SSD Drive (Worth the expense?)

[trek]

I'm currently upgrading my PC. I'm doing the usual upgrades. Win 7 64-bit, new 2BG VRAM GC Card and more RAM.

 

I'm considering a 512GB SSD Drive. I don't know much about SSD's. So, if any of you has one please share your experience and opinions.

 

Questions: Will the SSD drive make games run faster or does it just enable the PC to boot faster? How reliable are they? Is the increased cost of an SSD worth it performance-wise?

[Irregular programming]

SSD drives are worth it, but no games and programs do not run on your hard drive so you'll not get a performance boost. What I would advice you to do is to install windows on the SSD disk and have your data on a regular hdd, that way you don't have to spend all your money on getting a large ssd while keeping most of the file access and boot time as fast as possible.

Edited January 10, 2012 by Irregular programming

[EtherealN]

What SSD drives give you are the following:

 

1) Faster OS load times

2) Faster program load times

3) Faster mission/level load times in games

4) Practical invulnerability to filesystem fragmentation

5) Much reduced risk of "stutters" in games, when those are related to HDD-access.

 

Whether it's worth it... depends on your finances really. If you have the money, yes, but as Irregular says it is usually easiest to get a drive that is roughly the size you need for OS and common-use programs, and then have auxiliary mechanical drives for storage-intensive things like your (perfectly legal I assume!) media libraries and similar space-intensive but seldomly used things. No point wasting the comparatively limited space on an expensive SSD with things like movies, mp3's and similar files that might get accessed only once a month or less. SSD's are best for your daily stuff, like OS and applications.

[sotosev]

SSD's are quiet to HDD's which is also important!

I definitely recommend SSD's!

[sobek]

It's important to note that since SSDs are still quite new technology, they tend to be less reliable than HDDs, so periodic backups of important data is even more mandatory for SSDs (but not much of a hassle, really).

[july865]

i use a 120g ssd by crucial just for windows7 and or any program that the os explicit needs. also disabling any caching to it, then have 4 hdd's for all other apps and programs. this setup is 3 yrs old. w7 starts after bios post check in 38 sec, including lan. i never looked back.

my next setup will be my original 120g, plus get a 240g and go strictly ssd for all programs and raid my hdd's.

do your homework. seriously! for a good explanation of ssd's, go to pcper.com and check out their ssd chart. i am modeling my next build to their 'hw leader board'.

Edited January 10, 2012 by july865

[Gunnergolly]

If you decide to go for an OCZ SSD make sure that you install the latest firmware from the OCZ firmware update page BEFORE YOU INSTALL YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM:-

 

http://www.ocztechnology.com/ssd_tools/

 

You cannot update the SSD firmware once the operating system has been installed on that drive.

 

I initially had a lot of cold start problems with my OCZ drives (Agility & Vertex), however once i updated my motherboard drivers (ASUS P8P67) and updated the SSD firmware drivers........my computer boots up first time every time now....:)...

 

SSD......Highly recommended !!!!...

[Pilotasso]

You can update the firmware with windows on it:

 

1-format a pen

2- instal the linux iso onto it

3-reboot and head to BIOS and configure boot disk priority drive to USB.

4- restart with USB plugged in and it should proceed directly to Linux walpaper, it works like windows. Press the icon to update the firmware. It may be necessary to do this more than once since some consecutive firmwares versions may not be skipable. It will inform you what Firmware has just flashed afterwords.

-5 switch system off.

-6 while shut down, remove the pen and clear CMOs thrugh the jumper on the motherboard, some MOBOS have a button, either on the board itself or at the back panel where USB ports are located.

7-Boot your PC normally.

 

Thats it. :)

 

My experience is that SSD's eleminate stutters during drive operation when gaming. Its a whole new world of gameplay. Priceless. :)

 

IMHO best SSD's on the market right now are the Samsung 830 series, and the Corsairs perfomance Pro. They offer similar perfomance of a vertex 3 but are more reliable.

