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    Momentus XT or SSD?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Quanger, Mar 9, 2011.

  1. Quanger

    Quanger Notebook Evangelist

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    Having a hard time deciding. The Momentus XT 500gb is actually on sale at ncix for 89$ which is a great price. Having a tough time deciding between this or a sandforce based ssd 120gb. Ahh!
     
    Quanger, Mar 9, 2011
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  2. oldstyle

    oldstyle Notebook Consultant

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    I would ask do I need size. What is my budget. What are your main tasks? I would go XT but you might be different.
     
    oldstyle, Mar 9, 2011
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  3. 2.0

    2.0 Former NBR Macro-Mod®

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    If you have an optical drive on your computer, then SSD and use an optical bay HDD caddy.

    Just a thought.

    SSD is superior to the XT.
     
    2.0, Mar 9, 2011
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  4. Quanger

    Quanger Notebook Evangelist

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    just bought the momentus XT 500gb. At 89$ + $8 express shipping, its tough to beat. The more I think about, the more sense it makes.
     
    Quanger, Mar 9, 2011
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  5. pinsb

    pinsb Notebook Consultant

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    So the rumoured 16gb version of the momentus xt may be just around the corner?
     
    pinsb, Mar 9, 2011
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  6. hzxu

    hzxu Newbie

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    Where did you hear the rumour from? I am thinking of buying one of these.
     
    hzxu, Mar 9, 2011
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  7. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    How much do you value performance?

    And are you willing to pay more money, and sacrifice storage capacity for that performance?

    Edit: Didn't read the entire thread. So, your decision took 30 minutes?
     
    kent1146, Mar 9, 2011
    #7
  8. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    Would not surprise me if it was coming out.

    But to be honest, it would become obsolete relatively quickly. What Intel is going to start doing is to start offering SSD caching in their chipsets, starting with the Z68 chipset. You can pair 2 drives (one SSD + one mechanical HDD), and basically have the chipset use the SSD as a giant cache the same way that a Seagate Momentus XT uses its 4GB SLC NAND Flash Memory as a giant cache.

    What this means for notebook buyers is this... over the next 2 years, start expecting to see laptops ship with 32GB Intel 310 SSDs pre-installed in the mini-PCIE slot, paired together with high-capacity 1TB+ 7200rpm mechanical HDDs.
     
    kent1146, Mar 9, 2011
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  9. Syberia

    Syberia Notebook Deity

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    I can't think of a better reason than this to wait for Z68 (and perhaps Ivy Bridge) to upgrade my desktop.
     
    Syberia, Mar 10, 2011
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  10. Quanger

    Quanger Notebook Evangelist

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    I wish my laptop had dual HD slots. Running raid would be awesome. Just got the HD today, going to be installing it next week with a fresh format.
     
    Quanger, Mar 11, 2011
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  11. ssssssssss

    ssssssssss Notebook Evangelist

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    Seems like it is much more useful in laptops, for space considerations. In a desktop you're surely better off just getting a SSD for boot/applications, & some 7200 or even 10k data drives if you need really fast storage.
     
    ssssssssss, Mar 11, 2011
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  12. ssssssssss

    ssssssssss Notebook Evangelist

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    I wouldn't use a Momentus drive in a RAID array.
     
    ssssssssss, Mar 11, 2011
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  13. Quanger

    Quanger Notebook Evangelist

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    Would RAID array not work well with the built in 4gb SLC NAND?

    I'm not willing to spend much more than $200 so the best ssd I could get would be a 120gb sandforce based drive. I currently have a 160gb 5400rpm drive and I can't imagine losing the extra 40gigs. I could get an ultrabay adapter but I don't think its that practical to carry it around all the time.
    500GB would be very idea for those 720/1080p videos.
     
    Quanger, Mar 12, 2011
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  14. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    Er, with an ultrabay adapter, wouldn't you just be replacing the optical drive, so there wouldn't be anything to carry around (well, unless you needed to carry your optical around with you)?
     
    Judicator, Mar 12, 2011
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  15. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You can always get an external USB caddy to hold the ODD. The only situation where I'd consider the Momentus XT is if you need the capacity and only have one drive bay.
     
    sgogeta4, Mar 12, 2011
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  16. Syberia

    Syberia Notebook Deity

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    Well, I've probably got over 100gb of games alone, so I think a small (64gb or so) SSD for caching the parts of everything that are frequently used would give more bang for buck than buying a large enough one to hold everything.
     
    Syberia, Mar 12, 2011
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  17. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    Sounds workable, but just remember, at that point you can't really use the SSD itself for much, since any space on it you devote to cache has to be used as cache... so basically you're paying for an SSD to try to speed up the rest of your system. And games often don't benefit much from a SSD, apart from loading faster.
     
    Judicator, Mar 13, 2011
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  18. Quanger

    Quanger Notebook Evangelist

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    Just installed the new HD. It's quite a big difference compared to my old fujitsu 2.5" 5400. Very responsive and the bootup takes 25seconds.

    Anyone recommend a good software to partition the drive?
    I'd like 160gb as my main windows drive and have the rest allocated to a storage drive.
     
    Quanger, Mar 13, 2011
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  19. Zeptinune

    Zeptinune Notebook Evangelist

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    Wait until after about 4 boots for the Flash Memory to optimize your start up speed. 4 quick restarts should help. Then do a hiberate and see how fast your computer shuts down and resumes :p

    You should have done partitioning before installing windows. I'd reccomend Acronis Disc Director, and I would strongly recommend against using Partition Magic.
     
    Zeptinune, Mar 13, 2011
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