Ssd questions

[rufus_22]

Im planning on using an ssd for a boot drive . I've read approximately 60g will suffice . Does that sound right . Also any input on using ssd as a cache with the asus p8z68 mobo and finally I just read a post saying you can use an ssd as a dedicated drive for games to increase load times and overall performance . I still plan on using an hdd for bulk storage obviously . All thotts appreciated

 

[MajinCry]

For a boot drive? Depends how big your OS is. A 10GB one is plenty for Windows XP (Though I'd recommend getting a second SSD, one for the pagefile, one for the OS), 60GB is about right for Vista, 40GB is good for Windows 7.

But, before you take my word for it, it'd be a good idea for someone else to also give their input; I could be wrong about what I said.

 

[selayan]

For windows 7 you need 20gb. Also note you will not have a full 60gb once you install the ssd. I would put the user directory and user program data on the regular Hdd. Do this before you create a user name after the windows 7 install. There are guides, its called using audit mode to change locations of the users directory to the regular HDD so that you can save space over time on the SSD.

I am gonna get a 128gb so I can actually use the drive because that is what you are buying it for right, not just because you want your pc to boot quicker because boot times don't really matter.

 

[rufus_22]

Guess I should have specified windows 7 64 bit . I think I read something to that effect . Something like 17 g for the install and a few more after all the updates .

 

[selayan]

Yeh you are right I have win 7 x64 and with updates you are looking at 20-30gb of total OS use. I am in the process of looking for a deal on a 128gb ssd. I figure this would be good for the OS, User profiles, User Program data + a game or two and few apps that I use. Others have said a 240gb SSD would be very ideal for such a situation but they are expensive.

My 1tb HDD right now boots windows 7 x64 in 44 seconds so I am expecting this SSD to speed things up. But I would love to have a 240gb SSD for the fact that all I do is play games and use some apps and development on my pc..otherwise getting a 60gb model would be useless because you will not notice any difference since it will get filled up quickly. (Besides your pc booting faster).

 

[jitpublisher]

A 60 gig drive will work well for a boot drive, but don't get anything smaller. Even if you manage all your programs and downloads diligently, you will quickly find that you will be using about 30 gig or so. A 60gig drive will allow to install a few things that work hand in hand with your OS, like a browser, your antivirus software, a few odds and ends like that. A 120 gig SSD for an OS drive is really preferred, you can install a few other things like the game you are playing the most right now.
And yes, using an SSD as a boot drive speeds up everything, even if you do like me and use a secondary SATA II mechanical drive to store all your games and programs. Most of these load into memory and only go back to the drive occasionally anyway, so once they get started and loaded, if you have 8 gig or so of memory, trips back to the drive to get data can be much fewer.

 

[rufus_22]

60 it is then for the boot drive . So win 7 , updates , browser and antivirus on that . Then I was thinking a dedicated ssd for whatever my game du jour is .. The last one b4 my pc went bellyup was WOW . ( cringe ) dont judge me . What size ssd would you need for something that has that much content ?

 

[selayan]

Depends how many games you will have on there at once. I don't know about WOW but I know most games can be from 6-17gb depending on content and such. If you want you can get 2 60gb SSD's. One for the OS and stuff, the other for games. But in that case I would just get 1 240gb SSD and put some games and OS + apps on there. Most games do not really need to load a lot of things on the hard drive. Bf3, for example will and you most likely will be the 1st on the map in an online game. I would store the WOW game on the mechanical Hdd.

 

[rufus_22]

I think I like the 60 g x 2 thott . the 60's are fairly inexpensive and the idea of dedicated drives appeals to me ( dont know why ) my last rig died a slow , lingering death

 

[selayan]

Yeh sounds like a good idea. Just make sure you get two of the same models. Hopefully they wont clonk out on you. But if one does, you can have windows on the second one until you replace the broken drive. I'm only gonna get a 128gb model for the OS and a game or two. I just worry it will break one day and it would be a hassle to have to install windows again on the mechanical drive because any data stored would be formatted until the ssd was replaced. I'm more worried about reliability because sometimes I work from home for my company.

