Which SSD to choose for Intel P45?

[richaxes]

Hi!

My current computer has an Intel P5Q3 deluxe motherboard, which features an Intel P45 chipset with IHC10 controller.
Seeing that there is a wide range of solid state drivers available, and not being sure about their featuers (SATA II/III, I don't understand this) what should I get for my motherboard for optimal performance?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ngrego]

Thats a LGA775 board you have there, it does have SATA (II) ports so yes you can install an SSD. The drive wont run at max speed but thats not going to be a problem, it will run at far faster speeds than your HDD.
You shouldn't worry about upgrading any hardware on your current system because I don't think there are any SATA III mobos for LGA775 on the market. It would be better to upgrade the entire system when you can.
The only important thing now is windows 7 which is SSD friendly!

 

[richaxes]

Thats a LGA775 board you have there, it does have SATA (II) ports so yes you can install an SSD. The drive wont run at max speed but thats not going to be a problem, it will run at far faster speeds than your HDD.
You shouldn't worry about upgrading any hardware on your current system because I don't think there are any SATA III mobos for LGA775 on the market. It would be better to upgrade the entire system when you can.
The only important thing now is windows 7 which is SSD friendly!

Thank you for your kind and fast answer!
I'm running Windows 7 x64 Ultimate so this shouldn't be a problem.
So, if I understand correctly, it's not really important to buy something super high speed or expensive, because my mobo will only be able to utilize a part of its performance?
Also, what is the recommended size? I bet that the most important part of the SSD is that the system and software that I use should run from it, and I can back up and save stuff to my HDDs. Is this correct?

Thanks again!

 

[WyomingKnott]

Well, you buy the largest one that you can comfortably afford. Read the monthly Tom's guide on the best SSD at each price point: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-review-benchmark,3139.html . Just get one big enough for your OS unless you are doing something unusual that suggests some other configuration. (for an example of that, see this thread about someone who's going to put data on the SSD and leave the OS on the HDD: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=32&post=283104&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0 )

In my personal opinion, the difference between the best and the 80%-of-the-way to worst is so small that I won't notice it. See this illustration: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,3110-8.html

 

[ngrego]

^ That's true buy the largest capacity SSD you can afford that will fit your system, keeping in mind that it should not be >90% full. I have a 90GB but I would have been better off with 120GB.

SSDs are currently made for SATA3 ports but not all mobos have them available. The disk will run wonderfully on a SATA2 port giving your system an enormous speed boost compared to your HDD. Although if it were on a SATA3 it would be even faster. As WK describes above, the speed difference is very small and could probably only be recognized with bench-marking tools.

Once you have the drive you can use a cloning tool like Acronis to swap your system over to the SSD in 20-30 minutes and you will be running like nothing happened.

 

[richaxes]

Thank you again, guys!
If I want to do a clean install of Windows 7 on an SSD drive, is it possible to simply just go and install it? Or do I need anything special to make Windows 7's setup so that it recognizes the drive?

 

[WyomingKnott]

Thank you again, guys!
If I want to do a clean install of Windows 7 on an SSD drive, is it possible to simply just go and install it? Or do I need anything special to make Windows 7's setup so that it recognizes the drive?

There are a few dozen threads, and links in the stickied subject at the top of this forum, on good Win7 install practices. In my mind the top ones are have the controllers in AHCI mode when doing the install and have all drives but the SSD disconnected when doing the install. Read a few of these. Or http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-performance-tweak,2911.html .

Some of the points are arguable. I have a page file on my SSD, all my scratch directories on my SSD, and will eventually get around to doing a full index for Windows Search. I'd rather put more wear on the drive and have it work harder for me than slow myself down for the sake of the drive.