Solid state
drives save energy and can start your
Windows in mere seconds. CHIP helps you
make the right choice and give you
a few pointers on switching to an
SSD environment, as well as setting up
a SSD RAID
From status symbol to an indispensable
commodity, SSDs were once seen as unaffordable prestige objects, but their
prices are gradually sinking into the depths. In fact, Samsung and OCZ are
engaged in a full-fledged price war. Two years ago, consumers had to fork over
about RMS for each gigabyte. Today, Samsung is giving use the same amount of
Flash storage for roughly $8.3 (SSD 830). Its competitor OCZ has pushed the
price down to a record-breaking depth of $0.66 (Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G). In
the face of the SSD-onslaught, conventional hard drives that use magnetic
storage are retreating further and further into the background.
What to Bear in Mind When Making a
Purchase
Price is not the only thing that matters.
You should also ensure that the product features a high transfer rate (the read
and write speeds), low access times and low power consumption figures. People
who use older computers might need an adapter for the 3.5-inch drive slots, as
SSDs usually come in 2,5-inch form factors commonly found in laptops.
In
the face of the SSD-onslaught, conventional hard drives that use magnetic
storage are retreating further and further into the background.
From a technological standpoint, since SSDs
are comparable to USB drives, the SATA connection version has a massive
influence on the performance speed of an SSD. It wouldn't make sense to connect
a USB 3.0 drive to a USB 1.0 port, as this does not allow for optimized
performance and the fastest data transfer speeds. Similarly, the latest SSDs
are always supported by the latest SATA connection, which is currently SATA III
(SATA-600). This is why many users are only too happy to switch over to an SSD
setup the moment they replace their motherboards.
Watch Out for Old HDD Customs and Habits
Since the Flash cells on SSDs have a
limited lifespan, a controller ensures that they are rewritten in a consistent
manner. If you try to defragment the SSD, you will interrupt the controller's
activities and thus shorten the lifespan of the storage device. A similar
problem arises when cloning programs are used. These programs transfer the
content of the hard drive with hard drive-specific optimization’s. If you want
to transfer your system partition from a hard disk drive to the SSD, you will
need specialized software such as the SSD Migration Kit from O&O or Migrate
OS to SSD from Paragon. Fortunately, many SSD manufacturers bundle a migration
tool with their products, which makes it unnecessary for you to purchase the
aforementioned software. The process of transferring data is quite simple, and
we've included an illustrated workshop that explains the process on the next
page.
You
will need specialized software such as the SSD Migration Kit from O&O or
Migrate OS to SSD from Paragon
SSDs Are Outpacing Traditional Magnetic
Hard Disk Drives
Currently, most users purchase SSD drives
with a storage capacity of up to 250GB. They are not atrociously expensive and
can accommodate the operating system along with a few programs. Films and other
multimedia files do not require extremely speedy transfer rates, and thus can
be stored on the larger capacity HDDs. This is often the configuration users
are going for, which is much more economical.
After the capacity, the writing speed plays
the most important role. The fastest conventional hard drive (Western Digital
Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ) can read a 4.2GB film in about 15 seconds. This speed
is comparable to the speed offered by the fastest SSD (Samsung 840 Pro
MZ-7PD512, 14 seconds). However, the Velociraptor takes a lot more time to
write the film (25 seconds), while the SSD only needs 14 seconds. In order to
fully exploit this advantage, you should take note of the ratio between the
reading and writing speeds. For example, an SSD might be able to read data at
blisteringly fast speeds, but its writing speed is nowhere near as impressive,
therefore making it less useful. Finding a balance between both speeds would be
the smarter thing to do. If the writing speed of an SSD is almost as high as
its reading speed, then you have the ratio you need.
Samsung
840 Pro MZ-7PD512
The power-consumption does not carry as
much weight. SSDs require less energy than magnetic drives, since they do not
contain any electric motors and mechanical components that need to be moved
with the help of a lot of power. The Velociraptor, which is considered to be a
magnetic hard drive that is very environ¬ mentally friendly, consumes 4.6 watts
of power, while the most power-hungry SSD only consumes about two watts.
So, to summarize, what you should be
looking for in an SSD is a balanced performance ratio {in both read and write
speeds), something that consumes less power without sacrificing performance and
a price that won't leave you on a bread-only diet for a week.
SSDs As External Storage Solutions
It's not something that's particularly common,
but you can actually find SSDs that function as external disk drives. The
reason why you won't find them as commonly is because they're very pricey when
it comes to cost per gigabyte. They're also smaller in capacity, usually in the
64GB to 512GB range, making them not very practical if you're looking to carry
around larger storage space to complement your mobility. External SSDs will
also be wasted if you plug it to slower interfaces such as USB 2.0, though
eSATA, Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 variations are already available on the market.
External
SSDs will also be wasted if you plug it to slower interfaces such as USB 2.0,
though eSATA, Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 variations are already available on the
market.
There is, however, one great advantage an external
SSD has over a typical magnetic external HDD: SSDs are shock-resistant. Since
the device does not contain any moving parts, external SSDs do not run the fear
of losing your important data when you accidentally drop it. That makes it
great for working professionals who need to keep their content safe and the
blazing transfer speeds. Still, considering the expensive prices and general
impracticality, we suggest that you invest in SSDs in its PC-internal form.
Boosting SSD Performances
While SSDs are already fast enough, you can
actually make it perform even better. The best way to do this is to rig two
SSDs in a RAID configuration, which will double the already impressive speeds.
It's not even particularly hard to do, and you can try it out if you have two
SSDs laying around. You can find our guide to configure this in the next pages.
The fastest
·
Samsung SSD 840 Pro (MZ-7PD256)
·
Transfer rate - reading/writing: 520/443 MB/s
·
Price: Approx. $304
The cheapest
OCZ
Vertex 2-1VTXPL120G
·
OCZ Vertex 2-1VTXPL120G
·
Price/GByte: Approx. $0.6
·
Price: Approx. $79
The largest
Intel
SSD 320 SSDSA2CW600G3
·
Intel SSD 320 SSDSA2CW600G3
·
Capacity: 600GB
·
Price: Approx. $950
The greenest
Verbatim
2SSD128 Upgrade Kit (47371)
·
Verbatim 2SSD128 Upgrade Kit (47371)
·
Power consumption; 0.3 watt
·
Price: Approx. $243
