Storage Solutions Sub 5k SSD suggestion needed. Is 60GB SSD enough?

S

Sarath_

Adept
Presently I have 1TB HDD in my PC running Win 7. I will be doing a clean install of Win 8 in a weeks time. I was thinking if I should buy an SSD to speed up my system.


I use very few programs. In fact I play only one game on my system called Dota 2. Apart from that it is only light browsing on Chrome and IE. I was wondering, since my usage is limited to few applications, will I benefit from a small sized SSD of say 60GB capacity.


Also is it the best way to use and SSD by installing windows + programs you use on it or is there some other configuration that I can follow?


Finally suggest a good SSD that will fit in a budget below 5k


I am in a dilemma seeing the 70% usage stat about SSD (in the post quoted below) when considering such a small size SSD.

My idea is to use this drive till I can upgrade to a ~250GB one when it becomes affordable and then convert this 60GB SSD into a caching drive if it is possible on my mobo Asus P8P67






cranky said:
The storage subsystem is not a static being in a running computer. Once you think about what hits the disk during operation and couple that with the fact that mechanical hard drives are probably the last remaining bottleneck in a PC, it will be clear what is affected and what is not. Every operation you do on a PC finds its way on to your hard disk.

If the disk was required only during loading and booting, you would never see the hard disk light. If you construct two identical systems with a mechanical drive and a SSD, and run a reasonably rounded workload (not CPU benchmarks, form example, but a real-world application suite), the SSD will almost always win.

Of course, SSDs have their own issues and are relatively expensive (given that it is not wise to fill them beyond 70% capacity). Then there is the issue of keeping them in good health. The advantages though are too significant for them to be ignored. An Athlon II with an SSD and 2GB memory feels much quicker than an i7 with 8GB memory and a WD Blue hard drive. I know, I've used both simultaneously.

FPS in gaming though, is a bit of a stretch. Unless you are running a system with a very small framebuffer and need to load intra-level information from the hard drive, a storage upgrade will get you no benefit. Daily use and applications benefit the most, because they write very small packets to the drive during operation and mechanical hard drives have a terrible time dealing with it.
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I used a 60GB OCZ Agility3 as the main drive for my browsing system for 8 months and never felt it was too small. I did have a separate drive for all the data and 'My Documents', but the software was all installed on the main drive. Also stripped Windows down to the bare essentials and removed IE, Media Center, and other junk I don't need.

I never broke 15GB usage on a 55GB (after format) drive, of which 10GB was Windows (mainly because the x64 version has such a large footprint). I had to manually delete hiberfil.sys and remove a lot of Windows' junk files, as well as run a cleaner on a regular basis. The machine itself has been sold, but the principle is still solid.

I also run a 32GB mSATA SSD on a headless media playback computer(29.7GB formatted) and with the x86 version of Windows7 and two apps on it, the usage is well below 10GB. And my Entertainment PC uses a 40GB Corsair Force2 for the system files and applications. See a pattern here? I use small SSDs all the time, and have had no issues. I do however have a media backup of over 14TB, personal cloud of 3TB as well as GDrive and Dropbox, so I always have enough storage on hand.

You have to use SSDs intelligently. Once you break 50% filled the performance begins to drop and at about 70% it becomes slower than a mechanical drive. Plus, the smaller drives are usually slower than the bigger ones. In real-world terms though, I highly doubt you would notice a difference. The mSATA SSD I have is SATA1 speed (<150MB/s, typically 85-90) and the quickest SSD I have is a 256GB OCZ Vertex4 (does about 550MB/s). The boot time difference between them is only a few seconds, barely noticeable.
 
Thanks for that info cranky , that bolstered my confidence in small drives again. I was quite giving up after seeing various reviews and suggestions.

I am a very basic user and do not know much about Windows and the way it works. So I might not be able to do as you have, i.e. trimming core Windows files, that I have no idea about. Nor do I have any friends who could help me with it.

I have a 1TB drive which I intend to keep all my programs and media in. It fits my usage and I always back it up and transfer excess files into my ext. HDD.

Since I do not wish to run many programs, the 60GB SSD will have only the OS on it. I also wish to install the steam game Dota 2 on it. I do not wish to use the SSD for anything else. Do you think it will be sufficient?

Also can I have the OS on the SSD and the program files folder on the HDD?

Please suggest a good 60GB SSD available in India
 
I'm pretty sure 60GB should be enough, but maybe 120 is safer if you are not willing to go under the hood.

I like OCZ drives (3 of my 5 SSDs are OCZ), Prime supports them and the service is pretty good. The Agility4 is probably the best bang for the buck now, and then there's the Corsair Neutron, though I'm not sure they make a 60GB unit.
 
60GB should be good for windows only and even some programs, depends on their size.

On my lappy, I have win7 x64 ultimate installed on 50GB partition (mechanical drive though) and its currently taking about 25GB with MS office full, DirectX, Java, Firefox and several basic softwares & utilities. On installation the win7 size was about 15GB odd and my softwares are taking about 5-7GB.

The only maintenance that you have to do regularly is keep deleting the service pack back up files. For this purpose you can use CCleaner. Further space can be gained by removing unnecessary windows components for once and good by going to Add remove windows components. Windows media center is one that first comes to my mind, then Windows internet games like internet hearts etc. and many more.

In short you are safe with 60GB. Anyways while installation most softwares give you a choice where to install, you can choose to install the least used softwares on your 1TB drive.
 
I actually wish to install all my programs on the HDD. I just want the OS and the game to be snappy. I do not even want any other game on the SSD since I don't play on my PC much. I somehow want to have my steam program on the HDD while the game Dota 2 on the SSD (if such a thing is possible)

Thank you for your suggestions

I think I should ask specific queries after the SSD purchase :)

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I suppose this one is a good choice to buy http://onlyssd.com/ssd-brand/buy-ocz-ssd/ocz-60gb-agility-3-ssd
 
Any other drive than that one please. The SF-2281 had terrible issues to begin with and this drive was probably one of the worst (also one of the quickest cheap drives you could buy).

The Crucial M4 is just above the 5k mark and is probably your best bet for reliability and performance.
 
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