Ordered my first SSD - Intel 330, 180 GB

[Jeff7181]

$140 after rebate is hard to pass up for an Intel drive.

I think I'm going to try it in my laptop first. I'll wait to put one in my desktop until I'm able to upgrade everything to take advantage of Intel's SRT.

Couple questions...

It's been my understanding that for TRIM To work, I'd have to reinstall Windows, is this still correct?

Could I restore an image based backup and enable TRIM after the fact? Maybe if I were to do a restore, then a reinstall over top of the restored version?

Is there any customization of the swap file that would help prolong the life of the SSD? For example, putting it on a 4 GB PC Card? I have 4 GB of RAM in my laptop.

 

[Zap]

Trim should be fine. It is alignment that may get out of whack if you clone/image.

Don't worry about life span. Intel is pretty conservative on that front.

 

[mple]

$140 AR? Where'd you buy it from? Buy.com is selling it for $110 AR

 

[bryanW1995]

Not the 180 gb ssd.

 

[Jeff7181]

Newegg... they have a $60 MIR. Buy.com is selling it for $220.

 

[Jeff7181]

Trim should be fine. It is alignment that may get out of whack if you clone/image.

Don't worry about life span. Intel is pretty conservative on that front.

I can realign though, right?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I'd use it on a desktop rather than a laptop. It consumes a lot more power than other SSDs like the Samsung 830.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'd use it on a desktop rather than a laptop. It consumes a lot more power than other SSDs like the Samsung 830.

The problem with using it on my desktop is that I won't be able to restore from an image. My current backup images are around 700 GB. If I notice a huge difference in speed, I might consider it. But I really don't want to do a clean install now, then do another clean install in like 6 months when I get a new motherboard, CPU and memory.

 

[bryanW1995]

Ignore LOL Wut Axel, there is little difference in power draw between a samsung 830 and an intel 330, either is still better than most hdd's. [redacted]. I've already had a lengthy discussion with him about this in another thread.


"FUD master" is a little over the top and a little too personal.

Moderator jvroig

 

[mple]

Newegg... they have a $60 MIR. Buy.com is selling it for $220.

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/747...nternal-solid-state-drive-ssd-ssdsc2ct180a3k5

I ordered one last night and stacked a $10 off $150 coupon. Might come back in stock between tonight and Memorial Day.

 

[Zap]

$140 AR? Where'd you buy it from? Buy.com is selling it for $110 AR

Well, $120 AR... -$10 coupon code (if you qualify) and possibility -$9 more through Shop Discover or other cashback deals, plus of course $1.80 in Rakuten points, making this possibily $99.20 for a 180GB SandForce 2281 based SSD.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Ignore LOL Wut Axel, there is little difference in power draw between a samsung 830 and an intel 330, either is still better than most hdd's. He is the fud master. I've already had a lengthy discussion with him about this in another thread.

Half a watt of difference from just the SSD is huge, especially since a laptop nowadays uses 6-8 normally.

Keep up your accusations of "FUD", though.

 

[kmmatney]

I usually just clone the OS, and then align the drive using g-parted afterwards.

I agree about power not making a real-life difference. I have a Samsung 830 in my laptop, but before had an Intel SSD - can't say that battery life has changed at all.

 

[BFG10K]

Acronis will automatically take care of alignment when cloning. You can even clone from 4K to 512 drives without issue.

 

[bryanW1995]

Half a watt of difference from just the SSD is huge, especially since a laptop nowadays uses 6-8 normally.

Keep up your accusations of "FUD", though.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/589?vs=532

So the 330 series uses 1/2 w more at idle, but 2-3 w less at load. How long do you idle your computer without using the hdd/ssd at all? Do you just let it sit there sucking power when it's not in use and not plugged into the wall? Maybe you would benefit from some lessons learned from these guys.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Half a watt of difference from just the SSD is huge, especially since a laptop nowadays uses 6-8 normally.

Keep up your accusations of "FUD", though.

WAT? Laptops on the whole use 6-8 watts? I THINK NOT. Most use 35W in total.

