Anyone know of any issues with using a SSD ?

None that I can think of, but it's best to have a second or possibly third drive for you audio data and samples. SSDs aren't that big. I've had an Intel drive for about 14 months and it works great.

Then go for it.....you system will thank you.

SSDs are SCHWEEEEEEEEEET

Yes I run Sonar X2 Producer and other Music programs on a OCZ SSD 512 Gb Drive on my Inte I7 3930 CPU,32 Gb Ram. I would sugest however that you be sure and use a backup External USB 3.0 7200 RPM Disk Drive as a backup and especially for storing your completed projects.
 
Regards
JimHoch (Sonar Newbie)

I took the SSD leap a few weeks ago and am totally impressed by the results! Absolutely no issues with Sonar. I feel like I bought a whole new computer.

I had been frustrated with the fact that the more intense EastWest Hollywood Strings libraries would bog down my system. In spite of my powerful computer, I could not utilize the "Powerful System" folders without glitches. EastWest suggests an SSD for best performance, so I started checking around.

When they first came out, the drives were small and, in my opinion, too expensive. Finally, though, they got bigger and cheaper. 

I had my eye on Crucial SSD's, and a pro at ADK (where I got my computer) said that people were having success with them. I learned, as well, that I would get the most bang for my buck if I used the SSD as a sample storage/streaming drive, rather than a boot drive.  (Having an SSD as a boot drive would make programs load lightning-fast, but would not solve my sample-streaming problem.)

I browsed the Web and found a brand new Crucial 512GB SSD on eBay for $315. At that price, it turned out to be the package without a cable or desktop computer mounting adapter, but it was all I needed. I already had a cable, and my ADK computer came with a special SSD mount on the back of the motherboard.

As advised by ADK, I copied the entire EastWest Hollywood Strings Platinum library onto the new SSD and left Kontakt, SampleTank, Superior Drummer, etc. libraries on my 1TB 7200rpm SATA hard drive. Both this drive and my new SSD are plugged into the only 2 SATA 3 ports on my motherboard. As I understand it, this arrangement allows maximum performance from both sample drives.

I guess at some point I might spring for a 1TB SSD and put ALL of my samples on it, but my system works so smoothly now that I can't imagine it getting any better.

melmyers
I guess at some point I might spring for a 1TB SSD and put ALL of my samples on it, but my system works so smoothly now that I can't imagine it getting any better.

You'll actually get better performance by putting each large library on a separate drive (if you have enough SATA connections). That way the PC can stream all the libraries simultaneously instead of trying to pull all that data from a single drive over a single SATA cable.


Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
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One other thing to note about SSDs:
To achieve speeds of 500+MB/Sec, you'll want to connect the SSD to an Intel SATA-III controller.
3rd party SATA-III controllers typically result in lower performance.

Connecting to an Intel controller wont be a problem.  I work at Intel so I plan on buying an Intel Motherboard, Intel cpu and Intel SSD. 

There you go...
You might not want to go so far as using an Intel (brand) motherboard.   
Many motherboards offer additional SATA-III controllers (for more SATA ports).
These work... but typically reduce the performance of the fastest SSDs.
For connecting conventional HDs, they work fine.

redbarchetta, I also looked long and hard at this board before finally going with my ASUS P9X79 WS motherboard.

I can undertand a certain loyalty to Intel (especially if you work for them :-)
but take the time to look at the competition, read what people have to say about them, compare specs.

I did go with a 520 series Intel SSD though, they have the best reputation of all.

Quick question guys. On replacing and extant system drive with a new SSD, can I simply image my system directly on to the SSD? I seem to recall something about having to run some other app in order to allocate sectors or some-such. Am I confused? Cheers David

iam not an expert but i try to help.
ok
most of the ssd drives come with their own software for such tasks.
i think direct copy won't function because of MBR files (Bootstring) they are ussually hidden.
Don't forgett
i am not an EXPERT.

Fearful Symmetry


Quick question guys. On replacing and extant system drive with a new SSD, can I simply image my system directly on to the SSD? I seem to recall something about having to run some other app in order to allocate sectors or some-such. Am I confused? Cheers David

Hi FS - I attempted this with an older tool (Terabyte Unlimited) and it failed miserably. I searched and found a tool from Paragon Software that specifically advertised the desired feature "Migrate OS to SSD". It worked flawlessly. It even took care of the "Page Alignment" issue that is crucial to the proper low-level format of the volume partition on the SSD. They make a variety of products that can handle the job - some that do the OS migration only, and a full hard-disk management suite (which I went for). Migrated several system drives now from HDD to SSD.
 
Other newer products may work just fine, but I can vouch for PHDM Suite here.

Hey Dean, yeah I know we are moving away from it. Doesn't really change things for me though. Gotta support my 401K 

You bet, David. Wish you (and the OP!) the best of success with the OS to SSD migration. On that topic, once you are done, there are some housekeeping tasks to perform:
 
First of all, refresh the Windows Experience Index (talking Win 7 here...) to let Windows "know" your updated hardware capability. IIUC it also makes some low-level settings that are appropriate to SSDs.
 
You can then verify that the Page Alignment is correct here:
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/checking_ssd_alignment
 
You also want to make sure that TRIM is enabled:
http://lifehacker.com/5640971/check-if-trim-is-enabled-for-your-solid-state-drive-in-windows-7
 
Good luck and Godspeed!