SSD for desktop even though I rarely boot?

[Virgorising]

An SSD doesn't just help boot time. It will make the entire system very noticeably faster; program launches, game load times, and file read/writes will all be much faster.

Also, the latest-gen SSD's are more reliable than hard drives, due to the lack of spinning platters.

You should go with the Samsung 840 EVO series SSD's, they are the best cost to performance ratio right now, and have a kick-butt warranty as well.

I know the serious upsides of SDDs! But, I am NOT A GAMER, and right now, this system is as fast as I could ever want.

I do appreciate the specific SDD recommendation and made note of it!

But when they fail, and they do a lot, they go in a nano. No warning.

 

[hot120]

^^^Wrong!!!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I know the serious upsides of SDDs!
But when they fail, and they do a lot, they go in a nano. No warning.

^^^Wrong!!!

No, actually, that is correct. When SSDs die, they do tend to go rather suddenly. Suddenly enough that it is often impossible to get data off of them, unlike a regular HDD.

I've had an SSD die; have you?

 

[Cerb]

You can go on trying to spin it into oblivion, hibernating is NOT turning it off. Shutting it down and removing it and its peripherals from the power source is.

Ask anyone in my region who sustained the wrath of hurricane Sandy.

Turning off a PC and removing its power source are not the same thing. A hibernated PC is shut down. The state of the PC hardware is the same when hibernated as if you used the shut down option. Plugged in, with power good on the PSU and mobo, is considered shut down, powered down, turned off, etc.. If you are going to use that nomenclature to mean something else, expect responses correcting you. If you are disconnecting your PC's power, you need to state that explicitly, because that is not the commonly understood and used meaning of shut down, nor its synonyms.

 

[saratoga172]

Op: I rarely turn off my system. It's on nearly 24/7. Only exceptions are vacation and when I'm adding/removing a component or installing software or updating and need to reboot.

The nice thing about the ssd is when you hit those conditions boot up is really fast. Under 15 seconds for me. And I don't have to worry about what I have loading in startup. There is also a general system snappiness that you really need to feel to appreciate. No wait times for the hard drive to spin up to access the location of a single random file. Copies are much faster. Programs launch instantly instead of in 5-10 seconds. Etc.

Boot-up or not adding an ssd to my system is the single most tangible and biggest boost in system performance I've done. I can't stand to use a system without one now. It's very noticeable.

 

[Virgorising]

No, actually, that is correct. When SSDs die, they do tend to go rather suddenly. Suddenly enough that it is often impossible to get data off of them, unlike a regular HDD.

I've had an SSD die; have you?

What I've had die, I mean right here in this community, and instantly, not unlike the way SSDs do... is the respect I give to all other humans by default going in. Very sad, cause I find great joy in being able to, have the privilege of... respecting and liking other humans. But my high expectations never will. Die, I mean. ()

Jus sayin.

Clearly, I don mean YOU, you are more like chkdsk with fix bad sectors on.

 

[Virgorising]

Op: I rarely turn off my system. It's on nearly 24/7. Only exceptions are vacation and when I'm adding/removing a component or installing software or updating and need to reboot.

The nice thing about the ssd is when you hit those conditions boot up is really fast. Under 15 seconds for me. And I don't have to worry about what I have loading in startup. There is also a general system snappiness that you really need to feel to appreciate. No wait times for the hard drive to spin up to access the location of a single random file. Copies are much faster. Programs launch instantly instead of in 5-10 seconds. Etc.

Boot-up or not adding an ssd to my system is the single most tangible and biggest boost in system performance I've done. I can't stand to use a system without one now. It's very noticeable.

I respect what you report non despotically. Again, I have used two systems with SSDs, both lappys (one belongs to my friend's 11 year old, his mom called me when it got messed up of course). And I come to nothing cavalierly.

With this new/used system, even more now with the WD black, no way do I ever have to wait more than 1 or two seconds for anything. I just looked in Glary: I plugged in and booted this system only minutes ago, my boot time was 31 seconds. And, I would have no issue were it more.

And please, NEVER assume anyone comes to a given thing out of IGNORANCE. I come to all I do differentially.

And, one more ONCE: there is no good reason to leave a system on 24/7, but infinite, viable reasons to not only shut it down when not in use, but also to remove it and its peripherals from the power source.

When the set up is like mine: everything, including the cable modem, plugged into one surge strip, I pull one plug. No power to anything; zero vulnerability to disasters of any kind INVOLVING ELECTRICITY.

 

[Cerb]

^ True. How you use it, and how well the OS caching works with your use, makes a difference. My main home desktop PC might be a little faster for my needs with an SSD. I'll be getting one soon, but it's not a make or break thing. But OMG, I want to take a hammer to my work PC, sometimes, and an SSD would 100% take care of it.

On not turning the PC off: the main reason in convenience. By not turning it off, you can end up waiting as much on the monitor as anything else, so there's not even that 15+ seconds of booting up.

