SSD on a Budget (going to Win7)....

[deadken]

Currently I am pretty tight financially. I am afraid that things won't get better any time soon (daughter starting College in Sept, OT cut @ work, etc...). I just 'splurged' and bought Win7. Now before Win7 has even shipped, I started thinking that I might want to spend even more money to be sure that my 'upgrade' from XP won't have me complaining 'I knew I should have stayed with XP!'.

So, here are the current specs:
Windows XP Pro SP3
AMD PhII 555 (unlocked to Quad @ 3.5Ghz)
Asus M4A79XTD EVO motherboard (IIRC limited to 3GB SATA)
WD 640GB Black HD
2x2GB OCZ (OCZ3G1600LV2G)
BFG 8800GTS 640MB
HP ZR24w (24" 1920 x 1200 IPS)

I'd like for this upgrade to be a pleasant experience. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by installing Win7 and then finding out that I am being bottlenecked by my HD (or memory, etc...). So here is what I am thinking, buy a decent SSD now and just use it for the O/S (and maybe a game or two) while using the 640GB for storage. Upgrade my Video Card and memory as needed down the line as money permits. Keep in mind that I do game a bit (currently BFBC2, maybe BF3 in a few months). I do rip and burn DVD's on occasion in addition to normal PC use.

I am pretty concerned that my 8800GTS will really start showing its age once I install Win7 (still at DX9 on XP). IIRC the 8800GTS was one of the first DX10 cards and I'm pretty sure that I'll need to upgrade that sooner rather then later. I'm hoping that BFBC2 will still play fine, but if it doesn't, I'll be pissed that I can't afford a really nice card.

At this point, I'm guessing that I'd have around $100 to spend for the drive (more before rebates).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, Ken

BTW: Thanks ZAP for the SSD Sticky. I did read it BEFORE I wrote this post.

EDIT: FWIW, I see these are on sale:

Kingston SSDNow V+100 SVP100S2/96G 2.5" 96GB SATA II:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...8b0ae669383c83

OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e4d2f23e553a76

They are both around $100 AMIR, but the OCZ is 60GB while the Kingston is 96GB. I don't know if the performance of the OCZ would be significantly better (in my case) to warrant the smaller size over the Kingston. Also, there are a lot of bad reviews for the OCZ drive on Newegg (reliability).

 

[J So]

I think for a budget drive with a decent amount of space you're going to be hard pressed to beat the v+100 for $99.99 after mir. Amazon has them back in stock as well if you get charged tax at Newegg.

I just bought one of those myself.

 

[deadken]

Thanks for the information. I live in NY so no tax from Newegg, but I do get charged tax from Amazon.

Honestly, if I'd rather have performance over size (if I'd see it and if reliability is the same). With a 96GB drive, I might use some of the space as storage, but I'd still be pretty limited.

 

[sequoia464]

I have a couple of the 96 Gb V+100 Kingstons as well as two of the 60 Gb Vertex2's. The Vertex is faster, but I'm happy with the Kingston's as well. You would probably be pleased with either, but $100 for a decent 96 gb drive is hard to resist. The Kingstons replaced a pair of Intel 40 GB drives that bench higher, but - real world - I can't tell the difference.

 

[Emulex]

the G2 microcenter you can get 64gb (thats 55 formatted) for $79 (returned) due to the sleep bug that affects *SOME* computers really bad. microcenter also sells a 5 year warranty (credit for $79) For $10 extra.

the intel x25-m 80gb i've picked up a few used for $100 - some are Gen 1 but they are in good shape and very solid - no bugs at all compared the (the rest). The 160gb X25-m G2 are about $199 used - just gotta know what you are buying. the x25-m 80gb gets 74gb formatted. to me 74gb is alot easier to work with than 55gb.

Some sandforce drives marked 64gb (or 60gb) format out to 50gb. that is not cool imo. they should call them 55gb because overhead shouldn't be over 10% imo.

so that is an option. honestly i might buy a lightly used (in warranty if possible, ask) unit that is intel over a lessor brand that is buggy. i got an x18-m really cheap on the forum used and have 4-5 3.3v to 5V converts (usata to sata) laying around so it worked great - plus if you ever have a small laptop like 2740/2540p elitebook it will fit.

 

[OS]

if you have a 7200 rpm drive you don't HAVE to get an SSD

win 7 works fine off a spindle disk, my laptop came with a WD blue, under light use the speed up wasn't some totally different experience.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

I went from a WD Black 640GB to a Crucial M4 64GB and it's been night and day. Running on SATA 3GB motherboard fwiw.

 

[Emulex]

yah 7200rpm blows chunks compared to any ssd. once you go ssd you will never go back. it puts to shame my 300gb velociraptor and man it is quiet. plus i have 1 minute sleep set for the drive

 

[deadken]

Well, I did it. I just pulled the trigger on a Kingston 96GB (from Newegg) for $99.99 AMIR. Today was the last day of the rebate, so I looked around and it seems to be a decent drive for a good price. It is listed in Zap's guide to SSD's in the 'best to buy' section.

It might not have the best controller, but the size is very nice for the price. Also, I haven't seen the reliability concerns that I did with the OCZ drive I was looking at. If all goes well with the rebate, I'm looking at close to a buck-a-GB. Considering my budget constraints, I'll be happy if everything works as it should (drive and rebate).

Thanks for the suggestion / information so far. Feel free to keep the information coming!