I miss my Quad

[Insomniator]

I can't tell the difference in everyday computing between the e6600 in the stock room, my i2600k work computer or my i2500k @4.5 at home.

Firefox runs the same on all of them... SSD or not. Maybe I'm just slow.

 

[RussianSensation]

I hated my OCZ Vertex 60GB. I'm not sure if it would help or not with the level of performance you're expecting, but I'd pickup a M4 Crucial or G2 (or newer) Intel, you WILL see a difference between the Vertex. Maybe not in benchmarks but in the usability/feel of the system. Vertex 60GB is a decent SSD but I replaced mine with a 40GB Intel G2 and I think my laptop runs smoother in the way you guys are describing you want.

You are probably right. The Vertex 1 is even slow on my 2500k system. I definitely notice occasional slowdown and "choppiness". But after buying a Vertex 2 which died on me in 2 days, and hearing about all the BSOD and dead Vertex 3 and Corsair Force 3 drivers, I am waiting until 4th generation or something from Intel such as 520.

Still, even when I put my HD6950 into the secondary rig, despite "flash hardware acceleration" touted on AMD's website, I often hit 95-100% CPU usage when watching 1080P content on Gametrailers (game reviews) or YouTube clips. I re-installed the OS twice and I am still hitting 95-100% usage in certain 1080P content. The GPU acceleration is not working for some reason.

 

[SlowSpyder]

My system has a Caviar Black his has a much slower 5400rpm Samsung.
I don't think overclocking it will help much.

Its always above 50% usage when I'm using it on the Desktop. A good SSD costs more than half what a good would cost. So its not really an option just yet.

Overclock his hard drive. I think those Samsungs are good for getting in the 7900rpm range.

 

[Skurge]

50% on desktop is obviously not normal.

format c: to remove spyware and trojans.

It's still a pretty fresh install of windows. I just have a lot running in the background. I never close my browser, I have steam running, logitech software, WMP, origin, and some razer driver.

My brother's system (the x4) is at about 20% on the desktop. His uses much more ram than mine does.

 

[Idontcare]

Faster boots times is just not a very good reason to pick up an SSD. Doesn't anyone use sleep?

You get an SSD because it makes just about everything else you do faster.

While the improvements brought on with SSD's can be measured with benchmarks, the primary benefit to the user with an SSD is found in the improved user interface aspects (app loading, multitasking, context switching, etc).

I went from raid-0 raptors to a G2. It was great. That G2 is now in my laptop, bought a V3 for the desktop.

I look at SSD's like I do my LCD screens. There's no benchmark out there that is going to prove that my 24" LCD's were a smart investment versus buying 22" or 19" LCD's, but I love the extra desktop space and I feel the larger LCD's improve my productivity and general enjoyment with the computer.

Having gone to SSD's, I'll buy a $70 CPU rather than the $300 CPU if it makes the difference in the budget between buying an SSD or having to go back to a spindle drive for my OS and apps.

 

[Idontcare]

It's still a pretty fresh install of windows. I just have a lot running in the background. I never close my browser, I have steam running, logitech software, WMP, origin, and some razer driver.

My brother's system (the x4) is at about 20% on the desktop. His uses much more ram than mine does.

50%, 20%...it doesn't matter, its not normal and you should not be so ready to resign yourself to living with such a performance deficit.

I'm typing this on my dual-core i5-2410 that peaks at 2.3GHz (i.e. this is hardly a Q6600 competitor). My cpu utilization bobbles between 1-4% at idle with IE9 open and three forum tabs open at this time.

That is with Norton AV, flash ads, loaded in the background too. Anything remotely close to 10% background utilization is highly suspect for malware and virus activity.

You should want that performance back, don't just assume its normal to have computers with the sorts of utilization levels you are reporting.

 

[JBT]

Seriously anything over 10% on desktop is too much . On my work laptop with an i7 L640 (dual core with HT) I sit around 2-3% with ten IE8 tabs, Chrome with four to five tabs, a number of Java based apps for our SIEM and FW's, as well as Excel, Word, Toad, and Enterprise level AV with a client agent and I'm no where near your numbers.

 

[tynopik]

50% on desktop is obviously not normal.

format c: to remove spyware and trojans.

exactly

 

[gorydetails]

get some av software to get rid of those cycle sucking virii...

 

[Markfw]

That's a cool story about owning no SSDs. That's your loss Markfw. I won't build a PC for anyone without one, a PC isn't a PC in 2011 without one in my book. As you can see others agree with my point, and since they use SSDs, it's fully comprehended.



I hated my OCZ Vertex 60GB. I'm not sure if it would help or not with the level of performance you're expecting, but I'd pickup a M4 Crucial or G2 (or newer) Intel, you WILL see a difference between the Vertex. Maybe not in benchmarks but in the usability/feel of the system. Vertex 60GB is a decent SSD but I replaced mine with a 40GB Intel G2 and I think my laptop runs smoother in the way you guys are describing you want.

Saying that you love SSD's for what it does for boot times, and such is one thing, and you are entitled to your opinion.

