Which 64-Bit version of Windows for new I5-2500K System w/ 60gb SSD??

Putting together my new system today and wondering what version of windows to go with.

What are the actual installed sizes of the different 64 bit versions of 7? As I understand it, I should go with "Professional" because "Ultimate" uses several gb more and doesn't do anything important with it? What about "Home Premium"- is it smaller? I can't seem to find REAL ACTUAL CLEAN INSTALL SIZES for each one ANYWHERE..

The SSD is only 60gb (A Corsair Force GT)... Obviously 7 is going to inhabit a huge chunk of whatever I am left with after formatting. A huge chunk.

Does anyone know if I can use something to create a custom install of 7?? You know, like that one program that makes an XP CD with only the features you want??? That way I could have a far far smaller 7 install??

How important are the Windows 7 SSD optimizations?? Like TRIM and all of that?? Is XP 64-bit usable at all?? I am told that finding drivers for it would be impossible and nothing would ever run right .... I have to have 64 bit OS to use the 16gb of ram..



THANKS!!

theonethat said:

Putting together my new system today and wondering what version of windows to go with.

What are the actual installed sizes of the different 64 bit versions of 7? As I understand it, I should go with "Professional" because "Ultimate" uses several gb more and doesn't do anything important with it? What about "Home Premium"- is it smaller? I can't seem to find REAL ACTUAL CLEAN INSTALL SIZES for each one ANYWHERE..

There are no "actual" sizes because each install contains different drivers.

The SSD is only 60gb (A Corsair Force GT)... Obviously 7 is going to inhabit a huge chunk of whatever I am left with after formatting. A huge chunk.

Dependant on what you add and remove and how much you game, win 7 will eventually consume ~ 40 gigs for 64bit

Does anyone know if I can use something to create a custom install of 7?? You know, like that one program that makes an XP CD with only the features you want??? That way I could have a far far smaller 7 install??

How important are the Windows 7 SSD optimizations?? Like TRIM and all of that?? Is XP 64-bit usable at all?? I am told that finding drivers for it would be impossible and nothing would ever run right .... I have to have 64 bit OS to use the 16gb of ram..

If you use 16 gigs of ram you do need 64 bit but realize that 16 gigs means another 16 gigs for the hibernation file (if you hibernate) and 16 gigs for a page file.


THANKS!!

You can run smaller on page file but not eliminate it.

Choose the version of Windows 7 that meets your needs. Very few people need Ultimate, or even Professional, for that matter. I'd start with Home Premium in your research and see if it has all you need.

theonethat said:

Putting together my new system today and wondering what version of windows to go with.

What are the actual installed sizes of the different 64 bit versions of 7? As I understand it, I should go with "Professional" because "Ultimate" uses several gb more and doesn't do anything important with it? What about "Home Premium"- is it smaller? I can't seem to find REAL ACTUAL CLEAN INSTALL SIZES for each one ANYWHERE..

The SSD is only 60gb (A Corsair Force GT)... Obviously 7 is going to inhabit a huge chunk of whatever I am left with after formatting. A huge chunk.

Does anyone know if I can use something to create a custom install of 7?? You know, like that one program that makes an XP CD with only the features you want??? That way I could have a far far smaller 7 install??

How important are the Windows 7 SSD optimizations?? Like TRIM and all of that?? Is XP 64-bit usable at all?? I am told that finding drivers for it would be impossible and nothing would ever run right .... I have to have 64 bit OS to use the 16gb of ram..



THANKS!!

The installed sizes of all of the versions should be the same, because all of the components of Ultimate are installed, even if they aren't available in the lesser versions. (That's why an "anytime upgrade" doesn't need the Windows DVD.)

60GB should be more than adequate for an OS disk, although it may drive you to installing your applications to your mechanical data drive.

Only a small amount of people use anyting past Professional. Home Premium should suite your needs.

60GB is more than enough for windows 7, etc..
You'll also have some space for data.

I know that I will be able to get drivers for 7... I was hoping that I could run XP 64 bit, but I think that would just cause nightmares But 7 will work far better with the SSD, right?? Are we sure that all versions of install everything whether usable or not?? That sucks!! What about using se7en lite or something like that??

I have never used an SSD.. so far I know that I need to do this before installing OS

1. Update firmware
2. Enable ACHI

Is there anything else that I need to do?

Also - I have read that the winsx folder is not really as huge as the reported size to the OS- is that true?? I have seen that folder get up to 20gb and crazy nonsense like that.... How can I keep it from growing??

Sounds to me like you are worrying far too much unless you know you are going to have a huge installation with hundreds of programs and dozens of games, all on the SSD.

I have 50 apps, with a total of 27 GB of occupied space on an 80 GB SSD. Winsxs is 7 GB.

You may not have to update firmware, depending on what you buy. There is a lot of outdated info on the web about SSDs.

Installation to a new SSD is about as painless as it can be. Be sure to unplug other drives. AHCI is the typical choice but not a major deal. Alignment should be OK automatically. Windows will recognize you have an SSD and make a few settings adjustments.

You should spend your time picking a drive. I'd point you toward Crucial, Intel, or Samsung.

Why is it so difficult to find something like this? From Starter to Ultimate: What's really in each Windows 7 Edition? | ZDNet is it accurate?