SSD/HDD? Ivy Bridge?

Hi folks,

I'm going to purchase an Alienware M17X for the main purpose of playing SWTOR and other MMOs.

For the hard drive, I'm trying to decide between these two options:

500GB 7,200 RPM Storage + 64GB mSATA Boot Drive
512GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s

If I chose the first option, is the 64GB SSD boot drive large enough to hold Windows 7 Ultimate and SWTOR? I've read elsewhere that you should not buy an SSD with less than 80GB storage.

I'm drawn to the second option of just having an SSD, but I've read that SSDs have a shorter lifespan than HDDs. Would MMO gaming be too much wear-and-tear for an SSD?

What are your recommendations for a hard drive?

Also, do you recommend that I wait for the Ivy Bridge processors? I know they hit the market yesterday. Dell just started a 48 hour sale, so I'm guessing they may start selling them at the end of the week, but that's just a guess. I have a lot of free time in June and schedule gets busier in July, so I was hoping to get a good gaming system before June.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

 

Just making sure. Are you ever going to travel with this laptop? And a desktop is definitely out of the question?

Because if you really want a laptop I'd probably wait since Ivy Bridge is looking like it will help the most in a laptop with its battery saving abilities, and supposed cooler running. Although the jury is still out on that last issue. It has definitely shown small increases in gaming performance.

In my opinion if that laptop is never leaving your house, I'd go custom pc. I'm building one next month which will be 1700 bucks after taxes with:
i5 3570 k
GTX 680 2gb
Asus Pro Gen 3 Z77 MOBO
8 GB 1600 vengence RAM
128 gb Samsung SSD
1 TB HDD
Corsair 850 PSU
Hyper 212+(cpu cooler)
CM Haf X
Asus CD drive
Asus 23.5 Inch LED 2 ms Monitor
Software(Free as a College student)

 

I don't know much about the boot drive option, but 64GB seems too small to me. I would recommend an SSD, but 512GB seems like it would be pretty expensive? The speeds of an SSD make it to where once you use it, you can't go back.

SSDs lifespans aren't truly known as far as I'm aware, but I do know they are expected to outlive physical hard drives.

If he is looking at buying an Alienware, Ivy Bridge is expected to be announced *EDIT: April 29*. It has been strongly hinted at by Dell representatives that if you order now your system will be receive an Ivy.

 

Yes, I am looking for an Alienware. It does need to be a laptop as I do a fair amount of traveling. It also helps to manage wife aggro if I have the option to play in our family room and not just my office!

@Little_Washu: Where have you heard that Dell systems will receive Ivy? I'm really wanting to order now so it can be shipped before June, but, if I need to, I am willing to wait for the Ivy processors.

Any recommendations about the SSD question? If that's my only hard drive, will gaming significantly shorten its lifespan?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=640963
Post #1149. Browse around that thread for related info.

Sorry, I'm limited to what I can do under my current circumstances. I'm stuck navigating everything on a tablet/phone.

I also edited my first post, it depends on what you want and your budget.

EDIT: Also check out post #1212

 

Oh and about the SSD, a 64 can easily hold the OS. Its only like 17 gb or something. And that still leaves room for several games and alot of applications. The SSD helps with speed of opening programs. As far as gaming their isn't much gained there.

So you definitely need it for OS to get that super face boot up. And I'd recommend throwing all your normal use program on there. With your top 5 games played also on there. The rest can go on a HDD.

Edit:
For durability check this blog out:
http://maxschireson.com/2011/04/21/debunking-ssd-lifespan-and-random-write-performance-concerns/