Time for a SSD and another HDD?

jozi

It's been a very long time since I upgraded or builth a pc, last on was for a friend about 2yrs ago!

Not really using the pc for anything other than internet, a bit of photoshop and some other cad software packages. They all run fine on the current xp system, could maybe do with some more ram but thats for a different thread.

My only experience with SSD's was when I build a pc for a friend, I couldnt believe the difference between boot up with the ssd compared with the sata drive. From what I remember programs also seemed to be a bit more snappy loading up.

I figure my current spec is good enough for what I need. I need more storage so looking for a 1tb drive and was thinking of getting a SSD as well to upgrade the ancient maxtor 80gig drive.

The quick google I had so far I see the Crucial Real SSD come recommended. How will the problems it has (and others also I believe) work with xp? Should it be alright?

Anything else worth considering? 60gig is more than enough for me, have xp on a 20gig partition and docs etc on 2nd drive.

Connrang

Jozi,
I put a 60 Gig one in my machine last christmas. My results in the Windows experience index really jumped for the HDD and my overall results also jupmed.

I've now removed the SSD and put it in my laptop. My main reason for taking it out was constantly having to clean up the disk. 60 Gigs may sound like a lot but when you factor in windows, an office program and other bits and bobs there is'nt much else left.

Prices are dropping now and maybe when the 120 Gig are more affordable I will revisit the project. HDD prices are dropping nicely this year so having 4+ TB HDD is almost the norm.

Bottom line, your budget will decide how you progress, SSD are the way forward but 120 Gig would be the base line.

Best of luck with the upgrade whichever way you decide to go,

jozi

I'll definitely be able to manage with a 60gig drive. Pretty sure I either have 20 or 40gigs for my main OS at the min, laptop is also 60gig. I'm not really one for installing unnecessary programs.

I must look into a 2tb drive, although 1tb will do me for another long time I reckon.

EDIT: Where is good these days for buying pc parts? It's been a long time!

Jonathan

Connrang wrote: »

I've now removed the SSD and put it in my laptop. My main reason for taking it out was constantly having to clean up the disk. 60 Gigs may sound like a lot but when you factor in windows, an office program and other bits and bobs there is'nt much else left.

60GB is more than enough for a boot drive. If not, you are doing it wrong.

For anything else like music, Steam etc, put them on the mechanical drive and create a junction point to link them so they appear as if they are on the SSD.

I wrote about it here.

jozi

Junction points are new to me. On my current setup I just moved the "my Documents" folder to the storage drive, and any other ****e I download and what not does straight to it as well.

Any comment on which SSD to go for?

PogMoThoin

Games wouldn't be long eating up an OS drive, its best install them to another hd.

marco_polo

jozi wrote: »

Junction points are new to me. On my current setup I just moved the "my Documents" folder to the storage drive, and any other ****e I download and what not does straight to it as well.

Any comment on which SSD to go for?

I think either 60 Gb Corsair Force or 60 Gb Vertex 2 would be the way to go. The prices are quite good at the moment (Corsair F60 was down to £99 on ebuyer late last week). The 80Gb Intel is still a very worthy drive as well if a fair bit more expensive.

There are older budget 60Gb drives available for a good bit less like the Kingston SSDNow V series, but they are not a patch on the latest (SandForce controller based) SSDs like the Force or Vertex 2 especially when it come to write speed.

Jonathan

marco_polo wrote: »

I think either 60 Gb Corsair Force or 60 Gb Vertex 2 would be the way to go. The prices are quite good at the moment (Corsair F60 was down to £99 on ebuyer late last week). The 80Gb Intel is still a very worthy drive as well if a fair bit more expensive.

There are older budget 60Gb drives available for a good bit less like the Kingston SSDNow V series, but they are not a patch on the latest (SandForce controller based) SSDs like the Force or Vertex 2 especially when it come to write speed.

I was making that decision about a month ago, I went with the SSDNow for £75 (vs £110 for the sandforce based SSDs at the time). My reasoning was that the read speeds were already a huge improvement, so I wasn't going to know any different :pac:

Working great, no complaints.

marco_polo

Jonathan wrote: »

I was making that decision about a month ago, I went with the SSDNow for £75 (vs £110 for the sandforce based SSDs at the time). My reasoning was that the read speeds were already a huge improvement, so I wasn't going to know any different :pac:

Working great, no complaints.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't specifically picking on the SSDNow drive just popped into my head as an example of previous generation, (now) budget SSDs (precisely because I considered the same question and chose the opposite path ). Nothing wrong with the SSDNow series it as a boot drive if on a budget . All in all though there is no doubt that the current generation of SSD are a signifigant improvement over the previous ones and probably just about worth the extra few bob IMO (Just going off ebuyer it is £81 for 64Gb SSDNow Vs £99 for the F60 ).