Version: 2008
  • On ZDNet: Why Linux isn't enough
Advanced Search
advertisement
advertisement

Forum display:

PC hardware: how good is a solid state drive?

by Rammstein420 - 8/1/08 6:31 PM
advertisement
Click Here
Post 1 of 13

how good is a solid state drive?

by Rammstein420 - 8/1/08 6:31 PM

I hear they are faster and quieter but I am woundering what you think.

Discussion locked
Post 2 of 13

Someday we'll know their reliability

by samkh - 8/1/08 7:25 PM In reply to: how good is a solid state drive? by Rammstein420

Meanwhile think $$$$.

Discussion locked
Post 3 of 13

Excellent point.

by BigGuns149 - 8/11/08 12:01 AM In reply to: Someday we'll know their reliability by samkh

While solid state is more resistant to damage from knocks that might damage a HDD, data recovery for SSDs is much harder.

There was an entire presentation on this topic at DefCon 16 on the topic of how data recovery is different with SSDs and possible far more complicated than recovery for HDDs.

In the short term, I think they are too expensive for most systems.

Discussion locked
Post 4 of 13

Yeah I'll say it's quieter, hehe.

by ahtoi - 8/1/08 8:26 PM In reply to: how good is a solid state drive? by Rammstein420

No moving parts. What do I think of it...well, if I got money to burn, I might get one. But is it worth it? I think it depends on the user.

Discussion locked
Post 5 of 13

I know its expensive

by Rammstein420 - 8/1/08 8:53 PM In reply to: Yeah I'll say it's quieter, hehe. by ahtoi

but has anyone heard about the difference in speed?

Discussion locked
Post 6 of 13

PC World did a study. . .

by Coryphaeus - 8/2/08 5:24 AM In reply to: I know its expensive by Rammstein420

a short while back. There were no major improvements over speed. Depending on the file or group of files, the SSHD performed a little faster on some reads and a little faster on some writes. They were not impressed as there were no startling improvements. In their opinion (and mine as I've done a lot of reading) the most positive aspect of the SSHDs is durability and size. The storage is still much smaller than any standard hard drive.

Wayne (IBM freak - 6)

Click here to see the CNet faces, learn a little about analog and digital data, Internet connections, Spyware removal, and download free software (and a GREAT chocolate-cherry cobbler recipe).
My mini-Schnauzer is smarter than your honor student.

Discussion locked
Post 7 of 13

You might have a "broken link'

by Dango517 - 8/11/08 11:59 PM In reply to: PC World did a study. . . by Coryphaeus

or it's 'timing out".

Discussion locked
Post 8 of 13

Read the reviews

by AlbertW - 8/8/08 9:25 PM In reply to: how good is a solid state drive? by Rammstein420

Read the reviews on them - websites and newegg.com.

Prices and performance can vary a lot.

Discussion locked
Post 9 of 13

Solid State

by ViroCMN - 8/8/08 11:42 PM In reply to: how good is a solid state drive? by Rammstein420

Well I've had a 40gig solid state drive and Its so slow!!! Its somewhere in the drawer I don't even use it anymore. I use sata 2.5" USB drives as mobile storage. If u got bucks go for the 1TB. U'll feel like a yuppi! Its 'nogal' a good feeling.

Discussion locked
Post 10 of 13

Today's hard drives

by Dango517 - 8/9/08 3:59 AM In reply to: how good is a solid state drive? by Rammstein420

are mechanical devices. Though amazing machines whirling around at extremely high speeds with i/o arms moved too and from a very specific location on the drive platters by a sound wave; they are still mechanical devices and can not hope to top the speeds of SSDs traveling at the speed of a lighting bolt. SSDs are based on USB drive and RAM chip technologies, thou these vary, the technologies are similar. Are RAM chips and USB chips fast? Sure they are. RAM is used because the hard drive is so slow. RAM stores the essential OS functions and programs so you needn't wait for the hard drive to load them.

Once SSD reliability improves, will we need RAM memory? Over time SSDs might improve the PC speed and also possibly reduce there cost by replacing RAM memory. A few less parts might improve the PCs overall performance as well and make them simpler to own and operate.

The industry is pushing ahead with these to improve Laptop functionality. These will increase the size of Laptop hard drives while maintaining the slim form factor of these devices and make even thinner Laptops possible. SSDs also run cooler. Heat being a problem for Laptops.

The biggest concern with these is that they seem to ware out over time. Something in the technology needs further improvement to insure longer life of these devices. Consumers will expect SSDs to last as long, if not longer then the hard drives we are currently using.

Does SSD technology need further improvement? Sure it does. The prices on these are falling, soon these will be more affordable to those wishing to do some Beta testing with a new technology.

Discussion locked
Post 11 of 13

The access time might be faster but the i/o ...

by ahtoi - 8/12/08 8:43 AM In reply to: Today's hard drives by Dango517

of the computer remains the same. So how much faster can it be? faster..yes, but I think their worth is portability and maybe power usage.

Discussion locked
Post 12 of 13

Could be A LOT faster

by AlbertW - 8/12/08 8:51 AM In reply to: The access time might be faster but the i/o ... by ahtoi

Depending on what you are doing and how fast your SSD is, it can be A LOT faster. Just depends.

Discussion locked
Post 13 of 13

Slow at OS startup

by champmanfan67 - 8/13/08 7:35 AM In reply to: how good is a solid state drive? by Rammstein420

There was a review on TV and a 64Gb SSD on a laptop took a a huge 3mins 10secs to loadup Vista Desktop whilst normal SATA HDDs took just 1min 25secs. And that was the most expensive laptop there. Just a thought...

Discussion locked
Forum legend:
Locked Locked thread
Moderator Moderator
CNET staff CNET staff
Samsung staff Samsung staff
Norton Authorized Support team Norton Authorized Support team
AVG staff AVG staff
Windows Outreach team Windows Outreach team
Dell staff Dell staff
Intel staff Intel staff
Powered by Jive Software