Asking for opinions/critiques. Crucial m4 64GB

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sram

[H]ard|Gawd
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Hello guys. I'm buying a new laptop instead of my old one, and as you might have guessed I want speed. I decided to get the Lenovo thinkpad W520 because of its good specs and the extra drive bay you can use to install an additional drive. I actually already bought it moments ago.

It is pretty powerful laptop featuring i7, 16GB of RAM and 2GB of dedicated graphics. My intention is to use the HDD that comes with it as a data drive, and buy a SSD as my OS drive.

For an OS drive, I don't need much size so i'm thinking about getting the Crucial m4 64GB. What do you guys think? It's got great reviews and I don't think I will need more than 64 GB for windows 7, office suite, protection software, some other basic programs. Right? Or will I be short in space before I even know it? If I install games, I don't think I'll have more than one at a time. Looking at my current desktop, my OS drive is at ~ 45 GB. That's why i'm thinking 64GB is safe to buy.

What do you think?
 
I think the M4 64 is awesome. I have a Latitude with a modular bay and it works great, SSD and HDD.

But I would turn off hibernation... You'll lose 16GB off the bat for the hibernation file since you have 16GB of ram. I also turn off restore points too.

There are times when you may really want hibernation as opposed to sleep, but I don't really miss it. Just Windows 64 plus office pro 2010 takes up about 17GB. That's with restore points and hibernation off.
 
Of course, if you want to get a 120GB model I won't stop you. You do get much higher write speeds (sequentially), but I have a 64 and its really stellar. I'm guessing that Lenovo is pretty awesome, enough that you may want a game or two. Its totally okay to put those on a HDD though. But Skyrim only takes up about 6GB, so decisions decisions.

You can find some really good deals on the OCZ solid 3 for $120 but its the 120GB model. I recognize that your Lenovo is pimped out, 16GB can't be cheap for two so dimms -- it'might be worth paying up for a 120GB.

But if there is one drive I can whole heartedly recommend, its the M4.
 
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If you can't spring for a larger drive then 64GB should be just fine. I've got a 40GB drive on my netbook and it's definitely manageable, there's still room in there for a couple of movies when i travel (tho I also leave a 32GB SD card permanently inside it for a little extra storage and doc backups).

In addition to what ck said you can also limit the size of your swap size or set a static size (same max/min) to make sure it never gobbles up more space than necessary. Personally I'd miss hibernation but that's just because I don't necessarily use my netbook on a daily basis, standby sans hiberntaion's probably fine if you tend to charge up more often (and have a larger capacity battery to begin with).
 
WIth 16GB of ram, windows will set a 24GB swap file, so you'd have to eliminate or reduce that too. I run with mine off for all my systems. But 16GB for the hibernation file is bad too.

Between the swap file and hibernation file that's 40GB off the bat. One of those has to go to make a 64GB drive work. That would only leave you with 19.5GB left for Windows itself. I'd also change the recycle bin to delete instantly instead of utilizing drive space, but it doesn't take up any more space on the drive. There might be a few circumstances when space gets tight, and that can help manage it.

If your system only had 2GB of ram in it you wouldn't have to bother with a 3GB swap and 2GB hiberfil.sys file. That's why I say you may wish to go even to an 80GB drive or perhaps a 120GB. I can get by fine with my 20/32/64/80 drives for just about everything, but I have some larger ones as well. I'm only using about 29GB in my laptop drive with Windows/Office Pro 2010/iTunes/a few Steam games/other
applications. That's on a 64GB drive at the moment, but I have about 12 drives I rotate through my systems (a main desktop, spare desktop, laptop).
 
Valuable comments just like expected. Thaaaaaaaaaanks. I found a 175 USD used 128GB M4 on ebay. I might just pull the trigger.
 
You should be able to get a new one for around that price.

$189.99 plus $5 shipping from one store on amazon was the cheapest I could find.
 
ckryan said:
You should be able to get a new one for around that price.

$189.99 plus $5 shipping from one store on amazon was the cheapest I could find.
Click to expand...

The one I found is only one week old according to a 100% feedback seller. I think It is a good deal.

New ones go for ~ 200 $.
 
The 128GB Samsung 830 is $230 but it comes with the new Batman game, which makes it a decent value if you were gonna get the game at full price anyway ($180?). I actually just got one yesterday, I was between it and the m4 ($210 where I was buying).
 
The 830 is another good choice. The M4 and 830 are excellent choices. Really, if you don't want SandForce your options are limited in 6gbps. You have Marvel, SF, Samsung SATA III controllers... and that's pretty much it for now for mainstream drives.
 
Isn't OCZ launching a new Indillix controller? I know next to nothing about it but I think there's a thread on it...
 
I installed an Intel 320 120GB in my Lenov and am very happy with it. I put an M4 in my desktop but the laptop isn't SATA 3 which is why I went with the Intel 320 in my laptop. I don't know benchmark minutia but subjectively it is worlds faster than the original HD
 
billt said:
I installed an Intel 320 120GB in my Lenov and am very happy with it. I put an M4 in my desktop but the laptop isn't SATA 3 which is why I went with the Intel 320 in my laptop. I don't know benchmark minutia but subjectively it is worlds faster than the original HD
Click to expand...

That's good to hear;)
 
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