Solid State HD

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

My hard drive is finally giving up the ghost so I've decided to join the 21st century and ordered a new SSD: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 2.5-Inch 250GB

Anyone got one of these?

What improvement over a conventional HD can I expect?

[Alex DeLarge]

Faster boot and program loading time.

[Alex DeLarge]

And it'll toss you off every other Thursday.

[Alex DeLarge]

I got an SSD in a little PC I have plugged into my TV. I power it on, pick up the remote and choose the right HDMI channel.
By the time the TV has adjusted to the new resolution the PC will be at the desktop, or at very worst finishing logging me in.

[Alex DeLarge]

ARE THESE ENOUGH ANSWERS FOR YOU?

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

I got an SSD in a little PC I have plugged into my TV. I power it on, pick up the remote and choose the right HDMI channel. At the moment I switch on the PC in the morning, go about my morning bathroom and coffee duties and its usually booted up by then http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif

[Alex DeLarge]

I got an SSD in a little PC I have plugged into my TV. I power it on, pick up the remote and choose the right HDMI channel.
By the time the TV has adjusted to the new resolution the PC will be at the desktop, or at very worst finishing logging me in.In fairness there's very little installed on this PC, mostly use it for XBMC and other streaming so it doesn't have to do a lot on startup...

[celticknight]

A Windows 7 PC (after the BIOS screen) will boot in seconds, rather than the minutes it can sometimes take.

A couple of things to remember about keeping a SSD working well:

1) NEVER defrag it, as a SSD has a limited number or "writes" and defraging it will use them up unneccesarily as a SSD doesn't need to be defragged. If you're using Windows 7 it'll turn automatic defragging off when it dedects a SSD installed.

2) Try to keep it 75% full or less. If it's possible to keep things like music and videos on a seperate HD, do so. They won't benefit from the SSD's load times and will just fill it up.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

A Windows 7 PC (after the BIOS screen) will boot in seconds, rather than the minutes it can sometimes take.I haven't manually defragged a drive since Windows 98 http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif

[Barry Dragon]

Faster loading all round. Photoshop take 2 seconds to load rather than 30 secs.

Thing like faster windows loading can be acheived for half the
Price with a sshd. It has a 816gb flash to keep regular used files (like windows startup files and your most used programs and files) and the rest are on traditional hd.

I have both on different computers and can't notice any differences.

Depends on your budget.
assuming you had an old HDD you will see massive improvements. I went from a 300mb to 3gb drive speed and its shockingly quick.

[Barry Dragon]

You can get 1tb sshd for the same price as the ssd you nentionnned cc. Similar benefits.
http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Storage/cat/Hard-Drive---SSD/sub cat/Hybrid-&-Dual-Drives (http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Storage/cat/Hard-Drive---SSD/subcat/Hybrid-&-Dual-Drives)
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/buying-advice/pc-upgrades/ssd-vs- sshd-solid-state-or-hybrid-3520515/ (http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/buying-advice/pc-upgrades/ssd-vs-sshd-solid-state-or-hybrid-3520515/)

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Faster loading all round. Photoshop take 2 seconds to load rather than 30 secs.#

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

You can get 1tb sshd for the same price as the ssd you nentionnned cc. Similar benefits.Well I suspect my 1TB media HD is also on its way out so I'll be definitely getting one of those hybrid suckers to replace it. Good value it seems.

[Barry Dragon]

Faster loading all round. Photoshop take 2 seconds to load rather than 30 secs.
Thing like faster windows loading can be acheived for half the I have a sata3 ssd and a sata2 sshd start up times are the same even though sata2 is an older processor in the computer

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Oh and by the way, if anyone is reinstalling Windows, this website is a godsend: https://ninite.com

Lets you install loads of programs all at once, just select the tickboxes next to the progs you want and it will auto-install them with the best settings.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Faster loading all round. Photoshop take 2 seconds to load rather than 30 secs.
Thing like faster windows loading can be acheived for half the
Price with a sshd. It has a 816gb flash to keep regular used files (like windows startup files and your most used programs and files) and the rest are on traditional hd.Just had a look at my MB manual, mine's SATA2 as well so looking forward to a nice speed boost with the new SSD.