 

[rufus_22]

im planning on 60g x 3 . one for the smart response hdd cache option that the p8z68 mobo offers . Im planning on two hdd's for bulk storage . so yah if one of the three eats it one day I'll have two other ssd's that will likely have the extra room till I can replace the bad one . what ya think ?

 

[selayan]

I dunno about the z68 board. I have an asrock extreme3 gen3 so I only have 2 sata3 ports. Newegg has the crucial m4 64gb for 80 bucks free shipping. Three of them would be $240. While a 240GB SSD is around $250-280. I would do it the way you said but I have no clue why you would want 3 of them. When the bigger size models drop in price it would have been some wasteful money that is, if they get more reliable and price goes down for the larger GB models.

 

[rufus_22]

Good point . Ill look into that mmmm SATA 3Gb/s: x 4 .. now I know . glad you mentioned it

 

[RetiredChief]

Just some info:
60 Gig - conversion from decimial to ^2 - min of 10 % of drive as unused = what about 50 gigs usable.

My 4 systems (all with 120/128 gig OS + Program SSDs run around 35 gigs

Larger the SSD, the faster the SSD, There is no diff between using two x 60 gig vs 1 x 120 gig, except the 120 gig will be slightly faster (Not sure if noticable in real life).

Remember on SRT you will have to set your controler to raid I believe. Not a problem on intel system as Raid can be set in Bios and Trim will still be pasted to the SSD as LONG as the SSD is NOT a member drive of an raid array.

SRT was designed to be used in a system that did NOT use a SSD as a boot drive. When this is the case a system can improve OSD load and Program load and also benifit from capacity - Large percentage of cache will be OS + Programs. In This case it does NOT equall a OS + Program SSD in performance and the reason most reviews will recommend if SSD large enough use as program +_ OS, not SRT.
When SSD is employed along side of a OS + Program drive performance benifits will very widely between users and frequency/repeaditiveness of files loaded.

In all 3 of My systems (two desktops & one laptop): 120-128 gig SSD for OS + Porgrams Plus a 120/18 gig SSD for My most often used files (I figure that I know what files I want to load fast, NOT a program that guesses (even good guesses).

Added: On MB sata III controllers, avoid using the MB marvel Sata III controllers. Intel Sata III controller and using Intel RST driver (iaSTor) the best combo for performance.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Im planning on using an ssd for a boot drive . I've read approximately 60g will suffice . Does that sound right . Also any input on using ssd as a cache with the asus p8z68 mobo and finally I just read a post saying you can use an ssd as a dedicated drive for games to increase load times and overall performance . I still plan on using an hdd for bulk storage obviously . All thotts appreciated

Windows 7 64-Bit Home Premium is about 8-9GB with all updates. Depending on your RAM (Lets say you have 4GB), you will have around a 4GB pagefile and around a 4GB hibernation file.

If you have plenty of RAM, you really do not need a pagefile, and if you do not hibernate then you do not need the hibernation file. Both can be disabled.

I have an 80GB SSD for my OS and programs. Then I have another 500GB for my Games and Storage/Data. I have quite a lot of programs and I am using 25GB on my SSD now. I did disable both pagefile/hibernation file, because I have 6GB of ram and I do not use them.

Technically, for a purely OS drive, 20-30GB is easily enough.

Now, about load times and games. An SSD will surely speed up the process of opening games and loading things, however it WILL NOT increase your FPS. When your game is open, it is loaded in your RAM. The speed of your HDD/SSD has zero effect on game FPS.

 

[selayan]

I just got myself a crucial m4 128gb SSD for 140 bucks on eBay. Can't wait to try it out. Anyone know any good guides for setting up the program and user directory to use my 1tb mechanical HDD? I will run the tweaks to disable hibernate and page files since I have 8gb ram with the core I5 2500k.

 

[RetiredChief]

^ It is best to start your own thread as opposed to hijacking another's.

 

[selayan]

Sorry didn't mean to just got excited.

 

[rufus_22]

awsome ... learning lots here , so 2 medium size ssd 's will probobly do the job . Alot of the finer points noted are above my level at this point but its good to have this info to draw on later . ty all

 

[rufus_22]

Best answer selected by rufus_22.