Considering SSD for my laptop. Help me choose.

[AuraAllan]

Hi there.

Okay, this post ended up under "silent storage" but could just as well have been posted under "notebook systems".

I have a Toshiba Portege R500-100 that I really like alot.
Specs:

12.1" / 1280 x 800 WXGA
Mobile Intel 945GMS Express / 533 MHz
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2 GHz (U7600)
1,5GB DDR2 RAM (not further upgradeable)
120 GB 5400 rpm Toshiba MK1237GSX DL13 (SATA-150)
Intel GMA 950

The problem is that I feel like the HDD is playing catch-up all the time.
Even the smallest tasks can take quite a bit time. (Especially when hooked up to my monitor @ 1680*1050) Im pretty sure the HDD isnt to blame here. GMA 950 must be the culprit here.
RAM is never fully used and CPU is not fully loaded as much as one would think for such a low frequency CPU.
I have removed alot of junk (temp files, unused reg keys and general junk files). That helped, but it still feels "too slow".
I know its not a blazing fast laptop but it should be faster.
It being a bit slow keeps me from using it as much as I should.

Here's some HDTach and HDTune testresults:

HDTune:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/ ... SX_001.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/ ... SX_002.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/ ... SX_003.png

HDTach:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/ ... SX_001.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/ ... SX_002.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/ ... SX_003.png

Am I totally wrong here thinking the HDD is the bottleneck?

Based on the testresults above I think an SSD would speed up the R500 quite a bit.

Now, here's the question:

What SSD should I get?
I "only" need 32GB.
Here is a list of SSD's generally available. Others might be available but i'll have to check.
Maybe i'll buy one from Germany, UK or somwhere else if the price is right.

Transcend SDDs doesnt deserve a look. Heard they are extremely slow.
I know the Mtron SSDs are good but are there better options available?

Ofcourse price is a factor. I feel ~550-600USD is the limit.

Thanks in advance

[lowpowercomputing]

Hello,

sorry that I can't help you with your decision, but I'm in the same boat more or less. I have an Asus U1F which is similar to your R500 hardware-wise (look at my sig) only has a smaller (11.1") screen and a slightly slower C2D. I love it but I also think the HD (which is a Toshiba MK1011GAH i.e. 100GB 1.8", PATA, 4200rpm) is being a bottleneck especially on Vista where it's almost constantly churning away, introducing noticeable delays. It's not that bad on my light-weight Linux install though, performance is much better there, so I think Vista's chugging on the HD is to blame here, combined with the HD's slow performance.

As for the GMA950, I'm getting graphical lags with a second monitor (1440x900, the U1F's internal screen is 1366x768) connected as an extended desktop on Vista and it even recommends to turn off Aero which I do anyway. This is not a problem though, the HD is bothering me more. I've yet to try if a fresh install of Vista SP1 is any better. What OS are you running?

I might look for a 32GB or 64GB SSD (this laptop will run at least 2 OSes natively, with more being run in VMs) which needs to be 1.8" with a PATA interface, not ridiculously expensive but not too slow either.

edit: I noticed your Toshiba drive is a 2.5" 5400rpm one. I'm a bit surprised to see the low transfer rates and to hear it's too slow. I haven't run any benchmarks on mine yet but I'd expect it to be even slower. Maybe a faster 2.5" 5400rpm SATA drive (of which there are plenty but you'd need to find a quiet one) would do the trick for you? I know you asked for an SSD but I thought I'd mention it. I'm pretty much SOL hoping for a faster drive for my laptop though, SSD's my only choice.

Speaking of 1.8" PATA SSDs, I've been able to find Hama and Samsung ones. The Samsung MCBQE32GEMPP is said to be SLC. I've not been able to determine what type the Hama is. Does anyone have experience with either of those in terms of speed, reliability etc.?

[AuraAllan]

Hi

I see your Asus is very much similar to my Toshiba.
Sadly you metion you have the same problem.

Im running XP pro.
Thinking about installing a "slim" XP pro made with nLite but havent tried yet. (Mostly because I have to find all the drivers for my laptop an integrate into the XP intstallation them with nLite)

1.8" 4200RPM running Vista Sounds really bad.

[lowpowercomputing]

Hi,

yes, our machines have the same chipset, GPU and a very similar CPU (don't believe 1.06 vs. 1.2GHz makes much of a difference). As for having the same problem, I think the HD just isn't up to Vista's requirements. I was aware of that when I bought the laptop but it's been more apparent than I'd like it to be. Out of the box, with all the "bloatware" preinstalled, the machine was so slow that I considered reinstalling with XP immediately. Uninstalling the bloat made it better, but still. Thus it's interesting that you're running XP Pro and still experiencing those slow-downs, especially as your drive is a 2.5" 5400rpm one which is probably a tad bit faster than mine. Do you also notice that your HD is being accessed very often?

A slim XP or Vista sounds like a good idea.

