SSD = wow

Monotype

OCZ don't make RAM any more - most places haven't stocked it for quite a while and it didn't have a great track record. I hope that you don't run into any problems.

indough

I just installed a vertex 3 120gb today, 21 gig partition for the os and the rest for steam and a few choice apps. never realised it would be this fast tbh, but then again up till today i was using a POS cannibalised from an external hdd i bought years ago

Alanstrainor

Hmmm I'm tempted to get one seeing the performance increase!

I had always said that I would wait until the capacity of ssds increased and the cost came down before taking the plunge. 100Quid for 60GB sounds pretty alright to me! I've been making far too many impulse buys these days though!

ScumLord

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Hmmm I'm tempted to get one seeing the performance increase!

I had always said that I would wait until the capacity of ssds increased and the cost came down before taking the plunge. 100Quid for 60GB sounds pretty alright to me! I've been making far too many impulse buys these days though!

Do it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ALySsPXt0

Tar.Aldarion

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Hmmm I'm tempted to get one seeing the performance increase!

I had always said that I would wait until the capacity of ssds increased and the cost came down before taking the plunge. 100Quid for 60GB sounds pretty alright to me! I've been making far too many impulse buys these days though!

same, I want a 128gb though, am waiting

Skerries

come to the fast side!

i find your lack of speed disturbing!

Tar.Aldarion

dunno how much i would need it, games start in 1 second, and win 7 boots fast!

I have a 60GB Vertex 2 in my laptop, very happy with it. Makes me feel like you really need a SSD to run Windows 7 properly. I could never go back to running an OS off a hard disk now.

I've built a few machines with Vertex 3s recently and they're unreal. One of them had two Vertex 3s, was so tempted to stripe them!

Trevor451

I would love to get a sold state drive but I can't justify the price just for a shorter loading times.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218031/IBM_announces_computer_memory_breakthrough

Hopefully this sort of tech will go into SSD in the future

Alanstrainor

So should I get the vertex 2 or 3? I only have SATA 2 connections on my pc so would I see the benefit of the vertex 3?

Monotype

If prices are not too far apart, get the V3:

• While you won't avail of the full potential, you should generally experience a positive increase
• You may upgrade your PC, giving your drive a longer life
• The V3 will have better resale value, at least for a while
• The V2 is actually 5GB less than advertised

Alanstrainor

Alright lads, what do yee think of the below:

Crucial M4 64GB 97euro
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB 90.44euro
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 106euro

Running a SATA 2 system atm. This will be a boot drive (obviously) windows 7 Ultimate 64bit with 6GB of RAM.

This is a complete impulse buy, so i'd like to keep the cost down! Haha

Tar.Aldarion

I'd go with the m4 there

Monotype

Probably the M4, given the issues with the sandforce drives and general OCZ dodginess. The write speeds are weak but most of what you will be doing is reading and your read speeds will be limited at the SATA II maximum anyway. Plus you get 4GB more than the V3 and ~9GB more than the V2.

shizz

So is it ok to install your OS on one hard drive and then install your games on a separate hard drive? Is it not too messy? Do most games not have to install files into numerous parts of windows? Like would there be a big problem with re installing windows?

Tar.Aldarion

It's not a big deal at all, jsut choose the install location. win7 is a fast easy install.

shizz

But say you re install windows and your games, installed primarily on a second HDD but had installed parts into the previous windows. You would need to re install the games also no?
Is there a way around it?

Monotype

shizz wrote: »

So is it ok to install your OS on one hard drive and then install your games on a separate hard drive? Is it not too messy? Do most games not have to install files into numerous parts of windows? Like would there be a big problem with re installing windows?

Most games keep stuff in one place, but you often have to reinstall the games with a windows reinstall as the registry is cleared. This wouldn't be the case with say, a steam install, as steam will fix itself up after a windows reinstall and check the game files itself.

One thing to be careful about is that some games will throw saves and settings into the my documents folder.

Leman

Monotype wrote: »

One thing to be careful about is that some games will throw saves and settings into the my documents folder.

You can easily move the documents folder via the Properties menu, so do that :P

Alanstrainor

I went with the crucial in the end...

Damn you guys!:p

Leman

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I went with the crucial in the end...

Damn you guys!:p

Good thing too. Heard nothing but good about the M4 while I had a Agility 3 Brick in 5 days.

Alanstrainor

Leman wrote: »

Good thing too. Heard nothing but good about the M4 while I had a Agility 3 Brick in 5 days.

That sucks man. Hopefully the M4 will fair better. I'm looking forward to seeing how much my faster my system will get!

I do boot some small virtual machines occasionally so i might stick one on the SSD to see how fast it boots.

I'll have to make a list of my "choice apps" to install on the ssd i suppose. Since the 64GB isn't going to cut it really.

quarryman

Leman wrote: »

I had a Agility 3 Brick in 5 days.

*sticks fingers in ears* I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

Noodleworm

I have a 60gb one for my OS and a few programs as well as my Adobe Collection.
Its a constant battle trying to stop that thing from accidentally filling up.

Alanstrainor

Noodleworm wrote: »

I have a 60gb one for my OS and a few programs as well as my Adobe Collection.
Its a constant battle trying to stop that thing from accidentally filling up.

I can imagine, I may just install photoshop on the ssd and place the other parts of adobe CS4 elsewhere if i can. Once i have, chrome, firefox, photoshop and maybe a game(just cause 2 atm) i think i'll be alright. the rest of my apps can go elsewhere. It'll be next week before I have it. I really have to sort out all my partitions on my current drives! Things are getting crazy!

shizz

Monotype wrote: »

Most games keep stuff in one place, but you often have to reinstall the games with a windows reinstall as the registry is cleared. This wouldn't be the case with say, a steam install, as steam will fix itself up after a windows reinstall and check the game files itself.

One thing to be careful about is that some games will throw saves and settings into the my documents folder.

But are the games you have downloaded with steam saved in any windows folders?

quarryman

shizz wrote: »

But are the games you have downloaded with steam saved in any windows folders?

nope. more info here.

Alanstrainor

shizz wrote: »

But are the games you have downloaded with steam saved in any windows folders?

No. The main components of the game will be installed in the location you choose to install them. The registry will have info added, but this will not take up any real space.
As noted, so apps may utilise your "My Documents" folder for saves/screenshots etc, but the actual location of My Documents can be changed, so that it will save files to your storage disk.

shizz

Lovely stuff. Thanks guys.

quarryman

Alanstrainor wrote: »

but the actual location of My Documents can be changed, so that it will save files to your storage disk.

awesome, did not know this.