SSD my HTPC

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ajst2duk

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#28559 4-Dec-2008 12:27

Well my project is complete for the moment, replaced my two 500G HD's with an SSD for system and one 1.5TB for media. For all that expense, what we achieved really was a much cooler case temp, so I could slow the fans - & no HDD noise as the family are still sensitive about watching a "PC"
I used the OCZ 30GB series V2 and aside from a couple of minor issues moving the OS over, it has made the HTPC into a much slicker machine. It's not yards faster in boot or anything and that wasn't the objective, but what we do have now is a piece of equipment that looks & performs like a hifi bit of kit, totally silent boot up and operation. I am really pleased with the outcome, it was the final piece de resistonce.
The only thing I could wish for now would be a less noisey blu-ray/DVD drive, it sounds like a vacum cleaner when it spins up a disc.

For anyone thinking of doing similar, note that we haven't really gained any speed here, just heat and noise reduction.

I'm just a crazy newbie?
My HTPC: www.jenkin.net/HTPC.htm
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#181996 4-Dec-2008 12:35

Sounds great. Re the noisy drive - give AnyDVD a try - great for bypassing HDCP and region issues, but also has inbuilt tools for controlling drive speed. There are three settings, Video Disc, Audio Disc, Other. You can set each to Fast and Noisy, Slow and Quiet, or Drive Default. I have my drives set to Slow and Quiet for video and audio, and default for other - because other is likely to be a cd or dvdrom that i'm installing software from.

Easily changed on the fly too.

Totally silent in slow and quiet mode.

ajst2duk

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#182002 4-Dec-2008 13:01

Hey thanks - nice tip. I'll have a look

eXDee

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#182091 4-Dec-2008 18:30

One thing to ensure is that your timeshift is not on the SSD. SSD's have a limited write capability for each sector type thing, so a timeshift on it will wear it down rather fast.

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#182116 4-Dec-2008 20:29

One of those cards that takes a stack of DDR and makes it a sata drive would be ideal for the timeshift drive, just as long as you accept that you lose it if the power goes out...

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bigbob

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#182136 4-Dec-2008 21:33

eXDee: One thing to ensure is that your timeshift is not on the SSD. SSD's have a limited write capability for each sector type thing, so a timeshift on it will wear it down rather fast.

I don't disagree that SSD's have limited write cycles and this should be considered, though it would be worth doing the calculations, last time I did some rough numbers the SSD with time shift enabled for an average 8hrs a day should last a few years.

There is a signifcant difference between SLC v MLC SSD's, so make sure you use the correct data.

I would expect that things like channel changes and pause play / rewind etc should be more responsive with an SSD.

Anyway, well done on making the move to SSD and thanks for sharing your experience, I will likely join you in the coming months and will also post my experiences. Let's hope that Windows 7 comes out sooner rather than later and we can get an integrated Freeview experience.

Bob

ajst2duk

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#182270 5-Dec-2008 12:48

gehenna: Sounds great. Re the noisy drive - give AnyDVD a try - great for bypassing HDCP and region issues, but also has inbuilt tools for controlling drive speed. There are three settings, Video Disc, Audio Disc, Other. You can set each to Fast and Noisy, Slow and Quiet, or Drive Default. I have my drives set to Slow and Quiet for video and audio, and default for other - because other is likely to be a cd or dvdrom that i'm installing software from.

Easily changed on the fly too.

Totally silent in slow and quiet mode.

Hey I did download & try, worked pretty good, but to pony up for it will cost $140 for the HD edition, that's pretty steep ! it's pointed me on the right track though, it did make a big difference.

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#182285 5-Dec-2008 13:23

ajst2duk:
Hey I did download & try, worked pretty good, but to pony up for it will cost $140 for the HD edition, that's pretty steep ! it's pointed me on the right track though, it did make a big difference.

Couple of things. First they often have 20% off sales.. so worth keeping an eye open. Second you could split the cost. I brought the SD version a while back and am still using that even though I now have a blu ray drive. Until I get region encoded disks that will not play I will not do the upgrade.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

gehenna

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#182290 5-Dec-2008 13:41

$71NZ by my calculations for the SD version - which is all you need. I mean presumably HD is already working on your rig right? so you don't need any of the HD features in AnyDVD HD, but the SD version still works with HD rigs in terms of giving the drive speed features, and region features for SD DVDs, etc.

bear in mind they give you lifetime software updates as well, there is a new version released every few weeks/months to deal with new BD and DVD encryption technologies.

eXDee

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#182320 5-Dec-2008 15:36

bigbob:
eXDee: One thing to ensure is that your timeshift is not on the SSD. SSD's have a limited write capability for each sector type thing, so a timeshift on it will wear it down rather fast.

