Hi guys, finally biting the bullet and getting an SSD. Saw this one is on sale so a bit cheaper. Is that a decent enough upgrade for my sig rig? I can go higher say £150-160 but only if its worth the money. Answers on a postcard.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/250g...oggle-nand-read-540mb-s-write-250mb-s-96k-iop Seems to have a lot higher IOPS rating, and free AC3 cheesecake!
I always thought the octane was more a low performance ssd, although saying that the performance difference between mechanical and solid state is huge anyway. Look at samsung 830 series, ocz vertex 4 and maybe mushkin chronos all 240 or 256gb. I have the 830 series and managed to get it for £140 for the basic kit (my case had a bracket already), and it is noticably faster than my laptop ssd (sandisk extreme) when I tested (3 seconds lead for samsung on windows boot) Plus the 830 series might fall in price as the 840 is out now, same goes with vertex 3 / 4
Most SSDs uses MLC based memory SSD, which is devices in 2 categories. -> synchronous -> asynchronous Synchronous support much higher number of writes on the chips (hence their longer warranty of 5 years, and not 1 to 3 years), and also their benchmark speeds reflect more real world performance. They obviously cost a bit more, but based on how long you plan to keep your SSD, and also how much write you are doing, you can pick the right type. The way I see it: Synchronous -> Use it as you like, as it it was an HDD (minus defrag, cause that is useless on an SSD. You can't defrag an SSD). A must if you are a software developer as compiling is write heavy, and usually a software developers does A LOT of compiling within a single day. I expect those to last more than 5 years with such stress. It cost a small premium, but it's peace in mind for many many years. Asynchronous -> for general computer usage, gaming, anything where you don't think you'll do much write. If you plan to use it for more than 3 years, perhaps you might need to do some OS tweaks, like move the pagefile onto an HDD, and move your downloads and stuff on an HDD as well. Else than that, expect a 3-4 year life span. For synchronous based SSD look at the: -> OCZ Veretx 4 -> Samsung 830 series (NOT the 840. This one is a disaster) -> Corsair Force GS, GT or Neutron GTX (GS being the best in term of performance, if I am not mistaken) -> Crutial M4 -> Intel 520 series They are others, but the above are ones that comes to mind.
So for primary gaming and general PC use then this guy is a better choice? Goodbytes +rep for excellent answer as always
Yup. This is the SSD I have. As mentioned it is a synchronous based SSD. So, it will last you (assuming no manufacture errors) a REALLY long time, way over the warranty of the SSD, and that is using it as if you had an HDD. You'll most likely buy a new SSD way before this one breaks down.
Vertex ordered. Can anyone link me a decent quite for setting it up properly? I heard about hibernation taking up room and page files and all sorts but I've got no idea how to shift these
With Windows 7 you should disable defrag in my experience. Windows 8 will automatically not defrag SSDs and will instead perform a TRIM cleanup. Other than that, you need to do nothing. Disable hibernation only if you don't use that feature. Make sure your SATA controller is in AHCI mode though, because otherwise TRIM or other advanced SATA features won't work.
a fresh install of windows is a good idea - making sure AHCI is switched on in teh uefi (bios) ; having the latest drivers to hand is good , and you`ll probably want the ahci driver on a usb stick for the install
i`ll mention that to gigabyte and windows 7 then , which throws a hissy fit when AHCI is switched on and windows tries to use the stock driver on installing
That's pretty odd considering that everything works fine on my Gigabyte board. The SATA controller is on the chipset by the way.
Setting the sata controller to AHCI causes windows to BSOD before it even gets to the welcome screen..... Halp?
That is because you installed Windows AFTER you set your SATA controller to AHCI mode. You should do it before. Here is more info, and how to fix it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
Or, you could just leave it on IDE mode and not worry about the barely noticeable speed increase you'll get from AHCI until you next reinstall windows.
Do not need to install Windows again, I accidentally did not switch to AHCI on a PC I just built (mobo manufacturers: why do you still set IDE as default on new mobos?). Googled it, turns out you can force Windows to reinstall the correct drivers by booting in IDE, changing some registry settings, switching off and rebooting in AHCI: http://www.neowin.net/news/neowin-guide-how-to-change-from-ide-to-ahci-without-reinstalling-windows Worked for me in Windows 8, but I had to tweak these instructions since they are for Windows 7 which I assume should work for you just as shown)
Never use IDE mode unless you are using a legacy OS, such as Windows XP or older OS. AHCI mode provide: -> Native Command Queue which boost HDD performance at noticeable levels. -> TRIM support, to keep your SSD always in shape, and not degrade its performance rapidly. -> eSATA support (for any serious backup, or access large files, you to use eSATA) -> Hot swappable drive support You should check my previous post. I already answered in. There is even Microsoft FixIt tool, which does the fix also.
