128GB SSD Sufficient?

[Stochastic]

I'm preparing for a new build I'm going to assemble in the next few weeks. I've decided that I want to go all solid state, but I haven't yet settled on a particular drive or capacity. I store very few files on my main PC (photos, projects, videos etc. are either stored online or an an external HDD), so I don't need capacious storage.

Right now I'm using 122GB on my 64-bit Win7 desktop. This includes several installed games (a little over 65GB worth). By uninstalling just a few games and perhaps some judicious pruning of certain Windows files, I could probably cut that number down to 80GB or less. As such, I'm considering getting a 128GB SSD. However, I'm a little worried that I'll come to regret not springing for a larger drive.

So, to get to point: Should I settle for a 128GB drive or should I just go ahead and get a larger capacity drive?

 

[GoStumpy]

IMHO, 180gb is a sweet spot

 

[Stochastic]

Do you have any particular drive recommendations? Most of the good drives I've been looking at come in either 128 or 240/256 sizes.

 

[mnewsham]

I would look at getting a good deal on a 240GB drive I have seen some sales for as low as $220 or so.

 

[fstime]

No, completely not satisfied with mine.

Windows 7 takes up 20 GB alone so your down to 100 GB already.

Install 4-7 Games like The Witcher 2 (18 GB) and Skryim (8 GB) and your going to find yourself having to uninstall some in order to make room for new installs.

Note, that is with all media such as movies and music on a separate drive as well. I don't have many programs installed either.

I would go with one of the sales going on now such as the M4 for ~$220 (or another Marvel based SSD like the Plextor or Samsung 830).

 

[lehtv]

Going with an SSD only system, I'd recommend a bit bigger drive than that. You don't want to cram it full, it's good to have some free space on it for optimal performance.

Assuming you're in the US, this is IMO the best candidate: Crucial M4 256GB $250. It's not long ago that the 128GB version of this drive cost over $200.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

The more you fill, the slower it gets. So I would always keep 50%+ free. With 128gb around 110gb is useful, so we have 55gb usable.

I have a windows 7 ultimate 64 sp1 installation with office and no games on the ssd and apps worth less than 5gb or less, and it takes about 50-60gb in just all this within 1 month of the installation with just temporary files and stuff. I have even disabled the additional ram page file and stuff which is a good 12gb I would have used otherwise.

IMO at current prices either wait with your for a few months or go 240+ gb plus

And if you will watch movies and play games then you need at least 2 240gb

 

[Kartajan]

with my only installed games being Civ 5 and UT3, keeping all movies, files, etc on my server I personally use 65G on my 128G m4 SSD, running Win7x64. If you want to keep it simple like me, a 128G is just fine. Otherwise, I would run a 256G SSD.


I frequently recommend something around a 500G HDD as a secondary "temporary" repository in the event a 128G is just plain not big enough, and just keep the really important stuff on the SSD. (the HDD gets the non speed critical software, such as office and such)

 

[lehtv]

it'd be about the same price to buy Crucial m4 128 + 500gb hdd as Crucial m4 256. So if 256 is definitely enough, it's the better option

 

[mfenn]

I would not have a 128GB drive as my only storage. That storage doesn't have to be physically in the machine, it could easily be on a NAS or external drive.

Assuming that I have some place to put media files, then yes I do not feel limited by having a 128GB SSD in my machine. I'm currently using 65GB, and that's with a few big games as well as a boatload of random apps installed.