New SSD user

[smack323]

So i finally broke down and got one after I saw this deal on newegg for a OCZ Vertex
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227393
Anyone have any suggestions to get the best performance out of it?
Also I might use it for a month in a mini form factor HTPC I am building just to try it out before I need to migrate my desktop over to it. Will formatting it cause any problems when i need to wipe it? I heard thAt defragging these drives can cause very poor performance.

[Apoptosis]

yeah you don't run defrag on SSDs... TRIM is the command that you need to be worried about.

you can format it, but between systems you need to do a Secure Erase or Sanitary Erase in order to get the drive back to a fresh out-of-the box state or at least as close to it as possible.

Double check to make sure the vertex you got has v1.5 firmware on it as that is the latest.

[smack323]

ok doesnt sound to hard. So to enable TRIM is that a BIOS option or do you run software for the SSD? or is TRIM just something that it has or doesnt have internally?

[Apoptosis]

If you run Windows 7 it should be enabled by default.

You can go crazy with specific settings in Windows to make SSDs perform better, but personally I just install the OS and let it be and it's worked out fine for me thus far. I have SSDs in my netbook, notebook and my PC... All are running windows 7 with TRIM and having no issues. Each one is a different brand too... OCZ, Kingston, Intel... all are different controllers and all are different capacities. Figured I'd real-world test the SSDs I review here on LR the best that I can.

[smack323]

perfect. thats just what I was hoping - no messing around. I am sure the performance increase I see will be more than enough.

[FZ1]

Let Windows 7 do the drive alignment (i.e. - create the partition) when you install windows...it does it correctly by default for the best SSD performance.

[vbironchef]

Which ssd is rated the best? Some of the fastest ones seem to not last very long, from what I have been reading on newegg.

[FZ1]

Any of the newer SSD's that support TRIM with Win 7 should be decent. The G2 Intel's are a fav of a lot of people as are the OCZ Vertex and the newer Kingston's (the model escapes me ATM). Nate has reviewed most all of them recently. Honestly, the difference in real world performance between the $1000 drives and the $300 drives is barely noticeable, if at all. If I were buying one, I'd get the cheapest TRIM supported drive out there with a decent warranty and use it for a while. The SSD's that are forthcoming will kick way more ass and I'd want to upgrade to them anyway.

[smack323]

yeah i saw the vertex for like $90 and thought it was cheap enough to give them a try and see what all the fuss is about.

[vbironchef]

FZ1, What do you see coming? I'm going to buy within a week. I was going to buy a Intel 160 ssd. What do you suggest?

[FZ1]

It will likely be a while before the really super drives come out and they will probably be pretty expensive. Unless you have a newer SATA 6 board, you might as well stick with the current drives as they are close to maxing out the bandwidth on the current boards anyway. No use in getting a monster drive that is hobbled by limited mobo bandwidth.

[Apoptosis]

FZ1, What do you see coming? I'm going to buy within a week. I was going to buy a Intel 160 ssd. What do you suggest?

Nothing but mainstream SSDs will be coming out between now and the end of CeBIT... No other SATA 6Gbps drives are due soon from what i have been told. Intel and others are 2011 according to roadmaps. Even Indilinx is far out with Jetstream from the sounds of it.

[vbironchef]

Can you run win xp64 bit with a SSD? Is there some settings I must make first? Was going to install win 7 but my wife uses xp64 bit at work so that's what she wants.

[smack323]

I am not sure on what settings to use. I dont see why you couldnt use it in XP 64.

[vbironchef]

I guess what I am asking is if xp 64 bit supports TRIM.

[kenc51]

I guess what I am asking is if xp 64 bit supports TRIM.

No, only Vista & Win 7

[FZ1]

I guess what I am asking is if xp 64 bit supports TRIM.

No, only Vista & Win 7

Not even Vista (unless there was an update that added it).

[Apoptosis]

I guess what I am asking is if xp 64 bit supports TRIM.

No, only Vista & Win 7

Yeah only Windows 7 has full TRIM support in it

[Mikehe76]

I too am new to SSD and I tend to favor the Intel flavour, but thats only because i work for them and get good pricing on SSD's. My 80gb G2 just came in and cant wait to install it on win 7 64.wooooooooooohoo ooooo

[MarkJohnson]

There is a program called wiper on OCZ forums that allows you to force a TRIM command on XP and Vista I believe. I just sold my 60GB Vertex and upgraded to 160GB Intel Gen 2 drives. But I can tell you there is little difference between the two performance wise. The Intel has fast 4k writes which greatly improves boot up and shut down, while OCZ has better large file support. I think Intel is a little faster overall, but not by much.

also, the drives like AHCI mode a little better, but benchmarks seem to be almost same speed either way. Just AHCI is suppose to be smarter and be more efficient.

also, look for a GC (garbage Collection) version of BIOS as it is suppose to do its own TRIM type command as well, it may work in non-Win 7 environments, but not sure.

Good Luck
-=Mark=-