My first SSD!

[swarfega]

I have just ordered my first ssd with which I plan to install Windows 7 on.

I have bought these items:

OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 120GB 3.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive
Seagate Momentus XT 500GB Hybrid SATA-II 2.5" 7200RPM 32MB

I was wondering if you guys do anything different either in preparing, install or post install. I have only ever used HDDs so this is a new technology for me and I think Im going to be in shock at the speed!

I plan to copy my user folders/files to the hybrid drive, but keep software on the ssd.

So any advice would be appreciated.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

As far as I can see your logic is perfect and 120gb SSD is huge for OS and Apps. Are you doing a clean install or backing up a image?

 

[whs]

Put the brand new SSD in and leave it up ti the Win7 installer to make the settings.

When you are done with the installation, make sure that Disk Defrag is disabled.

And if you do not use hibernation, you may also want to delete the hiberfile. The Command is : powercfg.exe -h off It saves you a few GIGs on the SSD. All the other OS files should stay on the SSD.

If you want to move your user files to the HDD, here are a few tips on how to create a Data Partition

PS: Stay away from all those "Expert advices" that tell you you tweak the SSD to death. All it buys you is trouble. Keep it straight forward.

 

[Wishmaster]

I completely agree with whs.

I would add that after you get Win7 up and running, run the WEI.
It should make the needed adjustments for you.
I/E, disable defragmenting for the SSD and disable Superfetch.

It should still allow auto defraging of your spinners however, if you want to use it for them.
As suggested, double check though.

This is truly all you should need to do.


Although I think re-enabling Super-fetch is a good idea. SSDs are fast, but not as fast as RAM.
Personally, I disable Win 7s defragmenter all together, even for spinners but because I let Perfect Disk manage all of that.

I also think when moving to a SSD, a clean install is the best option.

 

[smarteyeball]

I was wondering if you guys do anything different either in preparing, install or post install.

Check out the OCZ forums prior to installation:

Guide THE BASIC GUIDE & FAQ - ABC for OCZ SSD

 

[swarfega]

Thanks all for your useful input.

Yes this will be a clean install.

@whishmaster: So running WEI with an SSD installed actually disables defrag and superfetch? I didnt know that! Ill likely run it without superfetch for a while and see what its like.

@whs: IM moving the user data to the hybrid drive as its larger.

Couple of other questions. Im not sure whether I should move the indexing database, browser caches, or disable/enable the pagefile. Ive seen conflicting suggestions on the last one.

 

[Wishmaster]

WEI usually does this for you yes.
Run it, then reboot and double check.


With a SSD that size, my suggestion would be to leave the TEMP folder & Pagefile with the SSD.

Never disable the Pagefile. it will not hurt anything leaving it ON, but will potentialy cause problems if off.

Indexing ... I don't know for sure.
I do not disable indexing, but I do disable Indexing the SSD drives themselves.

 

[swarfega]

I normally move indexing off the c: drive to reduce spinning, but of course its a different affair with SSDs.

 

[spyknee]

I think you'll like them, SSD's that is.
Goto the OCZ forums for your drive, good info there.

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/forum.php

You'll want to "over-provision" the drive. Let W7 handle complete install as stated above. You just tell it what size partition you want. Do a little research here!
Make sure about the drives FW ver. You want the latest.
You'll want to enable write cacheing under the drives policies, after OS install.
Some consideration for IDE vs AHCI must be made, preferably pre OS install.
Have your drives version of "sanitary erase" handy.
After OS install, in the power plan advanced settings. You want to choose "never sleep" for the SSD.
Put the SSD in SATA port 0(first port) and the cd rom in SATA port 5(last port). Connect no other drives untill after OS install. Make sure system is not OC'ed and all mobo settings are correct. Mobo should be flashed to latest ver before OS install.
I suggest the Intel chipset drivers over the MS one.

SSD are not anything like spin drives, you do not defrag them or need drive indexing, superfetch, hibernation with them. Some debate prefetch but MS suggests leaving it on.
SSD's have a very limited life compared to spin drives, so you want to keep writes to drive at a minimum once you have put software in drive and are all setup. Your SSD should be OS and your apps only. All pics, music will be stored on your spinner.
You can not just disable the pagefile, bad. But you can move it off the Boot SSD. Same for all Temp and tmp files. Internet Explorer temp files.
Use ATTO to benchmark the drive, and do this spareingly! (writes to disk)
Keep edited files on the spin drive.

A little SSD smarts will ensure they last awhile.
enjoy

ps: pm me if you have any specific ?'s. I will try and point you to any info that might help.