Yeah, Vista doesn't really seem to be the right choice for the machine but it's not too bad as I'm mostly running Linux. With a light-weight install that doesn't constantly chug along on the HD, performance is much better than on Vista. To sum it up, the only problem I have with my machine is that Vista seems to constantly access the HD for some reason, making the fact the HD is slow disturbingly noticable.

What do you use your machine for, if I may ask? I use mine for web surfing, office apps, development and virtual machines (which is not what this machine is intended for, but it's doing surprisingly well).

[AuraAllan]

....Do you also notice that your HD is being accessed very often?
....
What do you use your machine for, if I may ask?

Yes, the HDD is working pretty much always. Unless you leave it alone for a minute or two. Then it will "catch up" and spin down.

I use it for web browsing and office apps. Some photoshop but not alot.

[lowpowercomputing]

HDTune results for the 1.8" HD in my Asus. HDTach won't run on Vista. As you can see, the HD is noticeably slower than yours so you can imagine what Vista is like on there. The negative spikes may be due to multiple partitions on the drive.

I'm getting more and more interested in a fast but moderately priced 32GB SSD or even a 64GB one when the prices have come down. I'd need to cram my data on there if choosing a 32GB one but it'll be much faster. <1ms access time and >50MB/s read speed sounds awesome compared to that drive.

edit: Was able to find the SanDisk SSD Dell offered to put in the Latitude D420. 32GB, 1.8", PATA. Exactly what I'm looking for and I've read of someone using that drive with my laptop model. Only downside -- Dell (German web site) want approx. €800 for that drive alone excl. shipping costs which is a bit much.

[florinp3]

Ups, sorry, bad post.

[AuraAllan]

Okay. Im getting a bit "scared" after reading about all the problems people are having with OCZ Core SSD's.

SLC is the way to go it seems.

Is Mtron's MOBI 3000 series the one to get then?
I know MOBI 7000 series is faster, but not by much and is much more expensive.

[jessekopelman]

Even the smallest tasks can take quite a bit time. (Especially when hooked up to my monitor @ 1680*1050) Im pretty sure the HDD isnt to blame here. GMA 950 must be the culprit here.

No. I have a GMA950 driving 1680X1050 on my main computer. Never had a problem. GMA950 won't accelerate your video and is crap for demanding games, but it is perfectly fine for general GUI. Indeed, I find it actually works better under Vista than XP.

[AuraAllan]

Even the smallest tasks can take quite a bit time. (Especially when hooked up to my monitor @ 1680*1050) Im pretty sure the HDD isnt to blame here. GMA 950 must be the culprit here.

No. I have a GMA950 driving 1680X1050 on my main computer. Never had a problem. GMA950 won't accelerate your video and is crap for demanding games, but it is perfectly fine for general GUI. Indeed, I find it actually works better under Vista than XP.

Okay. Thanks for the info.

[Bar81]

I would definitely advise against the Core SSDs as MLC seems to have some serious limitations (for the price though, it is a real breakthrough as I can't get 64GB at anywhere near $300 with SLC). In terms of SLC, Mobi is fine.

[AuraAllan]

I would definitely advise against the Core SSDs as MLC seems to have some serious limitations...

I read your other posts about the Core SSDs earlier. Doesnt look too good.

[Bar81]

I would definitely advise against the Core SSDs as MLC seems to have some serious limitations...

I read your other posts about the Core SSDs earlier. Doesnt look too good.

Unfortunately. I don't recommend them unless you *need* the silence and can't (or are unwilling to) open the pocketbook for an SLC SSD; a WD Velociraptor would be a vastly superior option at the pricepoint (you could even shortstroke it at 150GB and essentially get identical performance except for seek times and acoustics). For me though, I'm just not ready to pay for a 64GB SLC SSD and the seeks on the VR (even soft mounted) would ruin my otherwise not over ambient noise system (as was occurring with my older Raptor) so I'm not upset but I am disappointed and I don't think I would have bought one if I had really understood the limitations of MLC. In the end, it did work out well in one respect in that I ditched my ancient Opteron system and picked up a C2D system that's so cool running that I no longer need to balance thermals and performance - it's all there.

[AuraAllan]

WD VR is not an option. Its too noisy by far and it wont fit in a laptop anyway.

A Mtron Mobi 3000 32GB seems to be the "only" option now.

[Bar81]

What about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820147053

[AuraAllan]

What about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820147053

Haven't seen/read any tests of that product.
Have you?

Its carries the same pricetag as the Mtron MOBI 3000 32GB here in Denmark. About 500$.

[Bar81]

What about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820147053

Haven't seen/read any tests of that product.
Have you?

Its carries the same pricetag as the Mtron MOBI 3000 32GB here in Denmark. About 500$.

Then I'd go with the Mtron.

[AuraAllan]

I found this review of the Samsung SSD.
They run it on a board with 680i chipset:
Average Read: 89 MB/s
Average Write: 79,7 MB/s

This review shows the Mtron is much faster then the Samsung.
These tests were done on a laptop. The test from TweakTown was done on a desktop machine.

Guess its the Mtron then.

Thanks.