I can’t believe THIS thread drew me into posting after about a year hiatus. But I know something about this subject.
“If you are using one, what performance numbers are you seeing over traditional disk? ”
My answer?
Look, stop your endless search for more and more data, and just buy an SSD. The impact it will have on your day-to-day experience of your PC will be astounding.
Assuming your PC / laptop is already well-endowed with memory and processor speed, there is simply NO OTHER upgrade that can even come close to the extra zip you get from an SSD.
I’m running an Intel X25-M 80GB SSD that holds my Windows 7 and most of my installed software.
Adobe CS4 loads in about 2 sec. Windows loads in about a dozen seconds. File access is screaming fast. I also move my HD video files (temporarily) onto the SSD for editing, because that is screaming fast also.
However, know that SSD’s are something you want to read up so you buy the right one, and you use it correctly. Consider these points:
1) When SSD’s starting hitting the market, a FEW of the very best tech review forums spotted a big issue: SSD get slower as you use them more, and some brands are MUCH more prone to this than others. There are ways you can mitigate this.
IF you want LOTS of detailed explanation (and data), go to that website and read articles like this:
“The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ”
The BOTTOM LINE: buy the Intel X25-M (or the X25-E if you’ve money to burn), because they show the best performance before and after slow-down is factored in. The OCZ SSD’s are also good, but not as good as the Intel SSD’s.
2) SSD’s are maintained differently (by you) than your spinning disc drives. You should periodically “refresh” an SSD back up to top speed by using a utility like HDDErase 3.3. You’ll back up any data from the SSD. Then you’ll use HDDErase to SECURE ERASE the entire SSD. Next you’ll re-install your OS, and during the OS install DO NOT select full format, but only select quick format. Some would argue you NEVER do a full format to an SSD, because the full format will slow your SSD, and if you are in situation where you can erase everything with a full format, then you’ll want instead to use the SECURE ERASE which will refresh your SSD back to its original as-new read/write performance.
You only need to do that SECURE ERASE refresh maybe once a year, or every six months.
3) Many geeks (like me) have figured out a great combo is a SSD to install your OS and most of your software. Then you also have some big SATA drives where you store your data files (photos, movies, music, etc.), preferably in a RAID configuration. Obviously with a laptop you won’t have room for that hybrid setup, so you just get an SSD.
4) Get at least an 80GB SSD. I got the X25-M 80GB, and I manage to barely keep a cushion of 20GB free, but I wish I had gotten the 160GB SSD. Keep in mind I store NO files on the SSD, only have installed the OS and most of my software onto the SSD. On my home PC I have the additional 4 TB RAID10 for misc file storage (images, video, music, etc.)
So with a laptop, if you have to store your data also on your SSD, then I think you need a SSD larger than 80GB SSD, probably more.
For certain, the best upgrade I’ve made in the last five years to our home PC’s / laptops is the SSD.
As for desktop configuration, do not believe any of the few holdout moron PC geekers who claim a RAID0 of SATA VelociRaptor’s (or SAS drives) is as fast as an SSD. That is pure rubbish, as anyone knows who has experienced the ACTUAL performance of SSD’s compared to a SATA (or SAS) RAID0 array. Of course, the hybrid configuration is the best of both worlds: OS and software installed on your SSD, and your data kept on your SATA (or SAS) drives configured RAID10 (speed + data redundancy).
