Hello all, Im looking to build a new computer in the next month or two. Ive been looking at different things and one option im considering is using a SSD for the OS and a standard HD for everything else. Problem is its like 100 bucks minimum for the SSD so im wondering if anybody knows how much i would notice a difference. Also, im just looking in newegg, was wondering if there are any other good websites for components or possible even prebuilt kits. -Reignier-
Another good website I have used is www.zipzoomfly.com have had gear service from them. As for the SSD, you are going to notice 2 things right away: boot up is hella fast and there is no noise. IMO it is worth it now to get a boot SSD (prolly 64G or less), the larger SSDs are cost prohibitive.
As 7 said, the SSDs are SUPER fast. If you go to their wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive And you can check out the advantages and disadvantages listed down the screen. I've always used the 7200rpm WD drives, and I still get fast enough boots and loadings. I mean, if you got money to drop on a SSD then - I'd say go for it. Just know that extended use and over-time usage for SSDs will wear them down and eventually go kaput. I've never had a HD do this to me, but that's the only thing I've read (which the wiki also mentions). They are SUPER fast, fastest harddrives on the market (obviously, just came out) and honestly they are in a decent price range for what they can give you. Unless you just want super super fast load times, a lot of editing / writing and want to cut times down, then I wouldn't really suggest it, and shoot for a Velociraptor drive or equivalent if you want something faster than your "average" HD. Hoped that helped some.
We're starting to put SSDs into everything here at work and they are amazing. My next build will have one for the OS and a few games as well as a large standard drive for storage. Here's an excellent article about SSDs: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829/1 Keep in mind the article is from 8/09.
With Intel promising a 320GB SSD by the end of the year, you can expect a nice price drop around October at the latest. They won't give a firm date yet as they don't want to impact current sales. OCZ from what I've read just redid their firmware on their SSD's allowing the 128GB models to go from 100GB of usable space to 120GB, a 20% increase in capacity for simply updating the firmware is quite a nice bonus.