recapping SSD basics for a beginner

[sabre181]

Hello,
I am getting into the SSD fray with a 90GB Vertex 2 from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227611 and have been scouring the forums here and on OCZ's site. I think I have the gist down and wanted to just reaffirm that they are the right ideas:
1) I set the satahttp://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264720-32-simple-recap# type to ACHI, use the usoft drivers (since I'm on an AMD platform),
2) after installing the appropriate drivers, run the WEI so Win7 can automatically set TRIM, prefetch/superfetch, etc automatically since it will detect the SSD,
3) don't benchmark it too much,
4) Garbage Collect works during idle times,
5) don't defrag nearly as much as I would with a HDD,
6) don't fill more than 80% of the capacity,
7) limit the page/swap file on the SSD or even move it to the HDD,
8) disable hibernation and System Restore to save space,
9) disable indexing

Now things that I have concern with are I've read numerous posts and articles stating that over using/writing kills the SSD. That makes sense to me, but my first question is that should I be trying to limit the amount of data I save to the HDD? Like for instance, installing/uninstalling programs, creating/saving new files and/or games, moving files around the SSD and/or to my HDD, things like that?

Secondly, are there any other recommendations anyone has that I can implement before, during, and after installationhttp://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264720-32-simple-recap#? I really would like this drive to last me as long as possible, so any suggestions as to how to limit the writes or simply increase the longevity would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading my post!

If needed, here are my specs:

Phenom II x3 720 BE ~3.4Ghz
Gigabyte GA MA770t UD3P f11c
4GB DDR3 1333 @ 1.6v
Radeon 4980 XXX
WD Black 1TB 1001FALS
Antec 650w TruePower

 

[GundamF91]

From everything I've read, while there is concern over "write endurance", ie. how many times the cells can be written, it is not that big of a deal. The quote is about 100,000 writes, and that comes to about 20GB/day in writing for 5 years to wear out the cells.

 

[BathroomFeeling]

7) limit the page/swap file on the SSD or even move it to the HDD,
That's not a good idea. No point in getting an SSD if you're constantly having to wait for the page file on the slower drive, especially with just 4GB of memory to work with. Even with 8GB or 12GB (and thus minimal pagefile usage), I'd rather just let Windows manage the thing, and keep it on the SSD.

Like Gundam stated, if you're worried about how long the thing will last with all the writing, it'll take a good amount before you start seeing something. And even then it won't mean a sudden cessation of all writing operations. That will take a while to cover your entire drive, and by then you will still, at the very least, be able to read your data.

 

[jobz]

Just follow the instructions under Proper care and feeding for SSDs in the sticky. Everything else is voodoo and witchcraft.

With SSDs, you don't want to defrag at all!

 

[razel]

3) don't benchmark it too much,
5) don't defrag nearly as much as I would with a HDD,
7) limit the page/swap file on the SSD or even move it to the HDD,
8) disable hibernation and System Restore to save space,
9) disable indexing

3) don't do write benchmarks too much, read benches are fine.
5) don't defrag the SSD at all
7) let the OS manage your pagefile. If you want to find out if you need more, there are guides out there.
8) kinda preferential. Hibernation is useful for laptops that are often on battery power. I have System Restore off 95% of the time. I find it useful when trying out new software or new drivers.
9) somewhat preferential

 

[mutz]

few notes,
SSD's suffer usually from what is called write amplification, the drive has to write more data then it's actually requested to,
Sandforce and maybe other controllers has the benefit of using compression on some of the data which allows it to lower write amplification up to half.
on an MLC drive you usually have some 10K write cycles per each cell, which would allow you something like (10K*64GB)/365/24/3600sec = ~20MBps for an entire year non stop operation at write amplification of 1:1 or 1.728TB a day as long as the cells work to they're life approximation fully.

on a regular usage you'll use around 10-20GB a day just leaving the computer on 24/7 using uTorrent, WCG and regular OS handling so basically the drive should last you dozens of years.

that's why companies allow sparing MLC drives to non-enterprise costumers and some even gives them 5 year warranty on the drives.

some or most drives has some spare pool data which allows the drive rehash itself and even longer it's life cycles, spare pool is where the drive sends all it's ruined blocks reallocated sectors and so on and replaces them with newer ones,
it is also the space which allows the drive to operate it's GC cycles when it's full,
these spare pools usually stand for ~16GB on the 64GB modules except for the agility which is why it is being sold cheaper.

again, it is not always necessary and that's probably why OCZ has allowed marketing the agility at a lower price for people with better understanding of SSD's, as a marketing trick or for people with less excessive usage patterns.

basically you can benchmark an SSD as much as you want, not like killing it with benchmark files which fills the entire drive all day long, but basically placing the swap files, cache or whatever should not harm it so soon,
be aware that not all users which buys an SSD are aware at these life extending rules and the companies are well aware of it, that's what they make some of they're money from and rely they're given reliability on, they won't allow marketing a drive which won't handle any customers abuse with some decent headroom as it would have them RMA third or half of they're products,
it would as well harm they're hard earn reputation.

that should be about accurate,
good luck with you'r buy,
and hope it helps you feel more confident.