Which SSD to buy?

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

pinkfloydhomer
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:15 am

Which SSD to buy?

Post by pinkfloydhomer » Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:54 pm

Can you guys recommend an SSD? I am considering the C300 64GB. I am also considering the Intel 510 120GB. I don't need 120GB. A smaller, cheaper drive is preferable, but I will pay extra if the performance is worth it. Is Intel 510 better performing than C300? Are there other drives I should consider comparable to these?

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by ces » Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:51 pm

I am wondering too.

Dhanson... come say something.

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by dhanson865 » Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:50 pm

pinkfloydhomer wrote:Can you guys recommend an SSD? I am considering the C300 64GB. I am also considering the Intel 510 120GB. I don't need 120GB. A smaller, cheaper drive is preferable, but I will pay extra if the performance is worth it. Is Intel 510 better performing than C300? Are there other drives I should consider comparable to these?
We'd need more information to answer that question fully.

* What OS will you be using?
* Does your motherboard support 6GB/s SATA?
* How soon do you want to buy?
* Where are you likely to purchase from (as in are you in the US or another country? Do you have a top x list of favorite online retailers like Newegg, Amazon, NCIX, etecetera ?)

The whole SSD industry is in change up mode right now so you also have to decide how risk adverse you are. Do you feel like being a tester or do you want the safest choice?

pinkfloydhomer
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:15 am

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by pinkfloydhomer » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:38 pm

dhanson865 wrote:
pinkfloydhomer wrote:Can you guys recommend an SSD? I am considering the C300 64GB. I am also considering the Intel 510 120GB. I don't need 120GB. A smaller, cheaper drive is preferable, but I will pay extra if the performance is worth it. Is Intel 510 better performing than C300? Are there other drives I should consider comparable to these?
We'd need more information to answer that question fully.

* What OS will you be using?
* Does your motherboard support 6GB/s SATA?
* How soon do you want to buy?
* Where are you likely to purchase from (as in are you in the US or another country? Do you have a top x list of favorite online retailers like Newegg, Amazon, NCIX, etecetera ?)

The whole SSD industry is in change up mode right now so you also have to decide how risk adverse you are. Do you feel like being a tester or do you want the safest choice?
* Windows 7 64-bit (Enterprise, Home Premium, or...)
* Yes.
* I want to buy now, but if there are compelling reasons to wait a couple of months, I'll do it.
* I live in Denmark and I'll probably buy from a danish retailer. That means I can't use any kind of voucher or rebate that you may know of, but I think normal street prices are comparable, at least relatively. So the best value for money in the US is probably the best value for money in Denmark.

I don't feel like taking giant risks, I want something reasonably solid, but also something that performs well. After all, that's my reason to buy an SSD. I don't mind buying something "temporary" that's not too expensive, such as a 64GB C300, while waiting for something specific you might recommend. But then my question is: What would be a good "temporary" SSD to buy at the moment?

fumino
Posts: 298
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:38 pm
Location: ontario

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by fumino » Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:04 pm

check out the ssd reviews here

as for a solid temporary ssd? intel 40GB or ocz agility2 would be solid performers, while certainly not matching the performance of the next gen drives that are coming into existence.

pinkfloydhomer
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:15 am

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by pinkfloydhomer » Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:37 pm

pinkfloydhomer wrote:
dhanson865 wrote:
pinkfloydhomer wrote:Can you guys recommend an SSD? I am considering the C300 64GB. I am also considering the Intel 510 120GB. I don't need 120GB. A smaller, cheaper drive is preferable, but I will pay extra if the performance is worth it. Is Intel 510 better performing than C300? Are there other drives I should consider comparable to these?
We'd need more information to answer that question fully.

* What OS will you be using?
* Does your motherboard support 6GB/s SATA?
* How soon do you want to buy?
* Where are you likely to purchase from (as in are you in the US or another country? Do you have a top x list of favorite online retailers like Newegg, Amazon, NCIX, etecetera ?)

