is there any point to partitioning an ssd?

curious to hear the reasons. i would think probably not unless you just want the extra partition for strictly music or other large quantities of files. thoughts?

 

no partition at all... In fact a smaller OS partition may drop write speeds seriously.


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ok. thanks.

 

There are no performance-related reasons. The only reason I can think of is if you want to separate your files and the OS/programs, so when you reformat you do not have to recopy your data over... but you should be making a backup when you reformat anyway, so it's a moot point.

 

I don't think a smaller OS partition would drop write speeds. The firmware on the SSD, which handles wear levelling and actual writes, does not notice partitions.

Sure, partitions are usefull if the SSD is large enough and you want to only restore the OS partition.

Other than that, I can't really think of any good reason. Since fragmentation isn't an issue and the data isn't physically seperated by the partition, there doesn't seem to be any benefit from doing such.

 

Over Provisioning and not using one partition. There's a point in that. No point in actually using two or more partititions for data, though.

 

I partition my SSD to separate the OS from my data so that if I reinstall Windows, I don't have to copy my stuff over from my external HDD.

 

How often do you reinstall your windows? Once a day?


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well, it's windows. it's gotten a lot better but i am quite sure there's a few here that knows what it's like to install windows daily. on one computer and/or hdd. no exaggerations either. but there are some that like to keep their options open, and keeping windows and programs separate from more important/leisure data can save some headaches and time.

the reason i asked originally is there any benefit or negative to it? like would it put a squeeze on the controller for some reason. or for the daily windows installs, what's the best way to restore/transfer data? ssd's are so nimble now compared to other hdd's getting data written from X connection is the bottleneck now. not the storage solution.

 

The controller doesn't acknowledge partitions. On SSD's, partitions are "virtual" - they don't physically exist.

Windows also isn't what it used to be and does not require daily reinstalls. Win7 tends to run smoothly and update w/o issue.

 

I would recommend keeping your OS + programs on the C partition and as much of your data on another partition.

I image my OS partition to an external drive due to patches that can cause more problems than they solve. These can be Windows patches or application patches that wreak havoc on your PC.

With proper proactive data copying, I can then restore from my external image of the C partition with no loss of data without have to reinstall Windows + applications + settings in minutes.

 

well you my friend are very careful and don't like reinstalling. that's what i want to do, keep my os and everyday stuff on the c: and the usual less important but readily available stuff on the d:. damn you guys. i'm shopping for an ssd. what to do. WHAT TO DO?!

 

What size SSD are you shopping for?

 

don't know. i've looked at my current hdd and i've rounded up and know i need at least 100gigs round up from about 90gigs. a little headroom for the rounding up and i'm trying to figure out should i get 160 or 25x gig. i'm trying to find out what the difference between crucials c300 and m4 are besides the m4 faster speeds. i'm not really worried about sII or sIII speeds. sII i'm sure is fast enough. and cheaper. so i'm kind of looking at bang for buck over reliability. so that leaves my options up to crucial and intel. who and what will give best bang for buck and last the life of this lifetop?

 

I'm a fan of my Intel. Intel SSD's are known for being super reliable, though not necessarily cutting edge. Mine performs just as nicely as it did when I bought it in September.

The reason I ask about size is that will play a factor in whether or not you should partition for OS recovery's sake. I've got 80GB, so I have no need to partition it. I've a 2nd HDD (500GB) that has all of my user data. Were I to have a 256GB SSD, I'd be likely to have it partitioned, just so that if I ever had to restore from a system image or completely reinstall the OS, I wouldn't have to also restore the user data. It comes down to either restoring from an image that's 20-40GB (OS and programs only), or an image that could be 100-200GB, which is a huge hit against the life of the SSD.

So, small SSD = no need to partition. Big SSD = partition if you have the need to reinstall the OS or what not on a somewhat frequent basis.

 

ssds don't understand and care about partitions. so do what ever you like. but consider not doing any partition as it only limits your own logical drive sizes (chance to have to adjust later when needs change), and an off-disk-backup for the security is all that's needed.

except if you're one of those who thinks he's in need of reinstalling the os frequently, or has multiboot needs, or what ever special desired that requires multiple partitions.

but for the normal user, one partition is enough.

the ssd doesn't care at all, though.

 

Ok guys , bare with me here , as i'm really confused here and not good with computers , lets say Im gonna get the intel 320 ssd 160gb , what is the difference here ?? Just faster boot up to windows thats it ?

 

faster overall system performance in a lot of typical usecases. boot up is a simple to understand example, thus often used. launching apps another one.

simply when ever your system feels like it lags, and the hdd light blinks/glows for short (or long), you gain speed from having an ssd. can be a virus scan, can be unzipping a zip file, can be pagefileing due to too less ram, can be some app loading files. can be a game loading a level. etc..

when ever your hdd light is on, your system could be more responsive.

 

Nice nice , that explanation sure helped me alot , now it's making me wanna get one , but to be honest though , is it enough storage for you all ??? since for now ssd is pricey as the higher gb it goes.

 

it depends on the setup. i have a winhomeserver with around 5tb of centralized storage. on my systems, i have 40 - 160gb ssds, and each is more than enough storage for the use case.

it highly depends on what your plans are.

 

well i can say that ssd's make putting data on your computer a lot more efficient. a lot less stuff you don't need and less garbage. otoh, i'm sure a lot more are foregoing optical drives and using hdd's in it's place. extra battery usage. also, carrying another hdd which i carry my backup hdd, so not a biggy for me. just purchased an intel 160gb ssd for $295 w/free game. hope to offset the cost a little by selling assassins creed brotherhood and selling my western digital hdd 640gig or 250gig. haven't decided which one yet.

 

Oh ok , thanks for the tips guys , really helped me alot here , now atleast I have a direction of what to do.