Reply to: SSD or not?

[d000hg]

Presumably another good way would be to take out my old DIMMs and replace them with the new ones rather than trying to mix'n'match - if the problems go away then I should perhaps just buy a 2nd set of the new ones to replace the existing ones? Rather annoying but for £35 not worth fretting over.

[sal]

DIMMs can have the same markings as PC2-6400 etc. but different timings something like 11-6-5-7-8 which might result in issues. Quite complicated to explain in a forum post in details. Ideally you shouldn't mix different makes/models.

In theory the BIOS should take care to align all DIMMs to the slowest common denominator, but might have to do it manually.

You can check if you have faulty DIMM by installing them 1 by 1 and running memtest that can be found on bootable CD with tools (Hiren boot CD for example)

[d000hg]

Got my SSD, used the TrueImage thing to clone it in about 15min, reboot - holy ****!

Sadly the RAM is not working well, I spent all morning swapping my existing and new DIMMs into different slots as Windows kept hanging on startup. I got it to a configuration it would start - and BIOS tested the RAM as fine - but it still hung the moment I did anything My old and new DIMMs are the same spec (DDR2 PC2-6400 non-ECC unbuffered 240pin) so does this mean I have a faulty stick, or that the old and new ones are incompatible in some way? Should I return them or what?

[d000hg]

In boring related news, I've finally gotten round to buying an MX100 for my old Compaq Presario desktop since the random 30-60s stalls once or twice a day are getting on my tits. They're about to release the MX200 so prices seem even lower but I don't think an even faster drive is going to make any difference to a 5 year old PC (apparently I've got SATA II) . Only bothering because it has a quad-core CPU which is still really useful.

[sal]

People use hibernate? On my laptop I close the lid and it goes to sleep; open the lid and it's there in half a second.

If you put it in the bag sleeping not hibernating the battery keeps draining and you risk fire as there is still heat produced by the running components.

What I have configured is to sleep on lid close while power is connected but hibernate instead if running on battery, and since i'm not using my laptop as a desktop replacement so mostly on battery, hibernation is important for me, YMMV

We can keep arguing about 30sec saved here 1min faster there endlessly. The bottom line is that now days with sub £100 top of the line 250GB SSDs with 5+ years warranty, it's madness not to stick one in your Desktop/Laptop

[SteelyDan]

I went for the Samsung 840 EVO 1Tb SSD for my recent desktop rebuild, plus 16 gb RAM, and the machine flies! I used the older HDDs for additional storage.

Am now thinking of putting the same SSD in my laptop (courtesy of MyCo) to replace 1Tb HDD as it seems slow by comparison:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E3W16O...EJH7VTW8&psc=1

[Contreras]

Another option is a hybrid SSHD.

I've been using a Seagate ST1000LM014 for 6 months and happy with it so far. ST1000DX001 is the desktop version. Current retail around £60-£65 for 1TB disk with 8GB cache. The smaller sizes have smaller cache and aren't that much cheaper.

8GB doesn't sound much but typically you'd be using a fraction of the OS and program files regularly / at boot, and it's these that get cached.

[VectraMan]

The main advantage is not in the boot time but hibernation / resume times, that are almost instant with SSD, while ranging from 15sec to over 1min with HDD depending on the amount of RAM, and like you said the more RAM the better

People use hibernate? On my laptop I close the lid and it goes to sleep; open the lid and it's there in half a second.

[sal]

I'd go for the Samsung 1TB version personally. I currently have a Crucial 256GB for Windows and "My Documents" which is sufficient. All videos, pictures and music goes elsewhere. Currently I'm using 170GB of the 238GB available.

But when it's time to upgrade, I'd buy the Samsung and I'd get a larger drive. One's storage requirements rarely become smaller over time!

