SSD will replace our HDD soon?

[micropino]

Anyone here using SSD (solid-state-drive) on his rig, please share your experience; how many SSD Gigas do you have? and did you really noticed the speed difference compared to the HDD? I am very excited to replace my HDDs? waiting for the day when the SSD price will come close the HDDs of today. My first replacement will be the OS HDD :cool:

[clocker]

Yes, I have used a 64GB Samsung SSD for a while now.
Despite being a first gen product- only SATA 1 with read/write speeds barely better than a thumbdrive- I find it superior to standard drives in many respects.

There's little point in comparing benchmarks...my clearly inferior SSD laptop drive does not begin to compare to the 3 drive RAID0 array that I normally run, but from a strictly hardware POV (hardware being my particular fetish), it's already leaps and bounds superior.

NO seek noise (although to be fair, the shortstroked RAID array is very quiet also) and the smaller footprint make it a winner, IMO.

In general day-to-day usage I see no difference- even granting the lesser performance of the SSD- I assume that the fantastically small seek time masks the poor read/write performance compared to the RAID array.

The price of the newer (and far superior to my unit) SSDs will soon make solid state units the only reasonable choice for the OS drive.
Mechanical drives will probably continue to make sense for plain storage for the foreseeable future but if I was starting from scratch today, my PC would definitely have a SSD in it.

[micropino]

thank you for your input clocker...
SSD faster, safer, quieter, shock resistant and low power consumption... this is the real deal and what we call it future :D

[Detale]

Sure its faster, safer, quieter, shock resistant and low power consumption AND WAY more money ATM and I think it'll be for quite some time ;)

[clocker]

D., look at the dollar/GB ratio of SSDs over the just past year and you'll see that it's gotten significantly better.
It will soon approach that of the Raptor series and when it does, game over.

[tesco]

In a few more years we will all be using SSD for OS.
I think it will take a few years longer before HDDs are replaced for storage though (better cost/gb, and higher capacities available).

[clocker]

Which brings up another interesting concept...how much longer will massive storage be necessary in a standalone PC?
Online storage, streaming media, lots of potential alternatives to simply grabbing and hoarding on your personal box.

[micropino]

In a few more years we will all be using SSD for OS.
I think it will take a few years longer before HDDs are replaced for storage though (better cost/gb, and higher capacities available).
This is very expected to happen :)


Which brings up another interesting concept...how much longer will massive storage be necessary in a standalone PC?
Online storage, streaming media, lots of potential alternatives to simply grabbing and hoarding on your personal box.
I am still not expecting people to move to online storage easily because of two limitations (bandwidth and privacy).
Still have hope that new SSD technology will be enhanced quickly like we see with flash memory so 1 TB SSD may be available one day :wacko:

Guys, I am very happy to discuss this with you. You have tons of info and practical approach, thank you for your time :fst:

[armless]

I believe that SSD will replace HDD in the future but not soon. Hard drives are so cheap now. I mean you can find 1TB hard drives for about 90 dollars when they are on sale. The price for a SSD at the moment is too much I believe for it to replace the HDD.

[clocker]

The advantages of SSDs over traditional drives for anything but bulk storage will soon overwhelm the dollar/GB objection.

I've been a believer since the days of the iRAM, which had a terrible price/performance ratio- approx. $100/GB- and things have only gotten better at an ever increasing rate.

At this point, anyone with a s939 system or better would get more apparent bang-per-dollar value from a SSD than an upgrade to a new CPU/RAM/chipset.

[micropino]

At this point, anyone with a s939 system or better would get more apparent bang-per-dollar value from a SSD than an upgrade to a new CPU/RAM/chipset.

Wow, what an expert hint, clicked here :)

[Ludvig]

I always wanted to know something:if I buy a genuine OEM Windows XP license,install it on a SSD and the SSD crashes to a point that it has to be replaced,can I re-install windows xp from the OEM disc on the new SSD ?

[clocker]

Yes.

[Ludvig]

Ah,thank you,Clocker ! But I always thought that with that kind of OEM license,you could not install it more than once.So this is completely wrong or did I miss some subtilty here ?

[mbucari1]

I don't know about that clocker. when I built my first pc I bought an oem copy of xp and installed it. A few months later I bought another hard drive for my system and reinstalled it. When I tried to activate it, it said that I had reached the maximum number of allowed activations. I had to spend 3 hours on the phone with several Indian technicians before they finally gave me a new license key.

[clocker]

I've run OEM versions on a variety of PCs...the same copy even, and at worst, only had to phone activate.
And I've never been turned down on a phone activation.