The main reasons for turning it off will be, as in your case, to protect it from power line events; to save state (IE, Hibernate); or to save power. You prioritize protecting it. I assume it's going to fail, eventually, and back up, rather than worry about it. Saving it from a once in a lifetime event is just meh, when I've seen so many varied failures. It's a small risk, compared to the work needed to protect from it.

 

[Virgorising]

Turning off a PC and removing its power source are not the same thing. A hibernated PC is shut down. The state of the PC hardware is the same when hibernated as if you used the shut down option. Plugged in, with power good on the PSU and mobo, is considered shut down, powered down, turned off, etc.. If you are going to use that nomenclature to mean something else, expect responses correcting you. If you are disconnecting your PC's power, you need to state that explicitly, because that is not the commonly understood and used meaning of shut down, nor its synonyms.

I not only stated it explicity, I explained why I do BOTH.

Slow down and take the time to read and comprehend before you hurl unjustified invective.

If the speed of SDDs reading and writing were at the expense of reading and writing ACCURATELY, nobody would buy them.

 

[Virgorising]

^ True. How you use it, and how well the OS caching works with your use, makes a difference. My main home desktop PC might be a little faster for my needs with an SSD. I'll be getting one soon, but it's not a make or break thing. But OMG, I want to take a hammer to my work PC, sometimes, and an SSD would 100% take care of it.

On not turning the PC off: the main reason in convenience. By not turning it off, you can end up waiting as much on the monitor as anything else, so there's not even that 15+ seconds of booting up.

The main reasons for turning it off will be, as in your case, to protect it from power line events; to save state (IE, Hibernate); or to save power. You prioritize protecting it. I assume it's going to fail, eventually, and back up, rather than worry about it. Saving it from a once in a lifetime event is just meh, when I've seen so many varied failures. It's a small risk, compared to the work needed to protect from it.

Ok FIRST, no hammer! (No chainsaw either:sneaky

Yes, yr take on what I do and why is accurate---and God bless U for that, if only in contrast:sneaky:. And what I do, given it has NO DOWNSIDE AT ALL, takes no time at all....is SMART.

The second I plug the strip in, everything, my mouse, of course the LED on the strop lite up. Including my screen! Big green "ACER" appears immediately. The time the system takes to get up and running is NOTHING.

AND TRUST ME, DISASTERS HAPPEN. Why on God's earth would anyone waste one lifeminute even thinking about calculating odds when it's not NECESSARY, and that which precludes that is a one second no brainer?

Remember, even when I (or you) pull the plug....for a good while, the board still holds a charge! Which is why, if I need to work inside the box, I still make sure to touch metal. Bet YOU do as well.

Ponder.

 

[Virgorising]

Why turn off my computer? It sleeps at night and barely draws any power.

The real question is why leave it ON? What to YOU is the upside?

 

[Virgorising]

^^^Wrong!!!

If U wanna be a worthy advocate for something.....do yr homework.

 

[hot120]

SSD's fail a lot? Really? Compared to HDD's? You got proof?

No, actually, that is correct. When SSDs die, they do tend to go rather suddenly. Suddenly enough that it is often impossible to get data off of them, unlike a regular HDD.

I've had an SSD die; have you?

 

[hot120]

Can we just get away from even talking about boot times in relation to SSD's? Who spends time booting and rebooting computers nowadays? To the OP and the uninformed HDD Bandit, check your sources. So much ignorance in your posts.

 

[Virgorising]

Can we just get away from even talking about boot times in relation to SSD's? Who spends time booting and rebooting computers nowadays? To the OP and the uninformed HDD Bandit, check your sources. So much ignorance in your posts.

Sorry, you do not pass voir dire to be seated on the jury as some arbiter of ignorance.

 

[Cerb]

I not only stated it explicity, I explained why I do BOTH.

Slow down and take the time to read and comprehend before you hurl unjustified invective.

I did, yet you have also used them as one in the same (in the very post I was replying to, that is exactly what you did). I have also not engaged in any invective dialog.

You cannot expect everyone to connect all the same dots. They won't. You need to type out enough information so that they either won't have to, or will not have any options but the dots you intended. Not everyone has the same experience you do, nor the same priorities. This kind of mental divide needs to be on your mind. Do not take offense at others trying to clear up something that is muddled, to them or someone else.

In your 7th post, you mentioned Sandy. That's well and good, but still begs the question, "what did Sandy do that made unplugging your computer a good practice?" I mean, how are we to go from seeing entire neighborhoods destroyed, to thinking about protecting one wee little computer? Most of the nation, and probably most of the rest of the world, didn't see any of the more minor effects from the storm. We might have read on a ticker about this city or that county, being without power, but nothing more specific than that. Honestly, this is the first I've read about that kind of power failure occurring from it, frying things left and right.

