FU HDD, SSD FTW!!

Just got myself a 120GB SSD and put Windows 7 on it and my GOD!!!! I was like meh it won't make a difference at all, yeah Windows went on it, hit power button, fully booted in 10 seconds, I actaully walked off to go to get a drink and some food and still have it booting like it used to, my misses shouted me and said it was done, I only just got to the first step on the stairs and was like you taking the p**s and looked and she wasn't, like WOAH!!!

HDD's can now go f thereself for booting with, SSD's are by far a lot better than HDD's for booting with, I love it!!!

I got a Crutial M500 120GB on Ebay for £40 with free postage.



Edited, please don't test our naughty word filter
RT!

I recently bought a new 512GB Samsung SSD and I feel like it was a big waste of money. I mean, ok, the OS boots faster and programs load faster, but that averages to about 1 minute saved per day since I always just leave my computer on and lots of stuff gets cached into the RAM. I'm actually using my HDD now instead of the SSD because I didn't transfer my files over and I really can't be bothered to.

Trottel said:

I recently bought a new 512GB Samsung SSD and I feel like it was a big waste of money. I mean, ok, the OS boots faster and programs load faster, but that averages to about 1 minute saved per day since I always just leave my computer on and lots of stuff gets cached into the RAM. I'm actually using my HDD now instead of the SSD because I didn't transfer my files over and I really can't be bothered to.

Click to expand...

Give it me then I could use the extra OS space for the extra programmes I'll be using, lol

SSD's are faster all around for many things.
Yes booting is a huge positive side to things. Its more shock resistant, its cooler temp, no moving parts so it most likely will last a lot longer.
Loading programs, files, installations of files, transfers to other high speed devices are quicker. Reading/writing small files is MUCH faster.

When I started out with SSD's my computer was feeling slow. Figured I'd need to upgrade my CPU. Well behold the SSD... dropped it into the system and it was a whole new rig. Eventually I did upgrade the CPU almost a year later, but I still have those SSD's I got in service, and have gotten larger ones as well to replace all my HDD's in my main rig. Only thing I might use a HDD for is now back up purposes. I will say yes they are pricey, and they might not be for everyone, but if you do more than surf the web and do a word document or two on the computer its a thing to love for the system.

Now I do have to say, faster SSD's or newer ones these days don't seem to give a huge benefit over a previous model 1-2 years old. All stuck at the same point, its maxed out the bus and really there isn't much to do. Even if it was faster it wouldn't be as a huge of a difference.

Ehhh I still perfer to focus on performance increases that are more real, i.e. graphics cards and such.

But when the prices of HDDs and SSDs are equal then I too will be jumping on the bandwagon.

Culbrelai said:

Ehhh I still perfer to focus on performance increases that are more real, i.e. graphics cards and such.

But when the prices of HDDs and SSDs are equal then I too will be jumping on the bandwagon.

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Please, enlighten me, how is boot time, program load time, and generally faster responsiveness not a "real performance increase"?

ATMINSIDE said:

Please, enlighten me, how is boot time, program load time, and generally faster responsiveness not a "real performance increase"?

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Once things are loaded, you aren't getting more FPS in games. You wont get faster benchmark times. It makes your system more "snappy" and pleasurable to use, but I wouldn't call that a performance increase personally speaking.

SSD's are definitely still in the "luxury" department of things imho. Still well north of $.50/gb makes it unusable for mass storage for the average consumer, and those little guys fill up fast. Worth it? For sure yes. I don't expect the prices to be equal (Ever), but I'd like to see the prices dip below .30/gb myself.

bob4933 said:

Once things are loaded, you aren't getting more FPS in games. You wont get faster benchmark times. It makes your system more "snappy" and pleasurable to use, but I wouldn't call that a performance increase personally speaking.

SSD's are definitely still in the "luxury" department of things imho. Still well north of $.50/gb makes it unusable for mass storage for the average consumer, and those little guys fill up fast. Worth it? For sure yes. I don't expect the prices to be equal (Ever), but I'd like to see the prices dip below .30/gb myself.

