A post for people who are considering buying an SSD but aren't sure what to expect. I own an older Core 2 and a newer Vertex SSD, both by OCZ and I'm keeping it simple here. TBH, I expect the post to sink faster than a Titanic flavoured Hindenburg piloted buy a young Mr. DiCaprio.. but hey, the info may help someone. Hardware The Vertex in it's packaging. Don't expect too much, it's smaller than a DVD case. From the look on her face, Eva Habermann isn't impressed with the size either. Pictured, left to right: The Vertex with it's Indilinx controller (new primary drive Vista x64); my old Core II 64gb SSD with it's JMicron controller (old primary drive Vista x64); and a 500gb WD mechanical hard drive (storage.) The drives from another angle. The SATA power and data connectors are universal so they fit any desktop/laptop than accepts SATA. Insert drive and boot. At this point it's handy if you have another OS to boot into as you'll need to update the firmware. I had a drive with an older firmware, so needed to initialize the drive then update the firmware to 1275 within Windows. A guide can be found here: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52848 Otherwise, OCZ have moved to flashing from a DOS environment for their 1.30 firmware (I needed to flash 1275 then 1.30.) A guide can be found here: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57549 If you flashed in another PC, initializing the drive and formatting it won't hurt, or just run your favourite OS installer and have at it. Personally I used Drive Image XML and BartPE to clone the current OS install. Alternatively, use the SSD as storage. An extra image of the drive installed in a tower case. I didn't bother with an adapter, just placed it in the little tray that holds spare drive rails. BTW That's not dust in the image, it's a thermal powder I use to increase the surface area of the case for better cooling. Numbers ATTO benchmark to be precise. First up, the older Core II with JMicron controller. Vertex 120gb. It's been the primary drive for a few weeks now. Note, the scale has changed! Western Digital 500gb mechanical drive. Again, note the different scale. .
ooo, i wonder how my 64gb Samsung drive compares to this, will download that program now if i can so we can see if theres a difference. Sam
How did you mount the SSDs in your pc case, with some kind of 2.5" to 3.5" HDD adapter or by some other method? ________ Beautybrunette
I've got an old Thermaltake Xaser III, from a brief time period when TT weren't making crap cases. The SSDs are loose in one of the plastic trays that hold the drive rails. Doesn't seem to affect them. -snip-
Added an image showing the drive in a tray. It doesn't seem to care where it goes, but there's good airflow in that area and it's out of the way of the window.
For those contemplating moving to an SSD, be advised that flashing the SSD firmware WILL ERASE THE DRIVE, so do it BEFORE you install your OS (or make a full backup first)! Also, Blutak makes an excellent anti-vibration mount for SSDs.
I believe Mtron does one in a 3.5" form (don't know about performance though,) or you could wait for OCZ to release their Colossus: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/02/ocz-intros-3-5-inch-colossus-ssd-at-computex/ Bigger capacity SSDs will be more expensive though, and to be honest if you're that worried about having a 2.5" SSD free floating in your machine, you could either get adapter rails or just cable tie it out the way.
FOr the price (how much was the Vertex, btw?) they could chuck in a couple of adapter rails - it's not like drilling/tapping some alu box sections would break the bank for them!
who need adaptor rails? double sided tape on-to existing 3.5inch drive cheesecake! i think i've got the same drive as samkiller42, 64GB Samsung MLC right? i also get the strange HD Tune graph
Heh, too much. Scan has the 120Gb version for £297 inc VAT right now, though I paid around £328 nearly a month ago.
You must really have the need.... the need for speed. Yeah, I went there. Have you noticed a dramatic improvement in real world scenarios? Loading Windows, games etc.?
Outside of graphics for gaming, we feel it's the biggest notable performance improvement of any system. The problem is - there's a new one out every single week it seems, and with JMicron 612s around the corner.. I'd wait to see if prices drop.
Honestly? No. But then I bought three mechanical hard drives trying to find a quiet pair for my rig. No matter what I tried, I could hear drive oscillation and it annoyed me. I got this partly because it's silent, partly because the technology interests me and partly because holding something like this in my hands gives a bit of a nerdgasm. Oh, and there's no doubting they're fast.
