Ok, So SSD or HDD?

N

nuketown

New Member
I'm pretty sure I want an SSD.

I want to be able to boot from it, and store all of my programs on it.

On the otherhand, I need storage.

1. Should I get a 60GB SSD, or bigger?
2. I'm think im only going to use a HDD for songs,etc; but - which model? Seagate? WD Blue, Green, Black?

Urgh, so confusing :)

Cheers
 
60GB would be good for windows and select programs/games. You said all programs, which can be done, if the programs aren't that big.

Any seagate/samsung/WD 7200RPM would be recommended. Green drives are below 7200RPM, and Black Drives have a higher cache, which would seldom be noticed on a storage drive.
 
Are you installing WinXp on the ssd , because if its win7 your hoping to install , that in itself is nearly 20GB install not to mention the programs you are also installing , my rule of thump is #

See what amount you currently use in the program files and program data files then add 20gb for windows , if you then have less than 20GB spare go for a 120gb SSD
 
Nonsense. 60GB is heaps for a Windows and application drive. The only time 99% of users need more is if they want to install games on the faster SSD as well.

BUT, for 99% of users, 60GB will give them windows, all apps, and the few games they play (with garbage collection that Win 7 offers).

Then add 2 x 2TB drives in RAID0, and you have your set up.
 
60gb? My mw3 folder alone is almost half that, haha. I'd go bigger unless you plan on swapping out applications back and forth from hd to ssd as they are needed. It'd be a lot of file transferring though. One option is to try out a ssd/hd hybrid drive - Seagate's Momentus XT series. Lot of space and adaptive performance, so the more the drive is used the faster it gets. Not as fast as a traditional ssd, but also not nearly as slow as a 5400rpm hard drive.
 
Game see almost no improvement with SSD, you don't buy SSD for gaming. ONce its loaded, its loaded. Windows and applications however do see improvements. You're better off RAID'ing 7,200rpm 2TB drives for gaming. SSD for gaming is false economics. BTW, my MW3 folder is 10GB so I don't know what you're doing....

And. btw, I did, say, gamers, may need more, possible you mis-read???
 
bigfellla said:
Nonsense. 60GB is heaps for a Windows and application drive. The only time 99% of users need more is if they want to install games on the faster SSD as well.

BUT, for 99% of users, 60GB will give them windows, all apps, and the few games they play (with garbage collection that Win 7 offers).

Then add 2 x 2TB drives in RAID0, and you have your set up.
Click to expand...

​

Ok so I'm leaning towards the 128GB (or whatever)

In that case, I'm left absolutely clueless when it comes to the HDD.
I currently have a Seagate barracuda- and is VERY loud!
I've had WDs crash on me before.
There's no way I'm going for Seagate- are there another good brands? Otherwise I will go for Black Caviar - just for the sake of it.
 
I have a 160 GB, it has only 50 gb left after around 8 games, not to many apps, and windows. It has 145 usable. So, 60 gb sure as cheese wouldnt be enough beside maybe 1 game, and windows, and all apps. I had a 60 gb hdd in a lappy, it was fine, but than, when you game, it would not be enough at all. Now, to the OP, it sounds like you are willing to spend around $220 for a ssd and hdd, I would just buy a 250 gb ssd. And, as I see, you wont be gaming, but will have media, like music and movies, a 256 gb should be enough, and if you ever use it all, it will be in a few years, when a 1 tb drive should be $70.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227781
 
Last edited:
I see a lot of posts that say an SSD larger than 60GB is essentially mandatory, but in every single case the posts cite games and game folders. The truth is, a 60GB would be a great size for someone that exclusively or almost exclusively uses it for Windows and their programs. Yeah sure, if you're someone that has several BIG programs for graphic design or what have you -- then a 60GB could be a little too small to be comfortable, if not outright too small. But for the vast majority of users this does not apply. Ccleaner, antivirus, media players, file management, disk management, and other smaller common programs take up very little space.

If you're a gamer and want to put all of your titles on a 60GB SSD in addition to Windows and your programs, you're going to have a bad time. It all depends on what the OP plans to put on the SSD, and IMO it should be pretty easy for him/her to know exactly what size they will need, unless they've been living under a rock their entire life and have no clue what a MB/GB is. Just because a 60GB doesn't work for YOU, due to using 30-40GB of space for games, is irrelevant. In the OP's case, a 60GB SSD could be anywhere from way too small to way more than enough. Hell, a 32GB drive will fit Windows and a few GB's worth of other stuff, with enough left over to have a comfortable cushion for the drive. It certainly won't be much overkill, but you wouldn't be hurting for space, either.
 
No, a 20 gb is just enough for windows, and than you need 25 gb with the 5 gb in updates, and that other GB is gone in a few hours after installing just some apps.
 
Last edited:
Ive actually seen gains between ssd in games, but only one i used was WoW, all dungeons load faster for me than anyone else, but the fact wow takes 20 gigs of the drive is a little unsettling, but it does help with responsiveness of the machine overall if your alt tabbing between fullscreen games and such.
 
nuketown said:
I want to be able to boot from it, and store all of my programs on it
I currently have a Seagate barracuda- and is VERY loud!
I've had WDs crash on me before.
Click to expand...
-Just keep in mind that for the most part games will only load faster. There may be a couple that benifit fron running off the ssd so if you are putting any games on it, you decide. Just total up the # of gb, OS + programs, you want to put on it right now.
When deciding what size, think in reverse, kind of. Using 120gb drive as an example:
Windows will see it as about 111gb.
Leave about 15% of that unused because there needs to be room for the drive to move data around, and filling it up/near capacity will slow it down.
We'll say this ^ leaves around 80gb usable space.
Leave some extra for any future updates/programs you may want to install.
-Barracuda, at least newer models seem to run pretty quiet for me. Have you checked it? Maybe it's on its way out.
-They can all crash. Western Digital has the best warranty. Take a look at Samgung Spinpoint F3.
byteninja2 said:
Now, to the OP, it sounds like you are willing to spend around $220 for a ssd and hdd. I would just buy a 250 gb ssd.
Click to expand...
Desktop ssd should have an acompanying hdd. Even if for only music/pics/videos, things that don't benifit or will be significantly faster from expensive storage,, and where data will be manipulated. The hdd has a nice ability the ssd does not > format.
You can pick up a good 120gb(which seems to be the best pricepoint right now) Sata III ssd and a 1TB F3 for less $ than a good 256gb Sata III.
 
Windows takes up 16GB. At least my professional version does. That other space is probably your paging file. Move that to your HDD.
 
bigfellla said:
Game see almost no improvement with SSD, you don't buy SSD for gaming. ONce its loaded, its loaded. Windows and applications however do see improvements. You're better off RAID'ing 7,200rpm 2TB drives for gaming. SSD for gaming is false economics. BTW, my MW3 folder is 10GB so I don't know what you're doing....

And. btw, I did, say, gamers, may need more, possible you mis-read???
Click to expand...

But games/maps do require loading and games are coming out with big maps, these maps take ages to load in a 7200RPM HDD. My friends with SSDs during multiplayer spawn very early before me because their maps load very fast and I reach there very late.
 
Ankur said:
But games/maps do require loading and games are coming out with big maps, these maps take ages to load in a 7200RPM HDD. My friends with SSDs during multiplayer spawn very early before me because their maps load very fast and I reach there very late.
Click to expand...

That's one thing I've noticed. I have my pick of the tanks/vehicles in BF3. :D But I wouldn't say that's worth getting a big SSD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top