256gb SSD versus 2*750gb 7200rpm

Would those with experience give me some pros and cons of going with a SSD versus the 2 x 750gb 7200 rpm raid drives on the m17x. I am ordering this week and this is only component I am not sure about.

My concerns are this.

1. 256gb is just about the amount of storage I just wiped off my old laptop hard drive and I used it without concern. I stored crap on there freely and made no attempt to refrain like I would with a SSD.

2. One of the things I hate about my current laptop is the loud fan when I get her performing hard. Also the heat. Would a SSD be quieter and cooler?

3. From a performance standpoint I have read that a SSD is a huge performance boost but I also read that 2 x 750gb 7200 rpm raid drives are comparable performance.

4. Anything else about anyone thinks is worth knowing when ordering this machine. Thanks for looking.

 

I chose the 1.5tb raid, it really depends on what you are going to be doing with your machine, does SSD make games run faster "No" does it boot faster "yes" does it run some HD intence applications faster like video editing etc "yes" does it make benchmarks look better "yes"

if you don't mind waiting a few seconds or fractions of seconds extra with most stuff and like the fact you'll have 1.5TB storage for all those 3D files and movies etc then the SSD doesn't seem a good option for me, I have 300gb right now and I am always deleting stuff to make room and usually only have about 15gb free space at any one time so I'm fed up with that, the only issue I can see is how do you back up a 1.5tb drive lol, I'm going to buy a large external HD in the next week or so but I don't want it to become a plugged in feature of my computer usage.

 

I would get a single 750gb HDD and then install a smaller and cheaper 80+gb SSD as a second drive .. Install all your apps including the OS on the SSD and use the 750gb for storage.. Best of both worlds and its cheaper.. the 256gb SSD is way pricey plus the idea of using an SSD as storage for static files is not very cost effective.

 

80gb is not big enough for OS and program files, mine combined is at 75gb and I remove stuff all the time to make room.

 

Thats why I put the + sign.. Personally I could live with an 80gb OS drive but I understand there are people that use lots more space. I was just trying to point out that buying an SSD to "store" files is a waste of money..

 

Thank you both good input.

 

Don't know if I'm too late here. I was running two of the Samsung Spinpoint 640GB, 7,200RPM drives in RAID0 two months ago. It's still not even close to my SSD. We're talking 37 second boot time on a fresh install compared to a 14 second boot time on an old crappy install. That's just boot times. Everything seemed to just take longer. That being said, if you don't care about bleeding edge speed, might wanna try the 1.5TB RAID0. In contrast, the 120GB SSD + 1TB HDD setup I'm running has made all of my dreams come true.

 

Yes seems like thats the best option for me too. Dell website only offers 256 gb ssd is there somewhere else to order from or should i just order one of their hdd and order a ssd from newegg after market?

 

look I hear what you are saying and yes SSD will boot quicker but what else runs dramatically faster ???? because if in a system the HD was slowing stuff down then yes it would be a good option but in reality how many games or applications suffer from a HD bottleneck ???? especially in a system with 16gb of ram or more, I am right at this moment copying 80gb of files to an external drive and it is the USB 2 interface that is slowing things down, give me examples of S/W you are using that have benefitted from an SSD, yes certain things will seem faster but by how much, I really really don't think a faster boot time is justification for spending all that loot on an SSD or seeing a benchmark go up a couple of points, people here have commented that they thought 3D was a gimmick well in my humble opinion SSD is .......................................... until someone can show me real application improvement of a significant level that everyone here uses then .......

 

every program runs faster with a ssd.look at the startup time of a program like google earth on my old regular 7200 hdd it would take a good 5-10 sec to load now with the ssd is starts almost instantly. not to mention the significant gains in map loading times in games like metro and starcraft 2.

 

Usually get a ssd for os and application and a hard drive for storage best between both worlds.

 

I ordered my system with the 750GB HD and then ordered an Intel 510 120GB SSD. I'll just swap them out when the system arrives.

 

The HDD is the bottleneck of any system. So anything that must load from the HDD (which is everything) is going to go faster. You don't own one, so you're talking trash. Just like you were over in the other thread that ended up being a 920XM vs 2920 pissing contest. You don't need to benchmark anything to prove yourself...remember?

 

google earth takes 3 secs to load on my current machine (not R3) 300gb Raid 0, so with SSD it might be 1-2 secs, whoop whoop, so what, it's down to personal choice, and the start up time has nothing to do with ongoing usage of a game once it's running, the HD is not a bottle next, initial start of an application might be quicker or the boot time ................. so what

 

Geoff, you can NOT argue this one. Sorry man.

 

I am not argueing, I want someone to convince me that I will see a dramatic improvement of the running of all types of software with an SSD and I don't mean the boot time of OS or the start time of google earth, I'm talking about the actual in application or ingame experience being significantly faster, you see when I play crysis or BF2 my HDD does not cause any slowdown whatsoever if anything it's waiting for the rest of the HW to catch up and if the s/w is written correctly it will be using ram as a buffer not HD

I'M not argueing that an SSD is not quicker of that there is no doubt but apart from boot up time of OS or S/W what is the advantage ? that is all

 

My r1 had a 7200 rpm hdd. The pc is MUCH faster with a ssd that is just a FACT until you own one you have no idea.I can turn on my pc and be surfing the net within 15 sec. do that with your 7200rpm.

 

This is exactly what I am doing.. Upgraded to the 750gb HDD through dell and plan on purchasing my SSD through newegg when the time comes. Or I may steal the SSD out of my Desktop, havent decided yet..lol

 

It really looks like you have never experienced the performance of an ssd. Imagine having 2 ssd in raid 0 and compare with your hdd raid0...

Like everyone advised here, best is for the operating system an ssd and for storage a larger hdd for better storage.

