Optimizing SSDs

[{CLR} Cobalt]

Juneau, can I install and SSD in this system then load a new version of 7 on it and toggle between the 2 drives?

[Duke{CLR}]

Juneau, can I install and SSD in this system then load a new version of 7 on it and toggle between the 2 drives?

I just did that. Just toss in the DVD then follow the instructions to put it on the new drive and when you reboot you get two choices, I unplugged the old one so i only have one choice for the moment.

[{CLR} Cobalt]

Thanks Duke. I figured I could, just wanted to be sure.

[K PhaNTOM]

You just made me feel better!! I read an article saying they only last 2-3 years, tops.

I don't see how they get these figures. I remember when I was researching SSDs that somehow they only lasted a year or so back then. Which made me hesitate. But I have an SSD that's about 3 years old now along with my intel 320s that are two years old now. Things die too fast for some people, but I have yet to have any part die on me on any of my PCs. I guess I'm just lucky.

[goldenfooler]

yes you must be lucky. With 4 computers the only thing that I haven't had die was a fan and the Ram. Everything at one point has been warrantied.

[WalkinTarget]

Yep they do, and it's only a problem if you intend to still be using the same drive very heavily for 10 years or so.

The reviews and articles on this "issue" are nothing but scaremongering.

+1. I'll go out on a limb and guess those SSD tests were performed by Seagate and Western Digital ??!!

Almost any SSD is going to last at least 7 years, and we are talking about worst case scenario with terabytes of data swaps running constantly on a non-booting storage volume. Your data does not MOVE about like that on a traditional boot drive.

Just to get everyone up to speed (bad pun) on how an SSD can be incorporated into your PC - it can be a traditional bootable drive or it can be used (using Intel's RST technology on the Z68 and newer boards) as a cache drive for the HDD itself. I use an Intel 311 20GB SSD in an mSATA format to cache my WD 2TB RAID 0 array. Any program, when FIRST accessed, will not load from the SSD but instead from the HDD. It will load slower that first time, but any subsequent launch of it and it will NOW load from the SSD. If you don't play a lot of different games, you are only limited by how much can fit in that 20gb of cache.

In this case, the type of RAM on the SSD is more important to its longevity. It can either have MLC (almost all SSDs use this type - its cheaper) or SLC NAND RAM. The SLC stuff is designed for constant write/re-writes, so it will not suffer the performance degradation after constant use that a cache drive using MLC will. If you happen to have an older OCZ drive sitting around and want to use it as a cache drive, be aware that it WILL die sooner than expected simply because it is not designed to be used for that environment.

Most SSD owners don't go the cached drive route - they want the SSDs raw speed at all times, hence it is used as your boot drive. My compromise for my build was to go with the small SSD as the cache drive and see the speed benefit 4 out of 5 times instead of at all times. The downside to having the SSD as a boot drive - if it goes south, it ALL goes. With the cache drive, you can just replace the SSD (it doesn't have a drive letter and only stores what's already on the HDD) with another one and you've lost nothing.

Hopefully I wasn't too wordy and didn't lose anybody there. I just wanted everyone reading this to know of the different ways you can take advantage of an SSD for your particular situation.

PS - and I did NOT use velcro to secure it in place !!

[juneau]

You just made me feel better!! I read an article saying they only last 2-3 years, tops.

Please give me a link to that!

[Dead...Again]

I have a 128GB SSD as my boot drive with some games, etc. installed on it. Then I have another standard drive for the rest of my applications. I then have a larger drive for my documents, pictures, videos, etc. I then have an external HDD for backup. I then use Carbonite for online backup of all of my documents, pictures, videos...

[juneau]

I have a 128GB SSD as my boot drive with some games, etc. installed on it. Then I have another standard drive for the rest of my applications. I then have a larger drive for my documents, pictures, videos, etc.

That's my exact setup too!

Will be getting a NAS soon for proper cetralised storage for all my players around the house and OS backups.

[Apache Warrior]

Go to the Samsung website and install the latest version of Magician. You can change a few things in there that are of use. Select High Performance setting in OS Opt, then go to Over Provisioning and set the default 10%. Finally go to Rapid Mode and make sure it's enabled. This will give a big boost in speed, and is only available in the latest version of Magician.

The only option above I would consider necessary is the Rapid Mode, but the other are worth doing while you're there.

Also, don't forget to install the Intel RST drivers when you've got Windows installed. These are mainly for Raid usage, but they do have benefits for single drives too.

This is a great drive and the software provided is wonderful. The Data Migration Software will clone your OS Drive to your 840 EVO seamlessly.
The Magician Software helps you manage your drive effortlessly. You can use it to speed up your drive and it installs firmware updates.
Apache

[TheTurboSloth]

Cain, whatever you do, DONT DEFRAG THE SSD. I did that by accident with my Samsung, and I messed it up. But yeah, like everyone said, use the magician tool. Great stuff. If you're using it for work, then frequently back your stuff up.

[K PhaNTOM]

I defragged my SSD many times. Granted, before reading about it being a bad idea, but it caused no damage that I can see.

[Dead...Again]

There is no advantage to defragging an SSD, but there should be no issues with it other than the extra unneeded write cycles.

[Cain]

Cain, whatever you do, DONT DEFRAG THE SSD. I did that by accident with my Samsung, and I messed it up. But yeah, like everyone said, use the magician tool. Great stuff. If you're using it for work, then frequently back your stuff up.

Thx for the warning ...

[juneau]

Defrag is even disabled by default in Windows. That should have been enough of a warning.