[RichardM]

I haven't manually defragged a drive since Windows 98 http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gifNo, but Windows has been doing it for you. However, celticknight says it will stop doing it when you use an SSD

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

I haven't manually defragged a drive since Windows 98 http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif
No, but Windows has been doing it for you. However, celticknight says it will stop doing it when you use an SSDYeah I got that. I was just being nostalgic for the days of needing to defrag for much-needed HD space http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif

[lardy]

Faster loading all round. Photoshop take 2 seconds to load rather than 30 secs.
Thing like faster windows loading can be acheived for half the I'm now running a dualcore predecessor at 31 gigglehertz and shattering my minesweeper records.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Faster loading all round. Photoshop take 2 seconds to load rather than 30 secs.
Thing like faster windows loading can be acheived for half the
Price with a sshd. It has a 816gb flash to keep regular used files (like windows startup files and your most used programs and files) and the rest are on traditional hd.HOLY NERDGASM!

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)So when you're copying say, a 2gb file to the SSHD it transfers fast, is that what you're saying?

[Optimistic Nick]

As far as I can tell, the trick is to put your OS and software on the SSD, and use the old fashioned hard disk as a basic data store for your files. When you consider that even entry-level computers come with quad core processors now and RAM is basically free, I expect it is possible to build a pretty rapid machine for less than £400.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

As far as I can tell, the trick is to put your OS and software on the SSD, and use the old fashioned hard disk as a basic data store for your files. When you consider that even entry-level computers come with quad core processors now and RAM is basically free, I expect it is possible to build a pretty rapid machine for less than £400.I've got a quad core processor, SATA2 motherboard and 12gb RAM. Do you reckon I'll see a huge improvement with an SSD?

[Optimistic Nick]

As far as I can tell, the trick is to put your OS and software on the SSD, and use the old fashioned hard disk as a basic data store for your files. When you consider that even entry-level computers come with quad core processors now and RAM is basically free, I expect it is possible to build a pretty rapid machine for less than £400.
I've got a quad core processor, SATA2 motherboard and 12gb RAM. Do you reckon I'll see a huge improvement with an SSD?No idea I'm afraid. I don't have my SSD yet, I'm in the process of having a new PC made up - my last custom build had a Socket 7 processor, so it's been a while since I had a new desktop! I've been living on laptops since. I'm getting a proper computer because I want to do more photo editing, and I'm told that a SSD makes an enormous difference so yes, I hope you do see a big improvement. I bloody hope to see an improvement with this new computer, it currently takes about 3 mins to boot windows on my laptop (fortunately ubuntu is only 15 secs).

Best investment you'll make on a PC, more years to come.

[caerphilly ahm member]

I've just in the last few days installed the samsung 850 evo 250gb as well, fantastic piece of kit for pc. A few pc message boards I trust they've all been recommending this ssd. previous ssd no space only 64gb so went for this new ssd!

[blue matt]

I personally find them a great bit of a " salesman dream "

Oh look, this has a SSD and it will let windows boot in 14 seconds rather than the 35 for a normal HD, great stuff, you have saved 21 seconds that day, you will then stare at CCMB for 3 hours waiting to for the next sarky reply from someone

[blue matt]

As far as I can tell, the trick is to put your OS and software on the SSD, and use the old fashioned hard disk as a basic data store for your files. When you consider that even entry-level computers come with quad core processors now and RAM is basically free, I expect it is possible to build a pretty rapid machine for less than £400.I used to run a IT forum and the amount of people who were sold up a PC when upgrading and they still used it to do the same things they used to

[Barry Dragon]

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)
So when you're copying say, a 2gb file to the SSHD it transfers fast, is that what you're saying?Why are you transferring files on a sshd? You don't need to. You only neesa to transfer when you have small ssd. Sshd will be large enough. Ssd to HD will still be slow as ssd to sshd.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)
So when you're copying say, a 2gb file to the SSHD it transfers fast, is that what you're saying?
Why are you transferring files on a sshd? You don't need to. You only neesa to transfer when you have small ssd. Sshd will be large enough. Ssd to HD will still be slow as ssd to sshd.If I'm going to get an SSHD then I'll be using it as a media server basically so I want to know if transferring large files like video onto it will be quicker.