Personally I use 2 ssd in raid0 and an external sata 750 GB hdd for extra stuff...

 

Noone really cares about convincing you. Anyone who owns one has seen (pretty clear) improvement. If you want to believe in UFOs, fairy tales, HDs faster than SSDs, be my guest.


@OP

2. probably little quiter but probably the same otherwise. Maybe little less power consumption depending on the specific model.

3. Just no.

4. I would *strongly* suggest upgrading them yourself afterward if you care about saving some money. I can't stress this enough.

With HDs you get way more storage, with SSD way more speed. M17x has a space for 2 drivers (in fact there was thread where a guy swapped a DVD or a blu-ray for a 3rd spot) so you can also have 1SSD and 1 HD to get the best of both worlds.

 

The difference between SSD and HD "during use" of applications is something your eyes can not even notice, don't bother people refuse to get what you are saying.

Geo never said SSD are useless but he is correct for gaming SSD will help things to load faster few seconds but once the game start frame rate wont drop to 20 from 50 because you have HD instead of SSD, Your games wont look "better" because you have SSD over HD

Serious Video editing require massive hard drives and SSD wont cut it

SSD is a luxury purchase which many people find it not needed and completely satisfied with slower loading/seeking as long as it doesn't hurt the performance power

 

Thanks for the information everyone. I understand both viewpoints. Someone described a SSD as a luxury item while that is true I would also say any laptop that is over $1000 is a luxury item so we are in the market for luxury items arent we. I guess my final thought before ordering is spending > than a couple thousand for a laptop I want the best and I think the best is the 1 hdd 1 ssd option.

Now another question if you guys know the answer please reply. Someone mentioned stealing their ssd out of their desktop and this is something I could do. Does anyone know how I can find out if there is any compatibility issues. The ssd i have is :
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

Another good thing with getting your ssd from dell is that if anything goes wrong then it is covered under warranty and you dont have to come out of pocket for a new one.

 

it's 2.5 drive so it will work on laptops, most SSDs are 2.5 too

 

the actual difference is just HUGE. I recently switched from a 7200 rpm drive to 256 gb ssd, and dell offered me another one for my troubleshooting for free, so now I run 256x2 @ Raid0, especially game loading speed is drastically different if you take high-end games, i felt like difference is at least 1.5 times.
other concern: HDs drain more power - that's a fact
HD's make a lot more noise - that's a fact
HD's weight a lot more - that's a fact too.
I mean, even though I haven't basically paid for my SSDs, I feel next time I will be about to buy laptop I will surely consider getting a 80-120gb ssd for 1-2 games and windows installed on it and a 740 gb HDD storage to just store data.
p.s. if money is your concern, I would hold off from getting sata III drives, as nobody yet can tell if they are worth the buck

 

i got your full post in an email on my pda when I was out, you can cut the personal insults out and keep them to yourself please - no place for it here, or go seek help

I am keen to understand how an ssd will improve my computing experience and reducing boot time doesn't rock my boat. I am not going to reduce myself to the low personal insult level you have taken this, if you have something constructive to add please do or be the first person I have ever ignored on this fantastic forum


and btw when I hit my power button I have my desktop in about 2 seconds... go figure

 

It can be seen both ways

My Steam Collection 800GB can't be even held by a single SSD
If you need lot of storage for video editing/media/music/etc) SSD offer nothing
SSD are expansive with tiny storage and HD are super cheap with massive storage
SSD dies faster than HD
SSD Still have issues and no standard yet (trim support/controller/etc)
SSD speeds keeps rising fast, you can spend 500$ for one and after 2 months a faster SSD arrive on the market unlike HDs speeds which were the same for ages, many would prefer to get SSD that will reach the SATA3 Speed cap (which will be reached very soon)

Some people prefer storage size over speed (2x1TB or 2x750GB HD over 2 small ssd)

Weight is irrelevant neither power for a laptop like m17xr3 and HD noises can not be heard during gaming

etc

Most people are happy running their games 1080p/maxed/60fps/4xAA they wont cry for loading screen to change from 10seconds to 8seconds.

 

So i'd say let's close this SSD vs HDD as it won't lead to anything productive IMHO.

 

some very good points there and agree 100% with most of it

 

ok i went to the bother of doing a google search, most of the details we already know so no surprises but the conclusion just reiterates my point

Review: Hard disk vs. solid-state drive -- is an SSD worth the money? - Computerworld

Quote
While the SSD outperformed the HDD in most benchmarking tests, as well as handily beating out the competition for boot-ups, whether or not as a consumer you should choose an SSD over a HDD will depend on your needs. HDDs, especially those with 7,200-rpm spindle speeds or higher, offer respectable read/write rates and vastly higher capacity levels.

Typical notebook or desktop users probably won't notice a big difference between an SSD drive and a traditional hard disk drive other than a faster boot-up and quicker application-launch times.

 

Ok we have determined that SSD's are far superior to HDD's and that Talon and Geo really dont get along with one another..lol Wow this thread has taken off.

For the record, I agree with Talon on this one.. Yeah he was talking smack but so were you on the CPU thread.. Bragging about your 2920.. So I would say that 2 negatives offset one another.. This thread is done?

 

@Geoffxx and TurbodTalon
How about you guys stop with the flames? The thread is getting derailed with all the attacks going on. Please stop with it or the thread might lose its merit.

 

You guys are well aware of the NBR Forum Rules.

•While debating and discussion is fine, we will not tolerate rudeness, insulting posts, personal attacks or purposeless inflammatory posts. Our decision is final in these matters.

A warning was posted and still it was ignored. If you cannot have a civil discussion then there is no reason for this thread to remain open.

Closed.

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@overbet -

take a look at this site - some of your q's may be answerwed and there is a wealth of product reviews available.
http://www.storagereview.com/