[SOLVED] SSD in Office Computer Died - At the Crossroads for an Upgrade

[PianoMan]

Update: see my new post in Storage - "New Win10 Install: SSD and HDD Weirdness"

My PNY SSD just bit the dust on my office (Main) computer (Q9550) - so I'm wondering if I should directly upgrade that PC (yep - it's old), or go Uber nutz and upgrade my gaming setup (i7 2600, GTX 970). (It's a bit funny - my PNY video card (GTX 770) also bit it several months ago - hopefully it's a coincidence)

So I can either go moderate with the office PC to an i5 6400 (or so) and use the existing DDR3 memory - putting me around $300 back. Or, I can do what I've been wanting (but no guts to pull the trigger yet) and get a 5820k (or 6800k), motherboard, and DDR4 memory - swap my existing 2600 to the office computer and be in seventh heaven. Unfortunately, we're looking at $600-$700.

Funding situation is that $300 is manageable, but 2x that amount is a bit more difficult to swallow, given the other liabilities (kids!) in the house sucking down some nice moolah from the wallet.

So I thought I'd push it up to the AT Forums and see what the consensus turns out to be. Honestly, I'm a thin line on the fence, so I will probably end up going with what the Forums decide.

Thanks!!!

 

[LFaWolf]

What is the office PC used for? Photoshop, programming, MS Office work?

 

[PianoMan]

Good reminder - forgot to put that there: my use of the office PC is Email, MS Office Work, eBay, Quicken. Wife will occasionally do Photoshop and digital art (but very casually). No professional-grade stuff on it.

While we're at it, on the gaming computer, I do some video encoding (GoPro, personal camcorder stuff - both 1080p), but mainly use TMPGEnc, which is CUDA enabled. Most of the time, it's a 75/25 CUDA/CPU split, so I'm not sure how much benefit I'll see going to six cores.

Thanks for the question!

 

[LFaWolf]

If I were you I would just get another SSD. A fairly good 250GB SSD runs about $60+. A Samsung 850 EVO, which I would recommend, about $80-$90. I own quite a few Samsung 850 EVO and they have all been good to me so far.
A new computer would not benefit you that much, other than faster boot up time due to the Sata3G vs 6G, or even M.2. The new SSD could last you at least another 2-3 years. Save up the money now and get a new gaming PC, move the old gaming PC to the office, and keep the old office as the file server or backup.

 

[PianoMan]

Hmmm. I'm beside myself that I didn't even put that up originally as an option.

Keeping the Q9550 for awhile longer; should I have any concerns on it's reliability?

 

[LFaWolf]

I don't know think it will be a problem. I don't see you OC the office system in your spec and the board is a pretty good board. It should go at least another 2-3 years for sure. Also, if you get an SSD now you can also reuse the the SSD in the next build. The gaming system for sure will go much longer. I have that same ROG board (p67 chipset) and it has been rock solid for me (not 24x7 usage but I do OC it).

 

[PianoMan]

EVERYTHING you wrote makes sense. I've removed the poll and just put in an order for a Samsung SSD. Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's a good choice - just getting another SSD.

I'm a bit curious though, how did the older SSD die, and what model was it? Did it show NAND wearout, or controller failure, or fail to boot Windows, or just no longer detected by BIOS altogether?

SSDs are still fairly new devices, unless it was a 30GB or something really small, I would be surprised to see NAND wearout on an older MLC drive under consumer usage.

If it were one of the older cheap PNY Optima SSDs, with the 2nd-gen SandForce controller, having a controller-panic / freeze / non-detected isn't entirely surprising; they had some bugs in that controller.

If it's just a Windows Update gone bad, or non-booting Windows, perhaps all you need is a Secure Erase on the SSD, and a re-format and re-install of Windows.

Edit: Do note, that Microsoft recently pushed a "recommended" update for Windows 7 for BitLocker, that interacted with BIOS / UEFI "Secure Boot", that on Asus UEFI motherboards, would prevent booting Windows 7.

 

[crashtech]

I'd just get another SSD right now if money is that tight, but moving the Sandy i7 down to office duty seems like a good long term plan.

 

[PianoMan]

...I'm a bit curious though, how did the older SSD die, and what model was it? Did it show NAND wearout, or controller failure, or fail to boot Windows, or just no longer detected by BIOS altogether?

...If it were one of the older cheap PNY Optima SSDs, with the 2nd-gen SandForce controller, having a controller-panic / freeze / non-detected isn't entirely surprising; they had some bugs in that controller.

If it's just a Windows Update gone bad, or non-booting Windows, perhaps all you need is a Secure Erase on the SSD, and a re-format and re-install of Windows.

Edit: Do note, that Microsoft recently pushed a "recommended" update for Windows 7 for BitLocker, that interacted with BIOS / UEFI "Secure Boot", that on Asus UEFI motherboards, would prevent booting Windows 7.

Great insight - it's an Optima model (SSD7SC480GOPT-RB, PNY Optima Solid State Drive - 480GB SSD - 2.5", SATA III, 6Gbps). BIOS continued to identify it, and it seems for the most part, the drive operates fine (I'm pulling all the desktop files the wife likes storing there over to the secondary). It just didn't boot into Win 10 Pro. It would give the blue windows symbol and load indicator as normal, and then switch to a screen w/o the blue symbol and with a slightly larger loading symbol - but then just hang out like that indefinitely.

Interestingly enough, I did notice it start to act up after one of the updates. The update you mention previously, however, affects Win 7? Would it be a possibility here? I don't think this older mobo is UEFI.

 

[PianoMan]

I'd just get another SSD right now if money is that tight, but moving the Sandy i7 down to office duty seems like a good long term plan.

Yes - that is the plan; will be put into motion once the kids are out of private school in a couple of years.

For college, they're on their own...

 

[LFaWolf]

Oh in that case your SSD is not dead. It is definitely a Windows 7 update thing. I recently got one of the Windows 7 Update issue that the computer said about secure boot. The fix is to go into the BIOS and change the OS from Windows UEFI (?) to Other OS. Do you have such option in your BIOS? I think you should because I remember seeing something like that in older BIOS as well. Won't hurt to try but your SSD is not dead. Worst case scenario a reinstall of Windows 7 will fix it.

Edit: This was the problem and the fix for me - https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1016356/

 

[crashtech]

Yeah, when SSDs die, everything just goes away, poof.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, seems like the original SSD is... not dead? Pull your files off, and then try a Secure Erase using a Linux LiveUSB, or just do a re-format and re-install of Windows. Or maybe if you give us more info about the Windows error, some expert could guide you through repairing it?

 

[PianoMan]

Gonna reformat and reinstall and put it on the kids' PC they don't use anymore (they both have laptops). Most of the files are off the PNY SSD. I get the new SSD tomorrow; I'll let everyone know how it goes.

 

[PianoMan]

Got a new Samsung EVO 850 (500GB) and now a new Crucial MX300 (525GB) - and getting frustrated installing Win10. See my new post in Storage: "New Win10 Install: SSD and HDD Weirdness" after I go one more round w/the Samsung.

 

[LFaWolf]

I have no issue with the EVO for several Win 10 PCs. What are the issues? Where is the link to that post?

 

[PianoMan]

I think I may have almost figured it out, but it wasn't with no sweat and I wiped my data drive (restoring now!). See the new post: https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...d-weirdness-i-think-i-figured-it-out.2491128/