Post: #1

I haven't gotten excited about computer hardware in a very long time. I recently bought an old era 2009 macbook pro with one in it. Performance on this old computer is crazy. It's crazy how fast it boots and runs.

Little did I realize how much of a difference it made. My boot up on my work mac is a solid 1 and a half. On this guy, it's 20 seconds from button press to desktop.

Copying files is a dream as well. I'm going to upgrade my gaming laptop with a SSD in the not so distant future.

If you're a computer nerd and haven't got on the SSD bandwagon yet, do it. You won't be disappointed.

Post: #2

I'm far from well-informed but have asked around. Consensus seems to be that solid state drives will not follow memory:price drops because of technical limitations. If there are cheap terabyte+ drives out there, I want one.

Post: #3

SSD's are money and from the last 4 years I've had it prices have dropped significantly, but not as much as say last years DDR5 memory or a 4 GB Graphics Card.

I'd also have a 1 TB hybdrid disk drive to store things.

Install your most used and important software on the SSD, everything can go on the disk drive.

Boot times are always great, load times for games are even better.

I've only had time to use the PC I built to stream movies and watch sports in the last few years.



Only problem is, over time SSD's can become erratic.

Post: #4

Make sure the write speed is high, a lot of the cheaper ones are slow as hell but read fast. Both numbers should be more than 350/sec.

I put an Intel 330 64GB SSD in an old Thinkpad x61 and it boots Windows 7 in less than 10 seconds, not bad for a computer that is at least 6 years old and SATA II.

On newer notebooks check and see if you have an mSATA slot before buying. If there is one of those you can keep your big spinning hard drive for multimedia files, and copy the OS partition over to the SSD! Modern Lenovo computers have Intel Rapid start which is a form of accelerated hibernate using the SSD and the BIOS, rather than Windows' Hibernate. It can turn itself completely off saving battery power in 5 seconds and come back online just as fast.

Post: #5

The first thing I do when I buy a new system without one: install one.

Running a 2nd gen 80gb intel in my desktop and a 120gb sata III ocz in my laptop.

Post: #6

Samsung has been pretty good to me, shit they'll throw in a free game also.

Post: #7

I've read that encryption apps don't like solid state drives. Truecrypt (RIP) doesn't like it. It will RUN, mind you, but not without risks. I've been hearing some solid state manufacturers have put their own hardware encryption in... though what is the consensus on these? I'd rather not use something I'm not absolutely sure doesn't have a backdoor.

Slightly related--I recently upgraded to a Gigabyte Black Edition Z97 MB and found W7 refused to boot. It was encrypted with TC and customer support was little help. I suspect the Linux-like BIOS wanted to access something on the HDD but could not since I had not inputed the password yet to decrypt TC. So it hangs. Not even a pass prompt.

Also... what effect does an app like Utorrent or Freenet have on the life of a SS drive?

Post: #8

I'm surprised there's any debate left regarding SSDs. They are incontrovertible speed boosters, even in aging rigs. In modern machines, I cannot imagine any are sold without them.

Post: #9

I'm definitely thinking about upgrading my macbook pro I just don't trust myself enough to not fuck it up nor do I trust geek squad.

Maybe I'll look on Craigslist

Post: #10

(05-07-2015 03:09 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  If you're a computer nerd and haven't got on the SSD bandwagon yet, do it. You won't be disappointed.

We had SSDs 5 years ago.

Post: #11

(05-07-2015 05:13 PM)PhilE Wrote:  I'm definitely thinking about upgrading my macbook pro I just don't trust myself enough to not fuck it up nor do I trust geek squad.

Maybe I'll look on Craigslist

Youtube man, it'll save you money.

It's how I learned to repair laptop screens, replace batteries, and everything else.

Mac might be slightly harder but it's doable.

Post: #12

It's funny how you get used to faster computers. Just recently my parents made me take the fifty pound pentium 3 tower I'd built in high school out of their house. So I booted it up to check out the vintage Bush-era internet porn I'd saved and holy crap was it slow as shit to boot and do anything. But back in the day that was a fast computer, and I'd never noticed the delay in loading.

Post: #13

Youtube is an endless supply of knowledge for gadget fixing.

You will need a Mac OS disc, or clone the current hard drive and copy it to the SSD.

That's as much as I could say about a Mac. But it's definitely worth trying yourself, rather than paying a stranger to have full access to your laptop.

Post: #14

When I get some cash I'm building a computer like this guy's:





Yes, I sat through an entire 24 minute video of a dude talking about his computer. I'm slightly addicted to tech porn.



I currently have a 2.5 year old computer with just a 120 GB SSD that I'm very careful not to fill up with media, and it runs so fast it's unbelievable. You read that right, 2.5 years old, 120 GB SSD, Usain Bolt-fast. Everyone else's shit is unbearably slow to use, I almost look down on people when their computers are swimming in molasses.

