Storage Solutions Installing an SSD

E

Emil

Skilled
I have a AMD x2 3600+ based desktop @GB RAM with two Sata HDDs; one is Seagate 320GB and the other WD green 500GB. I use this computer for basic browsing and MS office type work. No heavy processing other than many browser tabs being open.
My computer takes long to boot and is a little sluggish. I plan to upgrade to an i5 based configuration in stages. The first stage, and where I expect to get a significant performance boost with minimum investment is to install an SSD for the OS.
I plan to buy the Kingston SV300S37A/120G which looks to be great VFM.
Questions:
1. Will this work with a mobo that only supports Sata 2?
2. What is the best way to clone my OS partition to the SSD and have it up and running with no disruption?
 
Emil said:
I have a AMD x2 3600+ based desktop @GB RAM with two Sata HDDs; one is Seagate 320GB and the other WD green 500GB. I use this computer for basic browsing and MS office type work. No heavy processing other than many browser tabs being open.
My computer takes long to boot and is a little sluggish. I plan to upgrade to an i5 based configuration in stages. The first stage, and where I expect to get a significant performance boost with minimum investment is to install an SSD for the OS.
I plan to buy the Kingston SV300S37A/120G which looks to be great VFM.
Questions:
1. Will this work with a mobo that only supports Sata 2?
2. What is the best way to clone my OS partition to the SSD and have it up and running with no disruption?
Click to expand...

1) Shouldn't be a problem. It will work at Sata 2 speeds.

2) Use Macrium Reflect. The free version should be sufficient for cloning. Be sure to turn off the Scheduled Disk Defragmentation after moving to the SSD.
 
There have been instances of people cloning their existing install over to the SSD and then encountering errors and crashes. Incase a fresh install is an option, disconnect the old drive, and install on the new one and then copy stuff, once all set you can format the old one or just keep it as a spare incase the new one has problem.

If fresh install is an issue, then you can try cloning and hope there are no random crashes.
 
Emil said:
I plan to buy the Kingston SV300S37A/120G which looks to be great VFM.
Click to expand...
This is a Sandforce controller based drive. Now that Sandforce's reputation for BSOD'ing has spread far and wide, and the fact that Sandforce has released nothing new owing to it being tossed between companies.. all these Sandforce based drives are selling at clearance prices.
If I may suggest an alternative, there's a Liteon S900 on onlyssd.com that has a very decent combo of a Marvell controller + Toshiba NAND that is also selling for very good prices. Even the Crucial BX100 is decent. And the Transcend SSD370 too (although Transcend support in India is a big ?).

SATA 2 will impact only sequential speeds which is rare, since most I/O is random, and random I/O for entry level drives is usually well within SATA 2 speed limits if not within SATA 1.

I would also lean towards a fresh install instead of cloning.
 
Get the Samsung EVO 850 on Snapdeal. http://www.snapdeal.com/product/samsung-mz75e120bam-laptop-hard-drive/834404877#prdsc
If you order today with another computer component you might get 5% discount straight should come to 4600. I ordered on Amazon already before I knew of the offer.

Best deal anywhere. In reviews this drive has write speeds of 500 cause of its 3gb cache, which I doubt any 120gb drive would have.(120gb have less write speeds traditionally, and 250 and upwards have higher) Which means for most regular operations except mass copy your speeds will be as high as 250gb drives.

@Crazy_Eddy - What do you think about the evo and above observation?

EDIT - Was checking the Comparison with Crucial bx100 -> http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Samsung-850-Evo-120GB-vs-Crucial-BX100-120GB/3484vs3489
 
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Powersurge said:
Can't go wrong with an 120GB 850 EVO. I switched to one after a lot of research, and the 3gig SLC cache really makes the writes super quick.
Click to expand...
Yep. The only place where it becomes slow is when you're mass transferring data. And even that is at 200MBps AFAIK. Caps out USB 3 speed.
 
Thanks guys. I am grateful for all the inputs.
Regarding cloning v/s fresh install, it is feasible to fresh install because I make it a point that nobody in my family uses the OS partition for data. However, I have so many programs and utilities installed. I will have to install them all over again.
 
Party Monger said:
@Crazy_Eddy - What do you think about the evo and above observation?
Click to expand...
The Evos are undoubtedly fast drives. I'm just a little biased against TLC NAND. I was one of the few NOT willing to recommend the 840 Evo knowing the limitations of TLC NAND, and sure enough the issues surfaced on the 840 series.
The new 850 Evo's V-NAND structure does improve TLC tremendously, but when there's better MLC NAND easily available, I'm still a little inclined to trade-off better speeds for better quality NAND.
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
The Evos are undoubtedly fast drives. I'm just a little biased against TLC NAND. I was one of the few NOT willing to recommend the 840 Evo knowing the limitations of TLC NAND, and sure enough the issues surfaced on the 840 series.
The new 850 Evo's V-NAND structure does improve TLC tremendously, but when there's better MLC NAND easily available, I'm still a little inclined to trade-off better speeds for better quality NAND.
Click to expand...