But the SSD prices drop like stone. No point in going for 1TB now for say £300 if you are going to fill it up 2 years down the line, instead of going for 500GB for say £150 now and in 2 years when (if) your data grows buy 1TB for say £150

You said it yourself, OS + some apps + some docs are < 250GB, 500GB gives plenty of room on a laptop, if you want a place to store large collection of movies - go for an external drive, best bet is to get a USB case and stick the original HDD in it for minimal cost.

but unless you're one of those people that seem curiously obsessed with how fast Windows boots,

The main advantage is not in the boot time but hibernation / resume times, that are almost instant with SSD, while ranging from 15sec to over 1min with HDD depending on the amount of RAM, and like you said the more RAM the better

[Platypus]

Here's a 500GB one if you are feeling a bit flash:
Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO - SSD Only - Ebuyer

Sequential Read: Max. 540 MB/s
Sequential Write: Max. 520 MB/s

I'd go for the Samsung 1TB version personally. I currently have a Crucial 256GB for Windows and "My Documents" which is sufficient. All videos, pictures and music goes elsewhere. Currently I'm using 170GB of the 238GB available.

But when it's time to upgrade, I'd buy the Samsung and I'd get a larger drive. One's storage requirements rarely become smaller over time!

[VectraMan]

I've said before I didn't think putting an SSD into my laptop made that big a difference. Some things are faster for sure (and it's lovely and silent), but unless you're one of those people that seem curiously obsessed with how fast Windows boots, having plenty of RAM probably makes more of a difference for most day to day tasks.

Having said that, if you can get 60GB boot drive for £30, then it's pretty much not worth the effort of not getting an SSD. I was going to upgrade my old desktop/server/build system/VM host with a less old bare bones system from ebay (mainly because the motherboard only supports 4GB RAM) and planned on sticking in an SSD just for the OS.

On the laptop, I took out the 750GB drive that came with it and put it in a USB caddy, so have the storage there if I need it. But TBH I don't think I've ever used it.

[sal]

I put an SSD into a 6 year old laptop and its "like new". Boots to Windows in 12 seconds.

I removed the DVD and put my "old" HDD into that bay as a second drive.

SSD is a no brainer...

^This,

As for recommendations i'm using Samsung 840 Pro for my desktop and 840 EVO for my laptop, only a slight advantage for the Pro that doesn't warrant the price premium so i would go for Samsung Evo probably the best performance/price offering on the market

[administrator]

Only thing to look at is the data transfer rate of the drives. Can't remember what they are but have a look at ebuyer or wherever and look at the speeds. Ah feck, sucked in now...

I went for this one a few weeks ago for a new machine at admin towers:
Kingston 240GB SSDNow V300 SSD Upgrade Kit - Ebuyer

Sequential Reads: SATA Rev. 3.0 up to: 450MB/s
Sequential Writes: SATA Rev. 3.0 up to: 450MB/s

This one is faster read but slower write:
Crucial 240GB M500 SSD - Ebuyer

Sequential Read: 500 MB/s
Sequential Write: 250 MB/s
Has three year warranty too!

Here's a 500GB one if you are feeling a bit flash:
Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO - SSD Only - Ebuyer

Sequential Read: Max. 540 MB/s
Sequential Write: Max. 520 MB/s

The first one is fast enough for me and such a massive difference over SATA Disk drives - you won't regret the extra cash on it. If your machine is coming with Windows on then can recommend this version of the top one:
Kingston 240GB SSDNow V300 SSD Upgrade Kit - Ebuyer

Comes with drive copying software to mirror the install drive to the SSD to save having to reinstall Windows and mess with Keys etc. Works a treat! Comes with SSD USB drive enclosure too - I am sure I'll find a use for it some day Have used the Crucial one before in the past and can't tell any difference in speed between that and this one...

[tractor]

...

If you have a 500Gb or higher SSD you might not feel you even need to keep the spinny drive although there's probably no real reason to take it out, depending on your usage... my 4-5yo desktop PC has only a 500Gb spinny disk and it's still got over half free!

I might in your position be tempted to get a 500/750/1Tb SSD as the sole drive, unless you have a bunch of video or FLAC music.

It came standard with a 1TB spinny and I do a lot of photography using RAW and the odd wedding/sports videos so I will keep that. If I ever wanted to extend storage I would go for wifi san so I guess looking at the reviews a Samsung 850 EVO (£110) with 10 yr warranty is looking good. That gives me 256GB for OS/Apps and 1TB spinny for data and that should be sufficient.

[yasockie]

Install an SSD and reload Win onto it before clogging the HD up with progs and apps then making any later transition a pain?

This