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Which SSD?

B

bcracer220

Gawd
Joined
Dec 7, 2006
Messages
526
I have a Gateway NV5214u laptop, specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 X2-QL-64
320 GB HDD @ 5400 RPM
4 GB Memory

HDD stats using hd tune (read):

Minimum 7.1 MB/s
Maximum 70.2 MB/s
Average 47.1 MB/s

Access Time: 23.7 ms
Burst Rate: 143.9 MB/s

Windows Experience Index for current HD: 5.5

I am looking into SSDs because I want a much faster boot time and to also reduce application loading time. I know the specs of my laptop are not the most spectacular, but I do not do anything too intensive on it so I am pretty happy with the performance. I am afraid of buying an SSD as I am not sure if my hardware will bottleneck the SSD. I was wondering if it wouldnt matter to buy a Kingston V 64GB vs a Intel 64 GB because the other specs of the laptop might hold it back. What would be the best option, or does it not make any sense for me to get an SSD in the first place as my other components are too slow? Also what kind of realistic gains will I see with an SSD overall?

Thanks for the help
 
SSD's will help without a doubt. Added to the fact that your drive is a 5400 RPM it will FEEL much better/faster. I honestly would recommend an 80GB intel or maybe a 128 C300/Vertex2, 160Intel. More space is better on a laptop vs a desktop where you can push non-critical files to mechanical disks.
 
ya the intel 80gb is over twice the price of the kingston 64gb though, i was thinking of converting my current 320gb notebook hard drive to an external using one of those notebook bundle kits. so the intel is really worth it then in terms of the performance? and will i get any increase in battery life?
 
My SSD story:

Laptop: Acer 3810t
Processor: SU9400 @ 1.4ghz
Ram: 4gb DDR3

I had a 500gb drive in the laptop. I wasn't really using any of the space and needed to get a larger drive in one of my other systems...so wth. I bought the 80gb Intel (x25m) for my acer and will use the 500gb drive in the other system.

Win 7 install from USB took 15 minutes...but we all know win7 installs fast.

When I rebooted it for the first time, it took 24 seconds from the time I clicked, Start > Shutdown > Restart to the time I was typing my password! Pretty awesome. A few times, the little windows logo that displays during the boot process didn't have enough time to finish it's little animation. I was at the password screen as the dots were still coming together.

To put it in perspective, my laptop will completely reboot quicker than my quad core desktop will shut down.

Opening Office applications (I'm using office 2010 on my laptop) is more like pressing alt-tab to switch to an application. Then again - Office opens stupid fast on my desktop as well. Firefox opens MUCH quicker on my laptop than my desktop. But we're talking 2 seconds vs 6 seconds.

Microsoft Security Essentials scanned the drive in 40 seconds (60gb partition). lol

My laptop gets pretty damn good battery life. If I have it running all day at work w/ the screen at the dimmest setting, It will pretty much take me the entire day (10 hour day). It will go into sleep mode every now and then when I'm working on my desktop at work...but I don't get "low battery" messages until the very end of the day. With the SSD - I haven't gotten the low battery message at all.

I know to take it with a grain of salt - but previously with a full battery, Win7 would report 8-9 hours of battery time remaining. With the SSD, it reports 11-12 hours remaining. I wasn't expecting any change in battery life...but whatever.

Kinda overkill for my laptop as I don't really use any programs that take a long time to load (or any other intensive apps really).

...but as soon as I figure out how to redistribute the storage in my desktop (3 HDDs), it is getting 2 of those Corsair SSD's in raid0.

edit:

yeah...1234
 
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thanks for the replies, in terms of just improving boot up and application loading times, will a kingston drive be sufficient? ive been looking at a lot of reviews and it seems that the read/write speeds are much higher for an intel drive. but i really dont do a lot of file transferring, so i dont know if higher read/write speeds are that important for me or if a kingston would be suffecient
 
$160 after MIR --> OCZ Vertex 2: http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-Vertex-2-5-Inch-OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G/dp/B003NE5JCE

OR

$200 --> Intel X-25M 80GB G2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023&cm_re=x-25m-_-20-167-023-_-Product

The Kingston is half the speed of the Intel X-25M, from what I understand. Your best source for this kind of information is www.anandtech.com

If you want the best, you're going with one of these drives.

After reading 2010 Value SSD (~$100) Roundup: Kingston and OCZ take on Intel, Anand's recommendation is to wait for Q4 to get double the capacity (80gb) for what is likely to be the same price as today's 40GB drive.

I have to say, I can't imagine having a computer with a 40gb hard drive. Windows 7 would take up so much of that tiny space!
 
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I have the 256 gig OCZ Vertex 2 with the Sandforce controller. It flys. All of the high end Sandforce controlled SSD's are the fastest on the market. The second tier Sandforce drives (Agility 2 and such)are still blazing fast though.The Crucial C300 is Sata3 and will work perfectly in an SATA 2 laptop but will revert to SATA 2 speed. There is a bit of a slow down when multitasking compared to a Sandforce drive but you most likely wouldn't notice it in the real world. I would say get a sandforce controlled drive or wait a bit for Intel's new SSD's due out in a few months.
 
so bringing back an old thread, im finally ready to buy a c300 128gb i think. just to be sure though my laptop is sata 2 correct? (its a gateway nv5214u with the 780g chipset and sb700 southbridge). also i will i see a good amount of gain?
 
Keep power consumption in mind. There's a ton of deals on the Kingston SSDnow V but it has much weaker battery life than some competition.

I asked about battery life late last year and had a couple of Samsung SSDs recommended for the best battery life.

I ended up going with an Intel 120GB X25-m. Speedy, good power efficiency, reliable.
 
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