SSD rules!

[chrisgeary]

I just installed an Intel X25-M 80GB SSD on which I have Win 7 and Ubuntu 10.4. It's like I have a new PC.

Boot times:
Ubuntu - 5 seconds
Win 7 - 8 seconds

Load times for applications are virtually instant. PS CS4 is about 3 seconds. Firefox is 1 second. Lightroom, 3 seconds. Ok I have my images on a regular HDD, so that will slow it down a little, but the preview cache is on the SSD so Lightroom now runs faster too.

I guess time will tell how long the SSD will last, but it just goes to show how much of a bottleneck [single] harddrives are today.

 

[Steep]

The SSD will most likely last longer than your pc and be more reliable than a hard drive. Still too expensive for me though..

 

[neil_g]

The SSD will most likely last longer than your pc and be more reliable than a hard drive. Still too expensive for me though..

will it? i thought SSD still had a set lifespan of X read/writes?

 

[chrisgeary]

Yes that was my understanding too.

 

[JasonRS]

will it? i thought SSD still had a set lifespan of X read/writes?

2 Million write cycles (MLC) or 5 million (SLC) before wear is a lot of writes.

SLC units get used in SAN storage systems which get absolutely hammered on use, far more than a laptop or desktop PC which is possible switched off, or idle for the majority of its life.

SSD "wear" is FUD.

Taking the lowest of 2 million, and assuming perfect wear levelling in the firmware, you're looking at 5 decades of use at 80Mb/s on a 64GB

Or...

(2,000,000 x 65,536,000,000 x 8) / 80,000,000 = 1,638,400,000s of continued use

Divide that by
60 to give you the minutes
Then another 60 to give you the hours
Then another 24 to give you the days
Then 7 to give you the weeks
Then 52 to give you the years, which comes out at 52.

That's flat out usage.

Don't all rush to the shops now....

 

[neil_g]

fair enough lol

im assuming its still the case that most manufacturers still recommend wiping the free disk space periodically?

 

[chrisgeary]

wow. I didn't realise it was that good.

Neil, I think Win7 does stuff automatically about this... I read something about TRIM but I didn't take it in really

 

[john-oh]

I'm in the process of building a new PC and have considered a SSD. I think I'll wait a few months, for both financial and technical reasons, although it's got to be the way forward.

I do tend to load lots of apps. and am concerned about the size of the drives

I understand the SSDs should support TRIM which (under Win7) will clear used (deleted) space ? Not sure when it does this.

 

[emyllis]

Chris, where did you get your 80 gig SSD from? I'm impressed by the speed of it for sure

 

[dalex_257]

(2,000,000 x 65,536,000,000 x 8) / 80,000,000 = 1,638,400,000s of continued use
...
That's flat out usage.

Don't all rush to the shops now....

The only problem with that formula is that the number of seconds here is a time to use up all bits in your storage - if we are talking about single bit going rogue it is significantly less. So first one bit, then another. True some remapping will be done but still it will start loosing data sooner than you say.

 

[chrisgeary]

I got mine from scan.co.uk - I think they had it on a 'today only' offer, a few quid off but even with delivery cheaper than the next best price I found.

 

[neil_g]

Neil, I think Win7 does stuff automatically about this... I read something about TRIM but I didn't take it in really

W7 does for TRIM enabled drives i think..

to be honest its been a while since i looked at SSD, its still space vs cost for me on SSD at the mo..

 

[Steep]

The only problem with that formula is that the number of seconds here is a time to use up all bits in your storage - if we are talking about single bit going rogue it is significantly less. So first one bit, then another. True some remapping will be done but still it will start loosing data sooner than you say.

All right, call it 25 years then

 

[stp23]

Replaced the main hdd in my new Macbook Pro with an SSD. Huge difference in speed and also how much more quiet it runs. Missed the space after a while though and so replaced the dvd drive with my old 500gb hdd in a chasis

 

[aligibbs]

I have seen 64gb SSD's for around £100, and very tempted myself. Like above, no need to worry about its life- just like saying, oh no, my TV will only last for 40,000 hours, oh wait, that's 4.5 year watching it 24 hours a day......

 

[david1701]

will have one next time I build a desktop rig, but with one internal laptop drive its not cost efficient (think 500gb ssd)

 

[JasonRS]

The only problem with that formula is that the number of seconds here is a time to use up all bits in your storage - if we are talking about single bit going rogue it is significantly less. So first one bit, then another. True some remapping will be done but still it will start loosing data sooner than you say.

It's the time to fill all of the bits on a 64GB disk, 2 million times at 80Mb/s

The 2 million writes are expected before wear occurs, and don't forget that the majority of activity on a disk is read (unless you're running a large, dynamic database)

If a single bit / block goes bad, it's handled in the same was as a bad block or sector on a HDD spindle, and that's been going on for years.

 

[Rob 80386]

I have yet to try an SSD, it'll make Julie that bit more quieter if i were to get one.

Storage space to cost ratio though :| it's too much at the moment, oh well

 

[Olly_K]

Glad you like it ! I have 4 in RAID0 and the speeds are insane. That is my OS drive, then I have a 1tb drive for data, games, etc.

 

[hollis_f]

Intel guarantee their SSDs for 3 years. By then I'll be ready to swap to a 500GB SATA 3 SSD. My current 160GB drive will probably get put inside my Colorspace.