SSD Are Me!

[photon]

I just spent 2 days fighting with my new build (I always have problems with new builds for some reason)..

Installed Windows fine, but after that things started going wonky on doing updates or installs, the drive would hang the system for a bit, then it'd come back.. apps would crash, even a blue screen every so often.

I started to think I had a bad SSD since the crashes and stuff seemed to center around HDD access.

On one reboot, on a whim, I took out two of the 4 sticks of RAM (I have 16GB total, 4x8GB), and bam all of a sudden everything was running smoothly, installs ran fine, etc.

Huh, so run memtest for 16 hours with all 16GB back in, not a single error

Reinstall again after running memtest, everything runs fine, no errors, crashes, or bluescreens.

So moral of the story, sometimes re-seating the RAM DOES work!

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by photon

I just spent 2 days fighting with my new build (I always have problems with new builds for some reason)..

Installed Windows fine, but after that things started going wonky on doing updates or installs, the drive would hang the system for a bit, then it'd come back.. apps would crash, even a blue screen every so often.

I started to think I had a bad SSD since the crashes and stuff seemed to center around HDD access.

On one reboot, on a whim, I took out two of the 4 sticks of RAM (I have 16GB total, 4x8GB), and bam all of a sudden everything was running smoothly, installs ran fine, etc.

Huh, so run memtest for 16 hours with all 16GB back in, not a single error

Reinstall again after running memtest, everything runs fine, no errors, crashes, or bluescreens.

So moral of the story, sometimes re-seating the RAM DOES work!

my issues were similar after installing Windows. a few minutes after boot, the system would hang for 30 seconds or so, then everything would start responding again. did a little googling and found out that if you turn the SATA hot swap capability on in the BIOS for the Vertex 3, it's supposed to resolve the hang ups. so far so good, haven't had a single freeze since changing that option

[photon]

Yeah I did that and the LPM registry fix too:

http://www.overclock.net/hard-drives...d-storage.html

No dice, still died randomly. Do a Windows Update, "7 updates installed, 68 failed" lol. But since I reseated the RAM it's been running great.

Got the Thermalright Archon cooler too, 140mm fan! But it's very quiet, prime95 at full bore at stock speeds and the fan doesn't even hit 1000rpm.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah I did that and the LPM registry fix too:

http://www.overclock.net/hard-drives...d-storage.html

No dice, still died randomly. Do a Windows Update, "7 updates installed, 68 failed" lol. But since I reseated the RAM it's been running great.

Got the Thermalright Archon cooler too, 140mm fan! But it's very quiet, prime95 at full bore at stock speeds and the fan doesn't even hit 1000rpm.

how hard is that Archon to install? my old CPU cooler was a very similar design, big heatpipe and fin design with a 120mm fan, but it was a total bitch to put in and take out. i think i'm gonna go for this for my new cooler

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...4%28ME%29.aspx

[photon]

The Archon was actually quite easy to install, probably one of the easiest heatsinks I've done in a long while.

I was thinking of something like that, but the reviews I've read of most units like that say they're actually louder than the big tower super coolers, and I really like to have a silent PC.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

how hard is that Archon to install? my old CPU cooler was a very similar design, big heatpipe and fin design with a 120mm fan, but it was a total bitch to put in and take out. i think i'm gonna go for this for my new cooler

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...4%28ME%29.aspx

Remember the company CoolIT that also had similar water cooling products to this? Apparentely they were contracted by Corsair to do some of their engineering with the stipulation that they not put out retail products in competition and that's why you don't see CoolIT products at retail anymore.

That kind of sucks because it was nice to have some choice at local retail, especially since CoolIT is a Calgary company!

In terms of CPU cooling, with the new sandy bridge processors, overclocking is not as straightforward as it used to be so I'm not sure how much I need cooling. My i5 2500K rig is doing nothing but Bitcoin mining and will be doing that for the next 6 months at least so I guess I can wait to get any fancy cooling or adapt my old Thermalright 120 True/VenX, etc.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah I did that and the LPM registry fix too:

http://www.overclock.net/hard-drives...d-storage.html

No dice, still died randomly. Do a Windows Update, "7 updates installed, 68 failed" lol. But since I reseated the RAM it's been running great.

