advice on getting a ssd drive and external

elpresdentde

iv got a fairly good system at the moment. but i have being playing a lot of skyrim and have noticed lag and slowdown but more worrying is that my hardrive been grinding a lot. so i think that its time to get a ssd being looking on pixmania and this drive seems in my price range.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/9974321/art/ocz/agility-3-series-internal.html#pix-review
or maybe i streach as far as this
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/9974320/art/ocz/120-gb-solid-state-drive.html

I can only play one game at a time i dont think i will need anything bigger.

also

my 1 terabyte wd elements drive has slowed to a crawl (no click,grinding anything, disc check ok) but i better replace it before it fails completely this is the cheapest replacement. but im not sure i want to chance a wd again any thoughts

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4906663/art/western-digital/wd-elements-desktop-exter.html

any help is appreciated

gigabyte amd am3 770 ddr3 motherboard
2 x 2 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL9 Memory Kit
Phenom II X6 1055T - 2.8 GHz - AM3 Socket
ati hd4850

Monotype

Maybe your drive needs defragmenting?

As for the SSD,... if you want speed and reliability go for Crucial's M4 (or Intel/Samsung). They're a bit more expensive though. OCZ's drives have faced a lot of problems but apparently it's been patched out now. An alternative to consider is Corsair's Force 3. It's €148.61 currently at dabs delivered.
http://www.dabs.ie/products/corsair-memory-120gb-force-series-3-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive--read-550mb-s--write-510mb-s--7HT6.html?q=corsair%20force%203&src=16
IIRC, the Corsair force 3 is almost identical to OCZ's plain Vertex 3 drive, so should be slightly better... and I'd be a little more inclined to trust Corsair.

By the way, since you just have SATA 3Gbps, you wouldn't get the full speed of the drives and you should really get windows 7 if you don't have it for the full benefit of an SSD.

zilog_jones

Regarding the external, do you defragment it? I've seen the USB bridge controllers go bad on cheaper externals before, i.e. the HDD itself was fine when stuck into a desktop PC. Have the same WD myself though and no trouble with it so far but it's only really used for backups so is rarely plugged in.

elpresdentde

i defrag that drive fairly often so im pretty sure its not that. as regards the usb controller you might have a point but im trying to avoid ripping it apart and making it an internal until im sure what's wrong as I need the mobility. thank you

elpresdentde

im not too worried about not getting the full speed out of the drive as i think that motherboard might be the next to get an upgrade. it still would offer better performance the 7200rpm drive right though even at sata 2 speeds. i have win 7 already

AlmightyCushion

Monotype wrote: »

Maybe your drive needs defragmenting?

As for the SSD,... if you want speed and reliability go for Crucial's M4 (or Intel/Samsung). They're a bit more expensive though. OCZ's drives have faced a lot of problems but apparently it's been patched out now. An alternative to consider is Corsair's Force 3. It's €148.61 currently at dabs delivered.
http://www.dabs.ie/products/corsair-memory-120gb-force-series-3-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive--read-550mb-s--write-510mb-s--7HT6.html?q=corsair%20force%203&src=16
IIRC, the Corsair force 3 is almost identical to OCZ's plain Vertex 3 drive, so should be slightly better... and I'd be a little more inclined to trust Corsair.

By the way, since you just have SATA 3Gbps, you wouldn't get the full speed of the drives and you should really get windows 7 if you don't have it for the full benefit of an SSD.

The problem with the OCZ drives affected the Force 3 as well because they both used the same controller. I'd forget about OCZ or Corsair and get the Crucial M4.

the untitled user

Monotype wrote: »

IIRC, the Corsair force 3 is almost identical to OCZ's plain Vertex 3 drive, so should be slightly better... and I'd be a little more inclined to trust Corsair.

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

The problem with the OCZ drives affected the Force 3 as well because they both used the same controller. I'd forget about OCZ or Corsair and get the Crucial M4.

I can confirm this from bitter experience my force 3 has a tendency to drop out when the PC is idling (only affects me when watching movies mind).

Still don't regret getting an SSD mind, well worth the money for the all round producitivity boost garnered.

Monotype

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

The problem with the OCZ drives affected the Force 3 as well because they both used the same controller. I'd forget about OCZ or Corsair and get the Crucial M4.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I'm thinking from brand point of view. I think Corsair are more likely to be honest and offer better support than OCZ. Firmware updates have solved most of the issues. The M4 is a better choice if you can afford it but I was under the impression that it was the limit of the budget. It's still a fast drive although you should of course backup.

elpresdentde

id like to thank everyone for their advice im still not sure if l stretch to the m4 but it seems to be the best. first things first and im going to get a cheap external drive case to see if the usb controller is gone on my hardrive