[tesco]

So Clocker, what do you think of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167013

How's the price?
I'm willing to pay it if it's worthwhile.
I don't want to if the thing will only last a few months to 1 year though.

Or am I better off buying a couple of raptors (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033) and raiding?

[bilbo818]

So Clocker, what do you think of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167013

How's the price?
I'm willing to pay it if it's worthwhile.
I don't want to if the thing will only last a few months to 1 year though.

Or am I better off buying a couple of raptors (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033) and raiding?

For life, they should last much longer because their are no moving parts to burn out.

[VinX]

pls no .. i just got a new 1 TB HDD

[clocker]

So Clocker, what do you think of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167013

How's the price?
I'm willing to pay it if it's worthwhile.
I don't want to if the thing will only last a few months to 1 year though.

Or am I better off buying a couple of raptors (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033) and raiding?
I don't think longevity is the issue here but price might be.
You've picked from the creme de la creme of SSDs and are trying to compare to a fast but decidedly second tier old style drive.

Maybe consider a pair of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220341) in RAID 0 instead.

[tesco]

I think I will order those.
I realized after i posted that i could just go with a pair of cheaper SSDs rather than a pair of raptors.
But I forgot to post and ask.

What's the difference between MLC and SLC?



OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30G 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227393)
Price: $149.00


Sequential Access - Read: up to 230MB/s
Sequential Access - Write: up to 135MB/s; Sustained Write: Up to 80MB/s

This one has higher speeds than the one you posted but is MLC based and I read somewhere that SLC is better (not sure why).


Patriot PE32GS25SSDR 2.5" 32GB SATA II Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220341)
Price: $129.99


Sequential Access - Read: up to 175MB/s
Sequential Access - Write: up to 100MB/s

This is the one that you posted. It doesn't say if it's SLC or MLC and the patriotmem website isn't loading for me to look it up.

[clocker]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=223173

[tesco]

Thanks, just finished reading that.
So is the patriot a MLC or SLC? (that's the one that you have right?)
edit: NVM you have the samsung, just went back and read.

[lynx]

Thanks, just finished reading that.
So is the patriot a MLC or SLC? (that's the one that you have right?)
edit: NVM you have the samsung, just went back and read.
I think I would make the assumption that if they aren't telling you that it is SLC, then it must be MLC.

If the assumption is wrong, it's their fault for not giving enough info.

[df1]

wow great news.

[tesco]

I decided against getting SSDs.
The expensive SLC ones are what I want. But I want to RAID them and then the price just becomes ridiculous (and my contorller won't handle the speed they can put out so I would need a proper raid controller too).
The cheaper MLC ones aren't really any good. They start out fast but they become very slow after a couple weeks due to a lot of writes/erases. There are solutions but they seem like a pain in the ass to do every week.


So now it's either just live with what I've got (seagate 7200rpm 750gb) or buy a pair of raptors.
Would I notice a big difference with raided raptors replacing the seagate? (for windows7, the 750gb will be for storage)

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033)

Price:$124.99


Cache: 16MB
Average Seek Time: 4.6ms
Average Write Time: 5.2ms
Average Latency: 2.99ms


Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296)

Price:$224.99


Cache: 16MB
Average Seek Time: 4.2ms
Average Write Time: 4.7ms
Average Latency: 3ms (nominal)

[clocker]

Well there's no doubt that RAIDed Raptors will benchmark a whole lot better than a single drive but whether or not you'll actually notice the difference is another matter.
Kinda depends on what you're doing.

That said, I think it'd be a mistake to invest in a pair of Raptors- even if you did see an improvement.
I've read about all the "problems" supposedly inherent with MLC drives but have yet to see them manifested on the SSD that I have.
Given that my drive is ancient as far as SSDs go, I'd have expected it to be prone to every issue you're worried about but that hasn't been the case.
Just sayin.

Being that you're a forward looking guy with a lot of hardware smarts, what I think you should do is get one new SSD and try it out.
If it doesn't meet expectations you can always get an inexpensive external enclosure (mine was under $20) and use it as a kickass super flashdrive.

Buying Raptor(s) now strikes me as akin to buying a top of the line bias ply tire just as radials were poised to take over.

[VinX]

i love my Seagate HDD .. Barracuda ROX !!

[glbrtsoms]

I haven't try the SDD yet...when it will be release?what company introduce this one?..is it reliable?...

