True benefit of SSDs?

I've been aching to ask this question for quite a while now, and it has only become more important as the Envy 14 has come out. I really would like to know the benefit of SSD's. From what I could find on google and wiki is: increased boot time, less power consumption, weighs less, "Ability to endure extreme shock, high altitude, vibration and extremes of temperature", etc.

Yet from looking around at recent "Availability" threads for multiple laptops, I found that people were mostly buying HDD's. Even those people labeled as "Gurus." Perhaps they were doing so to customize it themselves?

Anyhow, whatever the reason, I would like to know if they have any benefit for me, a prospective college student becoming a Biology major-mainly doing web browsing, and SOME gaming.

Would it be difficult for a novice in computer hardware to buy and install a cheaper SSD from say newegg?

-Thanks!

 

The only reason why most people still get HDDs is simple - cost (per GB).

 

Yea, I would buy a SSD if prices were not so high.

 

yeah. I'd get a SSD if it was 200 for a 160 gig version not 400.

 

the real reason is speed. Good SSD's are multiple times faster than the best HDD's. .1ms access times are very, very nice.

 

the true benefit of ssd is in multi-tasking

have you wonder while your gaming and you need to alt-tab realquick to your messenger or mirc or ventrillo or whatever to check if you have message and then go back to game asap will take you ages on hhd

also when you have lots of open tabs on internet if your playing game, if you will alt-tab it will take ages to go to your browser then back to your game.

have you encounter while playing a game then your antivirus kicks in and your game lags like hell?

those lost seconds don't seem much but if your into rts(real time strategy), every second counts

with a good ssd, all those problems are virtually gone

just to give you an idea of how good ssd at running multiple apps
check this video

realworld test of ssd(OCZ Agility 60GB vs Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM) Booting, Multitasking, Updates & Everyday tasks
YouTube - SSD vs HDD Booting, Multitasking, Updates & Everyday tasks
note: the PC has been in use for almost 4 months since installing the OS.


also check this video out opening 51apps simultaneously
Intel X25m 160GB vs Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM
YouTube - WD Raptor vs Intel X25-M, programs

also if your planing to play world of warcraft, you may want to check this out comparing an ssd vs hhd loading times
YouTube - SSD vs HDD World of Warcraft load times

 

Just about EVERYTHING that accesses the hard drive will go faster. Boot time is just the beginning. Files that used to take some time to open will open in an eyeblink. For gaming, textures that are stored locally will also load faster making games look better. For example.

Who knows. Likely the cost.

I'd say go for it. As long as you are comfy with opening the laptop and making sure you are properly grounded I'd say you're good to go. You just need to unscrew the back and usually the bays are easily accessible from there. If a particular lappy is more complex there are typically guides (on this very site) that can get you through it.

 

I'd recommend getting the cheapest option from HP. If performance is not sufficient for you you can always do the upgrade yourself.

This way you have two benefits: full control over what SSD/HDD you choose and better prices.

There are several interesting drives at the moment (or coming soon): Vertex 2, Crucial C300, Seagate Momentus XT, Seagate 7200.5 750GB, Hitachi 7K500, WD Scorpio Black 500GB.

SSDs do provice a nice speedboost, I've used them several times but I don't mind using a fast HDD either. I just replaced my Intel G2 40GB with a Hitachi 7K500 500GB, the differences for normal/light usage are far less spectacular than people claim, in my opinion.

 

Well, I must say, I definitely like SSD's. Especially after viewing the videos provided by raclimja. I have but one final question to ask you Guru's . Is it true that SSD's-in general-get slower over time? I've heard rumors, and even read it online, but the internet is so full of gossip, you can never really know for sure whats true and whats not.

Thanks for all the responses btw! Love this forum. <3

 

That isn't necessarily true, for example the SSD in my sig had the same speeds when i benched it with just windows on it, as when i benched after being 3/4 full. It depends on what OS your running and whether it supports TRIM or not.

 

how long do ssd's last? i heard their warranties arent that long cause they fail more often than hhd's

 

I think most people choose HDD for price. My 256 GB SSD retails as a $500 upgrade, whereas a 250 GB HDD is probably like $80.

