SOLVED Would you recommend one of these?

[Osnaps]

Looking for a ssd to throw into the ole rig. Was wondering if these were good or if a suggestion could be made on one. I will be using it for windows and at least 1 game, all if they fit, but not a big deal if they don't. At the moment I have a regular old 250gb sata hd and still have over half the room left on it. I have about $90 to throw at it.

I am thinking a 90gb would probably be sufficient ( could be overkill not sure )

I see these 4 on the egg in the 90gb range
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227757 OCZ Agility 3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226290 Mushkin Enhanced Chronos

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227759 OCZ Vertex 3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233204 Corsair Force Series 3

and then these in the 120gb range ( price just seems nice)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231613 GSkill Phoenix 3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236 Mushkin Enhanced Chronos

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726 OCZ Agility 3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227729 OCZ Solid 3

Is it a case of 6 one way, half a dozen the other with these? Thanks for the tips and help!

 

[EarthDog]

Please list the names of the drives as well as the links next time. I didnt click on the links, but suggest:

Crucial M4
OCZ Vertex 4
Samsung 830

 

[Osnaps]

Please list the names of the drives as well as the links next time. I didnt click on the links, but suggest:

Crucial M4
OCZ Vertex 4
Samsung 830

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll update op

 

[cw823]

Please list the names of the drives as well as the links next time. I didnt click on the links, but suggest:

Crucial M4
OCZ Vertex 4
Samsung 830

What he said. Intel has always been good as well.

 

[Osnaps]

I can probably get the 64gb versions of those, I'm assuming that would be enough for windows and games correct?

 

[NeRealais]

Games have various sizes, from 100 MB to 20GB a piece. If you really want to install games on your SSD, in my opinion, at least 120GB is a must.

 

[Osnaps]

Games have various sizes, from 100 MB to 20GB a piece. If you really want to install games on your SSD, in my opinion, at least 120GB is a must.

Any suggestions on one or one of the ones at the top? Like said I've only got about a $90 budget.

I know I'd put 1 game on there for sure, the rest I dont play enough for it to really matter. I just figured if I had the space to throw them all on there great, if not no biggie either.

 

[EarthDog]

I listed the brands already.

 

[Seebs]

- 120GB --> OCZ Vertex 3 -> $94.99 ($84.99 after MIR)

- 128GB --> OCZ Vertex 4 -> $99.99

If I were you; I'd save the extra $10 and get the Vertex 4. It's got 8GB more and it's faster/newer.

 

[Osnaps]

I would love to grab one of those ED. I think they are a hair out of my price range though, at least as far as the 90gb 120/128gb ones go. Unless you guys think 64gb would be sufficient.

 

[EarthDog]

Looks like Seebs has you covered... in your price range.

 

[Seebs]

64GB will NOT be enough for OS and game(s). That is unless the game you plan on adding there is Tetris.

It's like this:
- Win 7 x64 with SP1 and all the updates (as of today) comes in at 22GB.
- You have 8GB of RAM, so unless you modify this manually; you'll have a page file 8GB in size (that's not part of the 22GB) that the OS takes.
- If you have any form of power saving features enabled in the OS (hibernation, etc); there will be another file named hiberfil.sys that will eat up a couple GBs at least.

So you've only installed the OS and are already ~30GB into 64GB disk.

Let's say the ONE game you want to have on there is BF3... That game alone comes in at 22.6GB.

See where this is going? On day one of your new SSD; you've already filled it up to 83% capacity; and what happens when M$ releases more updates? or EA/Origin release more expansion packs/updates to BF3?

You need 90GB at a minimum; and 120(8)GB would be recommended. The two options that I listed before are both close enough to your $90 budget (one is $6/$16 under and the other is $9.99 over)...

Go with the one that you can afford and enjoy.



Seebs

 

[Osnaps]

64GB will NOT be enough for OS and game(s). That is unless the game you plan on adding there is Tetris.

It's like this:
- Win 7 x64 with SP1 and all the updates (as of today) comes in at 22GB.
- You have 8GB of RAM, so unless you modify this manually; you'll have a page file 8GB in size (that's not part of the 22GB) that the OS takes.
- If you have any form of power saving features enabled in the OS (hibernation, etc); there will be another file named hiberfil.sys that will eat up a couple GBs at least.

So you've only installed the OS and are already ~30GB into 64GB disk.

Let's say the ONE game you want to have on there is BF3... That game alone comes in at 22.6GB.

See where this is going? On day one of your new SSD; you've already filled it up to 83% capacity; and what happens when M$ releases more updates? or EA/Origin release more expansion packs/updates to BF3?

You need 90GB at a minimum; and 120(8)GB would be recommended. The two options that I listed before are both close enough to your $90 budget (one is $6/$16 under and the other is $9.99 over)...

Go with the one that you can afford and enjoy.



Seebs

Awesome, that was kind of what I was looking for info wise!

 

[EarthDog]

+1 to seebs..

You can shrink the PF to 2GB, and disable hibernation and system restore to gain that back, but 60GB is usually for OS and a couple apps, thats it.

 

[Osnaps]

What/Are there any major differences between the Samsung 830 series and the OCZ Vertex 4 ?

 

[EarthDog]

I believe they use different controllers and possibly NAND, for the most part, nothing you need to worry about. The speeds are similar and so is the reliability for the most part.

 

[Osnaps]

Sounds good, now to pull the trigger

** one last quick and probably silly question, do either of those 2 have to be updated or are they ready to go out the box? I guess I mean like firmware wise.

 

[NeRealais]

I pulled my trigger this morning and ordered vertex 4 128GB, grabed it from shop this afternoon and now Im 95% ready to reinstall windows.

Btw, dont forget to look up some ssd tweak tutorials, which improve performace and save some space on them. For example, this post.

 

[EarthDog]

Some of those are garbage though...

With W7 all you need to do is put the drive on the Intel SATAIII(6Gbps) ports (assuming you have intel), set the bios to AHCI for those ports. Install windows. Install chipset drivers and GPU drivers, Run WEI (will set up the PC for SSD use).

For space saving:

Shrink PF to 0-2GB
Disable hibernation
Disable system restore (or shrink to limit size)

Done.

I wouldnt do #2 as the PF is made up primarily of small files IIRC, and that is what SSD's excel in.. shrinking it gives you the best of both worlds.
I also wouldnt do #4 as when you run WEI, I believe it disables indexing on SSD's in the first place. They are so fast they dont need it.

 

[Seebs]

Sounds good, now to pull the trigger

** one last quick and probably silly question, do either of those 2 have to be updated or are they ready to go out the box? I guess I mean like firmware wise.

They should come with the latest firmware already on them, but it's always good practice to visit the manufacturer's website to check on that.

OCZ Vertex 4 is on firmware 1.5 at the moment. So that's what you should have on your drive.

The Samsung site does not list what version they're at right now.

Both brands have SW that will do the checking/updating of the firmware for you.
Samsung's is named SSD Magic Tool.
OCZ's is named OCZ Toolbox.
They can be downloaded at their respective websites.