SSD & IDE Controller

[mattd860]

My parents have an older Dell computer from 2009 that runs ok enough for them but I would like to install an SSD into it after recently installing one in my computer. However, the SATA 3gb/s controller on their computer can only be set to IDE or RAID but not AHCI. Will I still be able to install an SSD and will it be slowed down considerably with the IDE controller?

FYI - They have the latest BIOS installed.

 

[USAFRet]

Don't. Even with an SSD, that thing will still be slow.
A new $300 box from Walmart would be far faster and more stable.

 

[geofelt]

IDE is fine.
You will get sequential data transfer that is only 2x what a fast hard drive will do, not the 3x which 6gb sata can do.
Most of what you do will be small random I/0 which 50x a hard drive, and is unaffected by the sata speeds. That is what the os does mostly.
AHCI is needed to pass on the "trim" command which speeds up some updates and adds longevity. Still the result is very good. You can reduce any negative effects by using a larger ssd.
AHCI is a subset of raid, but I would not change from IDE unless you were willing to undertake a clean install or do some registry hacks.

FWIW, I recently installed a SSD in a 2007 thinkpad R61. It transformed an abysmal performer into a very useful laptop.

 

[jitpublisher]

The thing to remember about an SSD,
HARDLY ANYBODY EVER MAKES USE OF THE BIG ADVERTISED TRANSFER RATES.
The thing that makes an SSD shine for a boot drive, and generally makes an SSD such a pleasant experience when added to any PC, its instant access times and seek times. That is where an SSD soundly trounces even the fastest of fast mechanical hard drives. So even though it won't be able to make those big transfer rates, it will still be a huge, huge improvement over the old slow drive that is in that system right now. An SSD is the best, most economical way to actually bring an old out dated system like this back to life.

 

[mattd860]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I know for a fact that the SSD will work well since I installed it on my older rig with SATA-II controlers. I'm just worried that the lack of AHCI and trim will kill the longevity and maybe some performance. My personal computer has the ACHI feature but my parents do not. I was also reading that I can still get TRIM enabled by installing RST - http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19482762?pi21953=2.

If/When I install the SSD in their computer, I will do a clean install rather than a data migration so should I just select RAID?? I will only be using the one SSD, not two of them and my limited knowledge about raid says that I need to have at least two drives to activate RAID.

 

[jitpublisher]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I know for a fact that the SSD will work well since I installed it on my older rig with SATA-II controlers. I'm just worried that the lack of AHCI and trim will kill the longevity and maybe some performance. My personal computer has the ACHI feature but my parents do not. I was also reading that I can still get TRIM enabled by installing RST - http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19482762?pi21953=2.

If/When I install the SSD in their computer, I will do a clean install rather than a data migration so should I just select RAID?? I will only be using the one SSD, not two of them and my limited knowledge about raid says that I need to have at least two drives to activate RAID.

You dont have to create an array with muliple drives to use the RAID controller. You can use a single drive.