Are SSD drives worth it?

[Persius]

Debating on whether to buy a ssd drive strictly for my win7 64bit..

seems like my wd caviar sata drive loves to fail every months

What size and manufacturer do you suggest

[gonzojoh]

I've heard they're good to have your OS on, however, they're best with ubuntu/unix as windows makes a bunch of read/write ops and ssd drives can only withstand a somewhat limited number of writes.

Also interested in the subject, was close to go with an intel one but haven't. Still looking around for more info.

[baddog]

I love my SSD and will never go back to spinning disks.

[sandman!]

get a intel drive most of the ssd's out there are complete crap only about 10% of them are worth buying.

prepare to spend a few hundred for a 80 gig drive also.

[Kroy]

I second Sandman - it really depends on the SSD you're getting. Many of them are just not worth it, particularly the lower priced ones. Performance even varies between editions, for example the Intel X25- M is good, the X25-E has faster write speeds but is more expensive. To make matters more confusing, there are first and second (and third etc.) generations. The newer ones of course are better but you need to look closely when you shop around.
As a boot drive only, the M series should be fine. Keep in mind that SSD storage space is extremely limited even today.
If the only reason you're wanting SSDs is that your WD Caviar is failing (blue? black? green?) then that might not be a good reason to spend six times the amount for less storage with a SSD but instead try another drive. I've had great luck with all my WD Caviar Black drives, particularly the 640Gb series.
Hope this helps.

[Persius]

Originally Posted by Kroy

I second Sandman - it really depends on the SSD you're getting. Many of them are just not worth it, particularly the lower priced ones. Performance even varies between editions, for example the Intel X25- M is good, the X25-E has faster write speeds but is more expensive. To make matters more confusing, there are first and second (and third etc.) generations. The newer ones of course are better but you need to look closely when you shop around.
As a boot drive only, the M series should be fine. Keep in mind that SSD storage space is extremely limited even today.
If the only reason you're wanting SSDs is that your WD Caviar is failing (blue? black? green?) then that might not be a good reason to spend six times the amount for less storage with a SSD but instead try another drive. I've had great luck with all my WD Caviar Black drives, particularly the 640Gb series.
Hope this helps.

I have black 1TB as storage ... so the SSD can be small just for booting & programs (psd,dreamweaver etc.) I will look into the M series and also the intel ones

[Kroy]

Intel X25-M . Boots are good (but keep in mind your motherboard plays a big role in this too so YMMV), programs will open faster than before as well. But don't expect a ridiculous change in speeds. A lot of folks are disappointed when they get a SSD and it's not 1000s of times faster like they might expect.
Most of my workstations have Velociraptors as boot drives, one's got a top of the line SSD. Only a slight difference in program launch speeds in favor of the SSD and it's so minor it might just be wishful thinking

[sandman!]

a good ssd will be alot quicker for program launches then raptors i moved from 2 raptors in raid 0 to 2 sas 15k drives in raid 0 and noticed a big difference.

Originally Posted by Kroy

Intel X25-M . Boots are good (but keep in mind your motherboard plays a big role in this too so YMMV), programs will open faster than before as well. But don't expect a ridiculous change in speeds. A lot of folks are disappointed when they get a SSD and it's not 1000s of times faster like they might expect.
Most of my workstations have Velociraptors as boot drives, one's got a top of the line SSD. Only a slight difference in program launch speeds in favor of the SSD and it's so minor it might just be wishful thinking

[Lassitor]

Originally Posted by Persius

Debating on whether to buy a ssd drive strictly for my win7 64bit..

seems like my wd caviar sata drive loves to fail every months

What size and manufacturer do you suggest

It is worth it if you are using software that does a lot of read/writes...like video editing, but your video data has to be on the drive to see a boost. Using a SSD for your OS will only see a boost in boot and application startup and performance if it is using the SSD for any read/writes.

[Loch]

Seagate, we only use those

[Kroy]

Sandman, haven't done Raid 0 for my boot with Raptors since there were firmware issues with the WDs unless you get their Raid editions. But you're right SSDs in Raid 0 probably would kick major butt.
Lassitor: totally right about that in reg. to video editing. Too bad no (economically viable) SSD currently has the storage capacities to actually hold a good amount of HD raw footage yet. Once 1 TB or at least 500Gb SSDs hit the market for a reasonable price - oh hells yea

[fris]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16820167024

Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M160G2R5 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail
Free Intel 40GB SSD w/ purchase, ends 2/9(limit 5 per customer)

[tiger]

Depends on which ssd you get and how much you are willing to pay for performance. I'm going to hold off until they work out some more of the kinks and the prices come down a bit more, then I will get 2 and put them in raid 0 for my OS. The major issue that concerns me is that they are finding some SSD's decline in performance the longer they are in use.

[3xTom]

I have been using an SSD drive in my macbook for about a year now
Not to say I dont love it but... If i had it to do over again.

I would have to say it isnt worth the extra cash
Spend the extra cash on something else until they either come down in price or get better.

[Domain Broker]

Originally Posted by Loch

Seagate, we only use those

Seagate makes the worst drives period.

[dready]

I'll stick with Velociraptors for now. SSDs still seem a little sketchy.

[CyberHustler]

Nerd alert...

[sandman!]

i ran 2 36 gig raptors for years in raid 0

if you re read my post i dont use ssd drives

Originally Posted by Kroy

Sandman, haven't done Raid 0 for my boot with Raptors since there were firmware issues with the WDs unless you get their Raid editions. But you're right SSDs in Raid 0 probably would kick major butt.
Lassitor: totally right about that in reg. to video editing. Too bad no (economically viable) SSD currently has the storage capacities to actually hold a good amount of HD raw footage yet. Once 1 TB or at least 500Gb SSDs hit the market for a reasonable price - oh hells yea

[Kard63]

Originally Posted by Persius

Debating on whether to buy a ssd drive strictly for my win7 64bit..

seems like my wd caviar sata drive loves to fail every months

What size and manufacturer do you suggest

For two years only the very most expensive brand was actually faster than SATA drives. Now a few are "really good" but the still have high failure rates and cost a lot per GB. I would love to make the switch but it really doesn't feel like the time unless you are talking about a moderately used laptop.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Kard63

For two years only the very most expensive brand was actually faster than SATA drives. Now a few are "really good" but the still have high failure rates and cost a lot per GB. I would love to make the switch but it really doesn't feel like the time unless you are talking about a moderately used laptop.

The main reason I got it is so it would be more durable for riding on the bike.