Anyone using SSD Hard for primary Drive?

Sherardp

Just wondering if anyone has gone with SSD for your primary drive. My thoughts are to go with Intel G2 80gb SSD for my OS and then run a WD 1Tb Cavier black as my secondary. If you have SSD what are your thoughts so far. On another note I just installed the AMD Phenom II 965BE CPU and got it overclocked to 4ghz last night. This chip screams..........cooling with Xigmatek Dark Knight.

nguyendot

I plan on getting one soon.... Just to try it out. I really want a Raid5 with hotspare since I work with them all day.

dubradio

I am, I replaced shifted my sata 500gb 7200 rpm drive in my laptop to secondary and ghosted the os onto a 80 GB SSD drive, laptop boots lighting fast and the battery actually lasts about 15-20% longer

vc69

I'm running a 60gb SS in my work machine as primary. Love it.

ryanjoachim

It's definitely on my list to do this month (Feb). Although it may come down to an SSD or a tablet pc...

bruss

Did you have to adjust your voltages much to get that chip to 4GHZ? What board are you using?

I had to play with the voltages for a while to get stable from 2.4 to 3.4 on my intel.. but the sucker has been rock solid for 6 months since i found the sweet spot

Face

Yes and I love it.

SS for my OS and games, old platters for my music library, videos, pictures, etc...

Sherardp

bruss wrote: »

Did you have to adjust your voltages much to get that chip to 4GHZ? What board are you using?

I had to play with the voltages for a while to get stable from 2.4 to 3.4 on my intel.. but the sucker has been rock solid for 6 months since i found the sweet spot

yes it took me awhile to get it stable. I was crashing for a bit when stress testing using Prime 95. Mobo is Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P. I recently came from the Phenom II 920, had it stable at 3.5ghz. Both chips were extremely fast. I think I can get it a bit higher but we will see.

In regards to SSDs, have any of you noticed decrease in performance over time. Any thing I need to look out for before purchasing? Sounds like it will be a worthy move going SSD. Just doing the homework.

AsSiMiLaTeD

The Intel G2 is the way to go. I've been using one for a while now and it's a big difference on my machine.

The g2 drives have built in TRIM support so if you're running windows 7 you won't see the typical declination in performance. Other drives out there have this as well, but the older intel drives do not.

Sherardp

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

The Intel G2 is the way to go. I've been using one for a while now and it's a big difference on my machine.

The g2 drives have built in TRIM support so if you're running windows 7 you won't see the typical declination in performance. Other drives out there have this as well, but the older intel drives do not.

Excellent then I will go for the Intel. My other choice was to go with the OCZ turbo, but I think I will stick with Intel G2 series. If you don't mind, can you tell me if you have this running a desktop or laptop? If a desktop what are you using for mobo and cpu? Thanks bro

AsSiMiLaTeD

The Intel is in my both my gaming and primary desktops.

The gaming setup is a evga motherboard with an i7 920 overclocked to 4.0.

The other is in my primary pc with a gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l with a q6600 overclocked to 3.6.

I have an OCZ Vertex in my laptop, and it works great as well and is supposed to have trim added with a firmware update.

The Vertex is actually a little better at burst read and write speed, but the intel is an all around better performer in a practical os build

Sherardp

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

The Intel is in my both my gaming and primary desktops.

The gaming setup is a evga motherboard with an i7 920 overclocked to 4.0.

The other is in my primary pc with a gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l with a q6600 overclocked to 3.6.

I have an OCZ Vertex in my laptop, and it works great as well and is supposed to have trim added with a firmware update.

The Vertex is actually a little better at burst read and write speed, but the intel is an all around better performer in a practical os build

Excellent info and thanks allot. I was sort of confused in which to go so I appreciate your feedback. I'm hoping the Intel is fast and performs well for me.

Lowell_M

Sherardp wrote: »

yes it took me awhile to get it stable. I was crashing for a bit when stress testing using Prime 95. Mobo is Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P. I recently came from the Phenom II 920, had it stable at 3.5ghz. Both chips were extremely fast. I think I can get it a bit higher but we will see.

In regards to SSDs, have any of you noticed decrease in performance over time. Any thing I need to look out for before purchasing? Sounds like it will be a worthy move going SSD. Just doing the homework.