Got the Thermalright Archon cooler too, 140mm fan! But it's very quiet, prime95 at full bore at stock speeds and the fan doesn't even hit 1000rpm.

LPM fix is something many SSD owners should do if recommended by other users of that particular drive (check the forums for each company). My Crucial C300 caused my laptop to bluescreen repeatedly until I disabled the Intel Link Power Management which was conflicting with other things and there was no performance loss either.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Thor

Oh man, it saddens me to see the prices you guys are paying, Iceland is so pricey for stuff like this, especially the SSDs!

What are you paying for them in Canadian $ Thor? If the price difference is so high - just paypal someone from Calgarypuck and have them pop it in the post for you.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

What are you paying for them in Canadian $ Thor? If the price difference is so high - just paypal someone from Calgarypuck and have them pop it in the post for you.

If anything, I'm envious of Americans for what they pay for SSDs. Many of the huge SSD sales and promos aren't available to Canada. I always see crazy SSD sales on the American Newegg Shell Shocker and of course, it is not applicable to Newegg.ca

I paid $240 CAD here for my SSD when at the same time, I knew it was $179.99 with free shipping on Newegg.com

The only exception to this was when Tigerdirect.ca had the 128GB refurbed Corsair SSDs for $119 CAD and inexplicably it was $126 USD on Tigerdirect.com. They sold out almost instantly however, Red Flag Deals probably destroyed them.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by photon

The Archon was actually quite easy to install, probably one of the easiest heatsinks I've done in a long while.

I was thinking of something like that, but the reviews I've read of most units like that say they're actually louder than the big tower super coolers, and I really like to have a silent PC.

did you install that pre or post mounting your motherboard? i'm rethinking the Corsair cooler because of the noise concerns i've seen in reviews plus with that i'd have to take the motherboard out completely to install it, something i'd like to avoid

[photon]

Before mounting, in fact the new PC is running just plugged together sitting on my desk without a case

Unless you had a case with a removable tray or a passthrough behind the CPU socket (which some do now), you have to remove the motherboard to put in an reasonable socket 1155 cooler; they all will have a plate that fits on the back of the motherboard. Only super light ones like the stock cooler could get away with a plastic snap in peg or something like that, anything with any mass will need a back plate with screws that go through the board.

http://www.thermalright.com/layout/s...N%2B%2BU9VL5mV

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by photon

Before mounting, in fact the new PC is running just plugged together sitting on my desk without a case

Unless you had a case with a removable tray or a passthrough behind the CPU socket (which some do now), you have to remove the motherboard to put in an reasonable socket 1155 cooler; they all will have a plate that fits on the back of the motherboard. Only super light ones like the stock cooler could get away with a plastic snap in peg or something like that, anything with any mass will need a back plate with screws that go through the board.

http://www.thermalright.com/layout/s...N%2B%2BU9VL5mV

that's what i was afraid of. ugh, i am not looking forward to tearing everything apart just after getting it all put together and running smooth

[photon]

Yeah, my case has a passthrough under the CPU to let me change that kind of stuff without having to unmount the motherboard:

[Burninator]

I want to take the plunge into the calming waters of SSD's. I have a 4 year old PC and this will be it's last upgrade. Here are the specs:

ASUS P5K Premium WIFI-AP ATX LGA775 P35 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID Sound WLAN 1394 Motherboard Link.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory x2

I would like to get a 120GB SSD and upgrade my RAM to 8GB. From what I can tell my MB is SATA 2. So perhaps I could save some money by not getting a SATA 3 SSD. Which ones should I be looking at? Reading through this thread it seems like the OCZ Vertex 2 are popular ($160 @ NCIX). Is this a good one to get or are their other models out there I should be looking at?