Saying its not a computer with NO SSD's is over the line IMO. Its baiting.

Example. Do you know any MAJOR data center that even uses SSD's ? My company has 6 data centers, each over one square mile of floor space, and SSD's are not even allowed.

So its not just me that thinks a computer is a computer with no SSD's

 

[Obsoleet]

You are probably right. The Vertex 1 is even slow on my 2500k system. I definitely notice occasional slowdown and "choppiness". But after buying a Vertex 2 which died on me in 2 days, and hearing about all the BSOD and dead Vertex 3 and Corsair Force 3 drivers, I am waiting until 4th generation or something from Intel such as 520.

Still, even when I put my HD6950 into the secondary rig, despite "flash hardware acceleration" touted on AMD's website, I often hit 95-100% CPU usage when watching 1080P content on Gametrailers (game reviews) or YouTube clips. I re-installed the OS twice and I am still hitting 95-100% usage in certain 1080P content. The GPU acceleration is not working for some reason.

That doesn't surprise me (on the 2500k/Vertex system). I had my Vertex in the PC in my sig and it was choppy at times, I spent too many hours in the OCZ forums doing optimizations and working on it as well, it never was right. I had some other OCZ SSDs (Jmicron), which were total garbage (but cheap and I didn't expect them to be so bad).

If you were going to buy a new drive, there's no reason to buy an Intel drive today, at least until they release their native Intel SATA6gb drives. Today I'd buy a Micron C400 drive.

The main thing I look for in SSD benchmarks are max latency, the Intel drives (even G1) still today are some of the best in that regards.. I think this is the best thing to look for in regards to fluidity.
Micron is good in max latency (I think the native Intel based drives G2 and newer still beat them though in max latency), and they have a well-tested and good quality assured controller in the M4s.
I wouldn't put money into anything other than Micron or Intel, they've got the engineering resources to do it right. I'm certainly no fanboy, I just found what you're seeing in my own drives. A Vertex 60GB makes a great drive to migrate to a laptop IMO.
I was so convinced by the experience of my 160GB G2 that I went ahead and sold my Vertex, and got a 40GB G2 to replace it. The Intel stuff gets beaten in benchmarks, but once you get your hands on one, I don't think you'll ever care to replace them no matter what new benchmarks say.

Though, I'm tempted to get a 256MB M4 myself. I would do so if I had a good SATA6gb controller.. I have an aftermarket PCIE card, but I have a lot more faith in the latency and ops of ICH10R..

 

[Obsoleet]

Saying that you love SSD's for what it does for boot times, and such is one thing, and you are entitled to your opinion.

Saying its not a computer with NO SSD's is over the line IMO. Its baiting.

Example. Do you know any MAJOR data center that even uses SSD's ? My company has 6 data centers, each over one square mile of floor space, and SSD's are not even allowed.

So its not just me that thinks a computer is a computer with no SSD's

Not just boot times, but lower power use (at idle), better operation in any case. The only caveat is $/GB. At consumer grade, I'm not even sure that holds water as the quality is near total shit in that market for HDDs. Almost every manufacturer's quality outside of maybe Hitachi or whoever is hot this year seems to be dropping.
SSDs are pretty reliable with the right controller in them.

Servers and computers are two different breeds. Datacenters hardly use the same HDD that's in the everymans "server". People wouldn't buy them if they had to pay what datacenters pay.. datacenters are using hybrid storage though. My company has 55,000 employees in over 100 countries, they use everything. Being as the HDDs used are industrial grade, and don't really even have to spin down, and have ideal conditions (spacing/cooling), it's difficult for SSDs to break in the market.

What I'm saying is, a personal computer isn't a PC in 2011 without a SSD. It's not baiting, it's how I feel. The experience is more akin to what people were accustomed to in the 90s where you wait on things. My 90 year old grandmother has an 80GB Intel G2 in her Phenom II 955 rig.. her last rig, a 3800+ A64 got very slow over time.. the Phenom rig is going VERY strong long after I built it because a SSD can handle a little bit of crap installed, which means less formatting/work for me to maintain it. Not the best example and it's a little extreme because it's my grandmother, but, it's true. I live 4 hours away, it matters to me. And I refuse to set her up with a pile of crap anyway, I'd rather do it right the 1st time as it's not that much more money.

I won't build or recommend a laptop without a SSD today, and haven't done so since before 2009.

 

[Markfw]

So, data centers aside, my 10 computers that never power down are not computers, since you think that SSD's are the only way to go. That's still way too single-sided. You are right, and the world is wrong, even if they have a valid argument.

And that's not baiting.....

 

[VirtualLarry]

Do you leave your 10 computers on 24/7? If not, there's a good reason to get some SSD's - much faster boot times!

I'm pretty certain that he does. For doing DC, it's not very I/O-heavy, so a nice cheap $9 40GB IDE HD refurb from Microcenter would do just fine.

 

[Barfo]

What I'm saying is, a personal computer isn't a PC in 2011 without a SSD. It's not baiting, it's how I feel.

