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    Crucial m4 for $179! hurry!

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by qohelet, Sep 6, 2011.

  1. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    qohelet, Sep 6, 2011
    #1
  2. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Nice steer, great value. +Rep.
     
    The Revelator, Sep 6, 2011
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  3. ECKS

    ECKS Notebook Prophet

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    Wait, can you explain why $179 for a small sized harddrive is good? Or are they normally this expensive?
     
    ECKS, Sep 6, 2011
    #3
  4. Jas71

    Jas71 Notebook Evangelist

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    It's a pretty high-end SSD(Flash Drive).
     
    Jas71, Sep 6, 2011
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  5. windworker

    windworker Notebook Consultant

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    Normal for a SSD...
     
    windworker, Sep 6, 2011
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  6. Jas71

    Jas71 Notebook Evangelist

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    Newegg is selling the Vertex 3 for $179.99 too.
     
    Jas71, Sep 6, 2011
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  7. ECKS

    ECKS Notebook Prophet

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    Seems expensive. I guess that's the normal price though :) I'm perfectly satisfied with my stock hdd. Then again, 180 for the laptop, and I could just move the 320gb to my ps3... hmmmmm
     
    ECKS, Sep 6, 2011
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  8. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    For crucial m4, 179 is pretty cheap :D SSD upgrade is the best upgrade hands down. Improvement is very noticeable.
     
    qohelet, Sep 6, 2011
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  9. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    wow nice!

    I've read lot issues though with vertex 3 in r3.
     
    qohelet, Sep 6, 2011
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  10. windworker

    windworker Notebook Consultant

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    Think i'll be buying one, thanks
     
    windworker, Sep 7, 2011
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  11. ghost_207

    ghost_207 Notebook Enthusiast

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    thanks for the info
     
    ghost_207, Sep 7, 2011
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  12. Tapakidney

    Tapakidney Notebook Evangelist

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    You've been hanging around these forums for how long now?
     
    Tapakidney, Sep 7, 2011
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  13. ECKS

    ECKS Notebook Prophet

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    Too long :) But never explored SSD options.
     
    ECKS, Sep 7, 2011
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  14. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

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    You're seriously missing out by not trying a ssd. If you really want, buy one from amazon. They have a great return policy. Virtually hassle free for full return. But really, ever since owning my gskill falcon ssd, I cannot go back to mechanical as a boot and app drive.
     
    zergslayer69, Sep 7, 2011
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  15. strongman77

    strongman77 Newbie

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    SSD is definately the way to go. It will be the first thing I upgrade once I get my system.
     
    strongman77, Sep 7, 2011
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  16. custom90gt

    custom90gt Doc Mod Super Moderator

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    right, IMHO buying a nice SSD is the best thing you can do to a computer.
     
    custom90gt, Sep 7, 2011
    #16
  17. ValkerieFire

    ValkerieFire God Follower

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    ValkerieFire, Sep 7, 2011
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  18. Spydweb

    Spydweb Notebook Consultant

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    Spydweb, Sep 7, 2011
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  19. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    I think many will agree with this:
    Once you go SSD you'll never go back to mechanical hard drives ;)
     
    katalin_2003, Sep 7, 2011
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  20. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

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    Agree 100% :D
     
    DR650SE, Sep 7, 2011
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  21. alienwolf

    alienwolf Notebook Deity

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    alienwolf, Sep 7, 2011
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  22. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    SSDs are good but sometimes not practical. I used a SSD and went back to use a HDD, well hybrid now, for my home notebook. If I could use a 2 drive solution, I'd always recommend a SSD/HDD combination though over anything else though.

    I would stay away from all of OCZ's products, better to spend a few dollars more and get a much more reliable and better SSD from Crucial, Samsung, or Intel. Btw, I'm pretty sure it's in the NBR rules somewhere about poor netiquette in asking for rep. If you deserve it, you'll get it, so don't worry.
     
    sgogeta4, Sep 7, 2011
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  23. ECKS

    ECKS Notebook Prophet

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    Who's asking for rep?
     
    ECKS, Sep 7, 2011
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  24. GandalfTW

    GandalfTW Notebook Geek

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    Just something for you potential SSD owners to keep in mind.

    SSD when it dies, you will loose everything. So make sure you do a backup every few days. I recommend Norton Ghost.

    SSD has limited write cycles (3000 or so for the newer drives), and Windows 7 is pretty bad at preserving the SSD life. My drive life expectancy was around 9 months or less with the typical use. Your mileage may vary. This is how you can fix this problem. FancyCache Overview
    Fancy cache has write deferral option that works wonders for the SSD wear. Now my drive life expectancy is 9 years ;). However if your system crashes your file system will most likely be corrupted, due to deferred writes, so make sure you have backups.

    SSD Life is another tool you want. After a week or two it will give you a pretty accurate estimate of your drive life expectancy. Ignore the initial value, it will be wrong. The trial version is all you need. SSD life - tool for solid state drives health and endurance monitoring

    Here is a link to my report. The size info is wrong but everything else is acurate. HDD Life OnLine

    BTW, I would never go back to the spinners. SSD is the only way to go.
     
