Need advice on SSD

[joshykins1]

Hi,

I'm currently pondering on adding >250gb SSD as a boot drive for OSX/Windows, while relegating my HDD as a reservoir for storage. With the hope that the SSD will increase the battery performance and the longevity of the OS and of the machine.

After trawling through the net, the lack of any real world (except for AnandTech massive anthology on SSD) and review on the long term performance if SSD makes it hard to decide.

Which leads me to the question: Is a SSD a worthwhile investment in terms of long term reliability in a dual drive setup on an OSX/Windows environment? Or perhaps a hybrid drive might be a better solution? :hmm:

If so, can you recommend me a SSD?

Thanks!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Long term reliability (life expectancy) is 98% as good as HDDs.

Short term reliability (product return rate within a warranty period) is like 95% as good.

I wouldn't hesitate.

That said, nobody's been using the things for ten years, so nobody has any cranky-old-sysop stories* like they do for HDDs, and long term reliability is more expectations that real world experience.

Crucial or Samsung.

*A typical example: "Best HDD I ever bought, that old 20GB Seagate. used it in three different system builds, dropped it down a flight of stairs, and it never skipped a beat. I have it in an external enclosure now, connected to my kid's computer. You know what the little bastard said to me? He said, "Dad! I'm I/O Limited!" Don't know where he gets it. Kids these days, don't understand quality!"

 

[WojtekGee]

There are a ton of posts discussing SSDs... you don't have to dig very far either.

Utilize the search function and you'll get more than bargained for on these forums.

 

[joshykins1]

Thanks! I'll take your recommendations in to considerations.
Any idea about SanDisk Extreme SSD? There doesn't seem to be any review on AnandTech on them.

Also, lol @ your anecdote!! :thumbsup:

 

[joshykins1]

There are a ton of posts discussing SSDs... you don't have to dig very far either.

Utilize the search function and you'll get more than bargained for on these forums.

I have to admit I haven't search through this forum much and I probably will when I'm more free. The general flavour I'm getting is "avoid OCZ SSD like the plague".

 

[Traum]

I previously shared some of the same concerns as the OP, and after a lot of deliberations, I went down the SSD caching route, and lemme tell you, I couldn't be happier.

Armed with a 60GB SSD (OCZ Agility 3, for those of you who are interested) and using that as the SSD cache, I was able to fork out a fraction of what a full blow SSD system would cost, and get 95%+ of the performance. Aside from booting up, I typically use only around ~10 programs, so most of the time they'll fit just fine on the SSD cache. I don't have to worry about SSD failures at all because the drive is set up as "Enhanced Mode" (basically just a read cache) under Intel RST, so nothing will be lost if the SSD dies.

IMO, the current hybrid drives (eg. Seagate Momentus XT) has too small an SSD cache -- 8GB is only going to be enough for your OS boot up plus a very small amount of other "stuff".

Mind you, the SSD cache setup works for me b/c of my light-ish workload. If I am reading your post right, it seems like the OP is on a laptop system. In that case, obviously my experience would not apply.

 

[joshykins1]

Ah thanks for the insight! Makes it easier to decide. Thanks!