but I'm not too fussed with, my pc is on most of the time anyway when I go to use it. My main aim is starting my games quicker/loading levels quicker, I also go from game to game in a single session

 

[popatim]

without knowing what you have plugged into where I cant really help. For example, intel caching isnt going t o work if the drive you want to cache isnt connected to the an intel port. The cache drive also needs to be connected to an intel sata3 port. Moving the boot harddrive from asmedia to intel might stop you from booting depending on how the bios is configured and which sata driver is being used...