Two questions regarding SSD...

[Rathine]

Ok, I checked the "useful" article part 2 and unfortunately it is hundreds of pages long. With my attention span I was hoping to find a brief, but concise answer.

First, how can you tell if an SSD is about to go "bad" ? With a traditional HDD we all know to listen for clicking or grinding sounds... Are there any real indicators with SSD?

Secondly, will an SSD running WITHOUT trim be faster than a traditional drive regardless?

 

[geofelt]

So with a clean install, AHCI should be just as stable as IDE?

Probably even more stable.

 

[Rathine]

Perfect... Is it possible to get AHCI to function with windows vista or 2000?

 

[fantastik250]

But, in an XP operating system there are missing drivers and a lot of steps. You should look through some of the links I provided on how to properly install AHCI drivers. In Vista and Windows 7 it already includes the drivers.

I will provide a couple more links:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/267318-45-ahci
http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/TSB85017Z0000R01.htm

For XP AHCI drivers:
http://techrena.blogspot.com/2009/01/download-intel-sata-ahci-drivers-for.html

Yes, AHCI helps control your SATA.

 

[Rathine]

Ok, so bottom line, if you're not running AHCI, is there any real reason to get an SSD over a head and platter drive?

 

[rus2]

Yes, at its default settings CrystalDiskMark writes 20GB of test data per run. If you've run 3 or more tests in a row you should Log off overnight to allow GC to recover drive performance.

I think I've finally got my head around Trim and Garbage Collection. Trim enables Garbage Collection to do it's job behind the scene efficiently.

Thanks for your patience with me, Dereck47.

 

[fantastik250]

Ok, so bottom line, if you're not running AHCI, is there any real reason to get an SSD over a head and platter drive?

That is correct, you are not using the true potential of the SSD.

 

[mikekoz]

I am a PC technician and I will tell you a few things about these drives. We have them in laptops at work, and they are fast and use less power than a standard hard drive, but have one disadvantage. In my experience, when they fail, they simply die and the system no longer recognizes them. They should be more reliable than a mechanical drive, although I have no figures to back that up, but it is very unlikely you will get data from them if they fail, so keep your stuff backed up! In a nutshell, these drives are memory chips on a circuit board. If the chips fail, the data that was on them is gone. If the circuit board fails, the chips can be soldered on another board, but this can cost losts of $$$! I am not trying to scare anybody away from getting one as I will get one for my laptop at some point, but just want to share my experience with others on this forum.

 

[geofelt]

That is correct, you are not using the true potential of the SSD.

I would disagree. Not getting the true potential, yes, but to forgo a SSD for that reason would not be correct.

Because there is no mechanical motion, a SSD will be WAAY faster than any hard drive; even without trim.
Trim is a benefit for updates, but for reading, trim is irrelevant.
Early ssd's did not have trim, and as an early adopter, I still found a big diffrence.
If you will be using a os that does not support trim, or, can't implement it, do not worry. You will be very pleased.

 

[jitpublisher]

I am a PC technician and I will tell you a few things about these drives. We have them in laptops at work, and they are fast and use less power than a standard hard drive, but have one disadvantage. In my experience, when they fail, they simply die and the system no longer recognizes them. They should be more reliable than a mechanical drive, although I have no figures to back that up, but it is very unlikely you will get data from them if they fail, so keep your stuff backed up! In a nutshell, these drives are memory chips on a circuit board. If the chips fail, the data that was on them is gone. If the circuit board fails, the chips can be soldered on another board, but this can cost losts of $$$! I am not trying to scare anybody away from getting one as I will get one for my laptop at some point, but just want to share my experience with others on this forum.

Not really so different than a failed mechanical drive. I have had my share of those over the years, many, many times both at home and at the office. Getting info off of a mechanical drive can be iffy at best, and expensive as well. I have been using SSD's for a little over a year now in a few of my systems, and have not had one fail, yet anyway. An SSD in my opinion does not cause any more alarm or need for a good backup than any mechanical drive would.

Always, always, always in any circumstance, back up your important stuff!
If you do not, no matter what kind of drives you use, you WILL live to regret it!

 

[geofelt]

Here is a report on component return rates from november 2011.
Not exactly failure rates, but at least some sort of statistics.
http://www.behardware.com/articles/843-6/components-returns-rates-5.html

As usual, it depends.
Intel SSD's seem to be far and away the best. .1 to .3% return rates.
OCZ, on the other hand has some models in the 5% area.
For hard drives, the 1tb drives fare better than the 2tb drives.
For the most part, the best drives are in the 1-2% range.
The worst are n the 4-5% area.

jitpublisher has it right on backup.
If you value your data, protect it to an external destination.
Not only do you need to protect from device failure, but also from operator error, viruses, malware, fire, theft etc...

 

[fantastik250]

I would disagree. Not getting the true potential, yes, but to forgo a SSD for that reason would not be correct.

Because there is no mechanical motion, a SSD will be WAAY faster than any hard drive; even without trim.
Trim is a benefit for updates, but for reading, trim is irrelevant.
Early ssd's did not have trim, and as an early adopter, I still found a big diffrence.
If you will be using a os that does not support trim, or, can't implement it, do not worry. You will be very pleased.

Yes, I already know the benefits of the SSD, in fact I have stated in other threads about benefits you have mentioned. The OP was specifically talking about the mode setting. AHCI has a better response, transfer, better IO and etc, versus the legacy IDE.

+1 to mikekoz, it is always important to backup your files.

 

[Rathine]

I wonder if there's a problem with my drive, my OS or my motherboard as to why AHCI cannot be enabled. Has anyone heard of problems with the AMD 790XT - G45 chipsets?

 

[fantastik250]

What operating system are you using?

 

[Dereck47]

Disconnect all drives and clear the cmos on your motherboard.
Boot into BIOS and change your SATA mode to AHCI.
Save your BIOS settings and shut down pc.
Connect your drives, boot into BIOS, and see if your SATA mode is still AHCI.

 

[fantastik250]

It wouldn't matter if OP did that. Windows already have installed drivers according to BIOS on 1st time setup. Depending on the operating system, he would need to do a registry edit or install drivers. XP=install drivers, vista/7=change registry settings.

 

[Dereck47]

It wouldn't matter if OP did that. Windows already have installed drivers according to BIOS on 1st time setup. Depending on the operating system, he would need to do a registry edit or install drivers. XP=install drivers, vista/7=change registry settings.

I thought the OP was having troubles enabling AHCI in BIOS.

 

[fantastik250]

Op didn't specifically state what OS the computer is running. Op only mentioned not running Windows 7

 

[Rathine]

I use Windows 2000 for anything that will run on it. For things that won't, I use XP 64-bit edition. I get a blue screen after either OS loads if I save AHCI in the BIOS.