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Storage SSD

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by rev_ollie, 29 Dec 2010.

  1. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Hey,

    Have some money from Christmas and just wondering are SSD's improving still?

    Its always been something I've never needed and considered but now I've improved my rig ten fold and the hard drive is letting the whole thing down.

    Think it was the OCZ OCZSSD2 30 GB Vertex Series drive I was looking at. Has come down a lot it seems. 30GB although small is purely to whack Windows 7 on to use as the primary boot drive.

    The main questions are really:
    Is the OCZ OCZSSD2 an ok drive purely for a boot device?
    Is there any special precautions that you need to take care of? Still need Trimm I guess?

    Cheers :thumb:
     
    Last edited: 29 Dec 2010
  2. Uxon

    Uxon Minimodder

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  3. Booga

    Booga Cuppa tea anyone?

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    The OCZ Vertex 2 series are excellent boot drives, the difference over even a very fast HDD (F3) is astonishing.

    There are a number of threads on SSD's this one has some wise words from Pocket Demon that will help you set up your SSD.

    If your budget will allow I would go for a slightly larger drive.
     
  4. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Thanks for the replies guys :thumb:

    Unfortunately I'm stuck under about £70 at the moment - Uni stuff still to buy :grr:

    I think 30GB will be fine for me for now - but if it proves to be as good as I think its going to be then I will upgrade, but this will hopefully do for now.
    Is there a 30GB version of the one Uxon posted to?

    The link to the posts were very useful to thanks. Didn't know you had to do quick formats and turn of defragging. Take it that's for performance?

    Also how long do they tend to last SSDs? I've seen they don't tend to last as long as traditional drives or is that old news now? Only read that when they first came out so I'm sure they have changed now.
     
  5. kenco_uk

    kenco_uk I unsuccessfully then tried again

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    Aye, they're good for a fair few years usage so long as you don't write petabytes of data daily to them. The OCZ drives afaik have to be left to idle to run the garbage collection routine (essentially, 'trim' which re-sets the blocks marked for deletion to be ready for writing to again). Windows 7 recognises SSD drives and switches the background defrag off automatically. You're also best running the sata channel in AHCI mode from the off although it can be fixed with a registry change if you've installed in Native/IDE mode.

    If you could really squeeze another £20 to get the Vertex2 60GB, your PC would thank you for it. I have one stuck in my laptop and it boots in about 40 seconds, with apps loading within a couple of seconds or so. It's damn quick.

    Win7 64-bit will eat a 30GB drive for breakfast unless you move the temp folders and pagefile to other disks.
     
  6. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Ok I'm going to squeeze it then.
    Must admit over time I guess everything would buid up so somewhat short sighted of me :)

    Have 64bit so if it will eat it for breakfast then will have to make it last!

    Can you shed any more light on what you meant about leaving it idle?
    Just for my own knowledge and future reference

    Cheers and thanks for the replies, much appreciated :thumb:
     
  7. Booga

    Booga Cuppa tea anyone?

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    Yes it does build up.
    I diligently set up only Win 7 and LOTRO on my SSD yet inevitably things will get added despite trying to put all other stuff on another HDD. I think I am at just over 37G atm.

    I thought trim worked when you deleted stuff from the drive ie. internet cache and other junk.
     
  8. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Sweeeet!
    60GB ordered from Amazon, good times :D

    Running at 70GB at the moment obviously with programs so I think your right, 60GB would be a good investment.

    Hopefully it will arrive and install smoothly, quite looking forward to gettign stuck in again

    Thanks for the help, tips and advice, much appreciated :thumb:
     
  9. PocketDemon

    PocketDemon Modder

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    Unlike other SSDs, with the SFs then trim commands are not carried out instantly; but instead during idle time (as with GC)...

    Now, with a normal low level usage (basic internet & office programs & gaming & whatnot), there 'should' generally be enough idle time naturally for trim or GC (or just GC in non-trim environments) to be able to keep the drive working without any real slow down...

    ...however 'if' you start noticing there is one OR your r-e-w cycles are much heavier on an ish-daily basis, you can gain from logging off your computer overnight in a S1 state with the HDDs set to "never turn off" (though this latter point should be done with any SSD in a non-trim env so that GC can do its thing)...

    ...once or twice a week should be more than sufficient 'if' it's actually needed...
     
  10. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Ah thanks for that!
    So as long as the drives aren't under constant use then it should be fine?

    My PC isn't on all the time and not usually on under constant use, eg I'll lock it or put it to standby (as you mention s1) so i guess that will be fine :thumb:
     
  11. Booga

    Booga Cuppa tea anyone?

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    Thanks that is good to know.

    Ever thought about writing an SSD guide? I would have thought with all the good advice you have given out you could cobble something sticky worthy in no time. :thumb:
     
  12. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    I would agree with that to :thumb:

    there needs to be more info like this out there that's useful and easy to read. If you do I would read over it and give a noobs perspective :D
     
  13. PocketDemon

    PocketDemon Modder

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    Thanks for the votes of confidence.