You doing any Cinebench R10 benchmarking along the way?

I just build a RAID10 array (for redundancy) into my Media PC, which actually added a nice boost in speed, but nothing compared to an SSD drive.

I'm going to play around with Overclocking my Phenom X4 9950 this weekend cooled with Coolermaster V8. I've only gone from 2.6ghz to 3ghz and am very stable without much effort, but might try to push it to 3.2ish or more this weekend and see what happens.

Anyway... Wish I would have seen this thread earlier or I might have considered putting the OS on an SSD drive. I'm not going to rebuild again though...

Sherardp

Went ahead and ordered the Intel 80GB SSD and a secondary 750gb WD Caviar Black. That should put my build over the top and hopefully complete for awhile. Spent more money in this rig than I initially intended to.

bigaudiofanatic

As much as I love the idea of the SSD's all it really is is a big thumb drive. Something I just do not trust about them yet is if something fails inside the drive your stuff is gone, no real recovery for something like that "something like a short out". Even if you just put your OS on one and have stuff on another I would not really see the point except for speed but still rather have a WD raptor for the moment. For now I will stay with regular hard drives until a year or so. Also they are to small for anything I would want to use them for.

cnh

SSD drives are generally fairly reliable...but there is one proviso about that that will probably NOT affect most people and that is that they, unlike a regular hard drive have a rewritable LIMIT! In other words it is possible under very very very heavy use to exceed that limit and no longer be able to use the drive for storage....I'm no tech but I think its like 10k times or something like that!

cnh

AsSiMiLaTeD

As much as I love the idea of the SSD's all it really is is a big thumb drive.

While the basic theory behind each technology is the same, they are NOT the same thing. You may want to take a look at the SSD articles on anandtech to learn more about the technology.

Something I just do not trust about them yet is if something fails inside the drive your stuff is gone, no real recovery for something like that "something like a short out".

The same can be said for regular hard drives in most cases. Data can be recovered, but this can be cost prohibitive for most people anyway. You don't put your critical data on o ne of these, you install an OS and your applications, and then you use a tool like Acronis True Image to keep a backup of your OS, and by the way you should be doing this regardless of which hard drive you have.

Even if you just put your OS on one and have stuff on another I would not really see the point except for speed but still rather have a WD raptor for the moment.

Yep, that's the point, the extra speed. They're also quiter and use less power which is a plus in a laptop, but in a desktop they're all about speed. I've had two Raptors in a RAID configuration, they simply don't compare to the Intel drives. The Raptors are okay for copying large chunks of data, but for everyday use the SSD drives are far superior.

For now I will stay with regular hard drives until a year or so.

I'm not sure what the reasoning is here, but I wouldn't expect any of the fundamental technology to change, you may see a decrease in price but I doubt even that will change much.

Also they are to small for anything I would want to use them for.

I suppose it depends on what you're doing, but 80G is plenty for my OS and apps on each of my machines, including the gaming machine.

AsSiMiLaTeD

cnh wrote: »

SSD drives are generally fairly reliable...but there is one proviso about that that will probably NOT affect most people and that is that they, unlike a regular hard drive have a rewritable LIMIT! In other words it is possible under very very very heavy use to exceed that limit and no longer be able to use the drive for storage....I'm no tech but I think its like 10k times or something like that!

cnh

There's a good writeup on anandtech about the life expectancy as well, and if I remember correctly even under heavy typical usage you're looking at several years of life.

Face

If you back it up like any other drive what's the problem?

dubradio

^ Correct, Ive been running my SSD drive for roughly 6months with no decrease in performance, and I even have friends who were early adopters and have had one for 3 years, even with reasonably heavy usage he still has no notacible performance loss.

As far as size, like assimilated mentions 80gb is plenty for an OS/program drive. I really dont have a need for large storage on these anyway since I have a 500gb sata internal drive in my laptop as well (dual HDD capabilty in lappy is awesome ) and an external sata 1TB fishplatter drive to store all my Movie/music/pic/misc on...

