BleepingComputer.com: Is an SSD worth it?

I was considering getting a 30GB SSD to put my Operating System on because I've been told it dramatically increases boot time and is more stable than a normal HDD, is this true?

This post has been edited by pJ`: 03 February 2012 - 02:52 AM

30 gig is just too small. At that size you are limited to the OS and a few small apps. Putting your big apps (games as an example) on a regular hard drive defeats the purpose of an SSD as your load times are still sluggish. If all you are worried about is boot times (and who still does cold boots on a regular basis anyway?) then OK, but in the real world I consider a 128gig SSD to be minimum size for WIN 7 and apps. You might get by with a 64gig, but it quickly becomes a PITA constantly worrying about space and wondering what to delete/move when space runs low. My rig runs between 85-105 gig on a 256gig SSD with OS/STEAM/PHOTOCHOP and miscellaneous apps.

If your motherboard is older (NO SATA 3) then the speed of an SSD is less apparent. You will notice a difference, especially with random access time/app launches. Game loading times are a bit less, but not mindblowing as compared to a WD BLACK. When you get a proper SATA3 board, the right drivers, and a SATA 3 drive with the right firmware, then you are in for a treat.

You can find SSDs for ~ $1/gig now with rebates. No need to settle for something too small that might, or might not, get the job done.

dpunisher, on 03 February 2012 - 09:54 AM, said:

Agreed 30GB is way too small.

I still cold boot on a regular basis..... Excluding Servers of course.

Some points to consider SSDs play best with windows 7, Samsung and Intel come with utilities to get around that on older OS's.

My desktop drive is the heaviest loaded boot SSD and it is up to nearly 90Gb these days. The laptops are under 60GB +/- out of 120Gb and 160GB.

Benefits of a SSD faster boot time. Applications load faster. And if you leave the page file and Hibernation files on the SSD they improve performance hibernating and anything that needs to use the swap file.

If you go SSD, update the firmware before using it. There are some gotchas lurking out there in older firmwares that have been fixed. Also Dell Laptops seem to have problems with certain brands.

BTW with Intel SSDs the larger drives are faster than the smaller drives.

Suggested reading
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/forum.php

Also read the User reviews on Newegg.
Good Luck
Roger

This post has been edited by rotor123: 03 February 2012 - 01:19 PM

I put one in a couple of weeks ago too and I love it. I noticed it cuts back on the amount of time it takes to do a virus scan as well

Yep it's worth it; easily the best upgrade someone can make. As the others say do grab a 60GB tho. I did a review of the Vertex 2 a while back and made 2 videos illustrating the difference between HDD's and SSD's:

HDD:


SSD:


It's a 'maximum difference' scenario (multiple program loads), but fairly accurately reflects the difference you'll see with booting.

SSD's are just so dreamy!!! I remember years ago thinking to myself it's about time we had quicker affordable hard drives nevermind better processors and gfx cards etc... We've been on 7,200 speed HDD's for way too long.

Next time I build a new computer a SSD will be totally top of my "Must Have" list!

This post has been edited by Theonus: 13 February 2012 - 12:33 PM

SSD's are worth it and probably the most noticable upgrade you can make to a modern system (I open Photoshop in 2 seconds, boot windows 7 in less than 30) but I'm paranoid and distrustful of new tech so the ones that I am using (some daily for over a year) have a safety net of regular backups to one of them old fashioned platter drives

James

(without reading a word of any of the reply's...lol)

SSD does run faster due to the fact it does not have any "movable components" in other words it is like INSTANT READ bwahaha...alright I'm done. I could easily recommend this as a second HDD rather then a primary. You can get much larger SSDs but they'll cost you an arm and a leg or a couple nights at your local street cor...ahem.

If you are crazy ADHD and can't wait a couple extra minutes get it. If you CAN wait get a much much larger [normal] HDD for the same price.

Of course a SSD is worth it

Counting as in A thousand one, a thousand two etc. I get up to a thousand 23 on this older Toshiba laptop booting up windows 7 64Bit.
That is from when the Toshiba Logo disappears til the desktop complete with Antivirus and read to use appears.

Specs:
Intel 320 series 160Gb (Laptop so 160Gb is good)
3Gb memory
Intel T3400 dual CPU @ 2.16Ghz

Everything opens fast, Virus scans are fast, Virus signatures and Security updates are fast. Installing software is fast.

Right now with everything I want on here I'm showing 120Gb free out of 148Gb (Microsoft GBs). That includes Firefox and Thunderbird for email.

SSD's are worth the price. I installed one in my ASUS Eee PC. There is a noticeable performance increase just from that upgrade alone. The upgrade was not easy and I was not sure what the expect from the SSD. Wow, what a great Drive. I installed a 60GB OCZ Agility2. At the time I spent $159 from Newegg.com. This is my main Netbook that I take to all job sites and use, I have no issues with the upgrade and the performance kick makes my netbook feel like a full PC.