Darth333 Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Are they installing Windows for you, too? If so, make sure that they install the RAID (definitely) and AHCI (perhaps) drivers for your particular motherboard. Windows 7 has its own AHCI drivers and usually all you have to do is set the SATA ports to AHCI in the BIOS before installing Windows and they'll install on their own, but sometimes motherboard manufacturers supply their own and those will be the ones that you'll want to use. AHCI is essential for Windows 7 to issue the wear-leveling maintenance commands known as TRIM to your SSD. I've read about it and e-mailed them too (along with a few more requests such as ensuring that the HDD is placed in the bottom tray to maximize ventilation near the parts that do produce a lot of heat). If it were any other shop, I'd build the PC myself but the past jobs they did at that place were good and cheap: no "italian spaghetti" job with the cables, they'll use the thermal paste you mention in a proper way, install the useful stuff but no more, and they'll do the extras you ask them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Plus it will save you a lot of time. This machine will be a massive upgrade for you. Even though the CPU is way more powerful than your old one, I'm betting that the most noticeable performance boost will be the near-instantaneous loading of apps and games with that SSD. Windows will boot a lot faster, too, but that might not matter too much if your BIOS POST takes forever like mine does. Then again, that 6970 is roughly twice as fast as your old 4870... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth333 Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Then again, that 6970 is roughly twice as fast as your old 4870... Thanks for the link. Can't wait. I hesitated with it's nvidia counter part though (the 570, not the 580 which I think is just overpriced: an extra 20fps in ME2 isn't going to get me anywhere if I already get 80+ fps. I might as well get cheaper GPU and upgrade it when I really need to.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth333 Posted March 26, 2011 Author Share Posted March 26, 2011 Woot! The beast has arrived! It is so silent and fast ! I already love this SSD drive (I ended up buying a Crucial Sata III ssd to go with the new mobo in lieu of the Corsair though ) I feel like a kid who got her dream toy at xmas Playing with the new toy this weekend will likely make me "remember" my late-teens on Monday morning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I just love the smell of new hardware in the morning. /borrowed quote from Apocalypse Now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Woot! The beast has arrived! It is so silent and fast ! I already love this SSD drive (I ended up buying a Crucial Sata III ssd to go with the new mobo in lieu of the Corsair though ) I feel like a kid who got her dream toy at xmas Playing with the new toy this weekend will likely make me "remember" my late-teens on Monday morning Oh, I missed this earlier. Glad you got it and everything works OK. The SSD should make a world of difference in day-to-day operations. That C300 is supposed to be the fastest of the generation 2 SSDs. I didn't think of it because it's SATA 3 and I've only been researching SATA 2 drives because the Marvell SATA 3 controller on my motherboard is worthless. Your SATA 3 controller is an Intel, so you should be fine. This stuff is still pretty new, though. I picked up a couple of tips on how best to save space on that SSD. First, you may want to move the "My" folders (My Documents, etc.) onto the spindle drive. Those can take up a lot a space, but their contents generally don't require high performance since they're basically storage. Second, since you've got 8GB of RAM, you can minimize the page file and make the minimum and maximum sizes the same, so that it takes up a consistent amount of space on the SSD. I do not recommend moving it to the spindle drive like I've read elsewhere, however. I thought this third one up myself, though someone else has probably already thought of it and I just haven't read about it. Games take up a lot of space, and, if you're like me, you've got a lot of games. My solution is simple. You can install them all and then move the installation folders over to the spindle drive, keeping only the folders of the games that you're presently playing on the SSD and switching them out when you need to. It's not a perfect solution, but at least you won't have to keep uninstalling/reinstalling your games. Remember to use no more than 75% of your SSD's capacity so that TRIM will have the necessary free space to do its job. Have fun with your new toy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Second, since you've got 8GB of RAM, you can minimize the page file and make the minimum and maximum sizes the same, so that it takes up a consistent amount of space on the SSD. I do not recommend moving it to the spindle drive like I've read elsewhere, however. Just out of curiosity, why would someone recommend that? Do a lot of writes/reads to the same blocks 'wear out' SSDs? I don't have an SSD but I've been mulling over buying one on and off again. It seems to me that the stuff you would absolutely want on the SSD are OS core files, temp files and swap/pagefile... Basically the stuff that low latency/high throughput access too will speed up the OS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Just out of curiosity, why would someone recommend that? It's an obsolete, pre-TRIM recommendation. Do a lot of writes/reads to the same blocks 'wear