Since going to my SSD, I've noticed boot/load times to be a lot quicker, and same with application opening times. I don't do much SSD-intensive work (video editing, large files moving, etc.) so I don't benefit from many of its features, however lower heat in an already hot laptop does help

 

longer than your computer will. By the time the SSD fails, it will be irrelevant anyways because much better technology will be out there 5+ years down the road.

 

As the others have said...

The main consideration for ANYONE buying an SSD, really, is the sheer speed at which they operate. They are truly absolutely monstrously fast. As some people say, once you've used an SSD, you'll never want to use a hard drive again.

They are also far more reliable and resistant as compared to a hard drive.

But the reason very few people get them is low capacity at a very high cost. Even some gamers pass them up because they just don't have enough space.

What I would recommend looking at though is the Seagate Momentus XT. It's a hybrid hard drive-basically it's a standard 7200RPM laptop hard drive, but with a 4GB SLC SSD read buffer built into it. Algorithms are used to load data onto the read section, so the computer will read most of its data off that insteead.

The effect of said 4GB addition is actually incredible-the hard drive operates not far behind a full SSD, but at a fraction of the cost. You can pick up a 500GB Momentus XT for less than $130 or so. And, they're reliable as well with their 5 year warranty.

 

But SSD's don't degenerate over time right? I would find it a sheer amount of waste to buy an SSD now, only to find that a year or so down the road it performs at the same speed an HDD would.

The 500GB Momentus XT sounds really nice, a hybrid, would it be easy to install on a laptop such as HP Envy 14 or HP DV6T-SE? My only concern is compatibility. I currently have a 1TB External Seagate HD, and it freezes my boot screen, so I have to plug it in after the computer fully boots up. Wouldn't want this problem with an internal drive.

 

You have to also rememeber HDD Tech has been around for many years. Most of the OS is optimized toward HDD limitations. You have prefetch, superfetch, drive caching, readyboost, write behind caching, Updates done at night while you aren't using the system, Disk Defragementers with scheduling and a host of other optimzations. While some may require you hav ethe systerm on for a bit or used for a bit to see real results they all maximize your disk access experience.

Take those away and an SSD undoubtably blows away any type of HDD tech. With them and a good HDD you can have a fairly snappy system without spending SSD money. Yeah it is nice to have 50+ apps fly open in 18 seconds. How many times do you have to install a program. (Caveate to SSD low space possibly needing multiple game installations and deletions)

Will you ever need that though? under normal usage will the few seconds lost first opening a program be worth the extra cost and lost storage? you have to make that determination. Everyones usage pattern differs and so too the bennefit of having an SSD............

 

Most likely your Bios and or OS is attempting access to the external drive. You shouldn't have this with a primary boot drive.............

Edit; The XT bennefits from all the years of disk optimizations with some real high speed SSD type read speeds and access. While 4K writes etc. may be slow in real life usage disabling write behind cache makes up for alot.............

 

All SSDs are not created equally. So it is very possible to still get one that operates at no speed advantage to your HDD (yes, they can even be slower).

Most of the responses here are factual but general. You'll still need to do some research to find the SSD that's well designed and works best for your needs (ie. read/write speeds).

As for longevity, I've haven't seen any conclusive evidence that they last any longer (or shorter) than present HHDs. Also, there are no universal benefit to battery life, save the speed of performing the required task.

As for reliability, HHDs are pretty reliable. But SSD are without a doubt more durable.

 

most modern ssd doesn't degrade performance over time. the problem has already solved thanks to TRIM.
if you want to learn more about ssd performance degradation, i suggest you read this very informative article about ssd
The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

my advice to you is if you want a hard drive replacement with lots of storage and a little bit faster than your current hard drive, get the Momentus XT

if you want an upgrade to your computer performance, get the an ssd

here is my suggestion of ssd based on price/perfomance/capacity

for $109.99
Intel X25V 40GB

for $129.99 - 10 after mail in rebate = $119.99
OCZ Agility 60GB

for $179.00
OCZ Agility 2 60GB(if you want performance/the fastest drive on this list)

for $199.99
Intel X25-m G2 80GB (If you want more space/proven reliability/fast random read and write)

 

Not bad suggestions but Crucial C300 64GB costs $149,- and I think it's faster than all those.
CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 - 64GB, 2.5-inch Solid State Drive , from Crucial.comUS

 

wow that's a really really sweet deal, nice find

i didn't know C300 exist in 64GB version

 

Yes it's fairly new. As far as I know the 64GB hasn't been reviewed yet but it should be good.