The whole SSD industry is in change up mode right now so you also have to decide how risk adverse you are. Do you feel like being a tester or do you want the safest choice?
* Windows 7 64-bit (Enterprise, Home Premium, or...)
* Yes.
* I want to buy now, but if there are compelling reasons to wait a couple of months, I'll do it.
* I live in Denmark and I'll probably buy from a danish retailer. That means I can't use any kind of voucher or rebate that you may know of, but I think normal street prices are comparable, at least relatively. So the best value for money in the US is probably the best value for money in Denmark.

I don't feel like taking giant risks, I want something reasonably solid, but also something that performs well. After all, that's my reason to buy an SSD. I don't mind buying something "temporary" that's not too expensive, such as a 64GB C300, while waiting for something specific you might recommend. But then my question is: What would be a good "temporary" SSD to buy at the moment?
dhanson865, I am looking forward to your insightful recommendations :) Do you need more information from me?

Or can you at least recommend me several drives, and then explain their pros and cons?

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by dhanson865 » Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:32 pm

pinkfloydhomer wrote:dhanson865, I am looking forward to your insightful recommendations :) Do you need more information from me?

Or can you at least recommend me several drives, and then explain their pros and cons?
For some reason I have the sorting hat scene in my head from the first Harry Potter movie.

Hmm, lets see not Slytherin you say. Well then a SSD it is for you! :o

OK, maybe that comes across as lame but it's where I went for a second. :oops:

In the 2011 Pricing thread I recently said the value drives in each capacity were

Samsung 470 64GB ~$117 ~$1.83/GB MZ-5PA064/US
Intel X25-M 120GB ~$208 ~$1.73/GB SSDSA2MH120G2K5
Crucial C300 256GB ~$440 ~$1.72/GB CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1 EOL Pending

The Samsung 470 64GB is a better value to me than the 40GB X25-V which is very close to the same price and I'm not fond of rebates anyway.

The C300 and X25-M drives are a safer choice as they have a long history.

You could assume the M4/C400, Intel 510 Series, and the Corsair Performance 3 are likely to be reliable since they have the same controller as the C300 or you could be wary just because they have a different name and 25nm flash. I'm willing to say they are likely to be OK choices but I'm going by gut feeling on that so take it for what its worth.

Lets assume for a second that you/I have enough money to buy any of the 128GB or less drives but want to get a good value. The older drives have been tested vs their specs and we get these numbers

Code: Select all

X25-M G2 120GB 100MB/s ~100
X25-M G2  80GB  70MB/s  81.6
X25-V G2  40GB  35MB/s  37.7

C300 256GB     215MB/s 203.0
C300 128GB     140MB/s 131.1
C300  64GB      70MB/s  71.0
The newer drives have these specs


Samsung 470
250MB/s read, 220MB/s write for 256GB model
250MB/s read, 220MB/s write for 128GB model
250MB/s read, 170MB/s write for 64GB model

Corsair Performance 3
480MB/s read, 320MB/s write for 256GB model
410MB/s read, 210MB/s write for 128GB model
365MB/s read, 110MB/s write for 64GB model

M4/C400 Performance to compare vs above
415MB/s read, 260MB/s write for 512GB model
415MB/s read, 260MB/s write for 256GB model
415MB/s read, 175MB/s write for 128GB model
415MB/s read, 95MB/s write for 64GB model

Intel 510 Series
500MB/s read, 315MB/s write for 250GB model
400MB/s read, 210MB/s write for 120GB model

If you want performance that truly takes advantage of 6Gb/s SATA the Intel X25M and 320 Series are out (more on that later). http://www.crucial.com/pdf/Tech_specs-l ... online.pdf shows us that 265MB/s or thereabouts is the cutoff for SATA 3Gb/s. And even the highest capacity C300 doesn't hit 265MB/s on writes. So lets ignore 6GB/s writes and look at reads for a second.

All the C300 have 355MB/sec read capability. The M4/C400 have 415MB/s read capability. Corsair's version has slower reads than the M4/C400 but faster writes. Intel 510 has faster reads and writes but tests at Anandtech.com show the random write performance isn't good (as in it's about the same as the X25-M which has much lower sustained write speeds).

