SSD owners - are they worth it?

Cina

So I'm thinking of getting an SSD for my desktop PC. I don't particularly mind paying the €200 if it will actually be worth the money. The PC is pretty well specced, Phenom X4 Black Box, 8GB RAM, 5870 Xtreme, basically it can run any game out there up full and the PC is fully booted well under a minute

However, load times annoy me, mainly cause I'm an impatient git, and on some games you wait bloody ages, so I'd love to know what the consensus is on them and whether there would be any point in me getting one.

Cheers

Fluffy88

This question (or very similar question) was just asked by someone else in the BA discussion thread today.

Have a read here,
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79284476#post79284476

My opinion, YES!!!!! They are great and one of the best upgrades anyone can do.
You'll find the link to the ridiculously cheap 128GB Samsung 830 for €101 on dabs in the above thread too.

Since your rocking some slightly older hardware your motherboard might not have any SATA III (or 6 Gb/s as they are also known) ports so a SATA III SSD won't be able to run at it's peak speeds but you will still see a huge benefit.

Cina

Yeah I only have S-ATA II unfortunately.

128 would be a bit small for me so I'll likely be looking to the 256GB. I think I might invest!

Saadyst

The only problem you will have with getting your first SSD is

berating yourself for not getting one sooner

Fluffy88

You'd be surprised how big 128GB really is, admittedly you will have to put some thought/effort into managing the disk but it really is lots of space for everything you might need.

I have Windows 7 & Ubuntu 12.04 installed on my 128GB, split 100~/20GB.
In Windows I indiscriminately install all programs on the SSD, the only exception is games. Which I do actually install on the SSD but once I stop playing the game I use Steam Mover to move the game folder over to a HDD.

Having said that, if you have the money and don't mind spending it 256GB is actually a little better value, so get it

The Toff

I only have SATA II as well and the speed increase was still phenonmenal. Loading times in games is the obvious one, but Windows startup was the most surprising. Once I've logged in, every startup program loads within 3-4 seconds, and even while they are loading, I can immediately open firefox and restore 30 tabs with barely any delay. I'm upgrading my cpu and mobo soon so I'll have sata III which will give me another little speed bump. Get the SSD. They are as good as everyone says. I agree about the size too. I only have 64 gigs and that is even too much for me. I usually delete steam games when I don't use them.

Cina

Cheers guys, you've talked me in to it.

If it's not great I'll track you all down and smack you over the head with it

And I might just get the 128, with my current HD being used as a secondary, and my other secondary I'll have 2TB for storage still.

uncle_sam_ie

Yes! I have the 128GB M49 (it's plenty) for my OS, programs and a few games. My music and moves from iTunes are on a second 2TB harddrive. I then have an old SSD 64GB for overflow games using the steam mover app.

Monotype

To be honest, when I switched to SSD I didn't notice it being fantastically faster or anything.

Then I used other PCs without them and they seemed soooooooo slow. Life is too short to be waiting for browsers to open and bull**** like that!

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

Yes! I have the 128GB M49...

Are you thinking of the M249? :pac:

Fluffy88

Yeah Mono is dead on actually, I didn't think WOW this is so fast when I first started using my SSD but you do really notice it when you switch back.

I'm not afraid to anymore to restart my laptop either, which used to be a horrible task in the olden times

Posted without comment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtdnpSlikYs

U_Fig

yes...deffo prob the biggest performance ugprade as far as speed is concerned..

also 128 would be plenty for the OS then just have a HDD for storage..

even though you have sata II i'd still go for a newer drive you'll get better performance off these they have superior hardware..

you could get a PCIe SSD i havn't used these so i dunno if they are as good..this will prevent the Sata II bottleneck..

Monotype

Fluffy88 wrote: »

I'm not afraid to anymore to restart my laptop either, which used to be a horrible task in the olden times

Haha, that's quite true.
"Oh it needs a restart? OK, I'll just save everything... and... I'm back on the internet."
as opposed to
"FFS a whole fresh restart?! :mad: Alright, I'll just go away and come back after I make a sandwich!"

Boot times are fast but the thing I really like best is that you can use the desktop pretty much as soon as you see it. Very little waiting for background stuff. I love how I beat the network connection with having a browser open first.

Encrypted Pigeon

Anyone here use the SSD caches? Have been trailing one at work (albeit on a fresh install), but they seem to give a good boost once the cache has figured out what you use most. Would love to get one myself but I'm still a bit nervous of them and screwing up my install.

