emwhy
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Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
My system is relatively new, Q6600 Gigabyte MB. Running Win 7 64 bit 8 GBs of RAM. Already have 2 TB drives, one is the OS drive which I would reformat for samples etc and the second would be for SONAR audio files. I would most likely be able to use a 120 GB SSD for system & program files. There seem to be several companies putting these things out now, any thoughts on how to proceed would be appreciated.
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kc2ine 
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 15:46:01
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So far I have solid state SD card  , still SSD drives are too expensive. For the price of one 12GB SSD I can build an disk array of 4 500GB discs... I am interested in getting one too but so far reading all the reviews I'm not sure if they are all that great yet. Many problems with blue screen after installation etc. Even from maker like Intel.
V-Studio 100, Sony VAIO i7 2.93GHz/ 8GB RAM, Pianoteq, Sonar X1 Studio, ezDrummer, Macbook Pro, Roland RD700GX stage piano, Yamaha Motif XS6 workstation, Rode NT-1A, AKG Perception 220
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 16:26:35
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Yes, they are still expensive. Yes, 3rd generation drives are more reliable and come with the same warranty as a mechanical drive. They are quiet. They do not generate much heat. And they are incredibly fast. I recently did a new build with a 120GB SSD drive for the OS and apps. They are still too expensive for my budget to consider for example a raid array of SSDs for my libraries, but if I could... I would without hesitation. In the meantime, I'm enjoying a snappy windows environment while gaining a bit of experience working with these type of drives. Love'em. Then again, since this is my first one (OCZ Vertex 3 - 120GB SSD, SATA III - 6Gbps), I never came across the problems I've read about when dealing with earlier generations. Don't touch my SSD drive. Just don't.  Note: Does your MB support SATA 3 (6GBs)?
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emwhy
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 16:47:08
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Does your MB support SATA 3 (6GBs) Yes it does. I saw one in use at a studio a month ago. He had a 160 GB drive for OS and programs and was fast and smooth and as yous aid quiet. I'm just not sure which brand to get.
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GlennKay
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 17:57:10
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Greetings Emwhy, not that this is any of my biz, but i'm curious why you're going w/ SSDs instead of doing a CPU/mobo upgrade. Unless you're moving tons of audio in and out of your DAW, and using relatively few plugins, wouldn't a SandyBridge give you more mileage? For comparison purposes, i've got an Anandtech link with a comparison data base showing benchmark differences between various CPUs (w/ Q6600 vs i7-2600k). On the LHS you can break down the comparison further, based on various PC apps. Under Video or Media creation, there's a couple multi-threading situations available: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=53 Regards Glenn
ASUS P8P67 LE/i5-2500k/8GB DDR3-1600/1 SSD (system) & 3*SATA HHDs (recording, samples, backup)/ ATI HD 6450 Silent/Win 7 Ultimate x64/RME Multiface/ UAD2/3*Creamware DSP cards on a separate PC connected via ADAT "The path of excess leads also to the palace of wisdom," but they let you in through the back door.
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John T
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 20:52:12
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Main recommendation from me: do your research. About a year ago, the Intel one I bought was so much faster than all the others it was laughable. And it is still possible to buy SSDs that are effectively slower than the fastest hard drive. Look carefully at the read and write speeds, and read as much as you can on the subject before dropping money. The price per GB is still pretty eye watering.
I'm not completely up to date on the latest developments, but I hear the Intel 320 series are again very good, and available in high capacity (for SSD) versions.
http://johntatlockaudio.com/Self-build PC // 16GB RAM // i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz // Nofan 0dB cooler // ASUS P8-Z77 V Pro motherboard // Intel x-25m SSD System Drive // Seagate RAID Array Audio Drive // Windows 10 64 bit // Sonar Platinum (64 bit) // Sonar VS-700 // M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 // KRK RP-6 Monitors // and a bunch of other stuff
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John T
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 20:53:18
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I'd like to get the 600gb one, but it's nearly a grand! I just bought a 2tb hard drive the other day for £70.
