The SSD Cookbook

[gjs278]

here's the cookbook

should I raid my ssds on intel ports?
yes.

should I ever use the marvell ports?
no.

I am installing it on windows xp, what do I have to do?
turn on AHCI in the bios, align it using gparted and then install.

I am installing it on windows 7, what do I have to do?
turn on AHCI in the bios. check if trim is enabled and do that if it isn't.

should I buy an asynchronous nand drive?
no.

what drive should I get for my ich10r ports?
crucial m4.

what drive should I get for my 6gb/s sas/sata raid card?
crucial c300 or take a chance with the latest sandforce 2281 drives. m4 drives routinely drop from 6gb/s cards.

I have a sata 3 drive, should I purchase a sata 3 card if my mobo only has sata 2?
no. the card you get will either be $400 worth of stuff to get better speeds than ich10r, or will be a cheap crappy marvell one that will also perform worse than ich10r.

what should I use to benchmark my drive?
as-ssd. do not use atto.

what is more important, sequential or 4k speeds?
4k.

what drives have the best 4k speeds?
c300s or the latest sandforce 2281 drives.

 

[gjs278]

on or off for the following, and lets see how many people will agree/disagree.

indexing
prefetching
write caching
system restore

I don't ever use windows search, so I would not need indexing.

I use fancycache, so I would not need prefetching.

I do not enjoy data loss, so I do not use write caching.

I use my own image backup system, so I do not use system restore.

 

[Red Falcon]

on or off for the following, and lets see how many people will agree/disagree.

indexing
prefetching
write caching
system restore

I wouldn't disable any of those, assuming standard system with a single drive, no RAID or extra equipment.

The first one doesn't mean much to me since I don't use that function in Windows.
The second two I would leave enabled.
The last, I would only disable if I absolutely needed the drive space and the system was non-mission critical.

 

[Trepidati0n]

I don't ever use windows search, so I would not need indexing.

I use fancycache, so I would not need prefetching.

I do not enjoy data loss, so I do not use write caching.

I use my own image backup system, so I do not use system restore.

1. windows search speeds up a machine for the average use
2. The average user will not download a fairly uknown beta program
3. show me stats on the probability of data loss with write caching enabled.
4. show me the amount of people that keep full images of their system versus ones that just backup key data to an external HDD.

I'm somewhat being a dick here. But it bothers me when the 1% get into an argument over what the 99% "are doing" when they "are not".

 

[Red Falcon]

2. The average user will not download a fairly uknown beta program
3. show me stats on the probability of data loss with write caching enabled.
4. show me the amount of people that keep full images of their system versus ones that just backup key data to an external HDD.

I'm somewhat being a dick here. But it bothers me when the 1% get into an argument over what the 99% "are doing" when they "are not".

+1

I fully agree, that 1% may have a use for disabling those specific functions and services, but on a whole, it may not be the best option for the other 99%.

 

[blahblahyoutoo]

3 replies and we already see disagreement.
i rest my case.

 

[KarsusTG]

I keep full images on my server... I dont feel special now...

 

[Red Falcon]

3 replies and we already see disagreement.
i rest my case.

I see your point, nice argument.

 

[blahblahyoutoo]

I see your point, nice argument.

frankly, the more i read on the internet, the more confused i became because no one, not even the "experts", could agree on settings.

i ended up just letting win7 handle most things.

all i did was enable AHCI, install OS, check to see TRIM is enabled, and check for 4k alignment.
windows knows to disable defragging, and I left indexing, prefetching and write caching to defaults.

aside from that, i disabled system restore, hibernation, and manually set a static size for the page file.

as for the OP, it sounds as if he didn't do any reading, and didn't even know how to physically attach the drive to the mb.

 

[Red Falcon]

all i did was enable AHCI, install OS, check to see TRIM is enabled, and check for 4k alignment.
it auto disables defrag. i left indexing, prefetching and write caching on.

i disabled system restore, hibernation, and manually set a static size for the page file.

That's all the guide you need, and honestly that's about all that I do when installing a SSD.
The only real thing I do differently is leave system restore alone, since occasionally I do backtrack, but this is only personal preference.

Well said.

 

[KarsusTG]

You should also put your profile on the other drive unless you have a really large SSD (128 or better) as they can grow pretty large.

 

[blahblahyoutoo]

You should also put your profile on the other drive unless you have a really large SSD (128 or better) as they can grow pretty large.

this was one of the concerns i had, especially if you own an iOS device and have lots of apps.
i was debating whether to move my profile to a HDD for space and disk write reasons, but I ended up just moving the itunes folder.

 

[Impulse]

frankly, the more i read on the internet, the more confused i became because no one, not even the "experts", could agree on settings.

i ended up just letting win7 handle most things.

all i did was enable AHCI, install OS, check to see TRIM is enabled, and check for 4k alignment.
windows knows to disable defragging, and I left indexing, prefetching and write caching to defaults.

aside from that, i disabled system restore, hibernation, and manually set a static size for the page file.

as for the OP, it sounds as if he didn't do any reading, and didn't even know how to physically attach the drive to the mb.

You're mostly right, the dissenting opinions in this thread were mostly special case scenarios... Bringing those into a thread like this does tend to confuse the average user. In the end, all you did was check stuff was automatically set as it should be and disable one or two things mostly for space considerations... That's the only real concern imo, hopefully further price drops will make even that irrelevant. In the mean time, looking into system links is a good idea if you want to easily transfer stuff like game directories etc without reinstalling.

 

[gjs278]

1. windows search speeds up a machine for the average use
2. The average user will not download a fairly uknown beta program
3. show me stats on the probability of data loss with write caching enabled.
4. show me the amount of people that keep full images of their system versus ones that just backup key data to an external HDD.

I'm somewhat being a dick here. But it bothers me when the 1% get into an argument over what the 99% "are doing" when they "are not".

1. not if you don't search
2. sure they will. and if they don't, then just leave prefetching on.
3. umm... stats? write data to disk. pull the plug 5 seconds later. tell me what happens. now do the same thing without write caching. you'll actually have some of your data leftover without write caching, if not all of it.
4. system restore doesn't always work. a virus can easily wipe out your restore points. relying on it is a bad idea really.

I never said any of this was typical use, just that it was my use. I never told anyone to turn off their settings or copy what I do, I just told you what I personally do. notice how I don't turn off any of the services "for performance", I turn them off because I don't need them.