struggling to decide ssd vs hdd

I

iamloco724

Member
im going to be building my first pc soon its going to be an i7-950 machine

i keep going back and forth on what to do about my main windows drive ssd or hdd..i know the benefits of ssd but what worries me is the lifespan issue

i know that if i do ssd i shouldnt have anything but windows and apps on it my documents will go to another drive and any downloads and what not as well but it still concerns me the lifespan of it



plus dont know to much about how to use it right..i know there a tweak utility out there dont know if its the same one everyone pretty much uses or what..and if it automatically does things or i have to manually do it..if im correct if the drive has trim then in windows 7 certain settings should be fine

then i see some people saying to change in your bios to go into AHCInot sure exactly what this means either but ive seen conflicting comments about doing things



also another thing that concerns me is i would like to back up my windows driver regularly into an image file most likely with acronis..will i be able to back it up to a hard drive fine and possibly restore it to a hard drive if my ssd does fail

if people could answer my questions and help me set my mind at ease and pick a drive type it would be greatly appreciated
 
Some of your questions was interesting. I got one BUT mama said under the Christmas tree. One thing though. I did by a sata 3 (or E sata) i think its called. I like the idea of one program to set this up and tweak everything to eliminate unneeded writes. Im watching and waiting for replies.
 
1) what worries me is the lifespan issue.

The one's with the newer controllers haven't been out long enough to set in stone the lifetime. But indicators say 5 years based on mainstream use of 20gb of writes per day, which is a lot, so imo it's not a concern. I didn't research what, if any, tweaks were associated with the 20gb results. I'm thinking not much or just the one's 7 do natively.
2) plus dont know to much about how to use it right..i know there a tweak utility out there dont know if its the same one everyone pretty much uses or what..and if it automatically does things or i have to manually do it..if im correct if the drive has trim then in windows 7 certain settings should be fine.

Yep, 7 is ssd friendly and will do certian adjustments automatically.
There are some teak programs out there, one in peticular has been well recieved-authored by Ashley Maple-but there's a pay version and that tells me the free one may not do everything I want, and I don't know what all the pay version does. I did some investigating for a few weeks here and there and made my own teak list from various guides and articles.
3)then i see some people saying to change in your bios to go into AHCInot sure exactly what this means either but ive seen conflicting comments about doing things.


ACHI - Advanced Host Controller Interface is an interface specification that allows the SATA controller driver to support advanced features. You can check with the maunf's sites and see what is recommended by them as far a AHCI mode(which I think you will find a yes) and if there's updated firmware.
What conflicting comments?
4)also another thing that concerns me is i would like to back up my windows driver regularly into an image file most likely with acronis..will i be able to back it up to a hard drive fine and possibly restore it to a hard drive if my ssd does fail.

All i can say is that there's different ways to back up your system without using up ssd space.
5) pick a drive

MLC flash w/Sandforce controller.
Phoenix Pro
Vertex 2
Mushkin Callisto
 
Last edited:
Benny boy gave perfect information. With windows 7 you dont have to worry about any difficult setup for an SSD at all. As for the lifespan of the SSD I would just keep a backup of your personal stuff that is on your SSD to a large HDD every 3 to 6 months (which is also a good idea even for regular HDD backups). I prefer OCZ SSD's, i've always used their products and I have never been disappointed.

You can also check out the site listed below for a few recommended intel i7 builds.
http://elitepcbuilding.com/modules.php?name=How-to-Build-A-Computer&file=Parts-Selection
 
iamloco724 said:
im going to be building my first pc soon its going to be an i7-950 machine

i keep going back and forth on what to do about my main windows drive ssd or hdd..i know the benefits of ssd but what worries me is the lifespan issue

i know that if i do ssd i shouldnt have anything but windows and apps on it my documents will go to another drive and any downloads and what not as well but it still concerns me the lifespan of it



plus dont know to much about how to use it right..i know there a tweak utility out there dont know if its the same one everyone pretty much uses or what..and if it automatically does things or i have to manually do it..if im correct if the drive has trim then in windows 7 certain settings should be fine

then i see some people saying to change in your bios to go into AHCInot sure exactly what this means either but ive seen conflicting comments about doing things



also another thing that concerns me is i would like to back up my windows driver regularly into an image file most likely with acronis..will i be able to back it up to a hard drive fine and possibly restore it to a hard drive if my ssd does fail

if people could answer my questions and help me set my mind at ease and pick a drive type it would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...

You may be over thinking this just a little bit. HDD in my opinion are very reliable pieces of computer equipment. I've never had a hard drive go out on me. I have a hard drive from 2002, 2003, and 2005 that still function, and read and write to this day. But maybe I'm lucky. SSD have no moving parts, probably meaning it's not going to go out anyime soon. If you go with the SSD, which I would if I had the money, warrant the SSD drive.
 
theres no issues with MTBF on new drives, TRIM levels out wear and i think the math on some of the stats for some drives was like 10 or 100 years...which is insane...i dont think you need to worry about a drive failing...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top