You need to, in some way, include that context. Most people that turn off their PCs every day are old people trying to save power (while still using incandescent light bulbs ), thus the responses you got. Your particular practice is not common to the rest of the population, so needs explication.

Even being explained, don't expect everyone to have the same priorities. My loss, in that scenario, would either very light, or so great that I would be more worried about insurance policy details than about the health of a single computer. The risk is quite low, and mitigating it would involve adding yet another small time-consuming practice to my day. I cannot say you are wrong to be do what you are doing, because I don't know what your losses would be like, nor what they were this last time. But, it is very much a matter of managing priorities, and calculating risks, both things we do every day, often effortlessly.

 

[hot120]

Honestly, a UPS would solve the 'FUD' about computer power and electricity.

 

[Virgorising]

I did, yet you have also used them as one in the same (in the very post I was replying to, that is exactly what you did). I have also not engaged in any invective dialog.

You cannot expect everyone to connect all the same dots. They won't. You need to type out enough information so that they either won't have to, or will not have any options but the dots you intended. Not everyone has the same experience you do, nor the same priorities. This kind of mental divide needs to be on your mind. Do not take offense at others trying to clear up something that is muddled, to them or someone else.

In your 7th post, you mentioned Sandy. That's well and good, but still begs the question, "what did Sandy do that made unplugging your computer a good practice?" I mean, how are we to go from seeing entire neighborhoods destroyed, to thinking about protecting one wee little computer? Most of the nation, and probably most of the rest of the world, didn't see any of the more minor effects from the storm. We might have read on a ticker about this city or that county, being without power, but nothing more specific than that. Honestly, this is the first I've read about that kind of power failure occurring from it, frying things left and right.

You need to, in some way, include that context. Most people that turn off their PCs every day are old people trying to save power (while still using incandescent light bulbs ), thus the responses you got. Your particular practice is not common to the rest of the population, so needs explication.

Even being explained, don't expect everyone to have the same priorities. My loss, in that scenario, would either very light, or so great that I would be more worried about insurance policy details than about the health of a single computer. The risk is quite low, and mitigating it would involve adding yet another small time-consuming practice to my day. I cannot say you are wrong to be do what you are doing, because I don't know what your losses would be like, nor what they were this last time. But, it is very much a matter of managing priorities, and calculating risks, both things we do every day, often effortlessly.

I communicate, both verbally and in writing for a living. By default propensity, I take the time to supply details. Because that is what honoring The Other(s) and empathy are about. It is also the nucleus of any communication worth engaging in. This event was no exception.

I am HARDLY THE ONE WHO EXPECTS OTHERS TO HAVE IDENTICAL PRIORITIES, AM I????

And, forgive me, you have to have pulled your postulation re who does what I do out of some body cavity.

And THIS: "The risk is quite low, and mitigating it would involve adding yet another small time-consuming practice to my day"....just takes my breath away.

As per one of Judge Judy's book titles: Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell me It's Raining.

 

[Virgorising]

Honestly, a UPS would solve the 'FUD' about computer power and electricity.

Spoken like a true pundit.

 

[Virgorising]

SSD's fail a lot? Really? Compared to HDD's? You got proof?

I pasted a link. Peruse.

And yes indeed, when they do, they just die. No warning.
_______________________________

Let me save U precious nanos you worry sooo about wasting:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2353875

Post #19.

 

[VirtualLarry]

SSD's fail a lot? Really? Compared to HDD's? You got proof?

My person experience has been that I've had a 240GB Mushkin Chronos Deluxe (supposedly the cat's meow, the fastest consumer SSD on the market at the time), go completely bad (no BIOS detect at all) within a month of using it in my netbook and desktop PC.

Contrast that with over a dozen HDDs, in the same period, still spinning and working fine.

SSDs are fast, sure, but their reliability still HAS NOT approached HDDs. Which is one big reason we have yet to see mainstream OEM desktop computers shipping with pre-installed SSDs.

Edit: Here's a thread with at least two Kingston V300 (2nd-gen SandForce, like my Mushkin) that died, one within six months.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2316409

 

[Carson Dyle]

1. Yes, it's very much worth it. For the fasterr launching of applications and the faster access to data and files.

2. Look at your current usage. I'd bet that a 120-128MB SSD is probably more than sufficient.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I just wanted to add that I've had two ssd's die on me and both gave me no forewarning at all they just went.

 

[code65536]

I just wanted to add that I've had two ssd's die on me and both gave me no forewarning at all they just went.

Out of curiosity, what brand/model?

 

[aigomorla]

I know. I not only shut the system down, I pull the surge protector strip it and all its peripherals are connected to...from the wall.

But we each should do what's right for us.

:O

Virgor u should just get a clapper and save your back from bending over every night.. :biggrin:

^poking fun at you... dont take it seriously....


Benifits of a SSD is a lot...
However if u sleep your PC alot, i would avoid a SSD.
SSD + Sleep or hybrid sleep => not a nice couple to watch tango.