out' SSDs? Exactly. This is why wear-leveling is so important, because it insures that all of the blocks get an equal amount of use which makes the drive last a lot longer. I don't have an SSD but I've been mulling over buying one on and off again. Same here. I'm still debating on whether to get one or just settle for RAID 0. It seems to me that the stuff you would absolutely want on the SSD are OS core files, temp files and swap/pagefile... Basically the stuff that low latency/high throughput access too will speed up the OS. That, and your most-used apps and games. Game load-times are near-instantaneous on an SSD. @D3: One thing that I forgot to add is that you need to go into Power Options and select "never" under "Put computer to sleep". I'm pretty sure that sleep prevents TRIM from working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Interesting, thanks for the info on trim/ssds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth333 Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll be doing some tweaking next weekend I've been resolving an issue with a *** driver that was automatically installed by Windows 7 which was causing random BSODs and prevented sata drives and the sound card from being recognized The thread is not for the right mobo but I found the answer here and now it's all fixed: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20100201100630703&board_id=1&model=P7P55D-E+PRO&page=1&SLanguage=en-us Same here. I'm still debating on whether to get one or just settle for RAID 0. I hesitated to get an SDD until the last minute as it is still quite expensive per Gig and I was afraid that I wouldn't find it worthwhile. However, now that I have one, I do not regret it at all (though I almost regret not getting a 250G drive). It is worth every penny. This thing is so fast that I first thought there had to be some mistake and that the file it was loading/reading/copying would turn up empty or with an error...but no It's silent too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverandbacon Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I hesitated to get an SDD until the last minute as it is still quite expensive per Gig and I was afraid that I wouldn't find it worthwhile. However, now that I have one, I do not regret it at all (though I almost regret not getting a 250G drive). It is worth every penny. This thing is so fast that I first thought there had to be some mistake and that the file it was loading/reading/copying would turn up empty or with an error...but no It's silent too! I think I need to stop reading this thread. A post or two more extolling the wonders of SSDs is all it will take for me to suddenly find myself on an out of control upgrading binge. Glad the computer meets (or exceeds) expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I think I need to stop reading this thread. A post or two more extolling the wonders of SSDs is all it will take for me to suddenly find myself on an out of control upgrading binge. Glad the computer meets (or exceeds) expectations. Ditto, and I've been pretty happy with my 10k Raptor drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I've been studying SSDs extensively because it's been labeled as the single biggest upgrade that you can get for your PC, regardless of your CPU (unless you've got a P4 or Athlon64) and from everything that I've read, random read/write performance has always been the biggest determining factor in everyday usage. Which SSDs have the best random read/write performance? As of generation 2, it's those with a SandForce 12xx controller, followed by the Intel G2 drives, with the Intel drives being more reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverandbacon Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Come on Liver, stay strong, they're really expensive, they supposedly slow down and wear out sooner than traditional drives, and seriously, how much time do you really have to spend on games once your post-surgery recovery finishes? Now, move away from the 'put in shopping cart' button... ok good, let's go and read some RPS to calm down. Sticking one into my PC (without indulging any other upgrades) made it feel like someone had injected caffeine into its eyeballs, kicked it in the buttocks and told it the love of its life was right over them thar hills. I’m in Windows within less than a minute, and once I am I don’t get that traditional bonus minute or two of post-startup slowdown as it tiredly loads various bits and bobs in the background. Damn you Mr. Meer. I've passed the hardware praise threshold, and I'm definitely getting an SSD. The only question is when, and now it's going to be tough to wait even one more generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 There are several different brands that feature the SandForce 1200 controller. They all have very similar performance and they are the fastest of the SATA 2 SSDs. The cheapest that I've seen a 120GB model go for here in the States is $160; usually after a mail-in rebate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 I've been eyeballing this for OS and essential programs such as Firefox and plug-ins, etc. Based on what I've read here, it seems that smart money is to go a tad bit larger and not run my games from spindle drives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Lately, the best deals have been on the 120GB models. I've seen them dip to $1.40/GB on numerous occasions, while the 60GB models are usually $1.75-$2.00/GB (as are the 250GB ones). Since you should use only 75% of the capacity of an SSD to allow TRIM (Windows 7's wear-leveling trick) to do its