    The big problem is that, other than the quick installation guide, seemingly from bittech's pov then what i relate is 'somewhat' heretical...

    ...well, even though there was no substantiated argument against my position about trim vs GC, they still have their "without trim your children's children will suffer the wrath of the things which are wrathful" article...

    ...there's still the reviews of the orig V2s which comment on the excessive OP negatively, which means that a section on manually increasing OP wouldn't go down well...

    ...& (partially because of the 1st point) they still consistently recommended the C300 as the best purchase despite a pair of SFs being quicker, guaranteed to work (as the highpoint thing has compatibility issues - & why do they recommend that when the Asus card is equally (in)compatible with people's set-ups but both cheaper & a vastly superior card) & better value for money (as there's not the cost of an extra card)...


    Still, as with anything, it's up to the individual to make their decisions based on the info available &, whilst i'm confident of the voracity of what i write, it's not my money that anyone else is spending.


    Yeah, so whilst it would be a very good idea to have one, i'm not sure if i'm the best person to write it as, whilst typing responses is one thing, actively having a sticky which contradicted their articles/reviews would be a surprising thing for them to desire...

    ...which leaves me jumping in when i notice advice seeming to go awry...
     
  14. dynamis_dk

    dynamis_dk Grr... Grumpy!!

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    I'll throw in a recommendation for the vertex2 60gb. I did exactly the same with my Xmas money this year and put one in my laptop. Difference is night and day over the drive in there to start with. It's not even running at full speed and it boots in about 30sec now.

    I'd highly recommend the 60gb for win7 x64 as my install with drivers was 11gb without any apps etc so I think 30gb would be pushing it a little close

    Nice drives tho, I paid £98 which I didn't think was too bad
     
  15. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Hi again!
    Finally finished exams and got the drive in with the new parts today.
    Is there any special requirements to get the drive to boot?

    I've plugged it into the SATA port and then booted from the Windows disk. Windows installed fine and got it to boot through to the desktop.
    Then when I restarted in order to install Mobo drivers it doens't appear on the list, its just not there.

    I get an error something like - Insert boot devices and press any key to continue.
    SSD is the only drive plugged in. When I go through to the BIOS it doesn't appear on the list at all. Only things picked up are the DVD and BR drives :s

    Any suggestions?...and yes it is plugged in....
     
  16. PocketDemon

    PocketDemon Modder

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    How very strange... Well, the bios must have detected something originally otherwise Windows couldn't have installed anywhere...

    Now, assuming it's not died (well as with any product a tiny number of SSDs will fail semi-instantly), it's a process of elimination.


    The quick things to try to troubleshoot are (off the top of my head) -

    (a) assuming it's a V2 (as that's what was discussed), the drive itself should glow green from one end with the computer turned on - if not then either power's not reaching it (i believe it's independent of the the SATA cable being connected) or the drive is quite possibly dead.

    (b) swap the power & sata cables & ports independently of each other (ie do one thing & then another) & boot to see if it appears in the bios (well i know one of my old V Turbos kept on vanishing/dropping & it was the SATA cable, but the others can cause it).

    (c) try altering the SATA option to ide, ahci & raid (obviously with a reboot in between again).

    (d) see if it can be recognised in an alt machine.
     
  17. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Thanks for the reply.

    Have been fiddling with it and seems there was something wrong with the SATA cable. Swapping it over seems to have done the trick, so ASUS will have to send me a spare, as its one that came with the mobo.

    All seems good now. Very fast and very satisfied, glad you all talked me into getting the 60GB because its taken 30 allready!

    Should all V2's glow green? It seems to be working fine now, but no green-ness anywhere?
     
  18. PocketDemon

    PocketDemon Modder

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    Great that you got it sorted... :)

    & i've learnt to instantly bin any free SATA cables that i get from mobo manufacturers...

    With the 'greenness', it's me misremembering the level of it - with the V Turbos it's really damn apparent, whereas (having just checked) the 'greenness' of the V2s is only particularly noticeable on the bottom edge of where the power connector plugs in.
     
  19. rev_ollie

    rev_ollie Over-whatting??

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    Ah sweet!
    Didn't want to miss out on any "greenyness" :D

    Will see how it all goes from now, looks ok still so time shall tell!
    Thanks for all the help
     
  20. Salty Wagyu

    Salty Wagyu moo

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    30GB is a large chunk to be taken up on first Windows 7 install, but I suspect that's because of the pagefile and hibernation file. I couldn't find your specs, but if for e.g. you have 8GB of RAM, it'll assign a 8GB pagefile.sys and 6-8GB hiberfil.sys which you can adjust by shortening to something like 1-2GB and then disabling hibernation if you don't plan to use it.
     

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