Depends. I wouldn't have anthing else for my system drive. Just bought my first, a 64gb M4. They go for about $80. It's all the size I want for my system drive.
Well worth it.
I also have 3 500 gb WD Cav Blacks for data storage, for a total of 1.5tb there.
Those cost about $80 each, or $240 total when I bought them a couple years ago.
Do I want to spend at least $1200 to replace those spinners with SSD?
Don't think so. Better said, no effing way!
So an SSD remove the bottle neck that a standard HDD would create with top cpu's such as i7's.
What size would you recommend the SSD to be, I am going to be buying a new laptop in about 12 months or so. I was going to buy a Dell with an i7, that will boost to 3.3Ghz and then I was going to put a 500GB SSD in myself. The guy from Dell said that Dell technical support will help me put the OS on the SSD that I will be buying from Crucial. Would 256GB suffice or shall I go for the 500GB?
BomberAF,
Having purchased three Crucials after starting with a 64gb unit and feeling that I was running quickly out of space I purchased a 128gb then another. I use a full Office Suite, Photoshop and then place only a few games on the SSD and the 64 would have eventually run out with the updates but just know if you have a minimal amount of software then the 64gb is dirt cheap. If it was me I don't recommend less than a 120-128gb unit. Then place all none essential games, software and all data on the spinner. Believe me when I tell you this is "THE MOST" transformational upgrade going at the moment.......do it and don't look back! The first time you install one and you see how fast it installs W7, then when you add other software......then your first boot, and your first time you call up something heavy like Outlook, Photoshop, ACT........you are an instant convert !
I think I will buy the 500GB drive, as you make a valid point. By time you start adding programs, and you keep adding programs then before you know it you will start to run out of space. You could find that with programs added, then 256GB isn't very big, and you may find you haven't got any space for adding files until you can put them onto an external HDD. The cost difference between 256 and 500 isn't to great anyway.
Do you actually get the full amount that is stated or are they like spinners were you get less because of the way the numbers are worked out?
A 500GB SSD is a plain waste of money. I run 7 systems with SSDs of which 4 are laptops. My biggest SSD is 90GB.
That does not mean that you should run with 90GB because your requirements may be different. But 256GB seems very large for me.
I put the recovered HDD from the laptop into an enclosure and keep most of my data on that or on large USB sticks that are easier to haul around.
Moving the OS to the SSD is pretty simple - either the geeky way or by using the Paragon Migration Tool that does it in 3 clicks. Both ways are explained in my tutorial. SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System
PS: I would never, never go back to spinners for the OS. It is like night and day.
60 or 80 GB is likely enough for the OS and applications UNLESS you have large games to install or have some peculiar requirement. I have 50 applications and Windows 7 occupying 28 GB on an 80 GB SSD. Games can easily go on a spinning drive.
Make your own judgement based on your personal situation. Of course, if you have to put data on the SSD, that's another story.
I will be taking my laptop with me and it wont have a HDD in it, so I was thinking that size incase I needed to store a file until I got home. But I think you may be correct and a smaller size will suffice.
Says who? I think the Intel drives are rated at at least 5 years if you write something like 100GB a day, 365 days a year.
And 1 thing to consider, is that an SSD's near the end of their life, won't be able to save files. But the files that are already there, will remain intact. So, it's less of a catastrophe when you think about it in those terms.
Sure, you can use really old drives like that. But new drives are much faster, quieter and more energy efficient. I don't think it's normal for most people to use a hard drive that long. I think an SSD that lasts 4-8 years is perfectly fine.
As far as the size, that depends on you and how much data and programs you will put on it. A desktop is easy, a laptop is a little more difficult. But, you can use an external drive for data or get a laptop with 2 hard drive bays. Paragon Migrate ($19.95) will transfer the OS for you and align the SSD. That's much cheaper than the Dell tech's will charge you.
Thanks for the link to the tutorial, I think I will buy a SSD for my current laptop and put one in that before I buy a new laptop. I have just had a look at how much space I am currently using on my laptop and it's about 128GB all in. This laptop can be used for Bit-torrent etc, so size isn't important.
I have had a quick look at the tutorial, but not looked fully through it, but can you please let us know whether or not you need the activation key for the OS as I no longer have that. I don't think you do but can you let us know, I will have a proper look through the guide a bit later.
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