I don't disagree that SSD's have limited write cycles and this should be considered, though it would be worth doing the calculations, last time I did some rough numbers the SSD with time shift enabled for an average 8hrs a day should last a few years.

There is a signifcant difference between SLC v MLC SSD's, so make sure you use the correct data.

I would expect that things like channel changes and pause play / rewind etc should be more responsive with an SSD.

Anyway, well done on making the move to SSD and thanks for sharing your experience, I will likely join you in the coming months and will also post my experiences. Let's hope that Windows 7 comes out sooner rather than later and we can get an integrated Freeview experience.

Bob

Yeah there is a big difference in the memory type used as you said, as well as consumer grade vs industrial, which are very robust compared to consumer grade ones. I was just suggesting that if you're one of those people who like things to last a long time, then timeshifting on the SSD will wear it down.

ajst2duk

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#182347 5-Dec-2008 17:06

gehenna: $71NZ by my calculations for the SD version - which is all you need. I mean presumably HD is already working on your rig right? so you don't need any of the HD features in AnyDVD HD, but the SD version still works with HD rigs in terms of giving the drive speed features, and region features for SD DVDs, etc.

bear in mind they give you lifetime software updates as well, there is a new version released every few weeks/months to deal with new BD and DVD encryption technologies.

Ok I'm sold :-) it did quiet the drive, just seemed a bit chunky as I already have DVD Decrypter etc

ajst2duk

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#182349 5-Dec-2008 17:12

eXDee:
bigbob:
eXDee: One thing to ensure is that your timeshift is not on the SSD. SSD's have a limited write capability for each sector type thing, so a timeshift on it will wear it down rather fast.

I don't disagree that SSD's have limited write cycles and this should be considered, though it would be worth doing the calculations, last time I did some rough numbers the SSD with time shift enabled for an average 8hrs a day should last a few years.

There is a signifcant difference between SLC v MLC SSD's, so make sure you use the correct data.

I would expect that things like channel changes and pause play / rewind etc should be more responsive with an SSD.

Anyway, well done on making the move to SSD and thanks for sharing your experience, I will likely join you in the coming months and will also post my experiences. Let's hope that Windows 7 comes out sooner rather than later and we can get an integrated Freeview experience.

Bob

Yeah there is a big difference in the memory type used as you said, as well as consumer grade vs industrial, which are very robust compared to consumer grade ones. I was just suggesting that if you're one of those people who like things to last a long time, then timeshifting on the SSD will wear it down.

Cople of things from my perspective, I have maintained all my media files on a sep 1.5TB internal HD, generally speaking if the HDD is reading or writing large contiguous files, it will be as good as silent as the heads are not constantly seeking.
I am using the SSD purely as a system disk, and have disabled indexing, defrag & AV functions so as to prolong the drive. The system is regularly backed up, and is not a critical machine aside from its entertainment functions, so I'm pretty relaxed. Statistics indicate that I will be well on the way toward driving a hydrogen powered car before this drive is likely to fail, by that time I figure that I would be about 8 generations ahead in tech, given I am very unlikely to hold a HDD longer than 2 years.

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freitasm

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#182363 5-Dec-2008 19:21

I've got an Intel 80GB SSD engineering test unit here and I am getting from read speeds of 150MB/s through 210MB/s on a SATA interface. Also the Windows Experience Index show this SSD as 7.8 (this is the component index, not the machine index)...

Can you run HDTune to check what you get?

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gehenna

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#182380 5-Dec-2008 21:13

ajst2duk:
Ok I'm sold :-) it did quiet the drive, just seemed a bit chunky as I already have DVD Decrypter etc

ditch decrypter and do it all with AnyDVD, it's pretty much a one stop shop

ajst2duk

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#182666 8-Dec-2008 08:32

freitasm: I've got an Intel 80GB SSD engineering test unit here and I am getting from read speeds of 150MB/s through 210MB/s on a SATA interface. Also the Windows Experience Index show this SSD as 7.8 (this is the component index, not the machine index)...

Can you run HDTune to check what you get?

I will run it tonight and see - specs for teh drive are 170mbs read and 98mbs write.

ajst2duk

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#182668 8-Dec-2008 08:34

gehenna:
ajst2duk:
Ok I'm sold :-) it did quiet the drive, just seemed a bit chunky as I already have DVD Decrypter etc

ditch decrypter and do it all with AnyDVD, it's pretty much a one stop shop

I'm not so sure, I was backing up some titles in the weekend, and two of them ended up with no video, just a green blocky screen.

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