Which SSD right NOW?

[woolfe9999]

FYI

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2158269

 

[finbarqs]

thanks! in for one op!

 

[SickBeast]

That's a nice price on the Kingston SSD. I wonder how it compares to the Vertex 2 that I just got for $85.

 

[finbarqs]

you'll soon learn that these small capacities SSD's will not fit the bill... you'll run out of space in no time!

 

[SickBeast]

you'll soon learn that these small capacities SSD's will not fit the bill... you'll run out of space in no time!

Hogwash. You need to learn how to effectively use it is all. It sounds to me like you need to run windirstat.

 

[finbarqs]

I have a 80GB intel SSD on my Laptop, and that's almost full. I have a 160GB SSD on my desktop, and that's about 60GB used... My basic productivity apps, W7, Photoshop, and misc apps will take up a ton. I disabled Virtual Memory (I'm running on 12GB) and System Restore (doesn't work very well anyways... let's face, if our systems caught a virus or some shit, we wont use System Restore!)

Anyways, my laptop has 10GB free. But then again, that's the only drive inside my Laptop. My desktop has 2x 1TB drive (WD Black sata 6Gbps, and one 1.5TB on the way)
A lot of people will not have the discipline to keep their system as beloved patriot and span as us power users...

 

[cytoSiN]

Hogwash. You need to learn how to effectively use it is all. It sounds to me like you need to run windirstat.

Agreed. Win7 is about 14gb. Both programs folders are about 21gb combined, including Office 2010, Photoshop, Acrobat Pro, Firefox/Chrome, and other miscellaneous things. Games can vary, but even WoW, with all of the old update files still in the folder, is about 30gb. That's 65gb total, which on a 128gb ssd, assuming 119gb of actual usable space, still leaves 54gb free. If you're smart about how you store your files, that's a TON of space leftover. Would I prefer a lot more at ssd speeds, sure, but but considering the price/gb these days, I think 128gb is plenty for now.

 

[SickBeast]

You know, a really good trick is to use NTFS compression on the Program Files folders. It saves space and some say it even improves performance. I know on my system it definitely doesn't degrade performance.

The other thing to do is to completely disable hibernation and system restore. Just keep good backups. I take a complete image of my SSD every so often through Linux.

 

[COPOHawk]

This statement about file compression is inaccurate. It doesn't improve performance...it is designed to save space and always has been.

Every time the OS needs to access a compressed file, there is a small delay as it needs to uncompress the file first. Over time, these delays add up. Someone with an SSD may not notice it as much, but the latency does increase due to file compression.

I would agree about disabling hibernation and system restore though. The space savings can be significant. System Restore is NEVER a decent alternative to a good complete backup. In fact, most viruses/spyware infect the System Restore files in order to "mask" themselves, making removal more difficult.

 

[SickBeast]

COPOHawk, you're failing to realize that by enabling compression, you're causing the SSD to do less work as it has to read significantly less data. Someone over at HardOCP did a study and found that it actually boosted performance.

For me personally, my Program Files folders use up 2.81gb on disk whereas their true size is 3.87gb. I'm saving a gig. I don't notice any performance penalty. Perhaps there is, and perhaps there's not. If there is a good benchmark I could run to check it out, please let me know.

BTW you should read about how the BTRFS file system under Linux gets a huge performance boost by using compression.

 

[COPOHawk]

I am not sure how alternate file systems work...like BTRFS or ZFS...but I have worked extensively with NTFS and FAT32.

Here is a link to describe how it works...from MS:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251186


Because of the lessons I learned using NTFS file compression over the years...I simply don't use it anymore. Hard drive space is cheap enough that it doesn't pay to have to deal with any of its downsides. You may or may not notice a performance penalty on an SSD...but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist...due to the nature of the process.

The whole point of having an SSD is because of the speed increase...why hobble that with file compression?

I am not saying that you can't do it...I am disagreeing to advise people to do it as a general trick/tip.

 

[SickBeast]

From what I understand, it's a legitimate "tip" provided that you only do it to rarely modified files. Program Files are perfect for this. People shouldn't do it to their Windows folder or anything like that.

 

[Emulex]

compression of files also acts as encryption and tamper preservation. if each copy of the o/s had a different encryption key/hash with compression - you would be able to detect change in event of tamper (malware)? Isn't this how win7 x64 works. same with dll - mod them and they stop working with strong signing.

 

[COPOHawk]

From what I understand, it's a legitimate "tip" provided that you only do it to rarely modified files. Program Files are perfect for this. People shouldn't do it to their Windows folder or anything like that.

I suppose like everything else...your mileage may vary. Personally, I won't though.


Emulex: You may have a point for security/tamper purposes. But what about corruption? I thought that encrypted files become useless if the key is lost/corrupted.

 

[drizek]

In the Drive Cleanup options there is an option to "compress old files", which is different from compressing the drive itself.

 

[groberts101]

@SickBeast. Ill warn you right off that using compression on a Sandforce controlled drive which uses internal compression algorithms WILL result in additional workloads on this controller and WILL notably reduce write speeds as a result.

In fact, most SSD don't really care for file compression as it imposes additional layers of overhead into the equation. It's easily measured in apps like AS SSD, CDM3, and many others.

If the files are primarily read only and you're not doing the entire c-drive?.. I have friends that do use it with great results as the reads can show increased speeds on occassion. However, using that method on a controller that uses compression will vary from the typical result. That's the entire basis for why the SF controllers show reduced write performance when sealing with less compressible data. Just a quick heads up is all, since I've seen a few try it with poor results already.

Also consider that you are negating the amount of compression that the controller can do internally by compressing it from the logical level first. If you let the controller do its job it will save the most important space of all. Physical space on the SSD itself.

 

[drizek]

If you are writing precompressed (ie. uncompressible) data to the SSD, it uses more space and will have higher write amplification and less "spare area". You get to store more files on the ssd this way, but, theoretically, it will make it less robust.

 

[finbarqs]

What's the avg life span of these SSD's? compared to a mechanical drive?

 

[drizek]

They will probably last longer than a mechanical drive, if anything. ALthough we don't really know. Some fail after a couple of weeks and most are still humming just fine after several years.

 

[stevech]

Hogwash. You need to learn how to effectively use it is all. It sounds to me like you need to run windirstat.

double-hogwash. Data on big hard disk. Boot/programs on SSD. My 64GB SSD is half full after months of use and lots of complex apps for engineering plus MS Office 2007, visual studio, etc.

 

[finbarqs]

I think i remember the first gen SSD's (intel) started dying left and right... right around 3 years...

 

[Makaveli]

I think i remember the first gen SSD's (intel) started dying left and right... right around 3 years...

You have any links or proof of this?

 

[finbarqs]

intel 510 SSD or 320?

 

[drizek]

510 but... why not consider something else?

 

[finbarqs]

reliability! but then, the 510 isn't using intel's controller