job, I think that you'd be better off in the long run if you went with a 120. Bigger SSDs like a 120 also have the added benefit of higher performance (sometimes much higher) because the data is evenly distributed amongst a higher number of chips. These chips then work together to provide higher throughput, much like a RAID array does, so the more the better. As for games, if near-instantaneous load times sound good to you, you'll definitely want to install them on the SSD, but even with 65-70GB to work with (.75*120GB-20 to 25GB for Windows) you're going to run out of space pretty fast. I've managed to think of a workaround, however: I thought this third one up myself, though someone else has probably already thought of it and I just haven't read about it. Games take up a lot of space, and, if you're like me, you've got a lot of games. My solution is simple. You can install them all and then move the installation folders over to the spindle drive, keeping only the folders of the games that you're presently playing on the SSD and switching them out when you need to. It's not a perfect solution, but at least you won't have to keep uninstalling/reinstalling your games. Since the generation 3 drives are starting to be released, there's a decent chance that prices will drop on the generation 2 drives, and that's when I'll most likely buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 I had seen that post which was the primary reason that I was starting to second guess the 60GB drive. Seems like it might be worth my while to wait a little longer to see what happens to pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverandbacon Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 I had seen that post which was the primary reason that I was starting to second guess the 60GB drive. Seems like it might be worth my while to wait a little longer to see what happens to pricing. ohmigod guys guys guys! we're all waiting for them to be cheaper, we can go shopping together and buy matching SSDs to be like triplets!! That would be ADORABLE!!1! Seriously though, if one of you sees one that's a really good deal, let me know. I'll do the same if I see one. A quick startup, and near-instant game loading, are way more important to me than a few extra polygons. Although I'll miss reading some of the information some games put on loading screens, that's a small sacrifice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Based on what Q has been saying, I'm leaning in this direction. I'm still reeling over the jump from 2 cores to 6, DDR2 to DDR3, and working with a 64-bit OS. When the honeymoon starts to wear off and I feel need to spice things up a bit, I'll probably start looking to buy (but will continue to resist the urge to do so now). EDIT: According to this the 320s are still a bit more pricey than MSRP, so that might be incentive for waiting as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 The Intel 320 series doesn't offer a huge advantage over its previous generation. Really. If your motherboard doesn't have a good built-in SATA 3 controller like the P67's then you're better off getting the best SATA 2 SSD that you can find. Seriously though, if one of you sees one that's a really good deal, let me know. I'll do the same if I see one. It's a deal. I'll keep an eye out for all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I must have mis-read: I thought the 320's were SATA II. I guess I'll keep looking at the X25's. Is it worth $5 for 25nm vs 34nm or does the alleged performance gain come from something else? Also, I got my tax return direct deposited last night. I might not be waiting after all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Btw: this was showing as Out of Stock this morning. Apparently they processed a shipment today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 OK, here goes. Newegg's got a promo code for 10% off of SSDs, but you can only use it if you sign up for their newsletter. If you're not signed up, you can do so and the code should still work. Combine that with the mail-in rebate and you can get this drive for $162. OCZ is not my first choice, but this is the best deal going on a SandForce 1200 SSD right now. I must have mis-read: I thought the 320's were SATA II. Actually, I misread. They're SATA 2. I guess I'll keep looking at the X25's. Is it worth $5 for 25nm vs 34nm or does the alleged performance gain come from something else? I've read that 34nm is actually preferable because the overall capacity is higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 IDK, now that you have me doing me doing my homework, I'm leery of OCZ. The consensus seems to be that they are the fastest drive, but also the most unreliable. Obviously, the popular opinion can be wrong. I get the newegg newsletter so thanks for the heads up on the promo code. I've read that 34nm is actually preferable because the overall capacity is higher. My apologies for the dumb question, but you know this stuff much better than I do: higher capacity as in through-put or...? EDIT: Read the following in the advertisement you linked to: "Only available while funds last. Promo code valid through 4/17/2011 or sooner based on fund availability. Decided not to risk it and placed my order for this (the X25 was showing out of stock again). I guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope that the 320 (w/ 25nm architecture) doesn't turn out to be a mistake. P.S. $214 after shipping. Not the deal that you posted but I feel ok at $1.73/GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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