Like most of the posters, I wouldn't like to go back to mechanical drives.
Like most of the posters, I wouldn't like to go back to mechanical drives.
Rookie question as I'm currently trying to build my own computer - can you have both a (for example) 120gb SSD and a 1TB HDD in the computer? Then second part of the question is do you have to put the OS on the SSD when you first install the PC, and then can you choose to put certain program files and stuff on the HDD? Thanks
Yes, you can have both SSD and HDD at the same time, as long as you have the necessary SATA data ports, SATA power cables and 2.5/3.5 position for installation.
Well, it is recommended to re-install the OS with a new SSD/HDD but a cloning software can be a option too.
Once you have your old/new OS on the SSD, you can start to choose it as a target for new installations.
So if I were to be setting up a new build can I install the OS on the SSD from the word go?
It's a qualified SSD + HDD for me.
- SSD for OS, program installs and write-little read-lots data.
- HDD for heavy data traffic and large data storage.
If the OS doesn't support TRIM (XP/Vista) the SSD performance will drop off to the point where it will be faster than a HDD but possibly not as much as your investment warrants. I believe software tools are available to manually execute this but never used them myself. This is a similar type of maintenance to the defrag a heavily used HDD requires periodically.
For those that don't know SSD's have a finite number of writes per cell. It's a high number (circa 1mill for consumer devices AFAIK) but is a limitation.
HDD's are mechanical and many of us will have had failures. However many more will still be using 10yr old drives that have been used daily.
It's understanding these limits and the relative cost that should inform your storage decision.
XP
I have installed SSD's in old XP laptops and it does make a huge speed difference in specific areas. Boot and data read times are much improved but running programs and processing data will still be limited by the rest of the machine. Even after the inevitable performance drop the machines are still faster than using old 40-160GB HDD's.
Hybrids
I recently delivered 3x Dell Precision M4800's to my Engineering users. Cost limitations meant the use of 500GB hybrid drives. They are subtly slower than our SSD equipped latops, boot isn't quite as fast and program opening responds quickly but takes slightly longer to complete. Of course you'll only notice if you've been an SSD-only user and compared to our newest HDD-only laptops (E5530's, i5) they really fly.
The biggest difference SSD's make is to give your PC a more immediate responsiveness and feel. This brings them in-line with modern mobile devices so arguably the biggest impact is on less IT-literate users. No longer do they have wait for the computer - it's just like their iPad!
Vimeous : i7 7700K | 16Gb | ASUS Strix Z270G | GTX1080 | 960 EVO 500GB NVMe | 850 EVO 500GB | TX650W | NZXT S340 Elite | Dell U2713H + 17" | 10 Pro
Willowin : i7 3570K | 16Gb | ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe | GTX 660 TI | 2x 1TB 840EVO | Sugo SG05BB-450 | Dell U2713H + 17" | 8.1 Pro
Svr : X2 4200+ | 2Gb | ASUS A8N-SLI Premium | HD6870 | SonicFury | 8x 250Gb (2x RAID10) | 3Ware 9650SE-8LPML | Seasonic 700W | CM Stacker 830 | XP Pro
NAS : DS1511+ | DX513
W : Dell Precision T3610 | E5-1650 V2 | 16GB | Quadro K2000 | 256GB SSD | 1TB HDD | 8.1 Pro | 2x Dell U2515H
SSDs are much much better than a conventional HDD - so much time saved. Though, due to limited capicity, I would also pair it with a HDD.
All in all, would definitely recommend.
Just bought the Kigston Hyperx 3k. My housemate has a SSD and he's PC runs pretty fast. Worth getting if you can
Definitely for OS and Games - no going back for me.
Cold storage (Photos, Music, Videos etc...) still are happily sat on HDDs (which I don't think will be going anywhere fast, no pun intended, anytime soon)
Samsung 830 240Gb owner - very happy. OS, programs and games on the drive. Still use HDD for storage and back up. Would never go back.
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
I agree, but careful now as Saracen will go to great lengths to tell you otherwise. See here - http://forums.hexus.net/storage/3031...t-windows.html
Apparently there is not a one-size-fits-all on this, at least not on Hexus forums anyway.
I'd expect someone who is a light user of a computer i.e. browsing, light office tasks etc might say they only notice the difference when booting into windows but a forum Admin!! I'm shocked.
I now actually find it difficult to use a non-SSD'd system for any length of time without an increasing sense of frustration! I can even use a seven year old CPU in conjunction with a SSD and still have the system feeling snappy.
Well, it's all about usage scenarios. If I had a netbook that I regularly took abroad, and wanted to watch loads of films/TV on, would I logically buy a 120GB SSD, or a 1TB HDD with change left over?
Equally, if I had a PC that I only switched on occasionally, to run a piece of legacy software, I wouldn't bother.
I would imagine that the vast majority here, by our demographic, are people who are primarily focussed on performance. That's not always the most important metric though.
SSD all the time, I have an 840 now but I had two 128gb M4's in raid 0 and it was blisteringly quick!!
Haha, the results are quite telling. The only people that wouldnt recommend them are the ones that havent used them
As for me, Im blown away by how fast it is. It really was the best upgrade I could get for my computer.
I just wish the terrabyte ones would start being affordable...
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