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Over the holidays there were 240gb Crucial SATA3 SSDs for $70 (I bought one for my wife's macbook)

OP - Welcome to SSD's...

At the rest, yikes. Outside of FPS in gaming, running an SSD is probably the most tangible of improvements you can get on your PC for day to day activities. Boot times, loading anything, etc. It gives you that snappy feel that you don't have if your programs load off a HDD. Clearly if your goal is more FPS and your budget is borderline it makes sense to get a better GPU. However if there is room and the performance will be where they want in games, you would be doing yourself, or those you are helping on the forums, an injustice NOT suggesting an SSD.

bob4933 said:

Once things are loaded, you aren't getting more FPS in games. You wont get faster benchmark times. It makes your system more "snappy" and pleasurable to use, but I wouldn't call that a performance increase personally speaking.

SSD's are definitely still in the "luxury" department of things imho. Still well north of $.50/gb makes it unusable for mass storage for the average consumer, and those little guys fill up fast. Worth it? For sure yes. I don't expect the prices to be equal (Ever), but I'd like to see the prices dip below .30/gb myself.

Click to expand...

I call loading day-to-day programs instantly a performance increase over waiting for them to open.
And not waiting for your computer to cut on.
And reduced power draw.
And better page file performance (which actually can impact gaming performance).

Also, the 840 EVO and 850 EVO are consistently in the ~$0.40-0.45/GB range.

An additional perk is working. I click on various programs to start and 'Bam', they're there. When on the phone with a client and they ask a question, the ability to click on a word document or spreadsheet, pdf, whatever, and have both the program load and the file open within seconds is a dynamic way of impressing a client. They almost believe that I've got all their answers pre-memorized. So yes, there is that snappy feeling that has more in depth benefits than just 'hey, it's faster'.

ATMINSIDE said:

I call loading day-to-day programs instantly a performance increase over waiting for them to open.
And not waiting for your computer to cut on.
And reduced power draw.
And better page file performance (which actually can impact gaming performance).

Also, the 840 EVO and 850 EVO are consistently in the ~$0.40-0.45/GB range.

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Im NOT disagreeing with you! ALL Im saying is that if it came down to choosing a better gpu or cpu that will actually net you better in game performance (if thats the goal) or getting an SSD, the SSD should come after the fact. You can always add an SSD later, its more difficult to trade up your cpu or gpu.

bob4933 said:

Im NOT disagreeing with you! ALL Im saying is that if it came down to choosing a better gpu or cpu that will actually net you better in game performance (if thats the goal) or getting an SSD, the SSD should come after the fact. You can always add an SSD later, its more difficult to trade up your cpu or gpu.

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I venture to say it's more difficult to add an SSD later than a GPU.

SSD:
- Reinstall OS, all programs, and then redo all settings.

GPU:
- Install new drivers

I recently picked up an 840 EVO and it makes a huge difference. I'd put an SSD in anyone's computer, because unlike CPU or GPU which, provided it was made in the last 5-7 years, isn't going to make a noticeable difference in everyday activities outside gaming, an SSD is actually immediately noticeable by almost everyone. I didn't think it was life changing but as someone who games only rarely it was the first computer upgrade that really felt like an immediate 'upgrade'. You could feel the difference in speed your money made. I'm also using Linux, and (although this is entirely anecdotal) 'people' say you notice less of a difference is Linux because it already doesn't use that many resources and is better at cacheing in RAM, but it was still a noticeable kick in the pants.

I've also started mounting my Linux /tmp directory (temporary files) on a tmpfs (ram disk), so while my medicore 3 year old machine chokes on most games, you want to browse the web, play some movies, check email, use skype, write documents etc. and the thing is deadly fast. I use an HDD for mass storage (along with a home server for some more storage) and I really think that's a good set up.