Is an SSD worth it?

LPHeadstrong

I know it's been asked many times before but I know they're faster and safer but what if speeds are not an issue? I've only had externals break down on me and I regularly back-up anyway.

Not sure if I'll get shot-down for asking this but aside from the two main selling points why go with SSDs? Are they gonna replace HDDs?

Even an SSD for OS/games and HDD for all else works but in the next five years will people be saying "Get an SSD! It's just stupid not to!"?

I'm honestly conflicted here! I see some SSDs (120GB) reasonably priced but I'm happy with my 7200rpm Samsung F3!

Basically I know it sounds like my mind's made up but I'm asking people, much more in the know here, is it worth it? ATM I play Guild Wars but gonna be getting Metro, STALKER and Crysis in the coming weeks. Would an SSD help? And by help I mean do so drastically enough that would justify the price-per-GB (or whatever)?

Please help me out as in the coming months I'm swamped with new AWESOME games and really gotta prioritize my money!

Fluffy88

Well if it's for gaming your using the computer and you don't mind waiting for Windows to load then really for you it's probably not worth it.

I'm sure you know SSD's are just so much faster than a HDD so things load quicker off of an SSD. But for FPS in a game an SSD will make no difference, what it will do is make the game load quicker. For games like Oblivion where it's constantly loading new areas an SSD will make the game play smoother because those areas won't take as long to load. Outside of games your whole OS will seem 'snappier' and any program that is on the SSD will load so much quicker you won't ever want to use a HDD again.

Personally, for any computer I will get/build I will put an SSD into it because I think the extra speed and system wide performance is worth the price. But say if I was to build my parents a computer I probably wouldn't put one in since, I don't think they would really need it and an SSD would increase the cost of the machine when they would only want a cheap computer that works.

freestyla

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Well if it's for gaming your using the computer and you don't mind waiting for Windows to load then really for you it's probably not worth it.

I'm sure you know SSD's are just so much faster than a HDD so things load quicker off of an SSD. But for FPS in a game an SSD will make no difference, what it will do is make the game load quicker. For games like Oblivion where it's constantly loading new areas an SSD will make the game play smoother because those areas won't take as long to load. Outside of games your whole OS will seem 'snappier' and any program that is on the SSD will load so much quicker you won't ever want to use a HDD again.

Personally, for any computer I will get/build I will put an SSD into it because I think the extra speed and system wide performance is worth the price. But say if I was to build my parents a computer I probably wouldn't put one in since, I don't think they would really need it and an SSD would increase the cost of the machine when they would only want a cheap computer that works.

All is said here

I think you need top DX11 GFX card instead the money would spend on SSD.

Another advantage of SSD is to boost a bit older system, and to prolong it's lifespan .. for example I have almost 4 yrs old Fujitsu laptop 12" with first Intel dual core, last year added 2gb RAM, this year installed SSD + Win7 and this thing is faster and quiter than ever before. For the cost of 250eur (150eur upgrade cost + maybe 100eur could get if sold the laptop with original specs) I couldn't buy anything better, not even close.
Of course, wouldn't be upgrading if this Fujitsu had been unreliable and cheap laptop at first place but it was quality product when bought it so this upgrade is just a continuation to something proven good. Thanks to SSD + Win7 combination.

godskitchen

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Well if it's for gaming your using the computer and you don't mind waiting for Windows to load then really for you it's probably not worth it.

I'm sure you know SSD's are just so much faster than a HDD so things load quicker off of an SSD. But for FPS in a game an SSD will make no difference, what it will do is make the game load quicker. For games like Oblivion where it's constantly loading new areas an SSD will make the game play smoother because those areas won't take as long to load. Outside of games your whole OS will seem 'snappier' and any program that is on the SSD will load so much quicker you won't ever want to use a HDD again.

Personally, for any computer I will get/build I will put an SSD into it because I think the extra speed and system wide performance is worth the price. But say if I was to build my parents a computer I probably wouldn't put one in since, I don't think they would really need it and an SSD would increase the cost of the machine when they would only want a cheap computer that works.[/QUOTE]

This is the exact situation when you should use a SSD. A HDD will get clogged over time and you will spend hours trying to sort it out.

SSD's are perfect for people who dont know how or wont look after their computers. Spend the little extra now and save in the long run. Just get an external drive for large files.

Fluffy88

So if you know someone that is very untechy and wouldn't really be able to keep a drive clean you would give them a 64GB main OS drive to store everything? How will that not get clogged? And extremely quickly!

My point is, if I was building my parents or anyone that isn't techy a computer I wouldn't use an SSD since there main requirement would be to get a cheap computer! And they wouldn't need a computer that is powerful since it would be just for simple office stuff. With an SSD you do really need to be able to keep it cleaned out so you don't run out of space, atm SSD are NOT for file storage, they just are too expensive. So you only put your OS and apps on an SSD.

There is no way a 500GB HDD will get clogged by an average user.