Got the Intel 160GB G2 - some thoughts

[Owls]

Hello all,

So I managed to snag a 160GB G2 for near MSRP the other day and I finally have it up and running. Aside from the obvious first impressions of it being so small let's just move on to the actual data.

My system specs are as follows
i920 @ 4.2GHz
6GB Ram
2x 640GB WD Black drives in Raid 0 (previous setup)
1x 320GB WD Drive
1x GTX 285

Windows 7 took about 15-20 minutes to install. I didn't time it because I wasn't ready to but I was surprised how quick it went. Boot up time from bios to desktop is about 6 seconds which is very impressive. Using raid 0 it used to take approximately 21 seconds. I made two partitions (out of habit, been doing this for years). 33GB for the OS and the rest for my games.

I mainly play Eve Online, Warhammer, and I threw in my Steam collection for good measure. So for games like Eve where load times are important when you jump between systems it's an absolute game changer. If you play it then you know what I'm talking about. Long load times and stuttering that used to exist in Warhammer and other games are virtually gone.

So the bottom line, is it worth it? I think so. Even though the only thing I am really liking about the drive is the performance with Eve Online. But after getting used to 6 second boot ups, instant app responsiveness, and having a much quieter system it will be hard to go back. The only real gripe is that even 160GB is not enough due to how performance degrades as you fill the drive. The price cannot be argued due to this being mainly an enthusiast part. If I find a good deal on a 80GB G1/G2 drive I may get one as a primary OS/APP drive to free up more space on the 160.

 

[Idontcare]

If I find a good deal on a 80GB G1/G2 drive I may get one as a primary OS/APP drive to free up more space on the 160.

Why not another 160 so you could raid them at some point and double up the bandwidth while you are at it?

 

[CurseTheSky]

Throw the games you don't commonly play on a secondary spindle drive. They won't load up as fast, but at least it'll save precious space on the X-25M.

I keep all of my games on a WD 640GB Black, leaving the X-25M G2 160GB for OS / applications. Since I'm only using about 40GB of space on it, I'm swapping it out for an X-25M G2 80GB, and putting the 160GB in my laptop.

Mmm, SSDs.

 

[Owls]

Why not another 160 so you could raid them at some point and double up the bandwidth while you are at it?

$480 for one drive is enough. I'll wait and see what comes out next.

 

[AlgaeEater]

Hello all,
So the bottom line, is it worth it? I think so. Even though the only thing I am really liking about the drive is the performance with Eve Online. But after getting used to 6 second boot ups, instant app responsiveness, and having a much quieter system it will be hard to go back. The only real gripe is that even 160GB is not enough due to how performance degrades as you fill the drive. The price cannot be argued due to this being mainly an enthusiast part. If I find a good deal on a 80GB G1/G2 drive I may get one as a primary OS/APP drive to free up more space on the 160.

I recently bought the same drive too (about a month now) and in my personal opinion, the SSD was not worth it. It was not a waste either.

All things point to the drive being one of the best things you could do for your power computer, but all things rational also point to the very expensive price tag. I'm glad you like it as I do mine, but I could never say it was truly worth it for what "we" paid for it.

 

[SolMiester]

I think you'll find the install was alot quicker than 15-20min!!, I did an install on an A-Data 64Gb, under 10min on a Phenom II build....
I would use the WD in Raid 1 now as either fast games access (read from 2 locations) or important data storage...

I wouldnt put games on it, but thats just me...I do like how quick photo thumb nails load...LOL

 

[MJinZ]

$480 for a 160gb is cheap! I paid $300 for a 80gb not long ago from Newegg. I'm strongly considering selling mine (which has TRIM firmware) and getting a 160gb

 

[Owls]

I recently bought the same drive too (about a month now) and in my personal opinion, the SSD was not worth it. It was not a waste either.

All things point to the drive being one of the best things you could do for your power computer, but all things rational also point to the very expensive price tag. I'm glad you like it as I do mine, but I could never say it was truly worth it for what "we" paid for it.

You are absolutely right and that is why I did not bring up the argument about the price in my post. That said, would you go back?

 

[AlgaeEater]

Hindsight is always 20/20. To me the SSD is like a $1.50 can of soda at the airport after coming home abroad from a place that didn't have soda. You know you should wait and just head to any supermarket; but at the same time you know that can of soda is going to be totally worth it down the last drop and the best you ever probably had.

 

[MJinZ]

It really depends on how much your time is worth to you.

Time savings from load times, boredom, and blood pressure to my arteries are at the very least, commensurate to thousands of dollars.

Is the X25-M worth thousands of dollars? In some senses, yes. It is only the incredible savings from mass production and Intel's ability to absorb engineering costs that allows these drives to cost the mere amounts they do now.

 

[capeconsultant]

Amen to the blood pressure thing I think we, as fellow enthusiasts, spend WAY WAY too much time on the price thing. really, I mean, it is just part of how things are. Buy it or not. I mean, WE are the enthusiasts. If WE do not buy them, then no one will ever get the chance to

Each SSD or i7 or 10 disk RAID array is worth different things to different people. Look back a year and then say that 400 is expensive for a 160GB SSD.

And name ONE other thing that has progressed from say, a MB of RAM (which I used to sell for $50 at Egghead all day long) and now you can easily buy a GB or more of RAM for that same $50. I am happy with my G2 but that does not mean that I will not be interested in the next big speed increase.

I do not think I wold go back. Nope.

It really depends on how much your time is worth to you.

Time savings from load times, boredom, and blood pressure to my arteries are at the very least, commensurate to thousands of dollars.

Is the X25-M worth thousands of dollars? In some senses, yes. It is only the incredible savings from mass production and Intel's ability to absorb engineering costs that allows these drives to cost the mere amounts they do now.

 

[MJinZ]

^ $400 is perhaps a few hours of work (or less) to some people. That $400 will inevitably amount to exponentially the amount of time saved using your computer. Depending on what you do with it, it could pay for itself in months.

You can make some extra money but you can't make extra time. It just depends on your own situation.

 

[Griswold]

Its the best upgrade Ive ever done for that amount of money. So many people are wasting more cash every 6 months on video cards just to keep up with ... whatever. With a good SSD, you are ahead of the curve for quite some time, if you do more than just surf the web and play benchmarks, that is.

That said, I absolutely love my most used VMs being on a SSD. Along with a few select games and of course my OS and programs. To me, HDDs only serve as data storage now. They have no business serving for anything else in my computers.