So why is the Intel 510 so much weaker? Maybe they pulled the same trick OCZ pulled back in the day and tuned for sequential reads/writes at the expense of random reads/writes. Until someone says otherwise that's what I'll assume.

I haven't seen enough benchmarks of the Corsair/Plextor versions of the new Marvell/25nm combo so I'll ignore them for now.

So when it comes to performance you have to decide how important 6GB/s is to overall usage, and how important optimizing for general usage is versus really high sequential speeds.

User A. Want's to use a SSD for backups or audio editing or video editing or some other task where raw read write speeds of multi GB files matter. For him 6Gb/s is a big deal and sequential matters more than random. He buys large capacity disks and he uses lots of really big files and big programs that take a long time to load even on a fast system.

User B. Wants the fastest money can buy. Maybe he games, maybe he is rich, maybe he is a techie but whatever he does sequential reads/writes aren't his primary usage pattern. 6 GB/s is a factor but not as much as overall performance.

User C. Want's the cheapest he can get without regretting it. He doesn't want to be reminded that he bought cheap every time his system slows down. 6Gb/s isn't even a factor here at least not in early 2011.

User A would have a tough choice right now as it'll be a few weeks or so before we'll have a solid idea of what is happening with the new Sandforce controller drives and the new Marvell controller drives both in performance and pricing. Even then nothing under 250GB is likely to catch his eye. He's looking for >200MB/s writes and low capacity drives don't cut it.

User B. would buy higher capacity drives nothing less than 120GB would even be considered. Even though it's not 6Gb/s material the Intel X25-M would be in the mix even if User B might instead grab a C300 or one of the other 6Gb/s drives.

User C. might want to avoid the 40GB 34nm drive and the 40 to 80GB 25nm drives just so he could avoid the peer pressure but even the slowest high quality SSD will probably meet his needs just fine. Price to performance might still push him away from the lowest capacity drives.

If a person found themselves using like User A but still in a budget crunch they might look at the Samsung 470 because it nearly saturates 3Gb/s SATA on sequential transfers reading and writing. Of course it'd have to be cheaper than the C300 and friends to still get the purchase.

If the person were risk adverse above all else the X25-M would get the nod for User B or C type usage.

I'm more User C and you said Windows 7 so I'd probably start my short list with

X25-M G2 120GB

Samsung 470 64GB
Samsung 470 128GB

C300 64GB
C300 128GB


and get pricing info from your local/online retailers and then make a decision between the 64 and 128GB categories and buy on price cheapest in your category out of the short list wins.

You could throw the 80GB X-25M in there but it'll never have a chance on the pricing comparison so it'd be a waste of time to research it.

You could toss

M4/C400 64GB
M4/C400 128Gb

into the list or you could decide you don't want to wait for M4/C400 stock to show up and buy one of the others. I don't think you'd feel too bad about that if you got a C300 it's very close in speed to the C400. No real benchmarks of the M4/C400 yet either so it's a bit of a gamble. The X25-M is faster in some ways to the Intel 320 that will replace it. Any of the SSDs on the short list will put a hard drive to shame in general usage and in most benchmarks.

and for me right now the list is

C300 64GB $120
Samsung 470 64GB $122

X25-M G2 120GB $208
Samsung 470 128GB $220
C300 128GB $225

So as a Windows 7 user it'd be a choice between those and each has it's pluses and minuses.

X25M 120GB
Pros: Reliable, Durable, good price per/GB, better support for windows XP. Good balance of overall performance. Friendlier support software.
Cons: Slower in sequential reads and writes than newer drives.

Samsung 470
Pros: Faster sequential speeds than Intel X25M (enough that it's clear it could take advantage of 6Gb/s if they'd implemented it)
Cons: Less sold, less friendly software for XP use, firmware updates, secure erase. Speeds still don't take advantage of 6GB/s SATA.

C300
Pros: 2nd most reliable SSD right behind the Intel X25-M, 6Gb/s support, read speeds that take advantage of it
Cons: writes don't need 6Gb/s, newer drives outdo it on sequential speeds, No software to make using this drive with XP a supported option.

