SSD vs HDD

I don't know much about SSD but from what I understand they are better then HDD in every aspect.

What would you do if money was not a concern

1TB (500GB x 2) 7,200RPM (16MB Cache) w/Free Fall Protection vs
512GB (256GB x 2) Solid State Drive

considering this for my M17.

how much performance increase would u expect from a SSD? is it worth going less on the hard drive space?

Any advice would be helpful,

Thanks

 

the SSDs in Raid 0, no question. the speed would be positively blistering. you can't really compare the speed of HDDs and SSDs, the latter are sooo much faster.

 

and silent....

 

Well hdds are cheaper and have more space, and ssds have better load times and are faster in general, have better battery life, better heat management, better shock resistance, however they are a lot more expensive

 

and your point? (JK)

 

SSDs are realy great ... but not cheep ...!

If you don't care how mutch they are and you don't need 1TB you will be realy happy with them

Buy SSDs and Raid0 them!

Greetings
Julian

 

Would gains from getting Raid option really justify the cost of an extra 256GB SSD? I doubt it. If a near silent solution is needed, one can opt for 256GB SSD+500gb 5400rpm drive imo.

 

get the SSD from new egg they will be hundreds cheaper....

 

For me ... may be it sounds weared ... I would have a problem on wich "space" I should put my datas and my Games and Windows and so on ... Ok "normaly" I would put Windows and Games on the SSD and Datas on the HDD but ... why should I keep with "normal" speed when I coppy datas from one to an other

Also Raid0 would push the "gains" but may be only little^^

Greetings
Julian

 

Sounds like SSD is the way to go!

 

i went there....

 

congratulations

 

i thought sdd were faster at read but they not that better in write mode than sata drives

 

SSD are becoming popular and they are very fast. But you need to evaluate your need before considering which one you go for. They are very fast in reading data an average SSD can read around 100-115mbps (actual read not the specs) while the write speed suffer a lot.. the actual write you get is around 70-90mbps, a 7200 RPM hdd will perform similar for writing.

Areas where SSD win are Random read, seek time, battery life, heat
SATA HDD is still a winner in Sequential read, sequential write, lifetime.

SSD have comparative less lifetime as they are flash memories. If all you care is playing games then getting a SSD is not worth it, but if you are into RAW image editing, video mixing or sound mixing then its a must.

Scenario..
1) copy from HDD to SSD it will be veeerrryyy slow
2) Copy from SSD to SSD will still be slow comparative to HDD-HDD copy (same drive copy)
3) HDD may not survive if you throw your laptop out of window... but SSD may will and all your games will be accessible .... wow.. all you need now is a new laptop

 

If money were not an option, I'd echo the two different drive setup.

A 160GB Intel x25-m for the system drive, programs and games, and a 500gb 7200rpm Seagate Momentus 7200.4 for storage, music, movies, etc.

And be careful on what SSD you get. Some SSDs are worse than the 7200.4 in almost every way. I'd get an Intel X25-M or OCZ Apex or OCZ Vertex.

 

If money were not an option I would be Bill Gates

 

actually, just wait for the OCZ Vertex 2.

The Apex used old jmicron controllers in an internal raid0 setup.
The Vertex uses new controllers by indilink.
The Vertex2 will combine them to use indilink controllers in an internal raid0 setup. Benchmarks of Vertex2 prototypes have it at 500 MB/s read and write, +/-50 or so

Which seems like a problem for a sata 3gb/s laptop

 

and price ?

 

comparable to the speed

 

I've got an M17 on order with two SSD 256 GB. If I was to order cheaper drives and install SSD's from Egg, wouldn't that cancel my warranty from Alien?

 

nope. AW specifically said that HDD and RAM are exempt from the "if you mess around, your warranty's a goner" rule.

 

SSD are awesome but I think there's something wrong when a component of a computer costs more then or comes close to the computers entire cost. In the case of two 256 GB SSD in raid that's like like $2000! Ill wait for prices to go down.