http://johntatlockaudio.com/Self-build PC // 16GB RAM // i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz // Nofan 0dB cooler // ASUS P8-Z77 V Pro motherboard // Intel x-25m SSD System Drive // Seagate RAID Array Audio Drive // Windows 10 64 bit // Sonar Platinum (64 bit) // Sonar VS-700 // M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 // KRK RP-6 Monitors // and a bunch of other stuff
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StarTekh
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/01 21:17:38
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I posted earlier 2 known working ssd OCZ and Crucial 120g
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djtrailmixxx
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/02 12:25:42
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I have been using a Crucial 128GB for over a year now, just got a Crucial M4 256GB delivered today. I support Crucial as they have upper-mid to high performance benchmarks after the latest firmware revisions AND they a Micron company with a chip factory in the area. Main considerations: 1-Read reviews on Newegg.com 2-Run the controller you will plug the SSD into in AHCI mode (bios setting), If this is a post installation change, you have to mess with Windows to get it to function properly. 3-With Windows 7, a clean install will result in the proper SSD settings for windows being implemented. Using Win XP, Vista or Win 7 migration to an SSD via imaging will require manual configuration (look them up) Recently on Newegg, they had a Crucial M4 128GB for 128 bones.....that is getting cheap. When I bought my 2 Gen old Crucial 128.......it cost me 450 bones.
Sonar Platinum X64 - Win 10 x64 - Intel SB-E 3930 - Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 - 16GB DDR3 - AMD R290X - 4x 1TB SSD RAID 0 (Sys and Data partitions) - 2x UAD2 Quad - 1x UAD2 Octo - UAD Apollo Dual
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gt2004
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/02 13:04:02
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if you can afford it its the best thing in the WORLD. i will NEVER use regular drive as my main os. There is no wiat time with SSD its just way to Fast. You wont notice as much at 1st like ohh my god one some stuff BUT after a month you go back to old Drives you will hate it i mean HATE it. Simple question can you go back from cable model or DSL to Dial up ? that's how it will feel trust me. some of the good ones are intel OCZ Corsair
DUAL Processor XEON W5590  INTEL 160GB SSD G2 INTEL 80GB SSD G2
INTEL 80GB SSD G2 24GB ECC RAM EMU-0404 Xboard 49 KRK Rokit PR5, Mackie HR824 Sonar X1 64 Bit Windows 7 64Bit Pro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGhEm5oqdgE
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StarTekh
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/02 13:09:30
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this sounds like the happy thread !!
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Kev999
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/02 19:55:45
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John T
Look carefully at the read and write speeds...
And if you will be using the drive for storing multisamples, then the read speed is way more important than the write speed.
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Having fun at work lately
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/02 20:01:51
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StarTekh
this sounds like the happy thread !!
UPS just delivered an SSD today. I'm happy.
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/02 22:39:18
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What did you get?? Brand, size etc... Spill the beans Tim!
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 07:00:49
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DeeringAmps
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 09:36:49
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Question,
Those who have installed an SSD for your OS.
Did you do a clean Win 7 install to the SSD?
Or,
Did you install an Image of your current system?
Win 7 suffers from registry bloat just like all previous Win OS's.
Any "fresh" install is going to be "faster", even a 5400 HD.
I just did a clean XP install (not my DAW or Desktop; don't ask) and that unit hauls a$$ now.
Where do you put your swap file, isn't write-rewrite the bugger with an SSD?
And please don't tell me Win7x64 doesn't use the page file, I don't believe that.
Just curious, want to take the SSD plunge but....
Doubting Thomas
Tom Deering Tascam FW-1884 User Resources Page Firewire "Legacy" Tutorial, Service Manual, Schematic, and Service Bulletins Win10x64 StudioCat Pro Studio Coffee Lake 8086k 32gb RAM  RME UFX (Audio) Tascam FW-1884 (Control) in Win 10x64 Pro
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 10:03:16
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"Alegria"
Then again, since this is my first one (OCZ Vertex 3 - 120GB SSD, SATA III - 6Gbps), I never came across the problems I've read about when dealing with earlier generations. Ouch... this is the drive (Vertex 2) that "jcschild" had many problems with, hence his comment about not touching OCZ with a 10 foot pole... over at the "GearSlutz" forums. More in-depth info. here: The OCZ Vertex 2 Conspiracy: Lost Space, Lost Speed? Just a heads-up for you as this may or may not apply to your specific purchase. But if you encounter any problems whatsoever, don't waste your time troubleshooting and go for an RMA from the manufacturer without delay. Sorry if you were already aware of this, just thought it might be important to you. Good luck, jc
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 10:26:32
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"DeeringAmps"
Did you do a clean Win 7 install to the SSD?
Or,
Did you install an Image of your current system? A clean install of Win 7 Pro x64 on a 120GBs Vertex 3 SSD. I made sure to activate "AHCI" in the bios prior to connecting my SSD. Inserted my OEM installation CD. SSD drive recognized as such and "quick formatted" automatically by the installation process. This is the recommended method to use. Never fully format your SSDs. Never. "DeeringAmps"
Win 7 suffers from registry bloat just like all previous Win OS's.