AlmightyCushion

Sintel wrote: »

Anyone here use the SSD caches? Have been trailing one at work (albeit on a fresh install), but they seem to give a good boost once the cache has figured out what you use most. Would love to get one myself but I'm still a bit nervous of them and screwing up my install.

I was using the one on my samsung laptop before installing the SSD and while it makes a bit of a difference and SSD is a lot better.

@Cina - SSDs are awesome. The big problem with them is that it makes using a computer without one an absolute pain.

Serephucus

In a word: Yes.

In two words: F**k yes.

I've never going back to mechanical boot drives after this. SSD caching at minimum from now on.

Fluffy88

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

...The big problem with them is that it makes using a computer without one an absolute pain.

So your saying, the biggest problem of SSDs is not having one :P
I think that speaks for itself

Stinicker

A friend of mine loaned me his SSD over the weekend and I swear it is like that time you first started using Broadband after years of suffering on dial-up. Best thing ever, I just wish they'd come in Terrabyte size, but it makes the boot so fast. I have ordered 1 now for my PC and using Windows 8 on the SSD drive was sweet.

The Toff

A toast to SSD!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i think mines coming in the post tomorrow morning, so excited

Stinicker

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

i think mines coming in the post tomorrow morning, so excited

Damn, I have to wait upto two weeks for mine from Hardwareversand plus all the other parts for my HTPC!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

they are *so* ****ing worth it

i dont know how I ever used a computer before this.

windows loads, I click firefox icon in my taskbar and.. it's there.. it's open. no little hourglass, no few sconds while it gets its face ready.. it just pops up and it's ready to use immediately

I had to extract sound card drivers. right click, extract... folder just appeared. no winrar dialog box, no little green bar of infinite progress, the folder just appeared.

it's unbelievable.
gona get steam now and copy my steamapps folder across.

SpannerMonkey

hell ya its wortg it , my only regret is not getting one sooner , biggest single differance of any component in my pc , i have a 256Gb Samsung 830 and its EPIC

Tea_Bag

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

they are *so* ****ing worth it

i dont know how I ever used a computer before this.

windows loads, I click firefox icon in my taskbar and.. it's there.. it's open. no little hourglass, no few sconds while it gets its face ready.. it just pops up and it's ready to use immediately

I had to extract sound card drivers. right click, extract... folder just appeared. no winrar dialog box, no little green bar of infinite progress, the folder just appeared.

it's unbelievable.
gona get steam now and copy my steamapps folder across.

lets not over sell it now, you're talking about firefox... mileage may vary with that one.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well, its a brand new install so no addons or anything on it yet

the only other thing I've tried to test the speed is the Stalker shadow of chernobyl mod - Stalkersoup.. but I doubt anyone here has played that so the huge decrease in load times might not be impressive to anyone

(it's ****ing impressive though)

Encrypted Pigeon

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Sintel wrote: »

Anyone here use the SSD caches? Have been trailing one at work (albeit on a fresh install), but they seem to give a good boost once the cache has figured out what you use most. Would love to get one myself but I'm still a bit nervous of them and screwing up my install.

I was using the one on my samsung laptop before installing the SSD and while it makes a bit of a difference and SSD is a lot better.

I believe you my thinking is if you already have an install and don't have heart to do a fresh install or the balls to try cloning then cache would be a semi decent performance upgrade. I don't know there are pros and cons in each situation I have to think harder about which way I would go with it.

B00MSTICK

I regret reading this thread... Must resist urge to buy

Fluffy88

soooo shinnnnyy



** DO NOT CLICK THE PICTURE **

Joeface

just upgraded to ssd my self this evening. Massive difference.boot and shutdown times are unreal.game and app load times are impressive as well. I only got a cheap 120gig scan disk ultra . Came in extra to work.only down side at the moment is limited space . With win 7 &office &bf3 installed i am down to 66gig of free space.

Joeface

Joeface wrote: »

just upgraded to ssd my self this evening. Massive difference.boot and shutdown times are unreal.game and app load times are impressive as well. I only got a cheap 120gig scan disk ultra . Came in extra to work.only down side at the moment is limited space . With win 7 &office &bf3 installed i am down to 66gig of free space.

If you don't use hibernation then turn it off (powercfg -h off) - that should free up a hefty amount of space - usually the same amount as the amount of RAM you have.

