PCFormat Forum Archive

Hi there,

I am looking to buy an SSD with a budget of under 2k.
I need to use it for holding the O.S and programs, but will be installing a few games on it while I have a tight budget.
(Later on I'll buy a separate SSD for games)

I am currently looking at these: Corsair CSSD-F180GBGS-BK Force GS 180GB 2.5'' SATA6G SSD
Intel SSDSC2CT180A3K5 330 Series 180GB 2.5" SATA6G SSD

Any advice would be very much appreciated as I'm looking to get the best bang for the buck.

Thanks

I'll go with Intel when it comes to SSDs. I know some people prefer OCZ though but I got burned by it so Intel all the way.

Thanks StarBound,

But what about the performance comparison between the two SSD's?
Appreciate the help.

To me there is none. It's either Intel or other and other doesn't cut it.

Haha I see,

Why would you not go for the Corsair though?
It has better performance by the looks of it?
What is it about Intel that makes it the better one?

For one its stable. I've had an issue with OCZ where the drive disappeared while my system was on. Intel had its own controller on the drive and I believe they now use Sandforce but with their own firmware.

I see,

What kind of speeds will I be looking at with a 3Gbps Mobo like mine?

Thanks for your input
I will take it into consideration

3Gbps (encoded) / 8bit = 375MB/s That should be your max copy and read speed in theory. However CPU has a roll in how fast something can read and write. My 160gb intel ssd is a SATA3 device and the read speed was clocked at 230MB/s, can't remember the write speed. My 2 Kingston drives copies at 250MB/s average between each other and copies up to 450MB/s.

Still significantly quicker than the traditional HDD

I suppose it would be a great investment, considering I'll be keeping my SSD for my next build, allowing me to get the full capabilities of 6Gbps.
Do you know of an online store that has the Intel for a cheap price?

You can try rebeltech.co.za or www.takealot.com or titan-ice.co.za but generally the Intel 330 180gb goes for around R2000. Think you can get the 240GB or 256GB for R2500.

I can get the Corsair 180GB gs for about R1800 from landmarkpc.
Hmmm...
Tough descision

Mike_J.M wrote:I can get the Corsair 180GB gs for about R1800 from landmarkpc.
Hmmm...
Tough descision

Lucky for me it's your choice I already had to make my decisions to either go for something cheap that should work or go for intel that possibly has the same chance of failure but given their history and my experience with them that is the way I would go. I'm sure someone else bought the Corsair 180GB. Just dont remember who of the forum goers it was.

haha ja true

I'll see what happens.
Thanks for the advice though

The Intel is a good choice and their Sandforce firmware is pretty stable. They also have the advantage of being compatible with the Intel SSD Toolboxwhich is a nifty piece of kit. R10/GB is a good price ratio as well, although I've seen that some retailers are inflating their prices on the 330 series.

Ordered the Corsair 180GB GS
It also has the SandForce controller. I'm sure Corsair are pretty decent.

Hi there,
Once I get my SSD, what settings in the BIOS should I change?
And, what settings do I change in Windows to get the SSD running optimally?

For the BIOS, change the SSD to AHCI mode instead of SATA or IDE. Also, when installing Windows, follow this guide:

Sean's SSD Windows 7 Install Guide

A lot of it doesn't have to be done, but there's quite a bit of good advice there. In the beginning he talks about the System Reserve partition - I'd recommend keeping it, as it does come in handy for troubleshooting if you ever run into issues.

Followed his guide already
What program should I use to test my SSD's performance?
Thanks

Start up windows. If its 5-6 seconds on the start screen to the desktop then your good to go. if it takes <9 seconds still good. If its <12 seconds you might have installed it with the wrong interfacing (SATA/IDE). But thats windows 7. Windows 8 should start in 4 seconds or that circle thing making only 3/4 circle.

Other tests, deepscan your drive, it should take 2-2:30 minutes.

Create a batch file to open your browser, office, other windows accessories.

Does this look ok for a 3gbps mobo?

Yes. A 6GB should be capable of reading and writing between 450-350MB/s

Ah thanks man. That's a relief
In that guide by Sean, which features or services would you turn off for the SSD in windows?

I haven't read the guide but I do the following:

1 - Make sure disk defrag is off. Your defrag option in windows should say run never in any event.
1.1 TRIM enabled. There is a command but I can't remember what it is. DeleteNotify = 1 or 0 don't remember which one.
2 - Untick indexing from the drive properties. It is not needed. Your drive takes milliseconds to find stuff.
3 - Superfetch/Prefetch is another thing I disable because again its not needed. You disable that in msconfig.
4 - Disable pagefile. I have 8gb ram and my pagefile is disabled. I don't need the system to copy to and from my ssd the entire time. I see you have 4gb. You might want to get another 4gb and disable that pagefile asap. The less your drive writes the longer it lasts. MCL drives normally have 10,000 writes per cell.
5 - Disable browser caching. This is an extreme one where you set that your web browser caches to RAM. The downside is that you use more data to redownload sites. I don't use this one though.

Do you have Skyrim by any chance? I remember loading it on a harddrive is somewhat slower than an ssd.

Yeah i have Skyrim. You saying that my loading times should be quicker?