Questions About Getting a SSD

[CaseyJ71]

I am currently using a WD Black 1TB SATA3 drive on my Gigabyte X58A-UD3R and wondering about adding a SSD for W7 and apps. The question is, should I spend the extra and get a SATA3 SSD, or just grab a cheap SATA2 one? I'm thinking about the OCZ Vertex 2; however, does anyone have any other recommendations? My motherboard does have 2 SATA3 ports (Marvel 9128). Would there be much of a difference? I've heard the Marvel controllers are pretty crappy.

Also, what else do I need to do when setting up a SSD? I've read some guides that recommend a whole number of changes and tweaks to BIOS/W7. What sorta setup is necessary with an SSD?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Hellhammer]

If you are just going to use it for Windows and apps, then the difference between SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 6Gb/s SSD will be pretty negligible. Vertex 2 seems to go for less than 200$ while Vertex 3 is around 300$, plus at least NewEgg is out of stock on V3s. Personally I would just go with a SATA 3Gb/s SSD. You save a nice amount of $ and it will be a substantial jump from a regular HD.

Unfortunately I am not that familiar with Windows tweaks (I'm mostly a Mac user) so can't answer that part

 

[stahlhart]

The Windows 7 installation will pretty much take care of itself with an SSD. Just make sure that (a) it's set up as ACHI in the BIOS and (b) you leave any additional HDs disconnected until the installation is complete and then add them manually at that point.