Joeface

ok thanks i will look into that.(8gb of ram )

DaleHyland

I'm going to be putting a samsung 830 in my new rig. My current computer has a hard drive that's only sata 1 , so this is going to be an insane difference, I'm dying with the excitement.

Don't they just look awesome too?

DaleHyland

DaleHyland wrote: »

Don't they just look awesome too?

Here's a naked one. Found it in a bin - it was intermittently locking up but the warranty was voided due to a chipped SATA power connector. A firmware update and secure erase did the job nicely. This is the one I used in the video earlier. Pity I've no use for it... yet.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

im going to bed now and im actually going to shut my computer down

no hibernation.. no sleep mode. just shut it down.

madness

Monotype

Karsini, you need to tell me where you find these bins!

iggy

Can someone link me to the proper samsung ssd for my PC from dabs.ie before I order it.
Is it THIS one?
Even though it says it's for laptop?
Dabs has this one that says for desktop but it's dearer
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-128gb-830-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-desktop-kit---free-norton-ghost-15-7S2J.html?refs=56350000&src=3

Fluffy88

There is a Basic, Laptop & Desktop kit just get the cheapest one.
The only difference in the kits is the extra stuff you get in the box with the kit, I think, but don't quote me on this, desktop you get a SATA cable laptop you get a USB to SATA adapter and basic you don't get any of that but it's the very same SSD.

iggy

I've just ordered the Samsung 830 from dabs.
How easy is it to install on my pc and keep my hdd just for storage and use ssd for windows 7 and program's only.
Looking forward to gettin this

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

iggy wrote: »

I've just ordered the Samsung 830 from dabs.
How easy is it to install on my pc and keep my hdd just for storage and use ssd for windows 7 and program's only.
Looking forward to gettin this

piss easy

youll probably need a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter for it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0037SHEAQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01

i have this, so simple.

Fluffy88

You don't even need an adapter for it.
SSDs have no moving parts unlike HDDs so they don't need to be as secure as a HDD. So you can actually just leave an SSD sitting in the case you don't have to mount it to anything. A lot of people just Velcro strips or double sided tape to stick the drive to the case somewhere, or you could just leave it lying in an empty HDD bay or on the floor of the case.

In terms of installing Windows. I would recommend doing a new installation.
Unplug the SATA cable from the HDD
Go into the BIOS switch the SATA devices to ACHI mode. (Steps for this depend on your motherboard)
Install Windows
Plug the HDD back in

iggy

Fluffy88 wrote: »

You don't even need an adapter for it.
SSDs have no moving parts unlike HDDs so they don't need to be as secure as a HDD. So you can actually just leave an SSD sitting in the case you don't have to mount it to anything. A lot of people just Velcro strips or double sided tape to stick the drive to the case somewhere, or you could just leave it lying in an empty HDD bay or on the floor of the case.

In terms of installing Windows. I would recommend doing a new installation.
Unplug the SATA cable from the HDD
Go into the BIOS switch the SATA devices to ACHI mode. (Steps for this depend on your motherboard)
Install Windows
Plug the HDD back in

Cheers
Do I need to format my hdd that already has Windows on it?
My motherboard is Asrock M3A77ode.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

you dont "need" to format, no
although ive always had a horrible time trying to delete a previous windows installation from an old HD, so I just end up formatting anyway once I've backed up everything i want

once you have enable the 'achi' option in the bios, before you install windows on the ssd.. the windows you have on the non-ssd drive wont be able to boot.
it'll go to the loading screen, you'll see the little loading animation.. and it'll just cut straight back to reboot. so once you have the achi on and the windows installed on the ssd, that's the only one you can use.

if you disable the ahci on the bios you'll be able to boot back into the non-ssd windows, but im not sure if that means you wont be able to boot into the ssd windows. I just left it on, now that I have windows installed on an ssd i'm never going back to a normal HD.

you wont believe the difference until you experience it. it's fantastic.

Fluffy88

No need to format it, in-fact I definitely wouldn't format it until you have the SSD up and running.
Once you unplug the HDD before you start to install Windows onto the SSD you will be fine.

Then once you have Windows on the SSD I would plug the HDD back in.
You then have two options, clean up the HDD leaving just the document/media stuff on it, i.e. deleting the Windows & programs folders
or
Backup all the important stuff like the documents/media to another HDD or the SSD if it fits, then format the HDD and move all the media files back over to the now clean HDD.