SSD

[rob-081]

Hi All,

Is it worth adding an SSD to my below PC? And if so what speed/class would work well? I want faster performance all around, faster boot-up and faster loading of the user profile. By the way, I intend to upgrade the CPU to hopefully AMD X6 Six-core or an X4 quad-core.

Thank you,
Rob

-----------I am running; ----- Overview------------------
Processor : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
CPU Speed: 2.91 GHz
Memory : 2048MB(Speed 800)
(Actual Ram 4GB.... But only 3.25 GB of RAM recognized).
Mother Board : M4A78L-M
Windows Version : Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3
Installation Date : 2008-12-04
Monitor : Plug and Play Monitor
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS
Mouse : USB Human Interface Device
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Disk Drive : WDC WD2500AAKS-00VSA0(232GB, IDE)
DVD/CD-ROM Drive : SONY DVD RW DRU-V200A

 

[Soda-88]

best cpu you can use on that mobo is Phenom X4 9950 according to cpu support list (you gotta keep in mind to check your mobo's revision and update the bios before you replace cpu)
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M4A78LM/#CPUS

about ssd, it's always a nice upgrade over hdd, regardless of which model you get

 

[rob-081]

Hey Soda-88... Thank you for your input. You missed the X6 listed on the site because the listing is not sorted alphabetically. But anyway. By the way the mobo is capable of AM3 and AM2+ cpu. In fact the X6 is AM3 socket and listed on ASUS's website. The only problem I may encounter with the CPU choice is that AMD discontinued the flagship AM3 CPU 1100T 3.3GHz but other X6's are available. But please let me know, if you see any conflict.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M4A78LM/#CPUS

QUESTION: Would the SSD supplement the HDD, and what software or controllers would you suggest. I take it only the OS would be loaded on the SSD. Please advise.

I appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

[Soda-88]

oh sorry about that, my bad

well since you have sata2 controller on mobo you have 2 options, either get sata3 drive (i'd get 90gb vertex 3/force gt personally) and basically futureproof yourself for when you upgrade your rig, or get some older and more reliable sata2 drive such as 80gb intel 320

note that with sata3 drive you will saturate your sata controller far better than with sata2 drive too

reason why i don't really recommend 60/64gb drives is because they use less channels which leads to lower write speeds compared to 90/96gb or larger drives, it also give you some breathing room so you don't have to calculate every byte you gonna use (like, sadly, i do)

edit: damn i'm blind today, well truth to be told, i'm slashing windows installation on my recovery partition with w7toolkit to make it lighter on my puny ssd

QUESTION: Would the SSD supplement the HDD, and what software or controllers would you suggest. I take it only the OS would be loaded on the SSD. Please advise.

you can stuff quite alot on a 80+ gig ssd with following tweaks:

1) disable paging file (virtual memory) on ssd and enable it on your hdd
2) disable hibernate (in command prompt type 'powercfg -h off'; if that doesn't get rid of hiberfil.sys in C:\ try 'powercfg /hibernate off', don't have xp around to test)
3) disable system restore on ssd, enable on hdd (same deal as with pagefile, also optional)
4) if you're gonna install, for example ms office, pick the applications you really use instead of just installing stuff like visio, access and whatnot; same rule applies to all application suites - customize the installation
5) have only the games you play frequently on the ssd (so having steam on it is not recommended, well unless you have couple of games on it; my steam takes over 100gb of space )

also don't forget to keep ~15% of the space free (around 10gb) to avoid massive performance drop due to garbage collection not being able to do its job properly (winxp doesn't support TRIM which would make things that much worse in case you fill it up to the teeth)

 

[rob-081]

Hey Soda-88,

Thank you very much for your help. I really appreciate your helping and sharing the knowledge. You take care my friend!


Rob-081