Question Whats the fastest harddrive I can get for an X58 Pro-E?

[Stern]

Hello!

My girlfriend is running an old PC with an MSI X58 Pro-E motherboard. I'm not 100% sure but from what I can see newer ssd options like NVME would be a no go here. What would be the fastest she can get on it? She's using a GTX 980 on the graphics card slot.

Specification X58 Pro-E

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Many thanks and kind regards

 

[UsandThem]

For an older build like that not receiving new UEFI updates, a SATA SSD like the Samsung 870 EVO, Crucial MX500, SK Hynix Gold S31 would be the safest bet.

They might load some things like certain games 1-2 seconds slower than fastest NVMe SSDs, but nothing she really ever really notice.

 

[Stern]

Many thanks! I noticed it has 3 DIMM slots - does that mean I should pair 3 sticks of RAM if I want to upgrade that too? Or would a 2x8GB set work fine?

 

[Ajay]

For an older build like that not receiving new UEFI updates, a SATA SSD like the Samsung 870 EVO, Crucial MX500, SK Hynix Gold S31 would be the safest bet.

Never had UEFI.

Many thanks! I noticed it has 3 DIMM slots - does that mean I should pair 3 sticks of RAM if I want to upgrade that too? Or would a 2x8GB set work fine?

For optimal performance, yes, install RAM three sticks at a time in the appropriate DIMM slots according to the manual.

 

[UsandThem]

Never had UEFI.

It's not receiving any more BIOS updates then.

 

[bigboxes]

Many thanks! I noticed it has 3 DIMM slots - does that mean I should pair 3 sticks of RAM if I want to upgrade that too? Or would a 2x8GB set work fine?

The board has triple channel memory support. Back in it's day, that meant more bandwidth. You'll want a third matching stick of DDR3.

 

[mindless1]

What are the uses where more performance is needed? Not sure if many would make the ram and SSD upgrade worthwhile, unless currently running OS off a HDD and then, it only has SATA2.

If set on sticking with this build for a while, I'd be more inclined to throw a USB3 card in it for faster external storage, making offline backups for example.

 

[UsandThem]

What are the uses where more performance is needed? Not sure if many would make the ram and SSD upgrade worthwhile, unless currently running OS off a HDD and then, it only has SATA2.

Yeah, being limited to SATA II speeds complicates things. If you wanted to keep using it, you could go with just about the lowest priced SATA SSD you can find.

When I looked at the specs, I was on my phone and thought it listed "SATA III", but my eyes aren't what they once were.

 

[bigboxes]

Yeah, being limited to SATA II speeds complicates things. If you wanted to keep using it, you could go with just about the lowest priced SATA SSD you can find.

When I looked at the specs, I was on my phone and thought it listed "SATA III", but my eyes aren't what they once were.

When I built my HTPC, I repurposed my i7 920 for duty. The X58 mobo was the Asus P6T Deluxe v2. I had a D0 stepping. I bought a SATA III controller card and a Samsung 840 I believe.

 

[mindless1]

^ Yeah, could get a PCIe 4x SATA3 card , or could raid a couple SSD instead of one, but too little info to know what problem this solves beyond the token gesture of maxing it out.

Girlfriend... could be... the token gesture is a great thing... but for my own rig... wouldn't put too much more money into it except for the things already stated.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Honestly, "most" of what makes an SSD for an OS drive "feel" fast, day-to-day, is the lower latency than a HDD, and QD1 random I/O scores. Losing half of your top-end sequential, due to a SATAII interface, is not the end of the world for your upgrade. I would drop in an SSD into that rig, if you're going to use it, regardless.

Something with decent performance, like a Samsung or Crucial SSD, not some bottom-of-the-barrel Adata 635/655 DRAM-less abomination that will store data, but is barely any better than a HDD that it replaces.

 

[bigboxes]

I was incorrect. It was an 850 EVO.

Here's the controller card