I can't wait to have a more sophisticated setup for all my 'homemade media.'

Post: #15

240 gb ssd here pc master race. I mention this in another thread probably close to a year ago. For your porn stache and games I put them on regular hard drives. I don't think SSD are that cheap yet for TB sizes yet. 400 bucks. So not as cost effective for that yet. I have a hybrid SSD/disk platter for my games which is pretty damn fast.


Water cooling might be up to speed now too. That shit will be amazing.

Or if really crazy for overclocking mineral oil!





And a newer version which is part of a 4 part build on youtube.

Post: #16

(05-07-2015 05:15 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 03:09 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  If you're a computer nerd and haven't got on the SSD bandwagon yet, do it. You won't be disappointed.

We had SSDs 5 years ago.

You willing to pony up 500$ for some 256gb drive that hasn't been proven over the long term?

Not to mention the cost is now starting to become reasonable. Why waste money on a hybrid drive?

Post: #17

(05-07-2015 07:47 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 05:15 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 03:09 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  If you're a computer nerd and haven't got on the SSD bandwagon yet, do it. You won't be disappointed.

We had SSDs 5 years ago.

You willing to pony up 500$ for some 256gb drive that hasn't been proven over the long term?

Not to mention the cost is now starting to become reasonable. Why waste money on a hybrid drive?

In 2010 SSDs were well established. I bought a Computer with a 128gb SSD for under 1000$ (custom build) and it still today can run every game on the best graphic settings.

Post: #18

(05-07-2015 08:16 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 07:47 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 05:15 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 03:09 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  If you're a computer nerd and haven't got on the SSD bandwagon yet, do it. You won't be disappointed.

We had SSDs 5 years ago.

You willing to pony up 500$ for some 256gb drive that hasn't been proven over the long term?

Not to mention the cost is now starting to become reasonable. Why waste money on a hybrid drive?

In 2010 SSDs were well established. I bought a Computer with a 128gb SSD for under 1000$ (custom build) and it still today can run every game on the best graphic settings.

Haha, makes sense i'm behind on the times. The years between 2008-2012 were a hazy blur of alcohol, college parties, and easy notches.

Post: #19

Got a 120GB Intel SSD back in spring 2011 and finally replaced in in active use with a larger Samsung because I needed more space. If I get another desktop machine I'll surely press the Intel back into service though. I don't know how someone could use a portable machine without one. Boot's fast suspends/resumes fast. Back in the university environment it easy to get a few quick bucks off of some smug hipsters with their macbook pros by betting my ugly thinkpad could boot faster than their stuff. Lost once to a Macbook Air then discovered it shared my secret.

Post: #20

Hybrid drives are about 20-30 bucks more than standard platter pricing with much better searching function with the ssd cache. They work great for a game hard drive if you use Steam, games load really fast and you can store a lot on them.

Post: #21

I have a 256 gb samsung 850-pro it is very, very fast to boot up and super smooth to use. I think it's now one of the single best ways to upgrade your PC's speed.

I upgraded from:

750 GB HDD -> 256 GB SD
3.0 Ghz Dual core -> 4.5 Ghz Quad Core + hyperthreading
8GB DDR2 (standard quality) ram -> 32 GB DDR3 (premium quality) ram

For MATLAB computation times one might think I get 33% speed improvement for single core computations, but instead I get 55%. Parallel calculations that are not 6 times faster, they are 15 times faster. The current high end computers are very, very fast for home users.

Post: #22

Currently running:

16GB Ram (even 16 is overkill)
4th gen i3 processor (it's a fighter, not top notch but suited for the job)
1GB graphics card (needs upgrade)
2TB HDD (perfect for those torrents). 3.2TB if you count the external HDDs
450W power box.

The only thing it needs is a SDD, but even then....my current system is running around 60GB of programs and OS.

Post: #23

(05-07-2015 08:16 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  In 2010 SSDs were well established. I bought a Computer with a 128gb SSD for under 1000$ (custom build) and it still today can run every game on the best graphic settings.

Your 5 year old computer can run "every game on the best graphics settings" today? I would have serious doubts about that. What CPU, graphics card and RAM are you running?

SSDs are great, though. You can get a 250GB drive for $120 or so in the US now. Get one of those for your OS and any programs/games, then keep a couple of traditional HDs for media storage. It's the best balance of speed/price/storage currently available.

The only negative about them is it makes it very hard to use work computers, or other people's machines, if you've got an SSD setup at home. The lag time opening every program, even if its small, will drive you slowly insane.

Post: #24

I've been looking @ copping one for the desk rig and one for the laptop.

Is Samsung still the way to go? If it's anything like hard drives, it's basically a roll of the dice, and the #'s don't come up until 18 months-2 years later when you've lost all your data i.e porn/mp3's/and torrented movies (that you swore you were gonna back up)

Post: #25

I did it on a Mac. It's really, really easy.