[aktski]

IMO the OCZ Vertexes are priced decently enough when compared with Raptors/VRaptors (a while back the 30GB Vertexes went on sale at Newegg for $80+ shipped, which is around $2.67/GB vs $1.68/GB for a 74GB Raptor), especially when you consider the fact that 2 of them in RAID0 gets you blistering 500MB/s read speeds. MLC < SLC is still an issue, but for OS drives I think SSD prices are fast becoming attractive options. Also, are you sure that they become very slow? I was under the impression that even after a decent SSD (Intel, OCZ Vertex, etc) would still be superior to a mechanical HDD.

[TalkMan]

Not soon I think :(

[VinX]

i never used SSD's before .. will check on them in next few years ..

[brotherdoobie]

Which brings up another interesting concept...how much longer will massive storage be necessary in a standalone PC?
Online storage, streaming media, lots of potential alternatives to simply grabbing and hoarding on your personal box.

Ageee, the ether is where it's at.



-bd

[glbrtsoms]

I read some article and that SSDs’ advantages in lower power, higher reliability, lower noise, and faster access than HDDs, in an extremely durable unit, make for rapid growth in some markets, especially in military and industrial UMDs.

[shipwreck]

Define 'soon'.

SSD will eventually replace hard drives, some of the major hard drive manufacturers like WD are already selling facilities (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/storage/display/20090520115419_Hitachi_Acquires_Manufacturing_Facility_from_Western_Digital.html), because they expect lower demand in future. But in near future, hard drives will remain first choice for large and cheap storage.

[tesco]

Define 'soon'.

SSD will eventually replace hard drives, some of the major hard drive manufacturers like WD are already selling facilities (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/storage/display/20090520115419_Hitachi_Acquires_Manufacturing_Facility_from_Western_Digital.html), because they expect lower demand in future. But in near future, hard drives will remain first choice for large and cheap storage.
soon: "Immediately, instantly; Within a short time; quickly; Early"

[shipwreck]

That's still pretty vague, innit?

Soon, I'll go to sleep <--> Soon, I'll get a blowjob.

soon ≠ soon

[clocker]

That's still pretty vague, innit?

Soon, I'll go to sleep <--> Soon, I'll get a blowjob.

soon ≠ soon
A lot would depend on whether you're an insomniac or a female...

[shipwreck]

I am an insomniac, and male. This doesn't mean that SSDs will take over the market sooner than I'll get a blowjob though. I hope.

[Seedler]

I can never really hear my HDD anyway, given how loud all the fans are in my box.

So noise reduction for SSD isn't applicable here, unless I'm running a laptop.

[clocker]

I would consider noise reduction to be a secondary benefit anyway.
When running two (or more) standard SATA drives in RAID, noise is barely noticeable- even when defragging.

It's the read/write performance increase that makes SSDs worthwhile.

[Busyman]

SSDs for the av joe are a ways off. They are and will be too expensive on a cost per GB basis and offer no considerable improvements that the av joe would care about.

A person benchmarking and comparing would care about SSDs now. For certain applications, SSDs are ace.

Otherwise, joe user on their desktop at home could care less about it's benefits until costs come way down.

[clocker]

I don't care about the "average joe"...actually, who does?

The average user could have stopped upgrading in 2002 (actually, most did) and, as long as the internets and spider solitaire still work, be perfectly happy today.

My "not-so-average" experience with SSDs almost directly contradicts your assertion about a "benchmarking person".
My POS SATA 1 SSD benches way worse than my various RAID arrays, yet it still seems snappier during daily use.
A new SSD would be much better I suspect, and as soon as I quit squandering my disposable income on my car I plan on acquiring one (or preferably, more).

[Busyman]

I don't care about the "average joe"...actually, who does?

The average user could have stopped upgrading in 2002 (actually, most did) and, as long as the internets and spider solitaire still work, be perfectly happy today.

My "not-so-average" experience with SSDs almost directly contradicts your assertion about a "benchmarking person".
My POS SATA 1 SSD benches way worse than my various RAID arrays, yet it still seems snappier during daily use.
A new SSD would be much better I suspect, and as soon as I quit squandering my disposable income on my car I plan on acquiring one (or preferably, more).

Well for even users doing burning, ripping, downloading torrented files, syncing their MP3 players, it won't matter much. Maybe those are a step above av joes. No one challenged what you cared about.

The question was will it replace HDDs soon.

I say no. They cost too much and it will be hard to justify it's cost when faced with alternatives that are slightly slower but offer way more storage space for the money.

The one thing I do like about SSDs is that when they go kaput, they simply won't allow writes anymore. Hard drives won't work at all.

[clocker]

Yeah, but the alternatives aren't just "slightly" slower.
Besides, I've never said you had to go totally SSD...just get a small one (30-60 GB) for the OS and then load up as many regular drives as you please for storage.
Best of both worlds.