 

 

Corsair perfomance pro review:

 

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/49706-corsair-performance-pro-256gb-ssd-review.html

 

 

I recommend a drive with 240GB if you have money, or a 120GB unit for budget. Then get a conventional hard drive to install media and other programs that are less taxing on the system. Keep the SSD for OS and for your favourite games.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Pilotasso

[Kuky]

If you decide to go for an OCZ SSD make sure that you install the latest firmware from the OCZ firmware update page BEFORE YOU INSTALL YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM:-

 

http://www.ocztechnology.com/ssd_tools/

 

You cannot update the SSD firmware once the operating system has been installed on that drive.

 

Actually you can but its bit more trouble. At OCZ website you can get their Lynux environemt software to not boot into Windows OS and you can update firmware like that... I did it myself.

 

Still easier by far is to conenct SSD, update firmware, then install OS on it :thumbup:

[Gunnergolly]

You can update the firmware with windows on it:

 

I didn't know that !!!.

 

-6 while shut down, remove the pen and clear CMOs thrugh the jumper on the motherboard, some MOBOS have a button, either on the board itself or at the back panel where USB ports are located.

 

Just to clarify.....the above step 6 would return all my MOBO settings to factory default ?, that wouldn't be a problem providing that by re-setting the CMOS it leaves my OC profiles that i have saved in BIOS untouched.

 

Kuky....Hope your having better luck with that new ATI video card of yours ??, i'm wanting to buy one of those too !!!...

[Kuky]

Not so lucky with HD7970... DCS won't work with them and keep crashing

[sotosev]

At OCZ website you can get their Lynux environemt software to not boot into Windows OS and you can update firmware like that... I did it myself.

 

Still easier by far is to connect SSD, update firmware, then install OS on it :thumbup:

 

I also did that, no trouble at all! first did secure erase because I had installed files in it and then I updated firmware by booting on a USB stick on linux OS. Check OCZ site and Forums.

[Pilotasso]

I didn't know that !!!.

 

 

 

Just to clarify.....the above step 6 would return all my MOBO settings to factory default ?, that wouldn't be a problem providing that by re-setting the CMOS it leaves my OC profiles that i have saved in BIOS untouched.

 

 

yes it would go factory default, but reduces the chances of instabilities. You can change it back to your previous settings.

[spikenet]

definitely go for an SSD to run system and important progs off it. I'm a believer these days :)

 

I like the crucial M4 drives.

 

Also remember, as with all modern SATA drives to make sure your NOT running your controller in old IDE mode in bios ;)

[PoleCat]

I'm currently upgrading my PC. I'm doing the usual upgrades. Win 7 64-bit, new 2BG VRAM GC Card and more RAM.

 

I'm considering a 512GB SSD Drive. I don't know much about SSD's. So, if any of you has one please share your experience and opinions.

 

Questions: Will the SSD drive make games run faster or does it just enable the PC to boot faster? How reliable are they? Is the increased cost of an SSD worth it performance-wise?

 

Totally worth it if you are careful on price vs capacity. I opted for two 128GB SSD drives which I use in RAID0 for a 250GB disk array. These were not the newest gen nor the best models but after rebate they were just over 1 dollar per Gig and the performance difference is like night and day. Mechanicals suck compared to SSD! I will never go back. Huge bottleneck removed.

 

OS loads and all apps launches are much faster. Game launches and level loads are much faster. Installations of apps and games are also much faster. I do use a second RAID0 mechanical drive array for whatever I deem not worthy of install on the SSD array and misc static data. In my case I have had zero reliablility issues.

 

Best of luck.

 

Out

[Pilotasso]

SSD is what modern computers deseve for a long time. An HDD in a PC is like having a digital clock with sprockets! :D

[Slayer]

DICE nerfed Battlefield Bad company2 and BF3 because of SSD, they had to make everyone wait 30 seconds now. I would literally load so fast that I would be in the game, spawned and in a vehicle half way across the map before other players would load in. Thats how fast they are. Windows boot time for me aprox 10-12 seconds from power on. Games that load big files it's a huge difference. I don't remember how long the load times were for Lockon or BS 1.0 but seems like it was a huge jump in speed.

