Is an SSD Drive even worth it?

By mrchetsteadman
in Hardware Hangout

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AsherGZ

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You will really notice the difference if you are using WIndows 8. Having a 7 second boot up is nice :)

I have a 2TB WD Caviar SATAIII 6GB/s mechanical drive and it boots in less than 7s. And boy that drive is fast!

So again, is an SSD even worth it? Unless they come in terabyte variants, I don't think so.

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Grand Master

Chicane-UK Veteran

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I'll never, ever use a mechanical drive as my boot drive ever again. I have an OCZ Agility III on a SATA3 port and it absolutely flies. Highly recommended.

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Grand Master

spikey_richie

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If you "Keep hearing that" then why do you have to ask?

Skip to 5:38

That reboot is only as slow as it is as it doesn't have a UEFI bios.

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joemailey

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I've only had my SSD for a week and wow, the boot time of my laptop is crazy.

Not to mention the battery life is better and I now use sleep mode on my laptop a lot, as it instantly resumes when I wake it up.

Couldn't have any of my own computers/laptops without an SSD now.

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Grand Master

Chicane-UK Veteran

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on modern usages, you'll need atleast 512 GiB SSD, otherwise it not worth it.

no matter how fast, dont use anything less than 256 GiB, you'll regret it.

Nonsense.

I've got a 120GB SSD which I'm using to dual boot OSX and Windows 7, and I even install the massive Battlefield 3 to the Windows partition - and I have plenty of room. However all my music, video, and other games are all located on a different disk.

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spikey_richie

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Nonsense.

I've got a 120GB SSD which I'm using to dual boot OSX and Windows 7, and I even install the massive Battlefield 3 to the Windows partition - and I have plenty of room. However all my music, video, and other games are all located on a different disk.

+1 I have a 60gb OCZ drive, and 4x 500gb drives for storage.

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.Neo

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Getting a Fusion Drive (128 Flash Storage + 1 TB HDD) in my new 2012 iMac is the biggest boost in performance I got on a day-to-day basis. So yeah, I'd say it's totally worth it.

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Arceles

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Meh... they are just the same, it surely increases loading speed of the OS (by a lot, I won't deny it but once you are on the OS everything feels almost the same as with an HDD) (Win8 SDD and Win7 HDD here in the same laptop)

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HoochieMamma

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on modern usages, you'll need atleast 512 GiB SSD, otherwise it not worth it.

no matter how fast, dont use anything less than 256 GiB, you'll regret it.

Don't know why you would think that, I have a 60GB for OS and programs and 3 normal HDD for storage/game installs. Works fine for me and I have 15GB free on it too.

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Lingwo

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SSD for storage? no. SSD for a boot drive and for running programs? yes.

I have a 120GB SSD and its been running for over two years and it is still as fast the day i got it.

120GB doesn't sound much but for a boot drive it is more than enough. I work most of the time from my computer and i haven't once worried about space.

I have an external and internal terabyte drives for games, videos, music, storage and backups. I clone my SSD every month or so.

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Noir Angel

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on modern usages, you'll need atleast 512 GiB SSD, otherwise it not worth it.

no matter how fast, dont use anything less than 256 GiB, you'll regret it.

Untrue. I have a 60 gig drive to boot my OS from, and I store my data on mechanical drives. Still well worth it. And to the OP the OCZ vector is a great choice, pretty much the fastest drive on the market at the moment.

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articuno1au

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I use my machine as a dev environment and gaming machine (because I can >.>).

I had a 120GB disk. It worked well and I rarely bumped up against the limit with a couple of games installed, but I had to keep an eye on it.

Now I have a 240GB disk and I don't even look at my storage space anymore.

Only thing I would suggest is install rarely used stuff on the HDD rather than the SSD. Then, learn how to use the mklink /j command.

I have a folder called "cache" that I copy my steam games into from the HDD and mklink /j them, steam is none the wiser and I get insane load speeds.

Ironically, the thing most people don't mention when talking about SSDs is the enormous speed with which updates/installs and uninstalls run. All of the little writes all over the registry happen nigh on instantly with an SSD whilst taking a substantial amount of time with a HDD.

Either way, you have your answer :)

  • HardyRexion and +hedleigh
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tsupersonic

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Yes, they are amazing. I have put in an SSD in every computer I build for myself or buy/build for my friends/family for a few years now. I have purchased many SSD's for myself - 8 since 2009, and only one has died (it was my very first one - an OCZ Vertex 60 GB). I have since then avoided OCZ, and gone exclusively with Samsung, Intel, or Crucial SSD's.

