I have had great success with my ocz vertex-2 60GB SSD with ASUS P4P800-E motherboard, P4 3.4, fantastic speeds. I did have an issue installing XP, I assume because of SATA-I compatibility issues. I created a partition with an offset of 64, ran the XP Install CD, it would find the SSD drive and report that its "Copying files", then reboot automatically to continue the install. Well, when it rebooted, the install started from the beginning every time.
I reconnected my old OS/HDD with the SSD as a data drive, and found that no files had been copied. So, I manually copied the i386 folder to the SSD drive, and after that the installation went down without a glitch.
Running games from the SSD is pure awesomeness! Except for multi-tasking, limited by the P4 3.4, the speed in completing drive-intensive tasks exceeds anything out there using HDD.
BTW, since you're here, and we're talking about SATA 1, then you or your client probably has an AGP board. If so, check out AGP cards from HIS, like the HIS ATI HD 4670 1GB AGP card with HDMI. Trust me, an SSD combined with the HD 4670 will release the beast inside your AGP system!
I tried Windows 7 on it but it doesn't run well, being only single-core. The fact that it's a 3.4ghz chip doesn't seem to help much in that regard. If you are using single core I would stick with XP, just use
Diskpar to align the partition with an offset of 64 (the XP default offset is 63, which causes a problem with SSD's: SSD's use an offset of 64, which Win7 will do automatically but XP will not). If you do not create a partition with an offset of 64 when installing XP, then the system will have to
write 2 bits of information for every 1 bit
saved, cutting your write speed in half, as well as decrease the SSD's life expectancy.
The Diskpar utility will create the correct offset for installing XP on an SSD:
(All images are from the OCZ website)
Install the SSD in a Windows computer with the Windows drive as the only other drive.
It is strongly recommended you disconnect any other drives (i.e. data drives)
First, go to Computer Management by right-clicking "My Computer", click "Manage", and "Disk Management".
Verify the drive NUMBER of your SSD drive.
BE ABSOLUTELY PRECISE ABOUT THIS.
Diskpar utility:
Code:
https://kb.wisc.edu/images/group14/4556/diskpar.exe
Place diskpar in the root drive(C:\).
In a command prompt, type:
C:\diskpar -s
1
(note the number here is the Drive Number of your SSD.
Be absolutely precise about this. Mine was drive #1, yours may be different)
and enter, then hit Y to continue...see pic1
Pic 1
Now we need to hit Y again to continue and press enter/return..see pic 2
Pic 2
Note the Alignment number will be 64, see pic 3
Pic 3
Pic 4
After creating the partition with diskpar, format using "Disk Management". (Copy the 1386 folder from the XP CD to the SSD). Install XP to this partition and make no changes to it during installation.
You should use the whole drive space for the partition, and using a Multi Level Cell SSD for data storage is not recommended. Static files don't do well on an SSD, whereas files which are updated frequently, such as OS and application files, are the ones that benefit most from SSD technology and can be replaced in the event of data corruption.
If you want to use MLC SSD's for data storage, well then, you need be fastidious in your backup and recovery practices. These aren't like our old scsi drives that seem to last forever and never develop bad sectors. I had the unfortunate experience of losing the entire OS on an SSD a few weeks ago, just turned on the box and . . "No OS Found". Bios reported the disk as the primary boot and #1 disk. Just . . everything . . gone, drive empty. wow. but, with an SSD, reinstalling XP and all my apps took less than 1 hour and it's worked fine ever since. With SSD's, many applications install almost instantly.
the price of Service Pack 3 = less than 5 mins.
My data = priceless.
SSD is great for OS and apps, but use a platter for your dater
Upgraded AGP system:
Asus P4P800-E - socket 478, 800mhz FSB, SATA I (1.5 Gb/s)
Pentium IV - 3.4Ghz - 1MB L2 cache (upgraded from 3.0)
OCZ Vertex2 60GB SSD - Windows XP
Seagate 250GB SATA II HDD - data (old OS drive)
4 GB Kingston PC3200 400mhz RAM, 3GB available in x86, hyper-threading yields 800mhz FSB
HIS ATI HD 4670 1GB UV-Reactive AGP Graphics Adapter w/ HDMI (upgraded from EVGA nVidia 7800 GS CO 256MB)
Scythe Mugen IIb Heatpipe CPU cooler (upgraded from Zalman CNPS7700-Cu)
Lamptron FC-5 4 channel Fan controller (upgrade from no controller)
Thermaltake 350 watt PSU (fans replaced)
Thermaltake Shark Case - Black (upgraded with soundproofing and Gelid Wing12 UV-Blue and Arctic 120mm PWM fans).
CPU fan - MassCool UV-Red 120mm (red LEDs replaced with UV)
RAM cooler fans - UV blue with UV red blades
Sleeving and cables - 100% UV-reactive
Lighting - 100% UV (except front panel)
cheers