That sounds incredibly snotty.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Still, even when I put my HD6950 into the secondary rig, despite "flash hardware acceleration" touted on AMD's website, I often hit 95-100% CPU usage when watching 1080P content on Gametrailers (game reviews) or YouTube clips. I re-installed the OS twice and I am still hitting 95-100% usage in certain 1080P content. The GPU acceleration is not working for some reason.

Is it still running XP? I've had issued getting the AMD chipset/video card HW accell. working on XP. My solution was to install Win7 for my HTPC.

 

[Markfw]

I'm pretty certain that he does. For doing DC, it's not very I/O-heavy, so a nice cheap $9 40GB IDE HD refurb from Microcenter would do just fine.

Exactly !!

 

[Markfw]

That sounds incredibly snotty.

I agree !!

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I have a stock E6600 that I use as a spare and it's an absolute dog! I thought C2D was fast enough for basic tasks such as Internet browsing, watching 1080P content on the Internet and just having 20-30 tabs open.

That's the problem right there. Run that sucker at 3.6GHz and it'll feel downright snappy.
When I upgraded from my E6600 @ 3.6GHz w/Spinpoint F3 to i7 920 @ 4.1GHz w/Spinpoint F3, it didn't feel much different for mundane tasks.
Throwing in a Vertex 2 made the largest difference for non-CPU demanding tasks.

Heck, I have a spare E5200 @ 4GHz system that I sometimes run Windows on (it was meant to be a dedicated Hackintosh rig).
With 8GB of DDR3, Spinpoint F1 and 9800GT, I'd readily use that in place of my main rig if I had to.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Actually the newer sandy bridge pentiums have overtaken Core 2 Duos. Well most of them anyway.

I mean't the lga 775 chips but yeah i read a review of the pentium g620 and its pretty impressive outclassing the e6800 by a margin.

Wonder how a g620 would perform next to a e8200 at stock and oced?

Might be looking into one and a h61 mobo to replace my e8200 till i could afford a i5 2400 .

 

[Obsoleet]

So, data centers aside, my 10 computers that never power down are not computers, since you think that SSD's are the only way to go. That's still way too single-sided. You are right, and the world is wrong, even if they have a valid argument.

And that's not baiting.....

I do think they are the only way to go on the consumer side, that's my opinion. 10 PCs/servers? Sure, but I'd put one in my primary rig without a doubt.
I run a 160GB G2 in my primary rig with a self-powered USB 3.0 terabyte drive for storage, it's all the storage I need (insanely portable being 3"x4" / self powered) and everything to operate my OS/games/apps are on the SSD.

That sounds incredibly snotty.

I agree !!

It might sound snotty, because SSDs are elite hardware. At least they were a few years ago, today, they are the norm, hence my changing of attitude that even the everyman's PC needs to have one.

I would shift funds from the CPU side to SSD anyday. SSD>GPU>CPU in order of importance in my book. Hence my reliance in recent years on Phenom IIs for builds, CPUs that do the job done without detriment, and (ultimate cost being equal), when paired with a Crucial M4 will murder Intel's most elite i7 HDD rig in usability.

 

[Markfw]

I do think they are the only way to go on the consumer side, that's my opinion. 10 PCs/servers? Sure, but I'd put one in my primary rig without a doubt.
I run a 160GB G2 in my primary rig with a self-powered USB 3.0 terabyte drive for storage, it's all the storage I need (insanely portable being 3"x4" / self powered) and everything to operate my OS/games/apps are on the SSD.





It might sound snotty, because SSDs are elite hardware. At least they were a few years ago, today, they are the norm, hence my changing of attitude that even the everyman's PC needs to have one.

I would shift funds from the CPU side to SSD anyday. SSD>GPU>CPU in order of importance in my book. Hence my reliance in recent years on Phenom IIs for builds, CPUs that do the job done without detriment, and (ultimate cost being equal), when paired with a Crucial M4 will murder Intel's most elite i7 HDD rig in usability.

OK, well that attitude is far from "no computer without an SSD is a computer".

I would agree that for a high-end personal computer they are almost a must.

BIG difference in the tone between this and your original post.

Again, hence my comments, which are obviously no longer needed, as I agree this position is not even close to baiting or trolling.

Its all about the tone, which in your case changed 180. I apologize if I over-reacted, you never know with some of our posters.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I don't like SSD's. I use a RAM-based boot drive instead. I don't feel the technology has matured enough for every day / trouble-free use. The benefits are enormous but execution is questionable. You guys please do keep on investing, so in a few years time perhaps I could start equipping my builds with them.

 

[DirkGently1]

Even the cheapo work PC i'm on has a quad-core, but it's the lack of SSD that makes it feel like an absolute dog to use. You couldn't pay me a daily rate to use my home PC with one.

 

[gmaster456]

I mean't the lga 775 chips but yeah i read a review of the pentium g620 and its pretty impressive outclassing the e6800 by a margin.

Wonder how a g620 would perform next to a e8200 at stock and oced?

Might be looking into one and a h61 mobo to replace my e8200 till i could afford a i5 2400 .

See for yourself
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/58?vs=406