Need some SSD advice

I'm planning to buy an SSD and I'm thinking about the following options:

1.) Remove my optical drive and install an SSD while retaining my 500GB.
(Is this even possible through a drive converter/tray - I forgot what it's called)

2.) Replace my optical drive and my original HDD with two SSDs.

What do you think of these options?
Are these practical solutions?
Will it cost me a significant amount of money?

Thanks for reading and hoping for an informative reply!

 

This option gives you the best of SSD speed and HD Storage Capability. If you have the money go for it.

Not very practical. SSD's in general are going to cost you a significant amount of money depending on capacity. You can do the cost analysis. Just price driver converter/caddys, and SSD's. There is a LOT of information about SSD's on this forum, just search for it.

 

Thanks! I might just do the SSD via optical drive paired with my HDD. Hmn, now that I've thought of it, I've barely touched my optical drive besides installing a few games but I've bought most of my games on Steam anyways.

And yes, I have been reading through the available info here on NBR for the past hour

From what I've read so far, the Intel X25's are a good choice so I might go for that. I'll still have to read a bit more though.

 

Intel X-25M is being outperformed by Sandforce and Marvell based drives.

Now is not a good time to buy G2 imo, unless you get a great deal.

I suggest Techreport.com. Many detailed real world benchmarks.

 

The first option is the most cost effective one.

As for the question of which SSD to buy, it really has to do with what your situation requires. If you get the intel, it will have a good $/GB ratio with good performance. If you go sandforce (OCZ, OWC, Patriot) you will have a slightly worse $/GB ratio, but slightly better performance (the same applies to the RealSSD series).

 

Thanks for the inputs! Still reading the SSD Thread at the moment. I'm planning to buy one as soon as I'm able to save some money. Just sucking up all the info that I can get to make the correct buying decision in a few months' time.

Use spreadsheet applications, math programs and statistical software in my work and I can imagine how much faster my mathematical iterations would be on an SSD I also play games a lot so it would be nice to have significantly lower load times.

I don't do audio, photo nor video editing. Nor do I involve my daily activities with programming and the like. I simply would like to maximise the potential of my current laptop with the benefits of having an SSD in my system.

If I'm going to buy an SSD, I'm going to install the OS there (of course), my programs, and my games (GTA IV, EFLC, Mass Effect, etc.) and then have everything else on my 500GB HDD (documents, photos, music, and videos). That's the plan and I'm thinking of saving for a 160GB one.

 

After a few hours of reading on several websites and threads here at NBR.
Seems to me that at the moment the Kingston SSDNow V+ 128GB 2.5 is my best choice - fits my budget and the performance gain (the Kingston website offers 3 year warranty so not bad).

Phil seems to love the C300 like a newborn baby, and I totally understand why

 

If you are going to keep you 500GB HDD and use the SSD just for your OS, apps, and games how much space do those 3 things take up for you? I would assume 128GB would be plenty for just those things. You can get a 128GB RealSSD C300 for around 350 and it will out perform the intel 160GB drive as well as that kingston drive and it cost about the same. If you can get by with even less space you can get a 64GB RealSSD c300 and you can find that 1 for 150-200 depending on the online store. The 64GB drive will allow you to install windows and you should still have about 35-40GB which is enough for a buncha games and apps. How many games and apps do you want to install? The 64GB C300 is really a steal at 150.00 considering the amazing read performance you get which is the most important speed for the ssd and is the speed that boosts your windows os load and app load time. and if you need 128GB it wouldnt be smart to get the kingston over the c300 same storage same price but less performance from the Kingston.

Edit: Well you may end up paying 20-40 more dollars for the realSSD depending how well you search for a deal. But it's very close in price range and the c300 is just a better drive. Faster reads faster writes and supports 6gbps sata III. I know right now you dont have that interface but in the future it will be come standard on all laptops. You will be future proofed with the c300 and you can pop it out ur old laptop and pop it in the new 1 and be running at the faster interface speed all future proofed and ready to go for just a little bit more money. Do the right thing get a c300

 

How much cheaper is it cheaper than C300? That would be the only reason to buy the V+.