The main thing for me was because I have a 17.3" HP dual core lappy it like to eat power, with regular use (i.e. - internet/general windows stuff) I saw roughly 15-20% increase in battery life because i was only using the SSD, and the platter drive was having to spin up.... this 15-20% equated to roughly a 20-30 minute longer battery life on standard battery and extended battery saw roughly another 45-60 minutes of life

dudeinaroom

bruss wrote: »

Did you have to adjust your voltages much to get that chip to 4GHZ? What board are you using?

I had to play with the voltages for a while to get stable from 2.4 to 3.4 on my intel.. but the sucker has been rock solid for 6 months since i found the sweet spot

What cpu are you using? I'm thinking of going with an i3 530 in my next build. I've seen on a couple site that you can get them up to 4ghz on stock voltage and cooler.

Systems

Does yours have TRIM integrated into the firmware?

KyleShufelt wrote: »

^ Correct, Ive been running my SSD drive for roughly 6months with no decrease in performance, and I even have friends who were early adopters and have had one for 3 years, even with reasonably heavy usage he still has no notacible performance loss.

As far as size, like assimilated mentions 80gb is plenty for an OS/program drive. I really dont have a need for large storage on these anyway since I have a 500gb sata internal drive in my laptop as well (dual HDD capabilty in lappy is awesome ) and an external sata 1TB fishplatter drive to store all my Movie/music/pic/misc on...

The main thing for me was because I have a 17.3" HP dual core lappy it like to eat power, with regular use (i.e. - internet/general windows stuff) I saw roughly 15-20% increase in battery life because i was only using the SSD, and the platter drive was having to spin up.... this 15-20% equated to roughly a 20-30 minute longer battery life on standard battery and extended battery saw roughly another 45-60 minutes of life

ryanjoachim

cnh wrote: »

SSD drives are generally fairly reliable...but there is one proviso about that that will probably NOT affect most people and that is that they, unlike a regular hard drive have a rewritable LIMIT! In other words it is possible under very very very heavy use to exceed that limit and no longer be able to use the drive for storage....I'm no tech but I think its like 10k times or something like that!

cnh

Before TRIM came out, after a few months your ssd would start lagging and slowing down bit by bit. With TRIM however, you're looking at years before you start seeing any degradation.

bigaudiofanatic

Face wrote: »

If you back it up like any other drive what's the problem?

None just a backup would be if something happened to the main one and when you have a SSD drive your risk goes up.

Sherardp

What program can I use to move everything (OS included) on my current HDD to the new SSD when it arrives. I was thinking Casper 6. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Sherardp

I love it when a plan comes together. I installed the SSD today and WOW it is very fast. I was amazed at how fast everything installed on it. Almost tempted to buy another and run a raid setup. Definitely worth the coin spent. Running the WD750 Black as a secondary. I'm done with PC upgrades.

Sherardp

Found a couple tweaks for you hardcore guys, I did a few of them

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=913

audiobliss

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

The other is in my primary pc with a gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l with a q6600 overclocked to 3.6.

Woo, 3.6GHz! I have a Q6600 in my GA-P35-DS3R. I don't know what the differences between the two boards are, but I would assume (hope) they're similar enough I would also be able to hit ~3.6GHz. Do you mind sharing what you had to change to get there? I've never played with overclocking for more than about 5 minutes.

shadowofnight

Sherardp wrote: »

I'm done with PC upgrades.

Haha....if I had a dollar for everytime I said that after building the lastest and greatest gaming monster known to man ( Well known to man for the next few weeks maybe )

AsSiMiLaTeD

audiobliss wrote: »

Woo, 3.6GHz! I have a Q6600 in my GA-P35-DS3R. I don't know what the differences between the two boards are, but I would assume (hope) they're similar enough I would also be able to hit ~3.6GHz. Do you mind sharing what you had to change to get there? I've never played with overclocking for more than about 5 minutes.

It's all about voltage and heat really.

First, you need the right chip, mine is a G0, B3 chip IIRC, so you need a program like CPUID to see what version you have.

Assuming you have a variant that overclocks well then you're good to go. Your board is the same as mine, except yours also has RAID. Oh yeah, did I mention heat? You're going to need a good cooler, this has a direct effect on how much you can overclock.

