• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Storage Solution, Aging HD + SSD, SRT or SSD Boot?

H

hachi

Junior Member
Hello all. I'm building a new setup for gaming, but I am already going way over my budget, so please, don't suggest things which cost significantly more than what I'm looking at now.

The build I'm looking at is:
i5-2500k AsRock Pro3 (z68)
Mushkin Silverline (2x4gb@1333)
Windows 7
+ Some SSD ~$100

Now, the primary issue I have is storage. Currently, I have a 600gb HD with 400gb of pictures and games and movies on it. The windows (vista) install is... terrible, and I'm excited to try 7. First question is: Can I install windows 7 on my current HD without wiping out all the date I currently have?

Now, I have an aging Sata HD which I may have purchased in 2007 or 2008. I would probably just upgrade that, if HD prices weren't tripled to quadrupled currently. So I've decided I'd rather try an SSD as prices have actually gone down on them. The thing is, I'm limited to ~$100 which pegs me around 60-64gb ssd.

As far as I see, I have 3 options:
Use the SSD for windows install as well as maybe 1 or 2 games.
Use the SSD as a SRT Cache for my aging 600gb hd.
Use the SSD as both SRT as well as 18.6gb cache.

In general it seems like SRT is pretty impressive at breathing new life into old HD's, but I'm not sure which would be the best solution for me. Are there any opinions as to what might get me the most performance without dropping $300+ on an SSD? Also as far as SSD's for the SRT caching, would a mid size (~60gb) MLC SSD or the intel 311 (20gb) SLC SSD be preferable? And for caching, is it possible to "cache" a SATA I drive w/ an SSD in SATA III?
 
Option 1 since you're storage restricted. You can also easily use a program like steam mover: http://www.traynier.com/software/steammover to move the 2-3 games you play most to your SSD, and then move around on the games when you start playing other games.

There are also some tweaks to keep a windows install to a minimum, like disable hibernation and delete windows update files, leaving more room to software.
 
Last edited:
If you're not planning to overclock, and you have a dedicated GPU, then I would suggest something cheaper than that 2500K.

If you can afford a tier 1 SSD (Intel, Crucial, Samsung, or take a chance on a SandForce drive) then I would say you should use it as a separate OS/Apps drive. I would never buy a tier 1 SSD and use it in SRT. If you can only afford a less expensive SSD, then go SRT. Running a good SSD for OS/Apps and just leaving your games on your HDD should deliver perfectly acceptable performance (I am doing exactly this) unless your HDD is rather old. If your HDD *is* rather old, then it might make sense to try to rearrange your parts list to try to free up enough money to buy a new 1TB HDD, even at the inflated prices. The HDD market is not going to recover for 6 months or more, and prices will likely take longer than that.
 
Thanks for the input.

As far as the build goes, I'm running a GTX 560 OC. I was hoping to go for a fairly modest 4+ghz oc, or whatever I could manage without upping the vcore too much. But now I've been second guessing myself on that.

For the past several years I've been running an E7300@2.66 ghz w/ a 4830. And now, seeing the i3-2100 on black friday special for $109 I'm tempted to just drop the aftermarket cooler / run the i3 instead and save myself some cash. Maybe get a 90 or 120gb ssd.

Perhaps I should think harder about the CPU I buy. Now I'm thinking maybe a 2500k is not worth it, particularly if I'm playing things at medium resolutions with very high settings. The only thing I'd be missing out on is the opportunity to really play with Dolphin... Maybe some performance in more cpu intensive games. I don't know.

I definitely won't be buying a mechanical drive though. Buying on a market like this is something my OCD won't let me do.
 
I've never been a fan of overclocking, so take this with a grain of salt, but I can't imagine you could ever get more of a bang-for-buck performance increase out of an overclock than you could out of an SSD.
 
Ended up getting both...

Let's just hope I get all of the MIR's. And that the OCZ Vertex 3 isn't a dud. Rollin the dice.
 
Slightly off topic, but most of the time with MIRs I have to pester the shit out of the companies to receive mine. But you will get it, just make sure you scan in all your documents before you mail it out as "proof" if you need to fall back on it. OCZ is pretty good with MIRs though believe it or not. Some companies like Diamond take forever, I sent a HD6950 $25 MIR back in May to Diamond and received it only a few days ago [~6 months when they state it can take up to 3].
 
I went the caching route, adding a 64GB OCZ Synapse as a cache for my 1TB Hitachi drive. SSD snobs are not going to like that, but it essentially gives you near-SSD performance across the entire drive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top