SSD upgrade

[meester]

I have a Intel X25-M 80GB SSD. And a 500GB hard drive, which has SMART fail.

It's just a productivity PC - no gaming.

I also have a server with several TB of space.

I would like to ditch the undersized SSD, and go for a larger drive. I'm not sure if it should be SSD or hybrid drive.

So I have some choices (the 500GB drive will be destroyed in any case):

(a) Replace the 80GB with 256GB SSD, no additional storage
(b) Replace the 80GB with 512GB SSD
(c) Replace the 80GB with 256GB SSD, buy 4TB drive and use it to replace a 1TB drive from my server, which I can then use in my PC
(d) Replace the 80GB with a 500GB/1TB hybrid drive

Any thoughts which is the best way to go? And are there big differences between SSD models now? Or is any ok?

 

[Charlie98]

I would just get a reasonable sized SSD and be done with it... the bigger the better (because some SSDs are sensitive to the amount of free space.)

Additionally, I would be more apt to recommend an external HDD as a backup option (not as a connected storage drive) unless you have that addressed already (or your machine doesn't have any data you can't afford to lose.)

 

[meester]

My server does nightly backups.

Is an SSD much faster as a system drive than a hybrid drive?

 

[Charlie98]

My server does nightly backups.

Is an SSD much faster as a system drive than a hybrid drive?

Although I don't have personal experience with one, I think they straddle the speed between a full SSD vs HDD. VirtualLarry created a thread on that very subject...

 

[Cerb]

Is an SSD much faster as a system drive than a hybrid drive?

Yes. Hybrid drives (well, WD's excepted--it's odd) learn what you read most, and put that in a tiny cache space. If you're short on SATA ports, or drive bays, they can be nice, for larger capacity. Notebooks and AIOs often only take 1 2.5" or 3.5" drive, FI, and you might need more space than either an SSD has, or than you can afford in an SSD. Boot times and some common program loading times, and such, will be faster, but that's about where it will stop. Plus, software updates will make it need to re-learn all over again.

If you can afford to just replace your local storage with SSD, do it. Everything will be fast, and as long as you keep a little free space, will stay that way.

 

[philipma1957]

I have a Intel X25-M 80GB SSD. And a 500GB hard drive, which has SMART fail.

It's just a productivity PC - no gaming.

I also have a server with several TB of space.

I would like to ditch the undersized SSD, and go for a larger drive. I'm not sure if it should be SSD or hybrid drive.

So I have some choices (the 500GB drive will be destroyed in any case):

(a) Replace the 80GB with 256GB SSD, no additional storage
(b) Replace the 80GB with 512GB SSD
(c) Replace the 80GB with 256GB SSD, buy 4TB drive and use it to replace a 1TB drive from my server, which I can then use in my PC
(d) Replace the 80GB with a 500GB/1TB hybrid drive

Any thoughts which is the best way to go? And are there big differences between SSD models now? Or is any ok?

these are all pretty good

sandisk
samsung
crucial

the 1tb models if you find a sale

this would be good for you if you were stateside

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-...=sandisk+960gb

not on sale but good

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Elect...F8&qid=1415377302&sr=1-1&keywords=samsung+ssd

not on sale but good

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...F8&qid=1415377356&sr=1-5&keywords=crucial+ssd

I own the crucial and the samsung.

If you can get a good sale go for it.

 

[meester]

Thanks for the advice, I think I have learned my lesson on the 80GB SSD and will go for a 512GB.

The MX100 from Crucial is £150 for 512GB.
The Samsung 840 Evo is £160 for 500GB.
Kingston V300 480GB £156

Just get the MX100?

And I guess I need to reinstall Windows, because I have software installed on both C and E drives?

 

[Charlie98]

I would go for the Crucial, all else being equal. I would agree on the 500+GB SSD, even my 256GB's fill up fast, and it's best not to go over 75-80% capacity.

A clean install is always nice, but if you really like your OS install, clone the old drive to the new one, and then migrate the other files off the HDD.