A half of a watt difference, while non-zero, is miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/589?vs=532

So the 330 series uses 1/2 w more at idle, but 2-3 w less at load. How long do you idle your computer without using the hdd/ssd at all? Do you just let it sit there sucking power when it's not in use and not plugged into the wall? Maybe you would benefit from some lessons learned from these guys.

That's incorrect. If you want good measurements, go to Storagereview like I told you before. It's a much better webite for these things, not to mention you're forgetting the simple fact thay most drives spend their time at idle, especially in laptops. A drive consuming half a watt less can makes a difference of 10-15% in a normal laptop. If yoy actually care about battery life, that's an important thing to take into consideration.

And good job keeping it up with the insults while providing no technical facts and just your incorrect, subjective opinion.

 

[bryanW1995]

I keep providing links and you keep providing opinions. I just used your claim of 1/2 w difference in idle power usage, yet somehow now MY data is now flawed? Also, you provided an unsubstantiated and ridiculous number for laptop power draw, again with no links or supporting information.

 

[hhhd1]

So the 330 series uses 1/2 w more at idle, but 2-3 w less at load. How long do you idle your computer without using the hdd/ssd at all? Do you just let it sit there sucking power when it's not in use and not plugged into the wall? Maybe you would benefit from some lessons learned from these guys.

the idle watt usage is what matters, because its too fast, so the actual time its busy is usually less than 1% of the total time, the only reason the usage could be over 10% is by doing a full virus scan or similar.

WAT? Laptops on the whole use 6-8 watts? I THINK NOT. Most use 35W in total.

a laptop with core i3-2310m at idle uses about 3.8 watts at idle with no wifi, and low lcd light, with lcd at 30% and wifi, it reaches 6~8 watts, full load it could reach the 30s.

not to mention netbooks with intel atom.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I keep providing links and you keep providing opinions. I just used your claim of 1/2 w difference in idle power usage, yet somehow now MY data is now flawed? Also, you provided an unsubstantiated and ridiculous number for laptop power draw, again with no links or supporting information.

Right... yes, what you're saying is flawed without a shadow of a doubt. Intel's newest SSDs are terrible when it comes to laptop power consumption because, guess what, they spend most of their time idle. A single component taking up half a watt is a huge amount since most laptops consume around 8W when in normal web browsing.

I like Intel a lot, but their SSDs are inefficient for laptop use. No doubt about it.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

WAT? Laptops on the whole use 6-8 watts? I THINK NOT. Most use 35W in total.

A half of a watt difference, while non-zero, is miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

LMAO. Not sure if serious???

My E420 consumes 8W in normal use, and that's probably a bit lower because of the inaccuracies of the Kill-a-Watt and the inefficiencies in the power adapter. Idle with screen at lowest setting, WiFi and Bluetooth off, it consumes 4W. This is within 1W of what other normal laptops will use.

Most laptops nowadays consume very little power because of more efficient LED backlighting in the displays, processors and IGPs that are tightly integrated and have core/power gating, and more efficient chipsets. Things like storage make a big difference. Adding a Samsung 830 to my laptop would increase normal use battery life by 7%. Coupled with 1.35V RAM that's around 14%. Quite a lot considering it's just two components.

 

[bryanW1995]

Right... yes, what you're saying is flawed without a shadow of a doubt. Intel's newest SSDs are terrible when it comes to laptop power consumption because, guess what, they spend most of their time idle. A single component taking up half a watt is a huge amount since most laptops consume around 8W when in normal web browsing.

I like Intel a lot, but their SSDs are inefficient for laptop use. No doubt about it.

Once again, I've already agreed with your "1/2 Watt" difference in power draw. You don't need to throw up links to support it, though I appreciate the info. I'm more interested in corroboarting data on the "laptops as a whole use 6-8 watt" claim. Which laptops? Where is the data to back this up? What % of laptops as a whole are we talking about here? And is it just laptops that are 1-2 years old, or do you also mean everything in use today?