[Observer]

They are quiet, no clucking about.

[Spooky Tree]

I've got a 500gb Samsung 840 EVO and it's fast as piss.

I'm an avid gamer with a gaming PC, running software and games off the SSD, and using another regular HD for storage.

Super fast load times.

Welcome aboard CC.

[Ray Mears]

If you use the XCMD protocol to access the data harness it'll increase bypass speed by 18 mega-electrons per nano-second.

[Barry Dragon]

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)
So when you're copying say, a 2gb file to the SSHD it transfers fast, is that what you're saying?
Why are you transferring files on a sshd? You don't need to. You only neesa to transfer when you have small ssd. Sshd will be large enough. Ssd to HD will still be slow as ssd to sshd.
If I'm going to get an SSHD then I'll be using it as a media server basically so I want to know if transferring large files like video onto it will be quicker.Large files no, medium yes. It stores file transfers on the flash while it writers to HD. Only so much flash is kept free for this so. Over a GB will fill up the flash cache and it will have to wait for HD to catch up. Not sure on exact amount it reserves but I have transferred GB in seconds, much more and there is a delay.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)
So when you're copying say, a 2gb file to the SSHD it transfers fast, is that what you're saying?
Why are you transferring files on a sshd? You don't need to. You only neesa to transfer when you have small ssd. Sshd will be large enough. Ssd to HD will still be slow as ssd to sshd.
If I'm going to get an SSHD then I'll be using it as a media server basically so I want to know if transferring large files like video onto it will be quicker.
Large files no, medium yes. It stores file transfers on the flash while it writers to HD. Only so much flash is kept free for this so. Over a GB will fill up the flash cache and it will have to wait for HD to catch up. Not sure on exact amount it reserves but I have transferred GB in seconds, much more and there is a delay.Also, I've seen online that some people just clone their old drives onto the SSD rather than format and reinstall, anyone done this and found a problem with it?

[Barry Dragon]

I've got a Hybrid 1 TB SSHD and it is really fast, obviously not as good as a SSD but still stonking fast using Windows 8.1 :)
So when you're copying say, a 2gb file to the SSHD it transfers fast, is that what you're saying?
Why are you transferring files on a sshd? You don't need to. You only neesa to transfer when you have small ssd. Sshd will be large enough. Ssd to HD will still be slow as ssd to sshd.
If I'm going to get an SSHD then I'll be using it as a media server basically so I want to know if transferring large files like video onto it will be quicker.
Large files no, medium yes. It stores file transfers on the flash while it writers to HD. Only so much flash is kept free for this so. Over a GB will fill up the flash cache and it will have to wait for HD to catch up. Not sure on exact amount it reserves but I have transferred GB in seconds, much more and there is a delay.
Ok, cheers.Top tip.when you next reinstall windows once you have got all your programs installed and windows updatrs complete create a clone ISO and store it on your backkup HD. So in the future when you need to reinstall windows all you need to do is load the ISO and you have a clean install in 10 minutes,rather than hours and days. http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif

[Vimana.]

Aside from the considerable speed increrase, and the reduced noise, I quite like the notion of the SSD being smaller (though they will soon be much higher capacity, no doubt) for another practical consideration -

A smaller, faster drive encourages us to work a bit smarter.
i.e. just put the OS and the Applications on that main/boot SSD drive - nothing else - and then keep all of your personal stuff, music , pics, docs, vids etc etc on external drives / cloud services etc.

Better still, for the more technically orientated user, if they make a clone of the SSD drive occasionally, then a 'reinstall' of the whole PC could take literally no more than a couple of minutes, and also wouldnt lose any of personal stuff at all.

I never liked the notion of high capacity , high speed physical drives which all but encouraged users to put 'all the eggs in one big basket' .

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Well I installed the SSD today, at first tried to clone my old HD onto the SSD using the samsung clone utility so I wouldn't have to go through the Windows Update rigmarole, but after an hour and a half it got to 100% and said "Clone Failed" http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif Typical. Looks like my old HD was really on its last legs.

So I reinstalled windows on the SSD from scratch and bloody hell! Windows installed in record time, this thing is so fast. Also discovered my MB is SATA3 so that was a sweet deal.