 

[whs]

Be careful with what the OCZ people say. They are real insiders and want to tweak the thing to death - and all of that to gain 1 or 2%. As we said before, keep it simple, keep all the OS files on the SSD and enable Superfetch. As Wishmaster said, RAM is still a lot faster than the SSD and cached processes will come off the RAM cache a lot faster than from the SSD.
Also do not listen to people who warn against wear and tear if you access the SSD too often. You will long have replaced this SSD before that is going to happen - maybe in 2030.

 

[swarfega]

Thanks for those very useful tips spyknee. Im not sure what you mean by over-provision though.
AHCI is enabled now for my current hdds. I understand AHCI is needed for the TRIM support.
So would it be best to create an 8gb partition on the hybrid drive (D and move the pagefile to that?
I think id still need indexing for the hdds that will still be connected so I can disable indexing for C: and maybe d: but enable it for the hdds.
I usually move browser cache files off the c: drive anyway.

So basically:

SSD - C: (120gb)
Hybrid - D: (490gb) and E: (10gb pagefile)
1tb HDD - F: games
1tb HDD - G: music and video
1tb HDD - H: other stuff
blu-ray - I:

 

[spyknee]

I have found the OCZ forum most helpful. As useful as this one.

Trim will run whether IDE or AHCI, it is a function of the OS and the SATA controller. Using a RAID array pretty much disables trim. TRIM will not pass thru any RAID controller.
OCZ FW, uses "GC" garbage collection. This is a function of the FW on each drive, so it is not affected by the controllers. GC works when the system is idle, thats why never sleep the drive, so to guarantee proper drive maintenance you will leave the system on all night, once a month, with users logged off.

Over provisioning is leaving a large % of the drive unallocated space. I have seen figures as high as 50%. This helps with the wear leveling process of the drives maintenace. Thats why I say Google some about this???????????
I say use 15%. Then do not fill the partition you make to capacity, only 60%.
Remember SSD's have a limited life span. Over provisioning is leaving more fresh nand as backup.

SSD's are about set it and forget. You do not want to be making and unmaking files on it. Brink has a great tutorial on SSD's and W7 and optimization.

Do only a clean install. Least problematical IMO.
FW updates will be done only in IDE mode. More than likely, it was shipped with the latest FW but check it out. wtf

The page file, there will be a great debate about this. Some say nay, others yay. I'm positive that a pagefile must be in place somewhere. Windows and some apps require it.
If you move it off the SSD, it looses its SSD performance. Albeit minor loss. I personally feel that todays modern cpu's can process two sata inputs faster than waiting for 1 drive que to execute, so...................
I have also done this,
http://www.tipandtrick.net/2008/enable-lock-pages-in-memory-to-prevent-database-paging-to-disk/

Setup on the user, worth .1 of a WEI disk point. Forces majority of pagefile into the ram, which is way faster than any spin drive. My systems all SSD's and I got a marked boost. Anything that the "user" calls up is put entirely into the ram. One of my favorite discovered tweaks.

 

[swarfega]

Thanks again guys for your valuable input.

 

[Wishmaster]

The limited writes is actually blown way out of proportion.
technically, its the amount of erase cycles that wear a SSD.


More Info Here for those interested:
Intel X25-M SSD: Intel Delivers One of the World's Fastest Drives - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Intel went one step further and delivered 5x what the OEMs requested. Thus Intel will guarantee that you can write 100GB of data to one of its MLC SSDs every day, for the next five years, and your data will remain intact

Even if a SSD can only manage 50GB a day, every day, for 5 years, that would be nearly impossible as a OS drive.
If using it for HD video editing .. maybe.

 

[whs]

Wishmaster, you are always on top of things.

 

[swarfega]

Will windows installer setup that 100mb unassigned partition even on an ssd and if so, how can I bypass that?

 

[Wishmaster]

Will windows installer setup that 100mb unassigned partition even on an ssd and if so, how can I bypass that?

Yes it will.

If you do not want it take a look here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html?ltr=S
Obviously being a Brand New SSD, you can probably skip the clean all cmd, but the rest would still apply.

 

[smarteyeball]

Obviously being a Brand New SSD, you can probably skip the clean all cmd, but the rest would still apply.

Yep. Just hit shift+F10 to open the cmd prompt during installation setup, diskpart to create/activate the partition then install.

 

[swarfega]

Thanks guys. What would be your recommendations, leave it on?

 

[pparks1]

just leave it on. it's only 100mb