Upgrading my PC, and I'm wondering if I should jump on the SSD bandwagon...

Upgrading my PC, and I'm wondering if I should jump on the SSD bandwagon. They seem to come for a fairly good price these days, I'm looking to install Windows on it so looking at 128GB models, but I'm wondering if it will make a significant improvement to games and other programs too, in which case I may get a larger one and install all programs on it. Is it worth it? And how is the SSD's lifespan compared to HDD?

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=VqoKUFGjFR0
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

>>>/sqt/

It's totally worth it.

Lifespan is shorter than an HDD's. Normally you get some software from the OEM which will show you the estimated remaining life.

Under normal wear, they should last at least a few years. If you need it for intensive usage, might be worth looking at professional/server SSDs for extra lifespan.

Thanks for the tips, I think I'll get one. When you say a few years do you mean 2-3 or 7-8?

Often easy switch from desktop to laptop if right slots

Depends on usage and on the quality of the SSD. They should last at least 5 years, under normal wear.

Check benchmarks before buying, there are lots of "brand" SSDs which have crap performance but high price, so you get ripped off if you just buy the brand. Some models are just better than others.

why 128gb? I like a 500gb myself, so that games and programs can load quicker too

I've become a fan of 256GB c:\ d:\ partitions on an SSD (128GB/128GB) and then basic 7200RPM 3-6TB RAID1.

I don't expect one disk to do both speed and $/GB the best, but in a PC there's nothing stopping you from doing both fairly easily

Thanks, I always obsessively research before buying any new tech so I'll be doing that with this too.

I was going to get 128Gb if I was only going to load the OS onto it, but I guess I'll get a bigger one and put my games on it too. Although to be honest I don't think my games even add up to more than 128Gb anyway.

You won't regret going bigger, but you may later regret going smaller

Yeah good point. Is it easy to transfer installs from HDD to SSD? I want to move over games with all the configs and data etc in tact. Will I have to reinstall the game onto the SSD and move data over manually?

no, just find a program that can image your HDD over to your SSD, no problem, there are plenty of guides online to do it.

Better get a drive with better technology even if it has lower storage space, than a drive with bigger storage but worse tech.

So, in an SSD, the quality of the technology in it is way more important than the size. With better tech (controller, materials) you get better performance and lifespan.

So, desu I'd first check benchmarks to see how the drive performs compared to others and I would worry less about how much storage you get. Anything over 128Gb is fine.

The Samsung Pro line is currently the best in terms of performance and lifetime. They also come with a 10 year warranty.

You could argue either way.

If he's coming from HDD, any decent SSD will be leagues faster. Speed wouldn't matter if you are constantly filling it up.

Ah thanks a lot, will make life alot easier.

Thanks anons

So is there any major difference between SATA and M2?

The SATA Samsung SSD has a 10 year warranty, the M2 one has a 5 year warranty. It's supposed to be a lot faster though.

what is your budget and does your motherboard have an M2 slot?

I'm still not sure which motherboard to get, I'm looking at AMD motherboards like the Asus Prime Plus but it turns out there's been some serious issues with those cheaper motherboards, so might look into the Tomahawk or TaiChi or Bazooka super-pro x-treme gaymer boards. But I'll most likely end up with a motherboard with an M2 slot.

As for budget I'm open to any price, if it's a good enough deal and will serve me better I'm willing to pay more. Though I wouldn't get anything bigger than 500Gb as I know I won't use it all on top of my 1TB HD.

I think the ten year warranty will win out there, thanks for the tip

AH, I actually have the Prime B350 Plus! It has been great to me so far, I have reflashed the BIOS and am able to run my RAM at 2933 reliably. I am waiting for the next AGESA update. I was holding out for a Taichi but got impatient. I use a Samsung 960 Evo 500GB on mine. I don't do any overclocking though.

Games don't really load all that much faster, and it's also recommended to avoid putting them on ssd because some have huge read/write cycles that can deteriorate the drive's lifespan. For OS though it's totes worth it, put your resource heavy programs there too.

>it's also recommended to avoid putting them on ssd because some have huge read/write cycles that can deteriorate the drive's lifespan
I'm pretty sure that's a meme at this point.

Have the BIOS updates actually made a significant impact? I was looking at reviews for the Prime Plus and was seeing almost 50% of them saying it literally didn't even work, and the rest saying it works but they're affected by the RAM underclock, really put me off which sucks because I was set on the Prime Plus.

I was also hoping to get 3200Mhz ram so hope Asus and AMD manage to sort this issue out, apparently AMD have released some new microcode today which is supposed to help with the issue. I'm sure it'll be fixed eventually, hopefully by the time the Vega comes out and I decide which card I'm actually getting.