All 3 have seen multiple firmware revisions and have gotten better over time. All 3 have been out long enough that you won't hit the worst possible problems but there are no guarantees that you won't find an incompatibility with one of them and the motherboard you choose. Do research on the combo you'd consider getting before you buy if you aren't the adventurous type.

If I limited it to XP I'd just grab the X25-M G2 120GB as it's the best for XP users. For Windows 7 you could pick a pro or con to nudge you or you could just pick on price.

whispercat
Posts: 376
Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:05 pm
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by whispercat » Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:51 pm

Of the newer SSDs (including ones to come out soon) which have the fastest random reads/writes?

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by ces » Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:51 pm

whispercat wrote:Of the newer SSDs (including ones to come out soon) which have the fastest random reads/writes?
good question

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by dhanson865 » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:42 am

ces wrote:
whispercat wrote:Of the newer SSDs (including ones to come out soon) which have the fastest random reads/writes?
good question
indeed, I wish I knew.

My preference as seen in this thread is to look for random write 4KB at low queue depths but this isn't something that generally gets covered before a drive is released. It'll be a while (maybe a few weeks) before we know the answer to that for all the new drives.

To make things worse most reviews only cover a single capacity and random write performance will vary dramatically between the 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities.

So if we want to know the best 64GB drive based on random write speeds we might have to wait a month or two whereas picking the best 256GB drive by random write speed might be known in a couple of weeks.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storag ... d-review/6 shows the 64GB and 256GB random write for the C300 but not the 128.

It's inaccurate to make a table with numbers from different test configurations but I can put them in order to show relative speed.

Samsung 470 64GB
Samsung 470 128GB
Intel Gen2 120GB
C300 64GB
C300 128GB

So if you just choose by random writes the C300 wins at low capacities.

There are random write results for the Intel 510 250GB but not the 510 120GB. I have to assume based on the test results that the 510 120GB random write would be slower than the samsung 470 128GB random write which is slower than the random write on the 120GB x-25M which is slower than the random write on the 128GB C300.

I'd expect the 128GB M4/C400 to beat that but I haven't seen a single benchmark yet. The Corsair Performance 3 might beat it but again I have no benchmarks. The Intel 320 Series might be able to beat it at higher capacities but GB for GB it'll be slower than the X25-m and C300 so the only way that'll matter is if it's significantly cheaper.

tim851
Posts: 543
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
Location: 128.0.0.1

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by tim851 » Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:11 am

I don't think the theoretical performance gains of the latest generation of SSDs translates into real world gains. The specialized Benchmarks Anandtech and others use seem to mimick server behavior. In a desktop scenario, other things seem to bottleneck. A friend of mine went from a Vertex1 (Indilinx Barefoot) to a Vertex3 (Sandforce 2500) and was massively disappointed.
Seems to me like buying a new graphics card to go from 60 FPS to 120 FPS. Sure, technically it's doubling the performance, but it won't show.

If I were to buy an SSD right now, it would be the 180 gig Vertex2, simply because it is the largest affordable drive. I currently have a 60 gig SSD and with modern games all being north of 8 gig in installed size, I run into space problems more often the I'd like.

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by ces » Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:43 am

tim851 wrote:I don't think the theoretical performance gains of the latest generation of SSDs translates into real world gains.
Yes. I am starting to think that a generation 2 Intel on a Sata II connection is a real nice decision... one that will age gracefully (as much as you can in PC technology)

Tephras
Posts: 1140
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2004 11:03 am
Location: Europe

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Tephras » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:43 pm

dhanson865 wrote:There are random write results for the Intel 510 250GB but not the 510 120GB. I have to assume based on the test results that the 510 120GB random write would be slower than the samsung 470 128GB random write which is slower than the random write on the 120GB x-25M which is slower than the random write on the 128GB C300.
I have gathered a bunch of SSD reviews that I haven't bothered to read yet because, frankly speaking, I am sick to death of SSD benchmarks for the moment. However, one of those reviews are of the Intel 510 120GB.