    GandalfTW, Sep 7, 2011
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  25. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    cool thanks for the apps.

    one thing that you can do is create a ram drive and write all your temp, cache, and windows' swap files there. That should help with SSD life

    EDIT: oh wait, the fancy cache app you listed...it's creating the ram drive that i wrote above
     
    SlickDude80, Sep 7, 2011
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  26. Luxferro

    Luxferro Notebook Consultant

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    This applies to mechanical harddrives in 99.9% of the time for the average user. Data recovery is really expensive, and most people don't bother with it unless is related to work and a company is paying the bill.


    I have 6 SSD's. 3 x 30gig vertex (the original vertex) that have been in a raid zero array for the past 2 years and on 24/7. 1 each in 2 different htpc's, and 1 in my laptop. All of them are different brands, different controllers, with exception to the raid array. Haven't have a problem yet.

    I don't do anything special under windows 7 (except shrink swap file to smallest size, and make it fixed size). When I first got my first ssd's i did all kinds of tweaks to limit writes, but now I don't even bother. People will upgrade their computers before their ssd's die from too many write cycles.
     
    Luxferro, Sep 8, 2011
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  27. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    Thanks for the tip. I decided to take this as an opportunity to buy my very first SSD.

    I'm very excited to see what all the hype is about.
     
    Kevin, Sep 8, 2011
    #27
  28. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    You will not get disappointed! :D You are welcome!
     
    qohelet, Sep 8, 2011
    #28
  29. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    I think he just wants to troll the AW side of the forum :rolleyes:
     
    katalin_2003, Sep 8, 2011
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  30. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

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    I'm sure many people are using the ssd as a boot drive and for programs, and not so much for storing data like pictures and music. Which in that case if it dies you just have to reinstall everything and that's it.
     
    zergslayer69, Sep 8, 2011
    #30
  31. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Exactly, depends on what you're using your system for.
    Per example even a 90Gb SSD is plenty as a Windows boot drive and apps and just use a larger magnetic one as a secondary/storage drive.
     
    katalin_2003, Sep 8, 2011
    #31
  32. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

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    It's now at 173.99 damn you price drop after I place an order! No tax for Cali btw.
     
    zergslayer69, Sep 13, 2011
    #32
  33. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm a SSD noob here! I need some help...

    I already have a 750GB standard hdd on my R3. Can I use the empty HDD slot and put the crucial SSD in there?

    I think my 750 GB HDD is SATA I and this crucial SSD is SATA III... will this create a conflict?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    nayilalien, Sep 13, 2011
    #33
  34. T2TFITNESS

    T2TFITNESS Notebook Enthusiast

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    T2TFITNESS, Sep 13, 2011
    #34
  35. UpGradde

    UpGradde Notebook Enthusiast

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    The long dark reign of the HDD dies this year! A new era is upon us my fellow brethren! It is time to embrace and welcome the almighty SSD! Lives will be changed and productivity will rise all across the nation!

    Seriously, who is making the better SSD's nowadays? Heard OCZ Vertex 2 was the best about a year ago.. Seeing the prices go down on these drives makes me happy.
     
    UpGradde, Sep 13, 2011
    #35
  36. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    SlickDude80, Sep 13, 2011
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  37. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    people like Intel 510 and Crucial M4's because they use the marvell controller and avoid some of the headaches that people were experiencing with sandforce drives.

    if i was to buy a sandforce drive, there are only two i'd buy because they use more expensive 34nm nand memory and aren't prone to failure as the drives that use cheaper 25nm nand:

    Patriot Wildfire (i actually have one in my desktop)
    OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS edition
     
    SlickDude80, Sep 13, 2011
    #37
  38. acerguy123

    acerguy123 Notebook Consultant

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    i bought a mushkin 240gb SSD that was 500bucks lol its nice though i love it plus i fried 4 SSDs and mushkin replaced them all no questions asked i was amazed very good company
     
    acerguy123, Sep 13, 2011
    #38
  39. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    I got my M4 in yesterday. I'm blown away by the speed. Seven to eight second boot times? Wow.

    I am not disappointed by my first SSD.
     
    Kevin, Sep 14, 2011
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  40. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Takes me a little over 10 seconds to boot, but I can live with that. :D

    [​IMG]​
     
    The Revelator, Sep 14, 2011
    #40
  41. windworker

    windworker Notebook Consultant

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    Wow, very nice.
     
    windworker, Sep 14, 2011
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  42. KWKSLVR

    KWKSLVR Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not to mention that people should be making backups of important data anyway. I'm the redundancy king. SSD's have come a long way the past couple of years too. I have zero worries with my Samsung 470 Series, especially since it's set up property and warrantied for 3 years. Here's a good read on SSD's: SSD Myths and Legends - "write endurance" article in StorageSearch.com
     
    KWKSLVR, Sep 14, 2011
    #42