Should I buy SSDs for my desktops?

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#633305 31-May-2012 12:24

I just built a new system and stuck an mSATA SSD onto the motherboard as a 20GB cache drive. Makes a big difference to the system and is essentially transparent to the system so it's almost like having a really big SSD drive. Managed to scrounge some parts as otherwise this would usually be totally extravagant.

It's pretty uncommon to have any real issues with an x64 system these days unless you're relying on old hardware/software. Unless you need >4GB RAM then there's not really much benefit to x64 anyway in most cases, to get around Microsofts arbitrary RAM limitation.

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#633321 31-May-2012 12:58

stevenz: I just built a new system and stuck an mSATA SSD onto the motherboard as a 20GB cache drive. Makes a big difference to the system and is essentially transparent to the system so it's almost like having a really big SSD drive.

Is that using SRT? Been meaning to look into that further; how well does it work day to day, and how many mobos support it?

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#643641 20-Jun-2012 10:04

Hey folks,

Well, I took the plunge and got a couple of 128 GB Crucial M4's from playtech. They had the transfer cable so I transferred Win7 on one. I intended to do a fresh install but needed it to remain running.

On the other I installed Win8 which is the Media Center hooked up to the TV. The 9 year old thinks Win8 is the bee knees. He likes the interface and got it straight away. I haven't played with it much but both machines are running quite a bit faster. The speed of application launching has definitely made a big difference.

Thanks for all your input.

Cheers.

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freitasm

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#643647 20-Jun-2012 10:14

hairy1: Well, I took the plunge and got a couple of 128 GB Crucial M4's from playtech. They had the transfer cable so I transferred Win7 on one. I intended to do a fresh install but needed it to remain running.

If you didn't do a fresh install then you risk lack of TRIM support. This might cause performance problems later.

Open Command Prompt with Administrative privileges (Run as administrator) and enter the follow command:
fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify

If the result is '0' TRIM is enabled.

Also, better results if AHCI is being used. Changing to AHCI requires you to load drivers (there's a Microsoft KB about this) and then a BIOS change.

Drivers should be enabled BEFORE changing the BIOS or you will get BSOD. Check that your BIOS supports AHCI BEFORE changing the drivers, because there's no way back later.

A fresh install is better on SSD.

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#643652 20-Jun-2012 10:18

If you do a fresh install on an SSD don't be surprised if the install hangs near the start for up to 30 minutes, before you even get to do much. I don't know why, but it's widespread. So if it appears to hang, leave it alone for an hour.

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#643653 20-Jun-2012 10:21

Interesting. I've done a few fresh installs on my Crucial SSD and none took more than seven minutes (from Windows 7 USB key to SSD)...

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#643656 20-Jun-2012 10:22

Guys, in days past, the issue was a limited number of writes usable on SSD drives. Now not an issue?
Am toying with a change from a coffee table based laptop to SSD coffee table based laptop, but this is where I do my downloading, was concerned that that much activity will mean a short lifespan? Or is it a case of that still being true but the lifespan will still be longer than the life of a laptop before the usual upgrade? And MTBF is now good?

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#643658 20-Jun-2012 10:24

This was from W7-64 DVD to my OWC SSD to my old Q6600 PC. I can't remember if it happened with my newer i7-2600K, I think so though.

timmmay

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#643661 20-Jun-2012 10:25

tdgeek: Guys, in days past, the issue was a limited number of writes usable on SSD drives. Now not an issue?
Am toying with a change from a coffee table based laptop to SSD coffee table based laptop, but this is where I do my downloading, was concerned that that much activity will mean a short lifespan? Or is it a case of that still being true but the lifespan will still be longer than the life of a laptop before the usual upgrade? And MTBF is now good?

I remember looking at it before I bought my SSDs, and given that most people install the OS which is rarely written to it's not really an issue. Swap file usage might affect this, but have enough RAM and it won't be used that much. And if it wears out, no matter, they're only a couple of hundred dollars so they could be considered consumables.

By the time it wears out I'll want a newer, faster, large SSD anyway.

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#643669 20-Jun-2012 10:37

freitasm:
hairy1: Well, I took the plunge and got a couple of 128 GB Crucial M4's from playtech. They had the transfer cable so I transferred Win7 on one. I intended to do a fresh install but needed it to remain running.

If you didn't do a fresh install then you risk lack of TRIM support. This might cause performance problems later.

Open Command Prompt with Administrative privileges (Run as administrator) and enter the follow command:
fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify

If the result is '0' TRIM is enabled.

Also, better results if AHCI is being used. Changing to AHCI requires you to load drivers (there's a Microsoft KB about this) and then a BIOS change.

Drivers should be enabled BEFORE changing the BIOS or you will get BSOD. Check that your BIOS supports AHCI BEFORE changing the drivers, because there's no way back later.

A fresh install is better on SSD.

Yep. Enabled TRIM and AHCI. There are a few guides around. I used this guide here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds and http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html is a pretty good tool.

Cheers, Matt.

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#643713 20-Jun-2012 11:59

Yes, yes you should!

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#643756 20-Jun-2012 13:07

timmmay: If you do a fresh install on an SSD don't be surprised if the install hangs near the start for up to 30 minutes, before you even get to do much. I don't know why, but it's widespread. So if it appears to hang, leave it alone for an hour.

Really? I didn't get that on my intel 320.

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#643761 20-Jun-2012 13:10

Not all do.

kyhwana2

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#643764 20-Jun-2012 13:14

tdgeek: Guys, in days past, the issue was a limited number of writes usable on SSD drives. Now not an issue?
Am toying with a change from a coffee table based laptop to SSD coffee table based laptop, but this is where I do my downloading, was concerned that that much activity will mean a short lifespan? Or is it a case of that still being true but the lifespan will still be longer than the life of a laptop before the usual upgrade? And MTBF is now good?

Intel rates their 320's as being able to do 20GB writes a day for five years. flash wearout is not an issue anymore.

Also, from experience at work, you can do 2-3x the amount of manufacturer rated writes. We've written ~2.3PB's of writes (sequential) to a bunch of 160GB Intel 320s and only just had one fail now.

(In RAID50s, what happens when SMART says they're failing, due to too many flash cell erase errors and no more spare area is the raid controller will pick that up and kick it out of the RAID array, which is why it's still a good idea to RAID10/5/50 SSDs)

tdgeek

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#643769 20-Jun-2012 13:18

kyhwana2:
tdgeek: Guys, in days past, the issue was a limited number of writes usable on SSD drives. Now not an issue?
Am toying with a change from a coffee table based laptop to SSD coffee table based laptop, but this is where I do my downloading, was concerned that that much activity will mean a short lifespan? Or is it a case of that still being true but the lifespan will still be longer than the life of a laptop before the usual upgrade? And MTBF is now good?

Intel rates their 320's as being able to do 20GB writes a day for five years. flash wearout is not an issue anymore.

Also, from experience at work, you can do 2-3x the amount of manufacturer rated writes. We've written ~2.3PB's of writes (sequential) to a bunch of 160GB Intel 320s and only just had one fail now.

Tks for that, another upgrade looming

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