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by ces » Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:29 am

Tephras wrote:I have gathered a bunch of SSD reviews that I haven't bothered to read yet because, frankly speaking, I am sick to death of SSD benchmarks for the moment. However, one of those reviews are of the Intel 510 120GB.
Look here, the first review of the Intel 320 Series
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=61918

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by dhanson865 » Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:08 am

Tephras wrote:
dhanson865 wrote:There are random write results for the Intel 510 250GB but not the 510 120GB. I have to assume based on the test results that the 510 120GB random write would be slower than the samsung 470 128GB random write which is slower than the random write on the 120GB x-25M which is slower than the random write on the 128GB C300.
I have gathered a bunch of SSD reviews that I haven't bothered to read yet because, frankly speaking, I am sick to death of SSD benchmarks for the moment. However, one of those reviews are of the Intel 510 120GB.
I saw that review before I posted. Unfortunately the tests there aren't comparable to sites with enough test data to answer the questions I have.

max789
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 1:26 am
Location: Earth

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by max789 » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:03 pm

dhanson865 wrote:C300
Pros: 2nd most reliable SSD right behind the Intel X25-M, 6Gb/s support, read speeds that take advantage of it
Cons: writes don't need 6Gb/s, newer drives outdo it on sequential speeds, No software to make using this drive with XP a supported option.
Could any Crucial C300 user comment on the stability issue? Has the latest firmware finally fixed the earlier reliability problems?

Thanks.

Thomas
Posts: 664
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:21 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Thomas » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:44 am

Nice info here, very usefull, thanks.

I've just ordered a Crucial Entertainment Crucials RealSSD C300 64 GB. Due to the recent SSD test here on SPCR, I thought I'd buy the Kingston, but I didnt like the comments about longevity, so a Crucial it had to be :-)

Anyway, I'm going to use it as a OS (Win7)+ program drive, and maybe temporary files for my photoediting.

I've seen comments about it need some configuration, and I'm a total newbie at SSD's. Are there any nice guides on the internet I should use? Or some good advises from you guys?

Thanks.

fumino
Posts: 298
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:38 pm
Location: ontario

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by fumino » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:01 pm

Thomas wrote:Anyway, I'm going to use it as a OS (Win7)+ program drive, and maybe temporary files for my photoediting.

I've seen comments about it need some configuration, and I'm a total newbie at SSD's. Are there any nice guides on the internet I should use? Or some good advises from you guys?
if you're using windows 7, you wont need to do anything. enjoy that. :D

Thomas
Posts: 664
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:21 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Thomas » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:07 pm

Nice, thanks :-)

BTW, I've just skimmed this guide: http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/opti ... n-guide-2/

Among several things, it suggest turning off file indexing and system restore points. It sounds reasonably (less wear and disk space used), and I dont like these functions anyway, so I'm likely going to do these few things. And I dont think file indexing is of any need on a SSD ;-)

Anyway, it's nice to know it's not really needed :-)

Eunos
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 378
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:29 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Eunos » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:14 pm

If your system doesn't have native SATA 6Gb/s support you may wish to consider an add-in card to get the most out of it.

My optimisation list includes disabling all indexing, severely limiting allocated space for System Restore, disabling defrag especially scheduling, removing all items from 'startup' (Windows key + R for Run, then type 'msconfig', then click 'startup') for quicker boot, and eliminate the boot-up logo (under msconfig, 'boot' and 'no GUI boot' I think) to save another couple of seconds.

I also select to use Windows Update and any virus scans etc manually so there are fewer processes in the background.

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:33 am

I wouldn't disable System Restore - perhaps limiting the space used. The other suggestions are great.

Here's a link from the Crucial forum.
tweaks for Vista and Win 7

Also, seems like the forum consensus is to use the Microsoft supplied AHCI driver over the Intel one for the C300.

