[Zardon]

Anyone of you bought an SSD in the last year? I would love this thread to be a good central point for your findings.

So please post the make, size, OS any performance figures and if you feel its a viable choice for other people.

I have a few and i really rate the Intel Mainstream M25 drive. Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (SSDSA2MH080G1)

Have used it both on Vista and OSX and it works very well and you get near the quoted figures of 250mb read and 80mb write.

Always remember to keep your firmware updated from the manufacturer as there seem to be quite a few fixes on a semi regular basis from most.

[Lowfat]

I have had plenty of SSDs this year.

First up was 4 Patriot Warp V2 32GB drives. Overall they were not bad drives for what I used them for. Although they are the cheaper Jmicron JM602 chip, I didn't notice any stuttering.

The next SSD I purchased was an 80GB Intel X25-M. I used it in both a PC for a while, then through it in my macbook pro. It make both systems insanely quick. When in the PC it was faster alone than the 4 Warp V2's I had in RAID0 earlier. Even more so in OSX, although my MBP is a SATA 1.5gpbs model and was bottlenecking it.

Next SSD I purchased was an 30GB OCZ Vertex. Really the only reason I bought the drive was to do a comparision between the X25-M and it. Since OCZ was claiming it was just as fast and there weren't any reviews out. I was surprised with how close it did perform to the X25-M in daily tasks.

Next SSD I puchased was a 120GB OCZ Vertex. Bought it since I moved the X25-M to my Macbook, and 30GB wasn't enough for games, apps on my PC. The 120GB is considerably faster than the 30Gb due to more channels and it really is a lovely drive.

After selling (and later taking back) my MBP I moved the X25-M back to my desktop. And well since I am pretty anal when it comes to neatness and organization about my computers having two SSD's isn't an option. So I sold the 120GB Vertex and bought another X25-M. This time for RAID0. RAID0 added no benefit at all. I have yet to find a task that really benefits over a single drive.

[Judas]

I've only got to play with the 30gb vertex drive... would love to touch on the intel model as it just seems to reign king in the arena of SSD drive atm.

Had loaded win7 7100 on it and the suckers insanely fast compared to that of the WD and Seagate Standard drives which i thought were rather very quick to begin with. I to didn't experience any stuttering or oddities. With windows Vista installed, it didn't seem as snappy but still far better then the standard drives. The drive is now in the hands of the purchaser that was interested in it.

IMO, I find the drives incredibly inticing after spending just under a week with one. But the costs are high for how little amount of space you get. 30GB isn't all that much, however a 60gb would likely keep me more then adequately pleased. 120gb is going to last me awhile.

I also don't really know how well these drives will do in terms of aging, Technically they should do very well, but it's such a new technology, it's really hard to say what will happen 12-24-36 months down the road. Obviously hopefully nothing at all bad happens.

From a enthusiast standpoint, I would REALLY love to have just one of the drives. But from a practical standpoint, they really are a waist of money for most people and for myself and currently are not totally predictable in terms of logevity.

[RE III - Frankie]

I can't wait until they start using SSD's in servers across the world then maybe download usage won't be such a lag in most places.

[Lowfat]

I did a RAID0 comparison w/ 4 X25-M's about a month back if anyone is interested.
Doing an ICH10R SSD RAID0 comparison, thoughts? - XtremeSystems Forums

[moshpit]

I'm running my Patriot Torqx 128Gb with Windows 7 on it. Runs like a total champ, boot time is only 12 seconds from POST to login, shut down is 4 seconds from hitting "Shut Down" to black screen and fans spinning down.

[Lowfat]

A quick bench of my ioXtreme.

[Optix]

Still waaay to pricey for a budget builder like me although I do like how things are going. This time next year I should be able to plunk one into my rig for about half of what they are now and the controllers will keep getting better and better.

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by Optix

This time next year I should be able to plunk one into my rig for about half of what they are now and the controllers will keep getting better and better.

I have my doiubts on this.

The price of MLC drives has barely moved in the past year. In fact a 30GB drive is actually more expensive now than it was last December. I think manufacturers will focus on speed before affordability.

[isaak]

Got my OCZ Vertex 60GB up and running and its brilliant opens most apps instantly and I can boot from POST to usable desktop in 20seconds

[moshpit]

Originally Posted by isaak

Got my OCZ Vertex 60GB up and running and its brilliant opens most apps instantly and I can boot from POST to usable desktop in 20seconds

If I didn't have a login to contend with, got that beat by 5 seconds. Still though, 13 seconds to the login is rip snorting fast. But after hitting enter to my password, I can count "one one thousand, two one thousand" and everything is ready to go.

[isaak]

I love the difference at boot up, the time between logging on and your desktop becoming fully usable is reduced to nearly nothing, compared to my old SamSung which I swear took a good minute.

[RE III - Frankie]

I can't believe SSD's haven't price dropped yet. There can't be that many out there so far?

[SeraphicSorcerer]

They aren't considered mainstream yet, so the price won't drop until they are effectively mass produced. How long did it take LCD Monitors to come down in price?

[isaak]

Kingston have got a few good deals going, but otherwise what Seraphic said

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by RE III - Frankie

I can't believe SSD's haven't price dropped yet. There can't be that many out there so far?

You mean in sales? Or the number of manufacturers. Either way there are more out there than you likely think. Hell even my non computer enthusiast friends out there have them in their machines. A $100 40GB Kingston/Intel goes a very long ways in terms of performance.