 

IMO: SSD's are the best upgrade with a noticable performance gain that you can actually see without a benchmark.

[Alicatt]

SSD is the way to go, I use one in my laptop an Intel X25 160Gb and it loads from a cold boot in slightly over 10seconds, from hibernation a swipe of the finger and it is on in less than 2 seconds. Running software esp. if it has large data transfers is so much quicker. Editing maps and missions in Steelbeasts is, well, I can load, make changes and save then run the scenario before my desktop has even opened the editor.

[Nate--IRL--]

My SSD removed all loading stutters from DCS for me - delighted with it and can't recommend it enough.

 

Nate

[Username455]

Nate, can I clarify something with you? When you say loading stutters do you mean, for example, you are at busy airfield and getting constant fps. Then, when you look to the left or right which requires scenery and models to be loaded, your computer bogs down and stutters while it loads everything up? That's what I'm currently suffering from (even when in the air, panning around in external views or flying over a city). I thought it was a graphics card issue, but an ssd helped you with that? Or am I mistaking stutters with something else.

 

That would good and bad news hehe.. I would love a ssd, but then I would have to pay for one

[BrumTx]

Only thing I would say is be aware that all SSD's have a limited life after a lot of restart's I think it's 1000+ they start to slow down a lot from reading about them and my Son has just lost his SSD after 9 months of regular use

just an FYI so you are prepared

[Nate--IRL--]

Nate, can I clarify something with you? When you say loading stutters do you mean, for example, you are at busy airfield and getting constant fps. Then, when you look to the left or right which requires scenery and models to be loaded, your computer bogs down and stutters while it loads everything up? That's what I'm currently suffering from (even when in the air, panning around in external views or flying over a city). I thought it was a graphics card issue, but an ssd helped you with that? Or am I mistaking stutters with something else.

 

That would good and bad news hehe.. I would love a ssd, but then I would have to pay for one

 

Yep, that kind of stuttering while the sim loads textures, terrain and objects has disappeared for me now. It has also helped enormously with stuttering caused by the TGP scanning the horizon - but it still hasn't eliminated it completely.

 

Nate

[Slayer]

Only thing I would say is be aware that all SSD's have a limited life after a lot of restart's I think it's 1000+ they start to slow down a lot from reading about them and my Son has just lost his SSD after 9 months of regular use

just an FYI so you are prepared

 

I've had a pair of SSD's running for 3 years now in RAID0. Early SSD's had a limited lifespan but currently the MTBF is similar to hard drives. Some are so reliable in fact that they would last 100 years. This is just a generalization of course since every OEM is different using different chips, controllers and manufacturing. As with anything it's best to do your homework before buying.

[Mustur]

...MTBF is similar to hard drives. Some are so reliable in fact that they would last 100 years...

 

Then why is Intel providing only a 5 year limited warranty? :P

 

MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) is not a true indicator of life span. A more meaningful indicator would be TWB, which represents the number of terabytes of data written to a test drive.

 

And that's why JEDEC has published new standards for measuring lifetime and reliability in SSDs, so that manufacturers can't claim a 100+ years life expectancy using testing methods not meant for SSDs.

 

EDIT:

The SSD will have a minimum of five years of useful life under

typical client workloads with up to 20 GB of host writes per day. Source

 

And they state the MTBF to be 1,200,000 hours. At least they are honest. :P

Edited January 29, 2012 by Mustur

[Druid_]

I've had a pair of SSD's running for 3 years now in RAID0. ...

Running em in raid without TRIM. Damn you must be constantly cleaning em out. i.e. Take image then delete all and reload. Hopefully with the latest 11.5 RST RAID0 will be possible without the constant maintenance.