 

You can't generalize the benefits of all SSDs as being equal. If you check out the hardware forum's new SSD thread, there are many varieties of SSDs. Some things to consider are SLC or MLC (the big one), random read write speeds (not sequential) - which is much more representative of performance, and real power consumption. The problem is that the software today aren't optimized to use SSDs. The best info is through people's actual experience. Some power consumption figures are higher than hard drives but give better battery life! This is due to how power is used within the SSD vs a HD. There are also a whole slew of problems with some of the older MLC drives with Jmicron controllers. Typically, Intel and Samsung have the fewest issues for MLC and SLC drives. The higher end SLC drives from Mtron and Memoright are still the best though.

 

I've got an Area 51 m9750 with 2 7950m GTx's in SLI, XP Prp sp3 and 2 OCZ (SLC) in raid 0.

In terms of benchmarks like 3dmark06 I get around 8800 with or without them.

In gaming I haven't noticed any difference.

In photoshop the SSD's are MUCH faster.

It takes me about 20 seconds to boot up with SSD's compared to about 75 seconds with my HDD's in raid 0.

My puter responds quicker to every mouse click as well.

I don't know the effect on the battery as I'm always plugged in.

I will never use anything other than SSD's in a laptop and will only use a HDD in a tower for mass storage.

Anyone looking to get SSD should look closely at the read and write speeds. Until recently the SLC (single level cell) drives were the only way to go. I've looked at the Intel SSD's and both the SLC and MLC units have very impressive specs.

I've used SSD's for several years now and have never heard of a single failure. I've had mine in my own laptop for more than a year now and couldn't be happier.

Rob41

 

I was reading about Intel's X25-M SSD today. An article on CNET which stated; PC Perspective "a technology review site claimed Intel solid-state drives slow considerably after extended use, Intel said it has not been able to duplicate the results". Today an article on arstechnica about Intel SSD's & PC Perspective says; "Intel agrees that there is some performance drop seen in day-to-day use, but PC Perspective also continues to believe that even with this long-term performance debate the X25-M remains one of the better SSD options for consumers today."
I'm wondering how long these new SSD's are going to last before needing to be replaced.

 

do not get the SSD from alienware get them from newegg lol

SSD are the future just to expensive right now

they will last years..n years

 

Sorry for OT but I think here are quite informed persons around ...

AW is offering the Raid0 with two 250GB 7200tpm HDDs for less than 100€ ... that's amasing ... now I am wondering if I should buy tham ... now I have a Raid0 with two 160gb (I bought the second by my own) and I'll send my M17 (after I heard of the great UK support) to chance my Desing (got the wrong^^).

Do you think this increasment from 320 (300) to 500 (I guess less^^) is the 100€ worth?

Now I have two 7200.3 (I guess the .3 is for the speed?) will the "new ones" performe better?

THX
Greetings
Julian

 

maybe if any not much hard drive is a hard drive there both 7200 rpm

 

that was confirmed to be an error in the algorithm that distributes the data to prevent wear 'n tear. AFAIK a firmware update could alleviate this issue.

 

Just thought I'd add this link to compare the intel slc vs. mlc write times.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2013240636 50001157&name=Intel

Rob41

 

article smarticle....
there are pros and cons in any article.
many are biased towards certain companies or testing methods/programs.
just like 3dmark...

take the info with a grain of salt.


all i can say is, i have one, and shall never go back to an HDD for an internal drive.

 

if money wasnt a problem:

http://www.markstechnologynews.com/2009/01/puresilicon-nitro-worlds-first-1tb-ssd.html

best of both worlds;capacity of a HDD with the speed of an SDD, (and im sure along with the price)
too bad that at the moment its still slightly too big for notebooks..

 

that thing's only for servers. i'm not sure if the power and heat envelope will work out in a notebook.

EDIT:

 

True, but it definitely looks like the days of the HDD are coming to an end

 

not at the prices SSDs are going for now.

 

We all know how expensive usb sticks had been ... I am quite sure SSDs will be in the future as "cheep" as normal HDDs or don't you think so?

Greetings
Julian

 

in the future, sure. but not for another couple of years.

 

oh I expected to see cheep SSDs in less than a year, I guess I am wrong , a bit xD

Greetings
Julian

 

My guess is we will see more and more ssd's offered in the PC's and prices falling drastically over the next year. There will always be the more expensive ones and cheaper ones. Some will perform better than others.

 

fact of life : you get what you pay for

 

Not necessarily.

 

Buy cheap, buy twice.