Any "fresh" install is going to be "faster", even a 5400 HD. Right on! "DeeringAmps"
Where do you put your swap file, isn't write-rewrite the bugger with an SSD?
And please don't tell me Win7x64 doesn't use the page file, I don't believe that. This article from MSDN is a must read when dealing with SSDs: Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives I moved my pagefil.sys to a mechanical velociraptor 10k rpm drive. Set for a static size, before installing anything to avoid fragmentation of the swap file (approx. 25GBs). I also deactivated "hibernation". With 16GBs of memory, a 16GB hibersys.fil on a 120 GB SSD drive... hurts a tad. Environment variables have also been moved to the above mentionned raptor drive etc. IMHO, these steps have helped quite a bit in reducing activity to my OS SSD drive. This is a dedicated DAW. Meaning, anything not audio related has no business on this machine, and that also means... no browsing on the net. As always, IMHO. jc
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 10:57:29
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Alegria
"Alegria"
Then again, since this is my first one (OCZ Vertex 3 - 120GB SSD, SATA III - 6Gbps), I never came across the problems I've read about when dealing with earlier generations.
Ouch... this is the drive (Vertex 2) that "jcschild" had many problems with, hence his comment about not touching OCZ with a 10 foot pole... over at the "GearSlutz" forums. More in-depth info. here:
The OCZ Vertex 2 Conspiracy: Lost Space, Lost Speed?
Just a heads-up for you as this may or may not apply to your specific purchase. But if you encounter any problems whatsoever, don't waste your time troubleshooting and go for an RMA from the manufacturer without delay.
Sorry if you were already aware of this, just thought it might be important to you.
Good luck,
jc
Are you referring to the drive I bought Alegria?
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 11:22:46
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DeeringAmps
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 14:19:05
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JC,
Thanks for the info and the link.
I'm still waiting for a bit more price drop.
Using the velociraptor 10k for your audio drive as well?
Tom
Tom Deering Tascam FW-1884 User Resources Page Firewire "Legacy" Tutorial, Service Manual, Schematic, and Service Bulletins Win10x64 StudioCat Pro Studio Coffee Lake 8086k 32gb RAM RME UFX (Audio) Tascam FW-1884 (Control) in Win 10x64 Pro
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 14:27:56
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DeeringAmps
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 14:45:31
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Tim,
OUCH!
But on Aug 12th you said you ditched the SSD...
Tom Deering Tascam FW-1884 User Resources Page Firewire "Legacy" Tutorial, Service Manual, Schematic, and Service Bulletins Win10x64 StudioCat Pro Studio Coffee Lake 8086k 32gb RAM RME UFX (Audio) Tascam FW-1884 (Control) in Win 10x64 Pro
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 14:52:29
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DeeringAmps
Tim,
OUCH!
But on Aug 12th you said you ditched the SSD...
i did at that. woops I unditched it.
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/03 16:05:49
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"DeeringAmps"
Using the velociraptor 10k for your audio drive as well? That's 2 of them for my libraries such as, EWQL SO Platinum + and QL Pianos. That was a compromise as I really wanted to go SSD all the way. But at 2.5ms access time, it's a good compromise until I can afford higher capacity SSDs. Oh and a 2.5" form factor... they're so small and cute and pretty quiet also. "timidi"
Pity this wasn't mentioned when I asked about the new build, before I bought it... Sorry Tim, had I noticed that it was back in your "to buy" list, I would of opened by big mouth you know. But, it doesn't mean you're going to have problems with it. But if you do, don't putz/hesitate and return the bum. Note: You're both welcome!
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/04 08:23:23
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The Maillard Reaction
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/04 09:05:51
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The part I find interesting is that there is no description of the systems.
e.g. Is it a 2 year old install on the Seagate and clean fresh install on the other?
I just tried my run of the mill laptops 5400rpm hard drive.
It took just about 53 seconds to go from power button "on" to Win 7 64 home with a solid wi-fi connection and Microsoft Security Essentials in the green. I don't know what that means.
It seems, to me, that carefully described bench mark tests are even more interesting.
best regards,
mike
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timidi
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/04 09:12:52
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It seems, to me, that carefully described bench mark tests are even more interesting. yes
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Alegria
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/04 10:36:43
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The background music was pretty good. What language, do you know?
Not sure about the reliability of the benchmark, but the bottom line confirms how much faster SSDs are. I know that with my current setup, I can reach the Windows desktop in less than 10 seconds. But that's not the whole story, your windows environment is so much more responsive and snappy, it's a pleasure to work with.
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The Maillard Reaction
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Re:Taking the SSD plunge...any reccomendations?
2011/09/04 10:53:11
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