SSD

[Infidelz]

Anybody try these yet. Been looking at the Intel version and think I should replace my boot drive with one.  Thinking of an 80g to start with and just ghost load the OS there. I would keep the game on the hard drive. I think I can avoid loading the game on the SSD since I have 4 gig ram and it loads fully into RAM.

Any flaws in my thinking or improvements possible?

Thanks in advance,
Infidelz.

[Reschke]

Nope sounds like a better idea to me each day that passes and I hear more and more good things about the SSD drives getting more lifetime expectancy and things like that.

[Tigger29]

Yes they get better every day.  Personally, I'm waiting for the technology to mature a bit more... it's almost there but not quite IMO

[Krusty]

Stick with a 10000rpm raptor for now. Once the next generation of SSDs are out it'll be much more reliable and cost effective. Until then I'm sticking with rotating discs.

[Ghosth]

When the time comes, when they have the bugs out, and  they can last for years without dieing.  Yeah then I might be interested.  Would be nice to not have moving parts and the resultant power draw.

[Delirium]

It isn't really the SSDs that aren't working properly, it is our OS that will write on it constantly without any utilities to clean it up.

I had made a wish about a year ago to be able to designate the location all films/screen shots would go to. This way, we could run AH on a SSD now and not have to worry about this problem.

[Krusty]

Del, what turns me off is the limited number of times any cell/cluster/whatever can be written and the overall NEED for that "don't write the same spot too many times" optimization the SSDs have.

Once they get past that, maybe by moving to some other type of memory, I will be much more interested. I'd rather not buy a product that has a set shelf life like that.

[Delirium]

I guarantee SSDs have a better 'shelf life' than Raptor drives do.

I've had so many Raptors die on me, I'm beginning to think they were built by a religious sect that believes in reincarnation.

[Reschke]

Everything I have read about the current SSD drives is that they are past that point that several of you are talking about. The new Intel and OCZ drives are way up there on the lifetime list. At least according to everything I have read.

Last months issue (May 2010) of CPU magazine had a great breakdown of the various SSD drives and their reliability.

http://www.computerpoweruser.com/Images/SmartComputing/DigitalIssues/CPU_1005/pageflip.html

BTW these guys that run this magazine are similar to what I remember the original PC Gamer, Computer Games and others like before they felt the need to break off and run to the iPod and smart phone reviews for games and tons of advertisements.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

If you have windows 7 and get a SSD that supports TRIM then you're already good to go. They guarantee 5 years operating life, I don't have any harddrives older than that anyway in active use. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Then again if you're still on XP stay away from SSD's.

[saggs]

I replaced my 7200 rpm boot/program HDD with a 60 GB SSD about a month ago, it's an OCZ Agility series one.  (All my data is still on 500GB RAID 1 HDDs)   I've got Win 7 home premium, Aces High, Microsoft FSX,  Adobe PS CS4, Adobe Lightroom 2, and various small stuff like Speedfan and Winamp on it, and still have 15 GB free.

So far I love it.  Window 7 boots about 40% faster, Adobe Photoshop CS4 boots in about 3-4 seconds flat now, vs 10-15 seconds with my old disc.  Adobe Lightroom boots in about 4-5 seconds instead of 8-10 before, would be faster of course but it still has to load my catalog from another HDD. 

Aces High seems to load a bit faster, but it's not as drastic as other programs, maybe only 20% faster, I don't understand why it didn't make as big a difference with AH as other programs  .

Also it's tiny, draws less power, generates less heat, and is silent.  What's not to like? ... ... Oh yeah the price.   I got mine for $169 and am still waiting on a $20 rebate from OCZ.  But I'm very pleased with it so far.

If you have windows 7 and get a SSD that supports TRIM then you're already good to go

OK, what is this TRIM  you speak of and do I need it????  Does my OCZ Agility support it (whatever it is)???  Do I already have it???? 

I just plugged my new OCZ SSD in, loaded Windows and programs on it, and it's been running swell for about 6 weeks now.  Is this TRIM some setting or something I need to do or worry about?  Will it make it go faster? Last longer?  I've never heard of this before.    EDUMACATE ME!!

[Chalenge]

Your good Saggs. TRIM is a newer function to reallocate or clear data blocks that are no longer being used by a file and that can be cleared internally (in a nutshell). Its supported by W7 and your SSD.