SSD suggestions

[Joe 90]

I've been thinking about getting an SSD for ages now and had planned to move to Windows 8 in the same upgrade. However I'm now thinking of sticking with Windows 7 but putting Ubuntu on an SSD.

This has become increasingly tempting, shall we say, since I can't install ubuntu on my virtualbox at work & I want to get to grips with linux again.

So, what do people suggest in an SSD? It doesn't need to be all that big because I've got a server & plenty of capacity in other drives (providing I don't get problems reading from those NTFS disks) but theres so much out there I don't know where to start.

This looked like a good price, I just couldn't see any speeds stats; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Series-250GB-Solid-State/dp/B009LI7C9Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1360264485&sr=1-2

[Stan_Lite]

These figures from OcUK:

Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s
• Capacity: 250GB
• Sequential Read: 540MB/s
• Sequential Write: 250MB/s
• Random Read (QD32, 4KB): 96,000 IOPS
• Random Write (QD32, 4KB): 62,000 IOPS
• Random Read (QD1, 4KB): 7,900 IOPS
• Random Write (QD1, 4KB): 29,000 IOPS
• Warranty: 3 Year

And for the Pro version (which I have the 128GB version of and am happy with):

Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s
• Capacity: 256GB
• Sequential Read: 540MB/s
• Sequential Write: 520MB/s
• Random Read (QD32, 4KB): 100,000 IOPS
• Random Write (QD32, 4KB): 90,000 IOPS
• Random Read (QD1, 4KB): 9,900 IOPS
• Random Write (QD1, 4KB): 31,000 IOPS
• Active Power Use: 0.068W (down from 0.24W for 830 Series)
• Idle Power Use: 0.042W (down from 0.14W for 830 Series)
• Warranty: 5 Year

The Samsung 840 series is generally considered one of the top models currently available for the home user. I would suggest that, if write speed isn't too important, you'd be as well with the one you linked to.

[Zirax]

Got to agree with Stan :) Another good brand but slower is the Crucial M4 drives. The reason I mention them is within weeks of a flaw being found, a firmware fix was out and patched. Outstanding, considering the complete POS OCZ Agility drive I have as a paperweight!

[Joe 90]

Great thanks guys. Might go with an 840 pro then with all the overtime I've worked lately!

Just had a thought though - my hardware if fairly old... 2008 upgrade I believe so if my motherboard only supports 3gb/s SATA then surely there's no point spending £170 on a super-dooper SSD. Equally so, my knowledge of hardware & compatibility isn't what it was when I was a teenager.

This is my mobo: http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5KC/#specifications

[Zirax]

You are right there, your board will be saturated. However with one of these....

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CC-004-SR&groupid=701&catid=49&subcat=

[Joe 90]

Brilliant, I assumed PCI-E could bring harmony to the situation ;D

[Nutcase]

I've got a couple of M4s and more than happy with them :)

[volospian]

I have an ocz agility 3. it's the second one. the first died. this one is unstable and hangs occasionally, but then my mobo is not supported and is ancient, so I'm not surprised. It's a lot faster than a hhd and my mobo doesn't even support ahci. about 30 seconds from power on to internet...

[Joe 90]

My 256gb 840 pro should arrive tomorrow. Now I just need to pick a version of Linux Mint.

[Joe 90]

Got it ;D

http://instagram.com/p/VmCoTdyvia/

Now I need to decide what to do with my partitions. Not setup a linux box in years. Might also get some more ram, 4gb isn't much nowadays!

Wonder if I can still find any DDR2 800 like I've got :/

[Stan_Lite]

Might also get some more ram, 4gb isn't much nowadays!

Wonder if I can still find any DDR2 800 like I've got :/

Had a dig around in my parts drawer but the only DDR2 I have left is 2x2GB 1150MHz - pity :(

[Joe 90]

Had a dig around in my parts drawer but the only DDR2 I have left is 2x2GB 1150MHz - pity :(

Thanks :)

Another week of intense overtime last week & rams cheap... just a shame I missed the deadline on Prime delivery for tomorrow!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2KIT25664BA1339-PC1333-Memory-Retail/dp/B001R4BT1M/ref=sr_1_10?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1360696441&sr=1-10

[Joe 90]

That went terribly wrong. Turns out my board only has 2 DDR3 slots so I need to rethink this. Suppose its either two higher capacity DDR3 sticks or 4 of whatever I can get my hands on of DDR2.

If I had 2 4gb DDR3 and booted 32bit windows (still can't be bothered to reinstall to 64bit) would it just access 3gb of one of the sticks without issue?

[Mark]

It'd (hopefully) use the first 1.5gb from each stick. That's what dual channel does. :)

[Joe 90]

Wonderful thanks. Suppose I'd better go for more DDR3 then.

[Joe 90]

I'm having no luck.

New memory arrived & now I get no output when I boot up. I know this is either incompatible sticks or a fault with them, but my mobo definitely says it supports DDR3 1333 & the system still boots with the DDR2 so if these sticks are DOA I'm destined not to get my upgrade :(

Would someone please confirm I'm not going mad when I looked at this;
2 x DIMM, 4 GB, DDR 1333*/1066/800 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
*The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR3 1066MHz/DDR2 800. Due to the tuning by ASUS exclusive technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR3 1333/DDR2 1066MHz. Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL

And decided this was compatible; http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003N8GVUY/ref=pe_217191_31005151_dp_1

Or does that suggest 4gb is maximum for the motherboard (per stick)?

I got it to boot with the DDR3 1333 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2KIT25664BA1339-PC1333-Memory-Retail/dp/B001R4BT1M/ref=sr_1_10?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1360696441&sr=1-10) that I got yesterday and tried to lower the clock speed on the memory to 1066 and 800 but the 4gb stick still wouldn't give any display output although looking & listening to the pc it seemed to run the boot fine & loaded up the hard disks because I had to hold the power to shutdown if I let it boot. (also cleared the cmos via the jumper & battery but that didn't change anything)