[temeteus82]

Hey anyone have the Intel X-18M 1.8" on their hands?

[Liqourice]

How are SSD's when it comes to security? Files can easily be retrieved from an ordinary harddrive, even if it's been formatted numerous times. Are SSD's in any way better in this area?

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by Liqourice

How are SSD's when it comes to security? Files can easily be retrieved from an ordinary harddrive, even if it's been formatted numerous times. Are SSD's in any way better in this area?

If the cell has been erased it is pretty much impossible to get the data off. All you need to do is run a secure erase (HDDerase does a good job) and you are good to go.

[isaak]

The only thing I'm a little scared about is flashing mine. Apparently flashing erases all the data on the drive, which means I'll have to reinstall win7 and all my programs...

I haven't had to do it yet :s

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by isaak

The only thing I'm a little scared about is flashing mine. Apparently flashing erases all the data on the drive, which means I'll have to reinstall win7 and all my programs...

I haven't had to do it yet :s

What drive? And to what firmware? Most drives do not erase anything anymore. W/ the exception of the 1.5 Vertex FW which isn't needed if you have 1.4/1.41

[isaak]

I've got Vertex on 1.4. I was just thinking, the next firmware update to come out, but if they don't erase anymore, should be right. Thanks Low

[Lowfat]

I think 1.5 does indeed erase however it doesn't add anything. It just combines the garbage collect and TRIM in to one firmware but really that isn't needed unless you are dual booting Win 7 and an older OS.

[dipstick]

Hey guys, finally made the jump myself and I have to say its the upgrade of the year for any pc. Really amazing how much difference these little things make.
I do have a couple of questions if any one can help. With TRIM enabled everything is taken care of, right? Meaning I don't need to run one of those cleaner/wiper apps to maintain the drive?
Also when time comes to reinstall the OS what would need to be done? Would a format be enough? (full format, not the quick one).
Thanks much

[Veridian3]

If you want TRIM you will be using Windows 7 and full format isnt an option. Just partition the drive, format and install. (you wouldnt want to full format an SSD anyway)

Before doing this you should update the firmware to the latest version.

Also, best advice is to stick with the Windows 7 in the box SATA/AHCI drivers... they are guaranteed to work with TRIM where as some others are not.

[dipstick]

Thanks bud, much appreciated. The stupid drive I went for (a-data) died on me after only two days of use. Just enough for me to install and activate everything lol.
Anyways, I returned it for an intel and things are much better now. I took your advice and updated the firmware before installing windows and I did not install the intel drivers. I will be very happy with this one if it lasts as its much faster.
I also went through and applied the ssd tips at ocz; I hope they maximize its lifespan.
Thanks

Guide * Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities *

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by dipstick

Thanks bud, much appreciated. The stupid drive I went for (a-data) died on me after only two days of use. Just enough for me to install and activate everything lol.
Anyways, I returned it for an intel and things are much better now. I took your advice and updated the firmware before installing windows and I did not install the intel drivers. I will be very happy with this one if it lasts as its much faster.
I also went through and applied the ssd tips at ocz; I hope they maximize its lifespan.
Thanks

Guide * Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities *

Wow. That is pretty craptastic. SSD's rarely die, especially that early in its life.

And in all seriousness I can't really suggest you do all those tweaks on the SSD forums.

No way will I ever shut off indexing/Search as it is too useful. Ramdisks are an absolute silly idea to use as a pagefile. Take about an oxymoron.

You can turn off Superfetch and defrag on the SSD however Windows 7 won't actually use either of these on the SSD.

All the registry tweaks are completely useless. The only thing I do on new installs now is move the pagefile to a mechanical drive if it is a very small SSD (i.e. 30GB). Otherwise I don't do a thing. O I disable hibernation but that has nothing to do w/ a tweak. I've been doing this since ~2002 as I don't use it.

[dipstick]

Yea but I guess if something like an ssd is going to go it will do so in the first few days (I'm hoping anyways). I only blame myself for being cheap lol
But I did not do all of the tips they mention and windows 7 seemed to have everything enabled even with the ssd (superfetch and auto defrag).
All I did was checked to see if TRIM was enabled and disabled defrag, superfetch, prefetch, and set the pagefile to a fixed size on the ssd. I do not move the pagefile as its probably one of the things that benefits the most with the ssd.

Edit- I also disable "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" in the ssd properties. I don't think that disabled indexing completely

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by dipstick

Yea but I guess if something like an ssd is going to go it will do so in the first few days (I'm hoping anyways). I only blame myself for being cheap lol
But I did not do all of the tips they mention and windows 7 seemed to have everything enabled even with the ssd (superfetch and auto defrag).
All I did was checked to see if TRIM was enabled and disabled defrag, superfetch, prefetch, and set the pagefile to a fixed size on the ssd. I do not move the pagefile as its probably one of the things that benefits the most with the ssd.

Edit- I also disable "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" in the ssd properties. I don't think that disabled indexing completely

Superfetch and Defrag are enabled. But they will never be used on the SSD. This is just mis-information going around.

TRIM is always also enabled. Checking to see that is meaningless. It is even on non-TRIM capable drives. It doesn't mean that the OS is capable of telling it the SSD has TRIM or not.

[Takaharu]

I've noticed that there are a few different OCZ SSDs around the same price bracket, namely: Solid Series, Agility Series, Vertex Series and Vertex Turbo Series.
Does anyone know of a good site to differentiate between these different OCZ SSD drives, backed up by some reliable performance tests?