Well besides the power consumption, which is extremely low.

 

People benchmark these drives to death, but I'm curious as to how much difference the Sandforce makes over the G2 for example in real world usage or even a platter based drive?

I've seen a fair number of these drives and I can't tell much of a difference between them and a good platter based drive. Now, maybe I'm not really picky or I didn't set it up right, but according to what I've seen, you shouldn't need to do much with the drive for Vista or Win 7. There certainly are a few things where it seems a bit more peppy or if you're doing something where there's a heavy load on the SATA controller, then perhaps it is warranted. The biggest benefit for mine is it's quiet and runs cool, particularly on my machine, which doesn't seem to block much sound.

 

I agree, for normal light usage like the web and Office the performance benefits of SSD are rather small.

The choice of SSD is more interesting for heavy users.

 

Windows is 14GB, Apps are 5GB, Games 50GB to 70GB (GTA IV, EFLC, Mass Effect, Dirt 2, COD:MW, NBA 2K10) - so roughly 90GB. I'd probably wait for the drive to become more affordable to me as it's not a 'need' at the moment and it's certainly more of a 'want'. While I totally agree with futureproofing, my budget for the SSD is relatively small as I've just recently bought this laptop.

The Crucial C300 is 275GBP (roughly 410USD), while the Kingston SSDNow V+ is 180GBP (roughly 270USD) - both 128GB. The price difference of 95GBP (roughly 140USD) is huge imo.

So yeah, based on what I've described about what I do with my laptop, the stuff I'm to transfer on the SSD, and given the price difference, should I really go for the C300?

I understand that the Crucial C300, without a doubt, outperforms the other SSDs on the market as of this date. Honestly, I'd buy it now if I could afford it. Should I wait for the price to drop?

If I would buy today, I'd still go for the Kingston SSDNow V+ because it's more affordable for me.

I might just wait for a few more months for the price to drop but I'm definitely going to buy a SSD (still thinking about which one) before end of January 2011 since the lameass UK coalition government has set VAT from 17.5% to 20% Good luck trying to save the economy doing that! Pfff!

 

You are right in my opinion. With that price difference get the Kingston V+ 128GB. BUT you have to make sure it's the second generation. First generation is not nearly as fast.

 

Thanks Phil! I'll be trying to sort out the cash first. By the way, what optical drive caddy should I get with this? Is there a specific one that I need?

Also, for future reference, I found out that to determine whether the V+ is second generation, the prefix "P" has been added.

"As an example, the 128GB model is known as the SNV P325-S2128GB. Further, the model number has increased from ' 225 to ' 325." quoted from hexus.net

Also Phil, I've seen some ExpressCard/34 Solid State Drives but haven't found much info to read about them. Are they any good? Would be nice if you have some links I could read on. Thanks!

 

Correct: SNVP325-S2/128GB

See how it beats Intel G2 in these benches:
Kingston SSDNow V+ 128GB | Real-world-prestaties | Core | Tweakers.net

I don't know anything about caddies and very little about Express card SSDs. About the latter: they're usually not very fast afaik.

 

Cool, thanks for the tips! Well, I'm thinking of making use of my free express card slot and putting in an SSD (though as you say not as fast/ not fast at all) may fetch me some benefits hehe

 

As I recall (it's been a while), Expresscard SSDs were both somewhat slow, and tended to run very hot.

 

from what ive seen the expresscard ssd's perform at about half the speed of regular sata 2.5" ones.

 

i would really do first option.. get a kingston SSD and 500GB momentus XT.. u get a fast main drive and data drive.. if u want some money u can sell ur ODD and 500gb hard drive.

 

Thanks for this info If that's the case, I have to find something more useful for my expresscard slot hehehe

I'd really love to have that kind of drive setup - if I had the cash True, I could sell the parts but I'm thinking of plugging the optical drive into a USD caddy so I'd still have an optical drive around hehehe

*I've decided to save up and wait until October/November 'til the prices go down. My laptop is pretty sweet at the moment and I'm hoping my patience will be rewarded Thank you for all of your inputs!