Ok thanks for the tip, I did see this video in the pc building general and was pretty amazed:

youtube.com/watch?v=VqoKUFGjFR0

But I think I'd rather have the longest lifespan to be honest.

>Have the BIOS updates actually made a significant impact?
Yes, the 0606 AGESA update is what allowed me to run my 3200 Hynix RAM at 2933. I might be able to push 3200 if I loosen timings, but I haven't really messed around with it.

>I was also hoping to get 3200Mhz ram so hope Asus and AMD manage to sort this issue out, apparently AMD have released some new microcode today which is supposed to help with the issue.

That's the boat I'm in, there is another AGESA update coming that should improve RAM compatibility even more.

>I was looking at reviews for the Prime Plus and was seeing almost 50% of them saying it literally didn't even work
Keep in mind that 50% of people can't troubleshoot and have issues building a PC with ANY motherboard.

Mine booted up the first time I turned the PC on.

>some have huge read/write cycles that can deteriorate the drive's lifespan. For OS though it's totes worth it
For the most part, the OS will be writing to the drive more than most games will, unless you're autistic and save after every enemy you kill or whatever. If you get an SSD just make sure you either don't install much on it, or get a larger one than you need because the extra space will help with wear leveling. They already do some even if you fill it up, but more empty space to work with means better leveling.
Also make sure to either get a platter drive for your pagefile or get enough RAM to not need one.

Yeah fair point, most of those people are probably just returning their mobo's as soon as it doesn't plug and play. I might still consider the Prime Plus then. Strange thing is the TaiChi and Tomahawk's seem to be reporting absolutely no problems at all, but the cheaper B350's all are, whether MSI or ASUS or whatever. Really weird issue.

I'll have a 1TB HD still, and I'm looking into getting 16gb 3200Mhz so hopefully that will be enough, thanks for the info.

There is no harm in going with something else, I'm just saying you don't need to be so fearful about the PRIME. x370 is a bit overkill if you don't plan to SLI though. I'd personally stay away from MSI though, I've had nothing but issues with their boards in the past, but all of my experience is anecdotal.

>Also make sure to either get a platter drive for your pagefile or get enough RAM to not need one.
I don't agree with this either, modern SSDs will have enough writes to last well past the point you'd be upgrading them anyways.

To be honest I wanted to get ASUS because I had a good experience with my last build, 5 years and haven't had one issue with the motherboard. Sounds like the BIOS updates have fixed most of the issues so far, and I'm assuming it'll only get better with time. Might just get the Prime Plus as I don't plan to SLI.

Just remember to never flash the bios with any utility that runs in the OS, use the option in the BIOS and you should be fine.

Yeah thanks

Bottom line if you can afford it do it. Your loading will be noticeably faster. That's about it.

Noise and power are also reasons to get SSDs as well, no? I plan on getting an SSD soon and hopefully I'll definitely notice the noise difference as well as the load times.

I ordered a hopefully mispriced 480gb Kingston drive for $54 a couple of weeks ago. If it doesn't arrive or it's actually a 120gb, that's alright since ebay should refund it.

>SSD bandwagon

What is this, 2011?

how much ram is enough to escape the pagefile peasantry?

I don't know. My laptop has 32 gigabytes. My desktop had 64 before I turned it into a Hyper V server.
If you're running Windows then maybe 16 or 32, depends on if you run something retarded like Chrome which uses a million processes and doesn't have a nice 32 bit RAM cap on it like Firefox does (used to?). I still have issues if I have a couple virtual machines open and Chromium open if I try to play Starcraft 2.

You can get 120 GB SSDs for 30 € nowadays. And even 32 or 64 GB SATA2 ones cheaper for C2D systems.

The newer SSDs have infinite lifespan, at least I hadn't any SSD that failed me, HDDs did.

If you're not an enthusiast don't put games on SSD, at least no older games. AAA titles and Battlefield needs a SSD if you don't want two minute loadscreens.
Depends on the model. I remember a durability test of the 840 Pro, it lasted for 2 PETAbytes. It was a 256 GB model. I would take years to reach this even under heaviest use. The current gen EVOs and Crucial MLC SSDs are perfectly fine. Older ones like OPs pic fail more often.

I stopped using HDDs in my PCs, they are only viable for data storage (and for extreme budgets). The regular "gamer" should be able to afford a secondary 500 GB or 1 TB SSD. I also use them for video editing and whenever I work with large files, its much better, direct response, especially if you access different files from the same drive at the same time.

Kek

Yeah I'm a little late to the party on this one. I built my current PC in 2012 and never really felt the need for an SSD, but as I'm upgrading everything else now I thought it'd be a good time.

SSD's lately have been shown to last much longer than standard hard drives.

>=1TB HDD have