True as that may be, at the 120gb size space, the TLC + SLC cache is a bit faster than the MLC, and cheaper. Not to mention distrust in TLC might be warranted after the 840 EVO debacle, but the 850's NAND is SEVERAL process nodes older at 40nm, so cell drift shouldnt be an issue here. Not to mention the VNAND controller and technology is newer than what was on the earlier TLC drives.
 
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Emil said:
Regarding cloning v/s fresh install, it is feasible to fresh install
Click to expand...
A couple of things that you need for optimal SSD performance : AHCI, TRIM, partition alignment, are easily done with a fresh install (assuming you're using Windows 7 or newer).

Powersurge said:
but the 850's NAND is SEVERAL process nodes older at 40nm, so cell drift shouldnt be an issue here.
Click to expand...
True. I just noticed the process node as well.
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
The Evos are undoubtedly fast drives. I'm just a little biased against TLC NAND. I was one of the few NOT willing to recommend the 840 Evo knowing the limitations of TLC NAND, and sure enough the issues surfaced on the 840 series.
The new 850 Evo's V-NAND structure does improve TLC tremendously, but when there's better MLC NAND easily available, I'm still a little inclined to trade-off better speeds for better quality NAND.
Click to expand...
I agree. Here's what my thought process was - Better speeds, newer controller, better benchmarks. The newer controller is important cause the 850 evo is less than a year old while others in the competing range are from 2013 AFAIK and even then the sandforce controller ones are more common. 850 just seemed like an over all best choice at 4800.[DOUBLEPOST=1435740623][/DOUBLEPOST]
Emil said:
Thanks guys. I am grateful for all the inputs.
Regarding cloning v/s fresh install, it is feasible to fresh install because I make it a point that nobody in my family uses the OS partition for data. However, I have so many programs and utilities installed. I will have to install them all over again.
Click to expand...
Use this to reinstall most of the common programs https://ninite.com/
Trust me, cloning is not worth the hassle.
 
Thanks guys. When Party Monger makes the case for fresh install, I just realized that I might want to go that route because I might not want to put little used apps on the SSD anyway.
I am also mulling over Crazy_Eddy's posts. I have been away from basic component stuff for about 17 years now but I used a lot of flash memory back in the 1990s. An issue that I had to deal with as a designer was the life (number of program/erase cycles) of flash memory, which was quite severely limited.
I'm not a speed demon and certainly would willingly sacrifice speed for life. I'm not sure if that is what Crazy_Eddy refers to with regard to MLC v/s TLC NAND.[DOUBLEPOST=1435752542][/DOUBLEPOST]How about
SDSSDP-128G-G25 or ADATA Premier Pro SP600 SATA III MLC? Should I consider these?
 
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Use this to reinstall most of the common programs https://ninite.com/[/QUOTE]
Emil said:
Thanks guys. When Party Monger makes the case for fresh install, I just realized that I might want to go that route because I might not want to put little used apps on the SSD anyway.
I am also mulling over Crazy_Eddy's posts. I have been away from basic component stuff for about 17 years now but I used a lot of flash memory back in the 1990s. An issue that I had to deal with as a designer was the life (number of program/erase cycles) of flash memory, which was quite severely limited.
I'm not a speed demon and certainly would willingly sacrifice speed for life. I'm not sure if that is what Crazy_Eddy refers to with regard to MLC v/s TLC NAND.[DOUBLEPOST=1435752542][/DOUBLEPOST]How about
SDSSDP-128G-G25 or ADATA Premier Pro SP600 SATA III MLC ?
Should I consider these?
Click to expand...
Great you wont regret it. Speed fro fresh install + SSD speed increase. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

About the write cycles, here's the real kicker. Most of the times all the read and write will happen in the SSD's cache. Which means the actual storage will be used much lesser. (In case of the Samsung EVO850.)
 
Emil said:
I'm not a speed demon and certainly would willingly sacrifice speed for life. I'm not sure if that is what Crazy_Eddy refers to with regard to MLC v/s TLC NAND.[DOUBLEPOST=1435752542][/DOUBLEPOST]How about
SDSSDP-128G-G25 or ADATA Premier Pro SP600 SATA III MLC? Should I consider these?
Click to expand...
  • Sequential Read/Write is 530/150 MB/S

    Samsung has approx 500/500. Consider if you need or not. I have big Photoshop files with multiple layers, that read/write is god sent :D
 
Where can I get the Samsung 850 Evo at the best price?
Coming to think of it, I'm using Win XP. I think I better upgrade my OS while I'm doing a fresh install.
Should I be going Win 7 or jump to Win 8x? Where can I get the OS real cheap?
 
Emil said:
Where can I get the Samsung 850 Evo at the best price?
Coming to think of it, I'm using Win XP. I think I better upgrade my OS while I'm doing a fresh install.
Should I be going Win 7 or jump to Win 8x? Where can I get the OS real cheap?
Click to expand...
I read that you can get Win 7 for 2k on reddit. Dont know the specifics.
 
I have a broken Sony Vaio laptop which had Win 7 Starter OEM on it. I have the license key on a sticker at the bottom of the laptop. Can I use this key to install Win 7 on my desktop?
Do I have to call MS and at what stage?
Will this get upgraded to Win 10?
Is yes, will it be a starter edition on Win 10 too?
 
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