SSD...Worth it?

[DodgerKing]

It has been a year since I started this thread. In one year technology can change greatly. A year ago I decided it would probably be better if I wait a year or two. Now that I have waited I would like to know what are the current best SSD drives around? I do not need a large one. I will still use a hard drive to keep all my files and many of my programs.

 

[mike123abc]

I still only trust Intel branded ones.

 

[JAG72]

Things are still pretty much the same as they were a year ago. Both Intel and OCZ are the best drives out there IMO. For what you will be using the drive for you will see really no difference from what is out there today compared to a year ago besides the price has dropped and there are larger sizes on the consumer market.

 

[DodgerKing]

From what I read it is Intel, Crucial, and Samsung that are the best

 

[JAG72]

I can see the Samsung Pro being one of the top drives but I personally would not look at anything from Samsung below the Pro model.

 

[DodgerKing]

From what I read OCZ is fairly new and still has a lot of issues to work out

 

[JAG72]

From what I read OCZ is fairly new and still has a lot of issues to work out

OCZ has been out for quite some time. Not sure where you have seen that they are fairly new to the SSD market.

 

[tstolze]

I have 2 systems running Intel SSD's, probably 1 year or more at this time, one is a video editing/gaming rig, the other is our laptop used by the whole family daily but also gets mounted and used frequently in our car.

 

[KC9TIK]

I have the OCZ Vertex2 and a Patriot Warp. Both are superfast, owned more than a year each, and no problems yet. I also turned off all of the Windows garbage to increase speed.

 

[RandallA]

I have a couple of OCZ Vertex 3 and they're pretty fast. One in the wife's laptop and the other one in my desktop. I've only had them for a couple of months though so I can speak of reliability just yet.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I have a couple of OCZ Vertex 3 and they're pretty fast. One in the wife's laptop and the other one in my desktop. I've only had them for a couple of months though so I can speak of reliability just yet.

Just picked up one myself. They're on sale at Amazon now.

I'm going to make it my new "Main" HDD, but I'm not shot in the ass about re-installing everything from scratch on it. Is it easy to like "clone" my existing HDD and copy it onto my SSD and have it run right from there, or do I have to just suck it up and re install every damn thing?

 

[mike123abc]

If you are running win Vista/7/8 you can make a full image backup. But, your new drive has to be at least as large as the one you are replacing. If your old C: drive was lets say 500GB and you were using 150 of it and your SSD is 250, you will need to shrink your C: partition before the image backup.

Here is an article on shrinking it: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/shrink-and-extend-ntfs-volumes-in-windows/

Once you have it shrunk and image backed up you put in your new SSD and then boot the windows installation DVD and use the tools to restore the image.

 

[StevenD]

If you are running win Vista/7/8 you can make a full image backup. But, your new drive has to be at least as large as the one you are replacing. If your old C: drive was lets say 500GB and you were using 150 of it and your SSD is 250, you will need to shrink your C: partition before the image backup.

Here is an article on shrinking it: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/shrink-and-extend-ntfs-volumes-in-windows/

Once you have it shrunk and image backed up you put in your new SSD and then boot the windows installation DVD and use the tools to restore the image.

Be careful doing this! SSDs use a different alignment than most hard drives. You will get poor performance if the alignment on the SSD is not correct. Make sure you use a cloning tool that will automatically adjust the alignment. Acronis versions prior to 2011 do not do SSD alignment. I'm not certain if the Windows Image backup will do the alignment properly or not.

 

[yourbeliefs]

If you are running win Vista/7/8 you can make a full image backup. But, your new drive has to be at least as large as the one you are replacing. If your old C: drive was lets say 500GB and you were using 150 of it and your SSD is 250, you will need to shrink your C: partition before the image backup.

Here is an article on shrinking it: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/shrink-and-extend-ntfs-volumes-in-windows/

Once you have it shrunk and image backed up you put in your new SSD and then boot the windows installation DVD and use the tools to restore the image.

Well I'll be going from a 250GB to the 256GB SSD, so I don't think re-sizing and partitioning will be a problem.

Stupid question.. how exactly does the process work? I mean obviously yes it makes image file(s) but how can I do the actual restore to the new, completely clean SSD? I don't want to go and backup to DVD because that'll mean approximately 40 DVDs that I need. I have a 2 TB external HDD, but I don't know how my new computer can run that image. Do I need to reinstall Windows 7 and then restore the image? I want to avoid having to install Win 7 first in order to get the image up and running.

 

[K4LK]

I don't have one, but I've been told by a number of people that once you go SSD you won't ever go back, and it's one of the most worthwhile upgrades you can get for a PC.

I just installed a 512 Crucial SSD in my 2011 MacBook Pro. Can't believe how fast it is now. Blows me away. Do it

 

[DodgerKing]

Just picked up one myself. They're on sale at Amazon now.

I'm going to make it my new "Main" HDD, but I'm not shot in the ass about re-installing everything from scratch on it. Is it easy to like "clone" my existing HDD and copy it onto my SSD and have it run right from there, or do I have to just suck it up and re install every damn thing?

I think I may get the 128 Gig one for $90. I am currently only using about 80 gigs of my 500 gb HHD. If I put all my files on a secondary drive and use the SSD for the OS and programs only, 128 will be more than enough.

 

[meStevo]

My SSD at home is the biggest upgrade I've ever bought for any PC I've ever owned. If I didn't have to sit through BIOS, it would start about as fast as my SSD-equipped Macbook, ~8 or so seconds from the end of post to being able to open a browser.

 

[DodgerKing]

I think I may get the 128 Gig one for $90. I am currently only using about 80 gigs of my 500 gb HHD. If I put all my files on a secondary drive and use the SSD for the OS and programs only, 128 will be more than enough.

Never mind. Wait an hour and the price jumped $35. The merchant that was selling it for $90 already sold out.

 

[JAG72]

Never mind. Wait an hour and the price jumped $35. The merchant that was selling it for $90 already sold out.

Here is the drive that I have and it works great. Right now it is only $75 after a $10 rebate.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/...te_Drive_(SSD)_with_SandForce_2281_Controller

 

[mike123abc]

Well I'll be going from a 250GB to the 256GB SSD, so I don't think re-sizing and partitioning will be a problem.

Stupid question.. how exactly does the process work? I mean obviously yes it makes image file(s) but how can I do the actual restore to the new, completely clean SSD? I don't want to go and backup to DVD because that'll mean approximately 40 DVDs that I need. I have a 2 TB external HDD, but I don't know how my new computer can run that image. Do I need to reinstall Windows 7 and then restore the image? I want to avoid having to install Win 7 first in order to get the image up and running.

The way I do it is backup the drive to an external USB HD. Then swap the HD out for the SSD, then boot the recovery/install DVD, go under tools and restore the image back from the external USB HD. If something goes wrong you still have your original HD sitting outside the machine ready to be put back into service.