Just ordered M17x

So yeah I just placed my order today. Very basic config. Only upgraded the screen, memory and ordered respawn DVD. Came out to be 2475 CAD$. I knocked 113$ off from the agent, not huge but at least something. So the next 3 weeks will be very long

anyway I'm hoping M17x would be able to replace my desktop whose config should be in the signature. Do u guys think it would be up to the task? I don't game any more so just do some regular study stuff and lil home video editing.oh and I'm planning to get 2 OCZ summit 120g and build a raid 0.

I'm really hesitated should I sell my desktop or not? I'd love to clear out the deskspace and having the mobility. But any of u guys had the same experience? Is it hard or impossible to go from a pretty decent desktop to laptop? CPU GPU performances are obviously not comparable but again i don't game anymore ( if u ask me y I buy this if I'm not a gamer id say i'm just used to having a nice computer. I'm not rich I save all my money to buy computer). If I do get the ssd it will be faster than my desktop ( which has a velociraptor) in most situations.

Now if u don't wanna read through my random thoughts above

here are my questions

1. Should I sell my desktop?
2. Any better suggestion for the ssd upgrade? (intel X-25 is awesome but considering the price performance ratio i don't think it's as good as OCZ Summit)
3. Anything I should lookout for when i get the laptop? Any necessary upgrade I should do right out of the box?


Any other suggestions or discussions are welcome! Thanks

Hope u all have an all powerful day!

 

Congrats! You'll love your new machine, trust me!

1. Naw, I would keep that desktop, the specs are awesome, esp. for video editing, unless you are planning on being a road warrior.
2. Can't help ya there.
3. The usual; visual defects, machine not running. Spec-wise, w/o knowing your specs, hard to say. I assume you got at least 4 gigs RAM, if not that would be a good start.

And the same to you!

 

Regarding #2 the 256GB SSD offered as a $400 upgrade from Dell is probably the best value out there.

 

thx for the info guys.

as for the ssd im not sure what brand of ssd does dell offer. I asked more than 2 customer rep and they all said they didnt have that information.

I c Mandrake you have the 512GB ssd maybe you could tell me what brand they are when u get urs. thanks in advance

im now leaning towards not keeping the desktop cuz im pretty broke now kinda need the money. having both is just too much of a luxury for me.

btw i got the 4g ram 1333mhz upgrade

 

The type of SSD is Samung PB22-J. You would see it sold through the retail channels as the Corsair P256.

 

thx for the info Mandrake +rep

i was just reading some reviews about the P256 and saw some bad reviews of it. can u tell my your personal experience? hows the speed? does it (they) slow down when the drives get filled up?

 

Never came close to filling them up. Do you have a link for the bad review on the Corsair? I can run some tests if you wish.

I'm assuming you are concerned with the "garbage collection" or "trim" feature of the drive. These are two terms people love throwing around with the current versions of SSD drives. Companies like OCZ develop firmware for their drives that when used in conjunction with a garbage collection or "wiper tool" will help with the performance of the drive.

The Samsung drives has this feature already built in. All it needs is some idle time to perform the garbage collection. I know my OCZ summit drive (which has a Samsung controller) has this feature but never tested it with the PB22-J. I probably can tomorrow.

The downfall of the Samsung drives is that they don't release updated firmware for their drives but one is rumored to be released when Windows 7 is released.

 

thanks for the info

here are the reviews i found

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/06/05/corsair-p256-256gb-ssd-review/10

you were right the "trim" was waht i was concerned with. I just hate if the performance would suffer when the drive gets filled up.

so if you could do some tests on your drive I would really appreciate it. maybe some speed tests and something to find out if "trim" could be a concern.

my level of expertise on this subject is quite low so if what i said didnt make sense please enlighten me.

thanks again

 

Interesting. Never heard of the full format problem. It also never talks about the "auto-trim" feature these Samsung drivers are supposed to have. It's possible that it would have fixed the full format issue. Guess some testing needs to be done.

 

What firmware version does your pbj-22 have Mandrake? You can find it by clicking on your ssd in device manager>right click, properties>select hardware ids.

 

It's gonna have to wait until I get my M17x. My Thinkpad seems to only be SATA 150. I'm getting half the performance I did with my old M17x.

VBM15D1Q. Samsung is do to release a new one this month so we will see.

 

Yeah, thats the older firmware without Samsungs version of garbage collection--the newer version that should be shipping with all Samsung ssd's is VBM18C1Q. Yeah, Samsung has said that a firmware flasher would be released to the public in time for Win7 launch. OCZ Summit is another rebranded PBJ-22. Ryder @ OCZ has offered to flash SSd's with the old firmware @ the owners shipping expense but says he turns them around the same day if recieved by 1pm.

 

Waiting for the Samsung release is no big deal. Don't even have my M17x yet.

 

so what do you guys think? should i call alienware and add the 512GB SSD raid 0 or should i wait for more info? my eta is on OCT. 26th

 

Yes, just like Mandrake said, the samsung SSD that Mandrake referenced is the best deal out there right now. The SSD's that Dell is shipping right now should have the latest firmware VBM18C1Q which has garbage collection. My OCZ Summit has VBM18C1Q, is 80% filled and performs as well or better than it did new. You just need to reboot and log off in high performance mode, overnight about once a week and it will regenerate it's performance.

Don't listen to the Samsung critics, the Samsung drives are the most reliable out there and the "proof" that they usually cite to back up their criticism is benchmarks from models with old firmware without Samsungs version of "garbage collection".

 

hey sgilmore62 thx for the info

i will most likely call alienware on Monday to add the SSD upgrade

what did u mean to reboot and log off in high performance mode?

 

If you get it with Dell it will also be warrantied with your system which is another plus.

 

Samsungs version of background garbage collection works when the drives are idle, it still works while you are using it but just when it is idle. I said high performance because users are reporting better and faster regeneration when the system is set to high performance. I just upgraded my cpu to a q9200 from p8400 and the disk activity light when idle and GC working blinks faster with the new CPU.

 

You will probably have to cancel your order and re-order it restarting your clock, just so you know what you're getting into by changin your order.

 

as great as it is to get 512GB SSD RAID 0 for 1000$, i don't think i can afford it. plus 512 for a system drive plus a bit software and movies music seems like an overkill. so my plan is to get as much speed and stability as i can for under 700-800$. in terms of space. i think 200GB will be sufficient. of course the bigger the better. any suggestions? thanks again and again

edit: what do u guys think of the corsair X128? currently on sale for 399. 2 would be 800 + 50 (tax) ish.

2 intel x25 80gb would be 630 + 40 ish but only 160GB of space in total.

 

256GB SSD (system) and 500GB 7200rpm (data) is what I did with the first system.

 

again Mandrake thanks for the fast reply.

i think i need to get 2 ssd's in raid for the system. for the speed and reliability. also low power consumption.

i have a first gen intel x-25m 80 in my 17' macbook pro and so far it has been great. although i am suffering from the low capacity. good thing snow leopard only takes so much space. but installing a VM of Vista is still impossible.

i edited my last post. if you could check that plz

 

Check with Scook on these forums. He's using that Corsair drive. I believe he posted some tests in the benchmark thread.

I've stayed away from the Intel drives because price per GB is unacceptable and their write speeds are slower than most of the current SSDs out there.

also raid 0 won't offer you any reliability.