SSDs: 2 x 120GB vs 1 x 250GB (Not RAID)

[alza6991]

Hi guys,

I was looking into getting a SSD for my new computer that I'm building (primarily/specifically for gaming), and after some research it seems that SSDs don't last as long as disc-based HDDs.

So my question is, am I better off buying 2 120 GB drives (1 for OS and applications, the other just for games) or getting one 250GB drive?

I was thinking, if I have the games on the separate drive, then when i'm not playing them that SSD isn't being used (ie not being weared down), meaning it will last longer.

But I also know that 120GB drives don't have the performance of their 250GB counterparts, so I'm not sure how to choose.

Any help will be appreciated guys!
Many thanks!

 

[solomonshv]

get one big SSD and a cheap HDD for regular back ups. I use acronis to make images. if you aren't going to RAID the two 120GB SSDs than you will be much better off with a single larger SDD.

i got two 120GB drives and put them in RAID to get better performance over a 240GB drive. I'm getting 1000 MB/s read/write speeds.

 

[alza6991]

get one big SSD and a cheap HDD for regular back ups. I use acronis to make images. if you aren't going to RAID the two 120GB SSDs than you will be much better off with a single larger SDD.

i got two 120GB drives and put them in RAID to get better performance over a 240GB drive. I'm getting 1000 MB/s read/write speeds.

Yeah I'm not planning on having any RAID, and I've got a WD Black 1TB for all music and videos etc.

I get that the two 120GB drives will be slower, but is it worth it for the extended survivability of the drives themselves?

 

[solomonshv]

Yeah I'm not planning on having any RAID, and I've got a WD Black 1TB for all music and videos etc.

I get that the two 120GB drives will be slower, but is it worth it for the extended survivability of the drives themselves?

nope. if a drive is dying, it will die anyway. the 120 GB drive has the same probability of dying as a 250GB drive. in theory, you are spreading the workload between two disks and you would think that chance of one dying will be lowered. but in reality it's not so cut and dry. a drive that is well built with good components will last a long time. a drive with shit components or defects is going to die in more or less the same amount of time regardless of the workload.

in short, no it will not help your cause. failing drives are just luck of the draw. i work in IT and we had a Dell server ordered with enterprise class SSDs in it, each costing north of $2500. one week after installation one drive died. but that's why we keep back ups, even if we are running raid.

 

[alza6991]

Yeah I'm not planning on having any RAID, and I've got a WD Black 1TB for all music and videos etc.

I get that the two 120GB drives will be slower, but is it worth it for the extended survivability of the drives themselves?

nope. if a drive is dying, it will die anyway. the 120 GB drive has the same probability of dying as a 250GB drive. in theory, you are spreading the workload between two disks and you would think that chance of one dying will be lowered. but in reality it's not so cut and dry. a drive that is well built with good components will last a long time. a drive with shit components or defects is going to die in more or less the same amount of time regardless of the workload.

in short, no it will not help your cause. failing drives are just luck of the draw. i work in IT and we had a Dell server ordered with enterprise class SSDs in it, each costing north of $2500. one week after installation one drive died. but that's why we keep back ups, even if we are running raid.

I understand what you are saying, but don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about buying cheaper/worsely made drives instead of 1 good one.

I'm talking about getting the same drive, just a smaller size ( eg Samsung 840 120Gb instead of 250Gb). So quality shouldn't be an issue.

I also want to make 2 other things clear (I'm not sure if I said it correctly before):

1: One drive would have ONLY games installed, so when I'm not playing games it is sitting idle.
2: I'm not talking about drives dying because they are faulty or bad parts, each drive has a MTBF (average lifespan), and the more you use/write to the drive the more lifespan it uses.

Thats why I was thinking, If I have one drive, no matter what I am doing it is using the same lifespan up. If I have 2, when I am not playing games, that SSD with games is not having it's lifespan used up, and when I DO play games, the SSD with the OS isn't being used as much.

 

[mad-max79]

I would just use one SSD and make backups. Then everything else would end in recovering on RMA drive.

 

[basalt51]

Yeah I'm not planning on having any RAID, and I've got a WD Black 1TB for all music and videos etc.

I get that the two 120GB drives will be slower, but is it worth it for the extended survivability of the drives themselves?

nope. if a drive is dying, it will die anyway. the 120 GB drive has the same probability of dying as a 250GB drive. in theory, you are spreading the workload between two disks and you would think that chance of one dying will be lowered. but in reality it's not so cut and dry. a drive that is well built with good components will last a long time. a drive with shit components or defects is going to die in more or less the same amount of time regardless of the workload.

in short, no it will not help your cause. failing drives are just luck of the draw. i work in IT and we had a Dell server ordered with enterprise class SSDs in it, each costing north of $2500. one week after installation one drive died. but that's why we keep back ups, even if we are running raid.

I understand what you are saying, but don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about buying cheaper/worsely made drives instead of 1 good one.

I'm talking about getting the same drive, just a smaller size ( eg Samsung 840 120Gb instead of 250Gb). So quality shouldn't be an issue.

I also want to make 2 other things clear (I'm not sure if I said it correctly before):

1: One drive would have ONLY games installed, so when I'm not playing games it is sitting idle.
2: I'm not talking about drives dying because they are faulty or bad parts, each drive has a MTBF (average lifespan), and the more you use/write to the drive the more lifespan it uses.

Thats why I was thinking, If I have one drive, no matter what I am doing it is using the same lifespan up. If I have 2, when I am not playing games, that SSD with games is not having it's lifespan used up, and when I DO play games, the SSD with the OS isn't being used as much.

I now this is old, but I found it in a search so others might as well. I just wanted to add to the 1 vs 2 drives question. The only reasons to go to 2 drives over one is to increase redundancy or speed (assuming you can achieve the same capacity either way). You nearly double your chance of a drive failure with a second drive. It is highly unlikely that you will wear out a drive. Most failures are due to a faulty component, and even if you buy top quality drives, manufacturing errors occur. Unless for some reason you NEED the speed or redundancy, it is (almost) always better to use fewer drives.