Solid State Drives (SSD) - Worth it yet?

[iranu]

I've been quite annoyed with the performance of my PC since going to C2D etc, etc - see My system, primarily because the 500GB hard drive seems to be the bottle neck (Everything else is fine).

Win XP - SP2

500GB split

C - 20GB - Windows - 50% free
D- 10GB - small apps (FF, winrar, Office etc) - 25% free
G - 100GB - Games - 40% free
S - 340GB - Storage - 10%free

I've done everything to try to make it faster and I'm considering going back to 2x 160GB in raid 0 for Windows, small apps, games and using the 500GB for external storage (backup). (2x 160GB used as backup atm)

On the other hand SSD prices have been dropping recently and 64GB (OCZ 2.5") is about £160 and I could easily fit Windows, small apps and the games I play on that and it would be quiet too. For half that price I could get 2x 500GB and raid 0 those. Is the SSD faster? Is reliability and longevity up to scratch now?

What are your thoughts? Anyone gone SSD yet?

[staffsMike]

You could get 2 x 640GB's. Even one 640GB WD AAKS is a worthy drive and a bargain at £50.

Wouldn't bother with SSD yet, although OCZ's is supposed to be very good according to this test
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/...-Mtron/?page=9

Just doesn't seem worth it right now for the limited space you get.

[GoNz0]

more drives and use a small one for paging and temp files, another for file and move the my docs there. that will speed you up.

[circuitmonkey]

I've been quite annoyed with the performance of my PC since going to C2D etc, etc - see My system, primarily because the 500GB hard drive seems to be the bottle neck (Everything else is fine).

Win XP - SP2

500GB split

C - 20GB - Windows - 50% free
D- 10GB - small apps (FF, winrar, Office etc) - 25% free
G - 100GB - Games - 40% free
S - 340GB - Storage - 10%free

I've done everything to try to make it faster and I'm considering going back to 2x 160GB in raid 0 for Windows, small apps, games and using the 500GB for external storage (backup). (2x 160GB used as backup atm)

On the other hand SSD prices have been dropping recently and 64GB (OCZ 2.5") is about £160 and I could easily fit Windows, small apps and the games I play on that and it would be quiet too. For half that price I could get 2x 500GB and raid 0 those. Is the SSD faster? Is reliability and longevity up to scratch now?

What are your thoughts? Anyone gone SSD yet?

I'm actually currently in the process of swapping out a WD raptor for a OCZ 64GB SSD, will let you know my impressions

[Infinite]

Probably not worth it atm, id wait until prices drop more tbh. If you have all the money in the world then go nuts. lol

[Lourdes]

RAID 0 really wouldn't help you, but an SSD for your OS would make things feel a lot faster due to the low access times.

[moogle]

not worth it yet. like Gonz0 said if you have multiple drives then spread your files across.

First drive just for the os, second one for games and the third for all my files and the pagefile. Keeps the pc quick enough.

Reboot time with vista is 63 seconds which is nice. stay with the current hard drives for now until they drop a bit more.

[TooNice]

I am going to go with what everyone else has said. Then again, I reckon that at best SSD will replace the Raptor market at best, regular HD will remain best value for the money for years to come.

[sjbuck]

Prices will drop and drop over the next few months, wait....... in the mean time just hibernate windows! Few people seem to do it, no idea why.....

[moogle]

Prices will drop and drop over the next few months, wait....... in the mean time just hibernate windows! Few people seem to do it, no idea why.....

the extra bit of ram (4gb total) makes it just a little bit longer
In sleep mode the pc uses very little power too though. Just gotta turn off. But it only takes a minute to boot up so it's not needed for everyone.

[iranu]

Just thought - I could also just buy another 500GB drive for £42 and use matrix raid. Run raid 0 for the OS, apps and games and then I'd have plenty of space for storage.

Edit - just rereading staffmikes link and there isn't too much difference between 2x 160GB and 2x 500GB in raid 0. It's the read times I'm most interested in.

Damn storage - it's so easy to accumulate 100's of GBs these days and I really ought to sort my storage strategy out once and for all.

[shaithis]

I love embracing newer, faster tech but can't see the point in SSD at the moment. The tech is just too new at the moment, it seems that there are advances every other week and what's being sold at a premium price today, will be old hat and obsolete tomorrow.

Unless you really must have it, I would wait a bit and see how the field plays-out over the next 6-12 months.

[vicar]

Not worth it at the moment. Stick to Hds