Now I've installed all my old programs and I'm really impressed by how quickly I was able to do it. Now I'll be updating to windows 10 and hopefully that wont cause any problems.

Thanks for the help chaps http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif

[Observer]

Well I installed the SSD today, at first tried to clone my old HD onto the SSD using the samsung clone utility so I wouldn't have to go through the Windows Update rigmarole, but after an hour and a half it got to 100% and said "Clone Failed" http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif Typical. Looks like my old HD was really on its last legs.I told you to get one a year ago when you first asked.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Well I installed the SSD today, at first tried to clone my old HD onto the SSD using the samsung clone utility so I wouldn't have to go through the Windows Update rigmarole, but after an hour and a half it got to 100% and said "Clone Failed" http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif Typical. Looks like my old HD was really on its last legs.
So I reinstalled windows on the SSD from scratch and bloody hell! Windows installed in record time, this thing is so fast. Also discovered my MB is SATA3 so that was a sweet deal.Yeah, I've been wanting one for ages but never got round to ordering one until my HD started acting up a bit so I thought I had better finally get one. Glad I did, it's a sweet deal.

[Observer]

Well I installed the SSD today, at first tried to clone my old HD onto the SSD using the samsung clone utility so I wouldn't have to go through the Windows Update rigmarole, but after an hour and a half it got to 100% and said "Clone Failed" http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif Typical. Looks like my old HD was really on its last legs.
So I reinstalled windows on the SSD from scratch and bloody hell! Windows installed in record time, this thing is so fast. Also discovered my MB is SATA3 so that was a sweet deal.
Now I've installed all my old programs and I'm really impressed by how quickly I was able to do it. Now I'll be updating to windows 10 and hopefully that wont cause any problems.I heard the new Skylake chipsets are even faster.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Top tip.when you next reinstall windows once you have got all your programs installed and windows updatrs complete create a clone ISO and store it on your backkup HD. So in the future when you need to reinstall windows all you need to do is load the ISO and you have a clean install in 10 minutes,rather than hours and days. http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif I'm up and running now with all my windows updates done, how do I go about creating a clone ISO of this drive?

[Vimana.]

Top tip.when you next reinstall windows once you have got all your programs installed and windows updatrs complete create a clone ISO and store it on your backkup HD. So in the future when you need to reinstall windows all you need to do is load the ISO and you have a clean install in 10 minutes,rather than hours and days. http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif
I'm up and running now with all my windows updates done, how do I go about creating a clone ISO of this drive?It's a Linux boot disk util, so it will require a very basic understanding of Unix disk / drive name conventions.

[Barry Dragon]

Top tip.when you next reinstall windows once you have got all your programs installed and windows updatrs complete create a clone ISO and store it on your backkup HD. So in the future when you need to reinstall windows all you need to do is load the ISO and you have a clean install in 10 minutes,rather than hours and days. http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif
I'm up and running now with all my windows updates done, how do I go about creating a clone ISO of this drive?
I use Clonezilla when I need to clone a drive or partition.I wouldn't do it yet though if your using windows 7, it can take several days for all the windows updates to update properly, even though it will say no updates, there are still more to get through. If you have upgraded to windows 8 then there shouldn't be too many updates.

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Top tip.when you next reinstall windows once you have got all your programs installed and windows updatrs complete create a clone ISO and store it on your backkup HD. So in the future when you need to reinstall windows all you need to do is load the ISO and you have a clean install in 10 minutes,rather than hours and days. http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif
I'm up and running now with all my windows updates done, how do I go about creating a clone ISO of this drive?
I use Clonezilla when I need to clone a drive or partition.
Crap name! - but does a rock solid job.I'd try Clonezilla but I have literally never touched a Linux machine, thanks anyway Vim. http://www.ccmb.co.uk/images/smiley_icons/thumbup.gif

[Colonel Cærdiffi]

Just had a look, is the free version of Macrium definitely all I need?

[Barry Dragon]

Just had a look, is the free version of Macrium definitely all I need?You might need another computer or additional software to use that image in the future. But for backing up an image its all you need.

[Owen Wilsons Nose]

They are good but I dont see a huge benefit, I did some "penetration testing" which is alot faster with an SSD and loading up games but thats really all I notice.