wich SSD for mini gaming rig? please help!!!

[hodgenutts]

Ok I'm building a mini gaming rig that I will ocassionally watch blue rays on. I've never bought a SSD before. I'm looking at

Kingston hyper x 120 gig for $129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820239045

And Intel x25 160 gig after rebate
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...MobileOptOut=1

I know the Kingston is newer tech, but the Intel is cheaper and holds more. I've never messed with SSD's before. I will NOT be multi tasking. I will either playing a game or watching a blue ray and that's it. So would the Intel work for me or would I not even notice an improvement compared to western digital velociraptor? Or would i actually neeed the newer tech from the kingston? If I wouldn't see a difference in gaming between the Kingston and Intel I figured it be the way to go.

In this mini gaming system it will have an O.C.ed i3 530, and this ssd will be the only drive. I will be looking to put Windows 7 64 bit and a few games on it. Probably W.o.W., statcraft 2, diablo 3 and Skyrim. I can always swap games out from my small 500 gig Toshiba satellite if I need to. One last thing, the motherboard only has SATA 2 ports. Not sure if that makes a difference. Also, on games would I notice a difference between any ssd and W.D. velociraptor? Thank you very much for your help.

 

[Charlie98]

Actually, I wouldn't buy either one of those...

If you like Kingston, there is the V300 120GB for $89

If I was spending your money, I'd get this Samsung 830... or this Plextor.

The Kingston, Plextor, and Samsung are SATA 3, so you would be missing out on a little speed, but SATA 2 speed would be an improvement over a standard HDD (I don't know about the VR's) The Intel SSD you listed is just SATA... not a bad drive, just slower than what's available now for the same price.

 

[hodgenutts]

The motherboard is only SATA 2, the motherboard won't run at SATA 3 speeds

 

[Charlie98]

The motherboard is only SATA 2, the motherboard won't run at SATA 3 speeds

Yes, I saw that. The SATA3 drives will work on your SATA2 ports just fine... and I wouldn't waste my money on a SATA or SATA2 drive at this point. I think you will see a difference in system responsiveness with an SSD, particularly if you do a clean install of the OS.

 

[beginner99]

Ok I'm building a mini gaming rig that I will ocassionally watch blue rays on. I've never bought a SSD before.

So would the Intel work for me or would I not even notice an improvement compared to western digital velociraptor?

Yes you will notice a difference between an old intel ssd and the newest raptor drive in terms of speed. Also the raptor will be much louder, obviously.

IMHO I would go with the biggest SSD you can afford. 120 GB will not be enough for all 4 games. 160 GB might work but I'm not sure. Keep in mind an SSD should not be filled completely and the actually available space is below 120 or 160 GB.

Note that within a game you will notice 0 difference between SSD and HDD. The main difference is that the PC just feels snappier, boots faster, games and levels load faster. However if you then constantly have to swap (uninstall-reinstall) games I'm not certain thats worth it. IMHO you should go for a > 200 GB SSD or then a standard 7200 RPM hdd.

 

[hodgenutts]

The O.S. and all 4 games are less than 90 gigs if I looked correctly on my current main rig.

 

[hodgenutts]

So which is faster old Intel ssd or newest raptor

 

[john3850]

So which is faster old Intel ssd or newest raptor

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/126?vs=182

 

[beginner99]

The O.S. and all 4 games are less than 90 gigs if I looked correctly on my current main rig.

Ok, so I suggets get the intel drive. the 120 GB one will be cutting it very close (in windows the actual capacity will be smaller, like about 110 GB. And you should never completely fill an SSD. Since you only have SATA 2 ports anyway, the intel drive IMHO is a good choice.(i'm running the 80 Gb version) and it's way snappier than any hdd.

 

[hodgenutts]

Thank you very much for the information

 

[nOOky]

I actually have both the drives the OP listed, however I paid only $79.99 for each. Watch for sales on Amazon and newegg, and many times amazon or tigerdirect are cheaper. The Intel 160GB is $89.99 after rebate at tigerdirect, but good luck getting the rebate.