Point of getting an SSD?

whs said:

A 60GB SSD is ample for the OS and a good selection of programs (unless you have very large games) By now I own 7 SSDs and the biggest is 90GB - but that is in a laptop where I have no other disk. All my /7 desktops run on 60GB including 2 virtual partitions for Ubuntu and Windows 8. All my user data is on the HDDs.

Just my $0.02, but I picked a 120GB SSD when I built my latest gaming rig a couple months ago and now it's just about full - well, there's 40GB or so left, and if I ditched SF4 I'll probably get 10GB back, but the point is 60GB wouldn't cut it. My documents and songs etc are all on another drive too. It's just the OS and games in the SSD.

Most modern games - meaning stuff you'd pick up at the store, like Skyrim - you need to allow 10GB or so each. They're just simply freaking huge. Steam games are smaller but even at 2-3 gigs apiece it adds up. This is one of the things that motivates me to finish games: so I can uninstall them and reclaim the space

As for the SSD, since your budget is tight and your buying multiple components - it falls under the luxury rather than necessary category atm. Save up and grab a higher capacity when you can.

I don't know about the luxury part. I would rather spend my money on a SSD than a faster CPU. In daily operation the SSD gives you more mileage in terms of performance. The disk is usually the bottleneck; the CPU only in rare cases.

whs said:

I don't know about the luxury part. I would rather spend my money on a SSD than a faster CPU. In daily operation the SSD gives you more mileage in terms of performance. The disk is usually the bottleneck; the CPU only in rare cases.

I usually refer to SSD's as luxury items as I still find that you can have a wickedly fast and more than usable PC by installing a standard spinner drive and having lots of disk space to boot. While I do run SSD's on some machines, I don't see a need to run them on all machines that I might own.

If I had 1 and only 1 machine, i can very well see your point that I would want an SSD on it. But if I have 5 different computers that I use at home, I don't think having an SSD on 5 of them would really be enough of a benefit to justify the cost. < - But of course, that's just my opinion.

Yes SSD's were luxury items when they had their original cost to performance but as they have gotten faster and fallen to sub $100.00 for 128 gb then they now have firmly entered the realm of must have. As I've stated over and over they are the single most transformational item one can add or upgrade to in a system. Are they for everyone....no but they're the one item you hear over and over that once added people say that they now understand and would never go back. Proof is in the testimonials of all types of users. Don't underestimate the heat and power savings as well !

Right Alan - the low (or non existing) heat is one of the benefits of SSDs. I had a HP laptop that ran very hot. I replaced the HDD with a SSD and the heat problem was solved.

linnemeyerhere said:

Yes SSD's were luxury items when they had their original cost to performance but as they have gotten faster and fallen to sub $100.00 for 128 gb then they now have firmly entered the realm of must have. As I've stated over and over they are the single most transformational item one can add or upgrade to in a system. Are they for everyone....no but they're the one item you hear over and over that once added people say that they now understand and would never go back. Proof is in the testimonials of all types of users. Don't underestimate the heat and power savings as well !

Don't get me wrong, I own 2 SSD's. I've had my 80GB Intel X25-M2 for nearly 2 years and it cost me nearly $300 (and I don't regret the purchase one bit). My primary desktop runs the Intel X25-M2 and my laptop runs an Intel 320 series 80GB. And I'm actually considering upgrading my 80GB intel to the Corsair Force 3 240GB as it's $199 from NewEgg and this would give me lots more space for games and such than my current 80GB provides.

With that said, I've also got a desktop at work that runs from a 1TB WD Caviar Blue that I use day-in and day-out. I don't feel having an SSD on this machine is necessary at all. So, I'm not yet in the camp who feels that an SSD is a must have or would never want to work on a machine without an SSD again. But certainly, as an enthusiast, on my primary workhorse PC, I want an SSD.

Luckily, SSD's have gained lots of traction because
1). SSD prices have fallen (perhaps artificially fast because of #2)
2). Mechanical prices have skyrocketed due to flooding in Thailand

SSD's have for sure gained traction from the floods and higher costs of spinners currently. But it mainly has been the economic's of the manufacturing process scales that have tipped the balance from luxury/enthusiasts to the, must have, average Joe needs and wants this device. Again not for everyone or every situation but that being said for most users once they load their OS in a forth the normal time, boot in a fraction of the time and hit the Photoshop icon and before they can sip from their coffee it's open........wow this is what they mean! It's all about time and the best use of same only problem I see is we very quickly get normalized to it. But use a computer without a SSD and the differences are right in front of you.

It's all about justification. So many ways of getting the job done and no one solution is for everyone. It's what makes this hobby so interesting, seeing all the systems customized or bone stock. It's all good!