garfi3ld wrote: Seconded!!!! I would never not have one on my main rig. Nice double negative. BTW, I have one for sale too.

Wingless92 wrote:
Not to be the voice of dissent, but with the incredibly short life cycles of most SSDs, I'd think they'd be the last route to take for someone with a limited budget. Sure you might be able to warranty it out, but if you're low on funds that'd probably leave you dead in the water for as long as that process took.

They used to be short but it depends on what flash chips they use. From listening and reading reviews they now last about 5+ years on average. You'll upgrade your machine before you need another one. For the price they can't be beat.

An SSD is a better upgrade than RAM at this point. Then again, most people run 4gb anyways.

I put one in a build that is used just for stock trading, no gaming. The customer pretty much agrees and wouldn't go back.

They make such a HUGE difference in just day to day computing. As of today there is no reason not have one, end of story.

Dreyvas wrote:
If he isn't looking to upgrade in the 3 to 5 years they are warrantied he will have more to worry about than his OS drive.

I also should add that those raptors are at best 1/3 as fast as an ssd. There is nothing else you can do to your PC to see that type of improvement. Typically a video card upgrade will give you a 30 or 40 percent jump, nothing like a 300%.

I agree these SSDs are hot potatoes and cant be beat for speed, but cost/ratio on storage is still very lacking. People use them for the OS I guess and then programs.. With as many games and programs I've got, I'm using 200 gigs of storage just for that. That would be an Expensive SSD. Grant it they have come down a lot, but until they have come down even more for the storage/cost ratio I can't see the point in switching yet. Im happy with 2 500 gb caviar black sata 30 meg raid 0, doesnt do the 400 read/ 200 write like you guys, have but i can transfer files sustained at about 130 or so megs. its fine with me.

you install your OS on the SSD and install your programs on that 200

wouldnt you then loose the benefit of faster program load times not being on the same drive?

You have to be selective. I have windows, all the programs, and 2 of my favorite games on the SSD. The rest of the games are on a partition that is the fasted part of the 2tb drive that I won at LanOC. The rest of the drive holds all of my data. For most games, you're waiting on your CPU to decompress the textures and stuff. SSDs only help a little. The speed boost you get in windows and apps is VERY noticeable.

Like Chris, Wes have said. You don't put everything on it. Just programs that you really use, for me it's Vent, CoreTemp, Chrome, CCleaner, Fraps, MakeMKV and Malwarebytes, that is it. You don't need everything on there either.

I would suggest doing some research first, then you know what your getting into. What kind of speeds to you want. Sata2 or 3 and what kind of brand. Even if you bought the worst SSD on Newegg, its still WAY faster than a Raptor or any other mechanical HDD.

For instance, I have 3 80gb Intel X-25M's in 3 computers. The laptop has shown the biggest improvement. I gained an hour of battery life just switching to an SSD. The thing boots instantly, from off to windows in 12 seconds. The Shuttle will restart faster than your computer will shut down. It will load 50 apps as soon as it hits the desktop with no problem. From cold to Windows in 15 seconds. The big computer that I have is a bit different. It has a bunch of stuff to load when Windows starts. Vent, WHS console, CoreTemp, Chrome, EVGA precision, Steam, My logitech keyboard apps, my logitech headset app. There is just much more for it to do and it boots in 20 seconds from cold to Windows.

The other thing is this. When I say cold to Windows, that doesn't mean oh I have to wait to click on shit either. You click on it and boom its up. I can click on every single app on my desktop and boom their up and running. No waiting for stuff to load was the biggest payoff in my eye's.

Do what you want though. But I can easily say that I will NEVER build another system that doesn't have an SSD regardless of size and other drives for storage. You almost just need to use one with an SSD to see what we are talking about.

What really sucks is when you use it everyday it becomes slower, in your mind because you are use to it. Then you go use a friends PC and it just AWFUL. If really sets you back.

No better upgrade in my eyes then an SSD for overall performance.

yes I've read solid state drive info yadda yadda en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive, they are totally superior I never said they werent lol. mine complaint was just that off a cost to storage ratio. soon as they drop a bit more, i'll probably plop about 250 for a decent one on sale and be happy as a clam. but just wish they had the terabyte sizes you can get in Sata drives for the same price. but hey its new tech you've got to wait, let the companies make their money for all the research they did. just like blu-ray burners 3-4 years ago they were around sure, but you and I werent gonna pay a thousand bucks for em. case in point.