Got SSD?

I have a cheap 64GB Samsung in one of my HTPCs.

64GB is more than enough for that, all it has is Vista, MediaPortal front end along with all the required patches and updates.

Just noticed they have dropped about £5 since I ordered that one too. Tempted to get another for the other HTPC to replace the ancient 60GB 2.5" drive. The main reason for these in my HTPCs is really noise and heat. The one in my living room is now completely silent and passive now. It's great!

Really interested in the new Intel ones that are due in the next couple of weeks. I'd like about 100GB for my desktop and my server, but they will need to be premium SSDs for those boxes.

Bought an SSD (OCZ Vertex 120) back in May when I rebuilt my main rig, purely for OS and applications - games, etc, get installed on a WD Velociraptor. Made a mistake by choosing AHCI when configuring the drives and installing the OS; wiper (a garbage collection app - essential until TRIM is available) isn't keen on AHCI and can take hours, rather than seconds, to complete. Took the chance last week and installed Windows 7 RC with drives configured as IDE - performance is so much better now wiper is working properly.

New tech comes at a premium, there's nothing new about that. I wanted something fast, enabling greater productivity, and with OCZ's continued support through firmware upgrades, the drive has definately delivered. Although it depends on the intended usage, it doesn't take long for the drive to pay for itself.

I'd love to go fully SSD, even replacing the Velociraptor, I'd buy one as a primary drive again without hesitation, but the price for that sort of capacity, >=300GB, simply isn't feasible right now. I think I'll be relying on mechanical drives for a good while yet - got a few years to go before they're viable for the likes of home backup/storage.

Meant to say in the previous post: I'll probably move to Windows 7 when I get an SSD, at least on the desktop. I'll need to wait until MediaPortal 1.1.0 is official before moving to Windows 7 on the server. Tempted to go for Server 2008 for that anyway....

Got SSD in media pc (OCZ 30gb cheapo £64 6 months ago jobbie), its silent, and faster than most cheap HDDs, running win 7.
Got SSD in devbox1 (Intel x25-e) currently running win 7 so damn nicely, it also stormed through XP.
Got SSD in Q1 Ultra (Memtron 32gig, 1.8inch) the performance leap was quantum compared ot the 1.8inch.
Got SSDs in prod2 (5 * Intel x25-e) RAID controller bottleneck.

Looking at getting a FusionIO ExtremeIO (consumer device, has BIOS) mabye later this year if the $ sinks more :), but if i buy my flatmate out that just won't happen :(

I also need to upgrade my P series sony thing, but i'm still on the honeymoon phase so will probably wait a bit.

I will probably get an SSD when I install windows 7. I am hoping it will be a little cheaper by then.

Currently I've got a 3TB Windows Home Server (Tranquil SQ-A5H), and just a lonely 320GB Samsung Spinpoint in my desktop. I'm currently using 120GB of that space for my OS, Steam responsible for a third of that, but it's a very old OS install with lots of programs installed that I'd never reinstall given the choice.

Therefore I should have no problems fitting everything into a 160GB drive, and I'm just really hanging on until I've got the spare cash to pay for the new Intel 160GB SSD... the only thing is that it's low on the list at the moment, because I have a lot of things that are more important to me. An HTPC will be far better for watching DVD rips than my PS3, a new graphics card will let me play ARMA without stuttering, a sofa would be nice instead of a beanbag, two new office chairs are essential...

I would love to load all my apps quickly with an SSD, but at the end of the day it's hard to justify it against other costs.

It wouldn't surprise me if Intel have brought out their third iteration of SSDs by the time I've got around to genuinely being ready to purchase. Neither would it surprise me if by that time I was looking to buy a brand new machine, and just got it prebuilt with an SSD included. So I will, just not sure when.

I have steam using it's own partition - just like i do for games in general tbh.

I voted "don't want", but it probably should have been "don't want YET".

At the moment, I'm not entirely convinced about the technology, at least as it relates to me), and the price per GB is WAY to high. The performance benefits are a bit mixed (varying with which precise technology you go for, what type of access you're doing and the age and utilisation levels of the drive). And, for me, the benefits you do get do not come close to justifying the price premium over hard drives.

I rather doubt they they won't be the way of the future, and that price/GB will get closer to and maybe even overtake mechanical. But right now, there's at a relatively early point in their development, and that probably means that they'll get a lot better, and cheaper, over the next few years.

I'm not paying the price premium of them for the pose value, and I'm absolutely unconvinced that the performance gains is worth the premium. To me.

When we start talking about TB drives under £100, let me know. Until then, they're for people that either want or need performance at a premium, and I'm not paying the premium.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saracen

I voted "don't want", but it probably should have been "don't want YET".

At the moment, I'm not entirely convinced about the technology, at least as it relates to me), and the price per GB is WAY to high. The performance benefits are a bit mixed (varying with which precise technology you go for, what type of access you're doing and the age and utilisation levels of the drive). And, for me, the benefits you do get do not come close to justifying the price premium over hard drives.

I rather doubt they they won't be the way of the future, and that price/GB will get closer to and maybe even overtake mechanical. But right now, there's at a relatively early point in their development, and that probably means that they'll get a lot better, and cheaper, over the next few years.

I'm not paying the price premium of them for the pose value, and I'm absolutely unconvinced that the performance gains is worth the premium. To me.

When we start talking about TB drives under £100, let me know. Until then, they're for people that either want or need performance at a premium, and I'm not paying the premium.

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I think the point is (atm) they make sense as part of a hybrid system - they're very good (intel drives anyway) as system drives but not for large storage (price/sequential performance). To say wait for TB under £100 is a bit nonsensical - TB on mechanical drives at silly money is a recent development - did you ignore 500gb drives before that? Personally my main PC only needs a fraction of that - my backup drive is a mere 500gb!

I have an Intel X25M 80GB (version 1, 54nm).

The change on my system was pretty incredible, but it's an old system (Socket 939, DDR1, Athlon 64 X2 4800+). Currently running Win 7 RC.

Roo

I would like them but I will wait till I build the next pc a few years down the line and see where things go. I would be more interested once the SSD's get to 500+GB for the price of what we pay for HD's now. I know its a canny few years down the line if at all but I could wait :)

Also wanted to express my mild irritation that Intel won't implement TRIM on the 54nm X25M disks, but the massive price cuts in their new drives is very much a welcome move to (eventually) forwarding the SSD market. Bring on the competition when the other big-name HDD companies finally get in on the market!!

Roo