Best Config Using SSD for 2 1TB Drives?

darkdk

Honorable
Apr 29, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hi everyone,

I haven't been following SSD technology too well over the years since it was too expensive and out of my budget. This has changed a bit though and with the new rig I am building, my motherboard MAY even have an mSATA port.

My current hard drive situation will be the following (regardless)...

-- 1 TB Western Digital HDD Black Caviar
-- 1 TB Western Digital HDD Black Caviar (newer model)

I use my computer for everything -- rendering things on occasion, running virtual machines, playing games, etc.

I could likely drop one of the drives (I'm not using a full TB) if needed, but I have more than enough space.

What would you do? Use the MSATA? Use a regular SSD? What about SSD caching?

This is for a z77 mobo.

Sorry for the lame question. I'm just really unsure of what to do and my Google Kung Fu is week on the subject.
 
Solution
If you do decide to go SSD (and I recommend it!), don't stress over specific IOPS between different drives. One will say 520, one will say 490...BS

The difference in going from a spinning main drive is a 900% increase vs a 905% increase.
A reliable disk from a reliable company is the key. Currently, Samsung 840 series, or Intel is the winner.

I'm using a Kingston 128gb and Sandisk 128gb. Primarily because they were inexpensive ($80 each) when I got them in November.
SSD as the boot drive and some applications, spinning disks for most everything else.

120/128GB SSD's are a good place to start. Smaller may be too tight on space.

the mSATA is merely a different mount than regular SATA III. mSATA mounts directly to the motherboard.
Don't screw around with SSD caching. Offers little real benefit. It 'may' make your HDD seem quicker (it merges the SSD and HDD into 'one' drive), but at the cost of switching out either the SSD or HDD later.
 
If you do decide to go SSD (and I recommend it!), don't stress over specific IOPS between different drives. One will say 520, one will say 490...BS

The difference in going from a spinning main drive is a 900% increase vs a 905% increase.
A reliable disk from a reliable company is the key. Currently, Samsung 840 series, or Intel is the winner.

I'm using a Kingston 128gb and Sandisk 128gb. Primarily because they were inexpensive ($80 each) when I got them in November.
 
Solution
Thanks buddy! I had a feeling that may be the case, but it definitely helps hearing it from someone who knows what their talking about :)

I shall drag my feet into the SSD world!