I'm gonna link you to a thread that's about ou board specifically (albeit the non-raid version) that has TONS of good info and also links to a guide to overclocking that's good. Before I do that, the process at a basic level is fairly simple:

1 - You adjust your FSB (CPU Host Frequency) and CPU Multiplier to give you the desired speed of the CPU, which is a product of those two items.
2 - You adjsut your memory divider (in our case it's actually a multiplier) to keep your memory speed in check. Your memory is tied to your FSB, so as you increase your FSB you need to make sureyour memory speed isn't bumped beyond the capability of the memory, the rated speed of your memory is usually a good place to start. This will become more clear as you see my example below and play with this yourself. It's usually best to start with something very safe like 2.0 that will result in your memory being underclocked, you'll see why in a minute.
3 - As you adjust those, you'll need to increase the voltage as necessary while monitoring your CPU heat. Everything is a balance of speed, power, and heat, you just have to find the right balance of the three.
4 - Work in small increments, don't try to go from 2.4 to 3.6!! Overclock it a bit, then test for stability, then repeat. What you want to try to do is get the highest overclock you can at a given voltage. Here's how the logic would look:

Step0 - Set memory ratio to something low like 2.0
Do Until Overclock_Max = 1
____Step1 - Increase CPU Host Frequency by ~10 (you can play with this to get even overclocks if you want)
____Step2 - Test for Stability
____Step3 - If System is stable then GOTO Step5 else continue
____Step4 - Increase CPU Voltage by .10 and GOTO Step2
____Step5 - If max speed desired or max heat threshold is reached then Overclock_Max = 1 else Overclock_Max = 0
Do Until Memory_Max = 1
____Step6 - Increase memory ratio to next highest level
____Step7 - If System is stable then GOTO Step6 else continue
____Step8 - Decrease memory ratio previous stable ratio
____Step9 - Set Memory_Max = 1
End

Technically, the first loop is flawed because you would eventually hit a point where increasing the voltage would no longer be enough for a stable system, but I've never hit that point because the heat always go me first. So, realistically, just follow the logic and you should be fine.

If you're running at stock settings and have DDR2-800 memory, your setting probably look something like a multiplier of 9 and a CPU Host Freq of 266. Your memory ratio and all that is probably set to auto. I don't know what your CPU voltage is, probably around 1.2000v.

I would make my first goal 3.0Ghz, as any of those chips should be able to run at that speed, though if you have an older, non-G0 chip I'm not sure. With DDR2-800 memory, that would look something like:

CPU Multiplier = 9
CPU Host Frequency = 333
Memory Ratio = 2.5 (2.5x333 is actually 833, but any decent 800 rated memory should run at that, if not try the next lowest setting)
CPU Voltage = At that speed, it's probably going to need to be somewhere around 1.300v, but again that can vary based on chip.

Again, don't go straight for those settings, work your way up!

For stability testing, I use 2 programs on conjunction, both are free. For initial testing, I use OCCT. It has a quick 30 minute test that really taxes the CPU, I use this tool for the majority of my testing, this gets me down to where I THINK I have a stable system. I then use a program called Prime95 to do a more extensive, 24 hour test on the system. Keep in mind that neither of these GUARANTEES a stable system, but they've worked well for me always. There are probably more comprehensive solutions out there like Everest, but those cost $$.

As for heat, with your CPU the absolute max is 70, that's in Celcius. Realistically, you never want your CPU running at more than ~60 degrees, even under a full load.

People have a misconception that overclocking will kill your processor. That is actually incorrect, it's the heat that kills your CPU. Everything else being equal, at a given temperature an overclocked chip will last just as long as a stock chip, at least within the limits which are relavant to us.

The VERY FIRST thing you should do is measure your CPU temperature at idel before you start overclocking. HWMonitor is free (from the same people as CPUID) and does a great job. If, at idle and at stock, any of your cores are already sitting above 45 degrees or so, you need to start with new cooling, that could be either a new CPU cooler or a new case, depends on what your current setup is.

You won't get this done in 5 minutes, it takes patience and time.

Here's that thread over on the OverClockers forum on the motherboard:

http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/254734-gigabyte-ga-p35-ds3l-thread.html

audiobliss

Wow, I wasn't expecting near that much information. Thanks so much! I really appreciate the thoroughness and link to extra information. I'll start playing around with things, getting a baseline first.

Thanks!!