Anyone here running a SSD just for OS?

[AndroidVageta]

I'm thinking of getting a cheaper smaller SSD just for my OS and small programs...looking at sub $100...16-32GB. Anyone using one specifically for this purpose? I'm just trying to get my PC experience a little faster, my HDD are slow as hell booting Vista.

 

[996GT2]

I'm running a 40GB Kingston (Intel 34nm based) SSD for Windows 7 x64 and apps such as MS office, Photoshop, etc. Have 14 gigs free.

It runs absolutely great-fast bootups and very responsive.

 

[AndroidVageta]

How much price wise though? Im looking for something cheap so although it might not be as fast as the fastest SSD it would still be faster than a HDD and Windows would be snappier.

Looking at something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220455

Seems blazing fast and should be enough space...I just feel weird paying $100 for a 30GB hard drive...what is this? 2001? LOL!

 

[Idontcare]

How much price wise though? Im looking for something cheap so although it might not be as fast as the fastest SSD it would still be faster than a HDD and Windows would be snappier.

Looking at something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220455

Seems blazing fast and should be enough space...I just feel weird paying $100 for a 30GB hard drive...what is this? 2001? LOL!

Nothing but that renowned Newegg Quality for you there:

They are Shipping Used Units

Reviewed By: on 12/10/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Someone forgot the erase the drive first before putting it back into a new box.

Cons: I was installing Ubuntu and the installer asked if I wanted to delete the existing WinXP partition. There already was an OS installed on this supposedly NEW drive. It was even bootable.

Other Thoughts: This is completely despicable and unacceptable. They're refurbing units from laptops or netbooks and selling them as new. They aren't even erasing them before putting them into new boxes. Patriot just lost themselves a customer in me and any company I work for and any person who asks me for input.

 

[jimhsu]

If I can't tell at a glance what controller is in there, I don't buy.

 

[shabby]

Looking at something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220455

Seems blazing fast and should be enough space...I just feel weird paying $100 for a 30GB hard drive...what is this? 2001? LOL!

Stay away from that ssd, its extremely slow compared to the 40gb kingston, it's random writes are as slow as a typical hard drive.

 

[AndroidVageta]

Damn...how does Patriot get away with this stuff? How much is the Kingston drive? 40gigs plenty for Windows 7?

 

[996GT2]

40gigs plenty for Windows 7?

Read my post lol.

 

[garritynet]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-393-_-Product

This product is definitely in your price range if you don't mind a rebate. Pretty speedy. Supports trim. Just big enough to handle W7, pagefile and a few programs.

 

[Andrmgic]

I second the vertex recommendation. I've been very pleased with mine.

They are very fast, work well, have had regular firmware updates and support TRIM.

 

[E6700]

just got my vertex series 30g today,but disappointed with the benchmark shows read/write only 181/78 instead of 230/135

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/xhaux/ssd.jpg

 

[Griswold]

my HDD are slow as hell booting Vista.

If booting is your main or only concern, I suggest using standby. No SSD will beat that and it comes for free!

 

[Old Hippie]

just got my vertex series 30g today,but disappointed with the benchmark shows read/write only 181/78 instead of 230/135

AHCI enabled?

Partition aligned correctly?

 

[taltamir]

all the 16 and 32GB SSDs use the crappy old jmicron controller, making them SLOWER THEN A SPINDLE DRIVE!

Do not buy!

 

[garritynet]

AHCI enabled?

Partition aligned correctly?

I get similar performance with the same drive. Aligned correctly and all that.

 

[Old Hippie]

I get similar performance with the same drive. Aligned correctly and all that.

Kind of a bummer that the specs are that far off in real world performance.

 

[vshah]

buy an OCZ agility or vertex 60, or the intel 80. these are the only small drives that support trim. (the larger versions of all of these do as well, but they're $$$ and excessive for OS only)

i run an x-25m 80gb for os/apps. have os, office, and 3 games installed, 30gb free

not having room for more games doesn't really bother me. i rip all my game CDs to iso, and store them on my archive drive. on the ssd, they take minutes to install.

 

[pjkenned]

I'm using SSD's in all of the machines I physically touch now. Just before thanksgiving I picked up a Patriot PS-100 32GB for $60 after rebate at Fry's. Since there are no real reviews here's mine: http://www.servethehome.com/?p=206 This weekend I stuck the drive in an N330/ION based system that is just playing media off of my Windows Home Server so for $60 it holds Win7 and all programs/ media are streamed via GigE. Setup works very well but for my main systems I'm only using Intel/Indilinx based drives at this point.

 

[E6700]

all the 16 and 32GB SSDs use the crappy old jmicron controller, making them SLOWER THEN A SPINDLE DRIVE!

Do not buy!

Thanks for the info,wish i'd had known that sooner.

AHCI enabled?

Partition aligned correctly?

Yes.AHCI enabled.

 

[taltamir]

I am running an intel 80GB G2 for the OS, programs, and the occasional game (for specific "problem" games... most games I keep on spindle drive).

 

[garritynet]

Kind of a bummer that the specs are that far off in real world performance.

Real world performance is the same, instant. Benchmark scores will vary with the system they are run under.

 

[shabby]

just got my vertex series 30g today,but disappointed with the benchmark shows read/write only 181/78 instead of 230/135

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/xhaux/ssd.jpg

I think atto will give you the 230/135 numbers, i could of swore it even says that on the sticker on the box.

 

[Zap]

If booting is your main or only concern, I suggest using standby. No SSD will beat that and it comes for free!

:thumbsup:

all the 16 and 32GB SSDs use the crappy old jmicron controller, making them SLOWER THEN A SPINDLE DRIVE!

There might be some 32GB using the Indilinx, unless it was only OCZ with their 30GB.

How much price wise though? Im looking for something cheap so although it might not be as fast as the fastest SSD it would still be faster than a HDD and Windows would be snappier.

Price for the 40GB Kingston is around $135.

What I don't get is why everyone wants to speed up Windows. Am I the only one that wants to speed up my applications? For instance, if I got an SSD that was too small to hold everything, then I would put my games on the SSD. For me, I only boot up Windows once a day. When I game, levels load once every few minutes. I want THAT to be fast. Who cares if Windows takes 15 seconds or 50 seconds to boot?

 

[Rubycon]

The reason why the smallest drives are slow(er) is because they take these configurations and stripe them in the larger ones. 128GB indi will give the best performance/capacity. If Intel made a 40GB drive you would see similar (slower) results.

Of course the best results come from raiding 4 or more 128+ GB barefoots on a SAS host with 2+ GB full writeback cache.

 

[Old Hippie]

Real world performance is the same, instant. Benchmark scores will vary with the system they are run under.

The difference between their published specs and real world testing shouldn't be that extreme.

If the OP has done his best to replicate the manfg's specs and is 20% shy, I can see where he'd be disappointed.

I've had a JMicron unit (GSkill Titan) and while it was faster than a mechanical drive it took all those SSD tweaks to keep it's performance acceptable.