I've got the 128GB drive sitting on my desk..haven't gotten around to my rebuilt, yet :D

Thomas
Posts: 664
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:21 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Thomas » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:47 pm

Thanks for the suggestions, and todo list :-)

Actually, I came here to ask, if I needed to switch the BIOS to AHCI, but it's already mentioned above + in the links, that I should do that... :-)

System restore? Well, personally I hate it. Admitted, it works - sometimes. But about half of the times I've tried it, it put back the system to a state between working and not-working - like a half uninstall... Giving very unpredictable results. I prefer having control, and image tools like Ghost gives me just that - control. Maybe it'll show up, that I need to upgrade my current version of Ghost due to XP -> Win7, but I prefer that.

The C300 has arrived - hard time waiting, but I dont have the time before the weekend :shock:

Lucien
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 5:25 am
Location: East and West

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Lucien » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:09 pm

CA_Steve wrote: Also, seems like the forum consensus is to use the Microsoft supplied AHCI driver over the Intel one for the C300.
Are the Intel AHCI driver and Intel's RST software the same thing, or two seperate things to download and install? Also, if we use the Microsoft driver, is that installed by default on a new (clean) Win7 installation or is it an additional download?

Thomas
Posts: 664
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:21 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Thomas » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:30 pm

Does XP support AHCI mode? I tried changing to ACHI in the BIOS (I dont have IDE drives now, but I had when I installed XP), and XP wouldnt boot...

If XP support AHCI - can it manually be changed from IDE?

Thanks :-)

ces
Posts: 3395
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:06 pm
Location: US

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by ces » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:49 pm

Thomas wrote:Does XP support AHCI mode? )
no

Thomas
Posts: 664
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:21 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by Thomas » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:07 pm

Did some digging:

Some chipset providers do make XP AHCI drivers, at least Intel does. And some people had success changing from IDE to AHCI, after installing XP. But Gigabyte (my board) only make drivers for install during XP installation.

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:19 am

Thomas wrote:Did some digging:

Some chipset providers do make XP AHCI drivers, at least Intel does. And some people had success changing from IDE to AHCI, after installing XP.
+1

Intel chipset AHCI support is part of the RST driver (used to be called Matrix Storage Manager....it's been a while since I tried/bailed on it with this XP build. Here's the download page for XP home. A google search for Intel RST pops this to the top.

I believe you *can* switch to AHCI from IDE after windows install, but the methods include editing the registry, etc....so, you'd almost be better off doing a reinstall of windows over the old one. Have the RST available on removable media and do the f6 thing when prompted.

cmthomson
Posts: 1266
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:35 am
Location: Pleasanton, CA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by cmthomson » Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:55 pm

I was an early adopter of SSD ($$$$$ G1 X25M), while still running XP. I had installed the AHCI drivers during the initial install of XP (which requires a floppy drive unless you can get your hands on a slipstreamed CD), and they stopped working when I installed the SSD.

So for me at least, the answer was: no, XP and AHCI and SSD do not play together. :|

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by dhanson865 » Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:46 pm

cmthomson wrote:I was an early adopter of SSD ($$$$$ G1 X25M), while still running XP. I had installed the AHCI drivers during the initial install of XP (which requires a floppy drive unless you can get your hands on a slipstreamed CD), and they stopped working when I installed the SSD.

So for me at least, the answer was: no, XP and AHCI and SSD do not play together. :|
Unfortunately there is a big difference between does the OS support it and does it do so in a user friendly manner.

Disk Management is the worst offender for that sort of stuff. Resizing partitions is easy to do in linux. MSFT OSes can do it but they do everything they can to make it hard to do, rules, lack of interface, little gotchas that aren't well documented.

But then again they want everyone off of XP anyway so anything they don't make easy to do in XP is another reason to switch to Win7 or Linux.

I'm just not willing to say "No it doesn't support technology X" when I know it really does, just not in a friendly way. And I'm still on the fence about what to recommend as to when to switch away from XP on older systems and what to switch to.

m0002a
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:12 am
Location: USA

Re: Which SSD to buy?

Post by m0002a » Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:59 pm

cmthomson wrote:So for me at least, the answer was: no, XP and AHCI and SSD do not play together.
I think the more correct statement would be: XP and SSD do not play together. Win 7 does a number of things to optimize installation and configuration of an SSD.

Post Reply