 

One big advantage of SSDs that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet is the lack of mechanical parts. If you intend to use a laptop on any form of transportation, that's a big advantage over HDDs, which don't respond well to bumpy environments.

 

Slightly faster and cheaper but also consumes slightly more power.

 

Whats the (best) cheapest 128GB-256GB SSD on the market ?

Think I want one for my XPS

And BTW, what the hell is trim.. can someone clear that up. What I really asking is.. I know what maintenance I need to do to keep my HDD performance good but how would I do that to an SSD

 

sigh, been waiting for ssds to drop further in price

i'm just glad i dont have to pay 2000$ for 256gb anymore.. which was what it was around 1.5-2 years ago

i think prices will just reach acceptable in another year or so

 

Vertex 2 and Crucial C300 are good performers.

Intel G2 160GB is a bit slower but it can still be a good buy.

 

Hmph... Cheap my , those prices are ridiculous !! that's an i7 extreme upgrade for that cost

Think ima look at the hybrid drive instead

 

TRIM is like defrag on HHD, it makes your SSD in good shape. In windows 7 you don't need to do anything because TRIM is automated on windows 7.

if you want a more detailed explanation on TRIM i suggest you read this article
The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

You'll most likely get more from an SSD upgrade than the i7 upgrade

 

Yeah I know.. but wow, that SSD is $75 more than my car payment.. yesh and I don't like paying that !!

 

If you want a cheap SSD: Kingston V+ 128GB (second generation) is a bit faster than Intel G2 in real life and costs about $300.

OCZ Vertex 120GB is also $300.

Crucial C300 128GB is $399 incl. shipping:
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1

For $400 you can also get Intel G2 160GB.

 

sorry to bump a 5-day old thread, but I had to ask this question: If I buy an SSD, is there anyway to transfer/copy/clone the OS onto the SSD? Otherwise buying a Windows 7 would cost an additional $140+ (give or take) which would really ruin the point of buying an SSD separately.

 

No you cannot perform what you want (just clone the OS) from an installed OS on another HD. Although you could Clone your current HD onto the new SSD in an external USB enclosure using any number of purchased or free Clone/Imaging programs. i.e. Acronis TI, Easeus, Drive Image XML. Norton imaging products (such as Ghost), etc.

 

Why would you need to buy Win 7?

 

Just use your restore disc.

 

Or use the download links on the forum and copy the Windows 7 code from the bottom of your notebook.

 

i would do this but IMO as for ssd, intel is what i would get... after all it is a once off investment and intel is very reliable.

 

Anybody try 4GB Turbo memory w/ the Seagate Hybrid?

 

Not too much here about the other big benefit to an SSD,Power Consumption.

I use a laptop out in the field all day long and to me battery life is as important as ay other feature.
The complete lack of heat and any mechanical movement provides a huge savings in power.

I have not run any formal tests yet but it is not a subtle difference to me.

I have recently switched 3 machines over to SSD and each is clearly longer lasting now.

I also have waited to find good deals or used SSD as they are starting to show up and I am satisfied with the price/performance so far.

 

If you upgrade and already have Windows 7, the new SSD is allowed and you will be able to register the product again without difficulty

As well, with respect to battery life, my Timeline stock boosts a battery life of 8 hours but I can easily reach over 10 when away for business and have many times.

 

Some SSDs consume more power than some 5400rpm drives, while other SSDs consume less.

When I upgraded from a Seagate 5400.6 to an Intel X25-M I lost some battery life.

For detailed measurements refer to Techreport.com or Anandtech.com