netcarver Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 @Pete What's the reliability of SSDs been like for you so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Having worked with probably a hundred of them by now (looking after PCs in a company where processing data fast is key) they used to be a bit bad a few years back but are now very reliable indeed and less than 50p per gig in some cases. I would say that a backup is essential (when has it not been?). The earlier ones didn't used to have SMART support so when they died there was no warning and no real chance of recovery, but nowadays they do attempt to tell you when something is wrong. That said, they're not like mechanical drives - when they die it is usually permanent and instant whereas mechanical drives at least have a chance of wearing out over a longer period and giving you some warning. That said, I have only experienced this with older drives - newer drives are giving a long life expectancy so far and decent warranties. I have also experienced sudden fatalities with mechanical drives so I don't think there is any more risk in either type nowadays. ~550mbps is about the fastest you will get read/write and you need it plugged in on a SATA III port for max speed - most motherboards in the last 4 years will have this type of port. May I take this opportunity to point you all to what will be the best backup tool for Windows: http://go.veeam.com/endpoint - it is also free. I've used it for VMs and it is simple, effective and this new edition for endpoints (PCs) will be free. I cannot rate VEEAM highly enough and even in BETA stage this software works fine. Prices seem to have dropped even from a few months back too - these are the ones I use and this is sooooo cheap for an SSD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-500GB-2-5-inch-Basic-Solid/dp/B00E3W19MO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419937998&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+evo+840 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nico Knoll Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Mine is working fine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Mine is working 7 seconds into Windows fine Another note is that it is worth upgrading the firmware when you get one. Not a lot of people know there is also firmware for normal hard drives that can sometimes improve performance or fix potential issues. What I would say though is do this before you put anything on the drive just in case. If you only have a laptop with no spare HDD slot and want to update the firmware, or even if you just have a bunch of old HDDs laying around and you can't remember what's on them, there are plenty of ways to get external access to internal hard drives too. Something like this will save some hassle: http://www.shop.bt.com/products/icybox-docking-station-for-2-5--and-3-5--sata-hdds-white-78GG.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc%20product%20search&utm_campaign=PLA%20 though there are cheaper things on eBay with a spider's web of cables (I prefer these docking stations personally and the shiny Aluminium ICY Box ones look nice left on your desk). Even at USB3 those docks won't be as fast as SATA III but they are still fast enough for most requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netcarver Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks for the feedback - looks like I'll be giving SSDs a go soon. I've been holding back as I remember a few horror stories about them packing in with no warning. BTW, I have a really nice Anker external USB3 SATA-drive docking station that takes bare 2.5" and 3.5" drives - it works great and has saved third party business accounts (along with SpinRite) - highly recommended bit of kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kongondo Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) I have been running Windows 7 on an i7 processor, booting from a 120gb SSD for the past 2 years...Amazingly fast! Quiet PC and no overheating. Remember no to defrag an SSD! . I am now thinking of going even smaller - build a NUC (or similar) rig...using them microSSDs.. Edited December 30, 2014 by kongondo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbroussia Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 May I take this opportunity to point you all to what will be the best backup tool for Windows: http://go.veeam.com/endpoint - it is also free. I've used it for VMs and it is simple, effective and this new edition for endpoints (PCs) will be free. I cannot rate VEEAM highly enough and even in BETA stage this software works fine. How does it compare to others ? I'm using AOMEI Backupper, it allows me to do a system backup or restore turning a 10-12GB partition into a 7GB backup with light compression in less than 1min on my SSD. I have been running Windows 7 on an i7 processor, booting from a 120gb SSD for the past 2 years...Amazingly fast! Quiet PC and no overheating. Remember no to defrag an SSD! . I am now thinking of going even smaller - build a NUC (or similar) rig...using them microSSDs.. I'm now running a Zotac EI730, super fast, super silent, super hidden behind my main screen thanks to the Vesa mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joss Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I use SSDs for all my music. I am using several 500 gig ones for over a year and they get very heavy usage. No problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwired Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 SSD is a good solution to speed up your work pc. I stopped saving anything longer than a day on a work pc. In doors everything is synced and backed up on 2.5" sata drives in a usb box directly on the pc usb port. Outdoors I use 2 x 128 Gb pen drives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganizedFellow Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I see many comments about SSDs and WINDOWS ... anyone running Linux 24/7 on a SSD? This coming 2015 income tax refund will be enough for me to totally replace my custom build PC, which I have used for the past 6-7 years. Am seriously looking at replacing EVERY single component and converting the existing system into a media server for family use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Should see same speed increases irrelevant of OS and I would assume by now compatibility with all OS's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netcarver Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 I just built a server for a customer using a combination of a low-end intel nuc (a DCCP847DYE) with 4GB of ram and a 30GB eSATA micro SSD. This is for running a sports-club's admin system that I built with PW on top of a Ubuntu server LTS LAMP stack. I am very impressed with the whole set-up so far - from size of the package (smaller than the club's ADSL modem), the speed of the celeron + SSD (boots & serves PW pages quickly) through to the low power usage (6W idle to ~14W under load.) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owzim Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Every time I sit in front of a computer with a regular HDD I ask myself: "How would anyone be able to work like that?" I've been using an SSD for 3 years and cannot possibly imagine using an HDD again for the system partition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I've just taken delivery of an M.2 drive (as big as my finger and twice as fast as normal SSDS so will report back with my experiences. I can't keep it myself unfortunately because it's for a project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kongondo Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I have an M2 drive myself - gonna use it to build a HTC (I gave up on Pi)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squidgybuffalo Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Could anyone reccomend a solid state drive for use with a PS4? I'm thinking of switching to one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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