Meh... they are just the same, it surely increases loading speed of the OS (by a lot, I won't deny it but once you are on the OS everything feels almost the same as with an HDD) (Win8 SDD and Win7 HDD here in the same laptop)

It actually does help in every day situation. The desktop I'm using I first started using it with a 500 GB WD Black, but once I switched to SSD's, everything (not just OS boots) became more responsive. Just remember, the slowest part in your computer is usually the spinning mechanical HDD ;)
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xWhiplash

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Yes, they are amazing. I have put in an SSD in every computer I build for myself or buy/build for my friends/family for a few years now. I have purchased many SSD's for myself - 8 since 2009, and only one has died (it was my very first one - an OCZ Vertex 60 GB). I have since then avoided OCZ, and gone exclusively with Samsung, Intel, or Crucial SSD's.

It actually does help in every day situation. The desktop I'm using I first started using it with a 500 GB WD Black, but once I switched to SSD's, everything (not just OS boots) became more responsive. Just remember, the slowest part in your computer is usually the spinning mechanical HDD ;)

Agreed. I have a very fast computer, but I had a very slow HDD so it took around 2 minutes to boot into windows. When I got my SSD, it now takes about 10 seconds :p

Guys, you are not supposed to get TBs and TBs of storage with SSDs. There is nothing wrong with getting a small SSD, and getting another large HDD for storage. If you can only have one drive, you can also get large external HDDs

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AsherGZ

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Correct me if I'm wrong but if both mechanical drives and SSDs offered today are SATA-III 6GB/s, how is one faster than the other?

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Grand Master

Chicane-UK Veteran

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Because a mechanical HDD normally (unless it's a very high end drive) won't get close to saturating a SATA2 connection simply because it's not that quick - whereas an SSD can easily saturate a SATA2 connection, and needs SATA3 to run to its full potential.

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threetonesun

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Correct me if I'm wrong but if both mechanical drives and SSDs offered today are SATA-III 6GB/s, how is one faster than the other?

One spins, one doesn't.

It's sort of like comparing a record player to an mp3 player.

  • Brandon H and +hedleigh
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MorganX

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So after shipping delays and all kinds of other BS my system is almost finally done. I'm just waiting to find a good wireless keyboard and mouse. I'm also in need of a hard drive and I'm thinking about getting a SSD but is it worth it? I don't really NEED the extra speed but I have the money so why not? I DO know I'm not going over 128 GB so the setup would be system files and music and programs on the SSD and extensive movies on a backup drive. But should I just get a fast 1TB drive?

Here are my choices...

OCZ Vector SSD

WD Black 1TB

Thanks for ANY feedback guys and gals.

You'll never go back. You should have a system with USB 3.0 so I'd consider putting your music on an external USB Hard Disk or even Large Flash drive. USB 3.0 is fast. FW800 fast.

I was looking at the Vector to put in my new machine (256GB), but I think I'm going to go with the Samsung 840 Pro. They make all the components themselves and have a 4 core controller. Just the tech geek in me, if I'm going, I'm going all the way. But yes, it's worth it for sure. You'll be booting in 5 seconds. Blink to many times on a restart and you won't be sure you restarted :D.

Nonsense.

I've got a 120GB SSD which I'm using to dual boot OSX and Windows 7, and I even install the massive Battlefield 3 to the Windows partition - and I have plenty of room. However all my music, video, and other games are all located on a different disk.

You beat me to it. Not sure what he was thinking.

Meh... they are just the same, it surely increases loading speed of the OS (by a lot, I won't deny it but once you are on the OS everything feels almost the same as with an HDD) (Win8 SDD and Win7 HDD here in the same laptop)

Take your biggest, slowest loading app, one that pages or reads from disk a lot (game?) play/run it on HD, then off SSD. It makes a significant difference. Unless you have a new MOBO with Intel's cache (uses small SSD to cache HD) it's easy to tell the difference throughout computing.

You will really notice the difference if you are using WIndows 8. Having a 7 second boot up is nice :)

And that's if you have lots of peripherals to initialize. Otherwise, 5. Before I can enter my PIN, I'm up, and connected to wireless.

This thread just made me order one - this one http://www.misco.co....tate-Hard-Drive

That's my current OS drive. You will be pleased.

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Grand Master

LaP

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I have 2 SSDs.

A 120GB Vectex 3 and a 240GB Vertex 2 extended.

I put the os, apps and the few origin games i own on the 120GB drive. I put my steam games and user's folders (music, project) on the 240Gb one. I have a 750MB external eSata HDD for backup, archive and movies purpose.

It's totally worth it imo. Specially with Windows 8. It's blazing fast.

If you get an old Vertex 3 be sure to update the firmware before installing the os. The Vector drive on newegg is too much expensive imo you can surely find better deal. I bought my 120GB Vertex 3 for about the same price 1 year and an half ago (it was on sale) ...

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jren207

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If you haven't already bought an SSD, go and get one now. GO NOW! GO! NOW!

Don't think about it twice, get out your money and shove it in the face of a computer component retailer and demand an SSD.

Yes, an SSD is that good!

  • mrchetsteadman, Shaun N. and Denis W.
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