Since I'm upgrading the HD, I figured I might as well put more RAM and run Windows 7 64bit. This is wear I really don't know what I am doing. What are the correct numbers I should be looking for when it comes to RAM? I know I need DDR2, but beyond that I am lost.

Thanks for the help.

[photon]

Vertex 2 is one of the best SATA 2 ones (unless you work with lots of incompressible data like images or video files on that drive), but if you plan on moving the drive from this to another PC in the future, SATA 3 would be more future-proof.

Looks like this board will only support 2GB max per memory stick, so you'll need 4x2GB ones. DDR2-800 ones like you've already got should be fine. I looked at the memory compatibility list and it doesn't list any 2GB sticks, so make sure you can exchange them if they don't work.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...19356(ME).aspx

[Hack&Lube]

@ Burninator, I have some DDR2 4x2GB if you need.

BTW, that Q6600 is a fantastic processor. It could last you another 2 years if you overclock it. I have a Q6600 running at 3.6GHz instead of the stock 2.4GHz. It's running at almost stock voltage on air cooling.

I actually wouldn't buy a SATA3 drive right now to futureproof unless you are planning to change PCs within a year. Buy a cheaper SATA2 right now while they are being moved out. By the time you buy a new PC (maybe 2 years from now?) SATA3 drives will be much better and much cheaper.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

@ Burninator, I have some DDR2 4x2GB if you need.

BTW, that Q6600 is a fantastic processor. It could last you another 2 years if you overclock it. I have a Q6600 running at 3.6GHz instead of the stock 2.4GHz. It's running at almost stock voltage on air cooling.

I actually wouldn't buy a SATA3 drive right now to futureproof unless you are planning to change PCs within a year. Buy a cheaper SATA2 right now while they are being moved out. By the time you buy a new PC (maybe 2 years from now?) SATA3 drives will be much better and much cheaper.

I bought a lot of my components to have the option of overclocking in the future (MB, Heatsink, case) so maybe once it's not so hot in my computer room I'll do that. I figure by the time I am buying a new PC there will be a totally new breed of SSD's out there so I am not too worried about future proofing in this case.

[onetwo_threefour]

Finally got me an SSD after drooling over this thread forever. Funny story though, a buddy was doing me a favour so I got a 120 Vertex 2 for free, i know it's only Sata II but that's all my motherboard was, (older Q6600) so I didn't care. Well, he gives me my system back and the next day, boom, won't power up and turn on. After a couple of hours over a couple of days of trouble shooting, I realize that it's a power issue. Since my P/S was only a few months old I started looking more closely at the M/B. Turns out I've got bad caps all over the place. Apparently it was coincidental that they went at the same time as the SSD was installed.

So anyway, the same buddy then sells me what amounts to a whole new system for $475 (reused my existing HDDs and SSD, and Blu-ray/HD DVD Drive):

Core i7 2600K
Intel H67 Mobo
2 X 4GB Crucial Ram.
750W Silencer p/s
Coolermaster case
And for $50 an old GTX 460 he had to replace my Radeon HD3450.

Holy crap. What a difference. This the first custom built system I've had in a decade since I got too lazy to build my own. What an awesome experience. I could upgrade the video card, and I know the mobo is no good for overclocking, but I'm not a gamer so I don't really care.

The whole point of this post was to say though, that the SSD was the biggest difference in performance, bar none! I only wish I had got it after the mobo failed, then I might have got a SATA III drive!

ETA: Oh yeah, also went from Vista to Windows 7. That's quite the difference in experience as well!

BTW. Everything is legit, I've given a fair bit of free legal advice over the years, so he just charged me cost on the Mobo, CPU and RAM based on a deal he got, and threw everything else in for free except the GTX 460 that he bought of his cousin for $50. I'm a happy camper now!

[sclitheroe]

For the SSD nerds, here is a link to an interesting opinion on TRIM support in current SSD's, courtesy of none other than Linus Torvalds.

http://www.realworldtech.com/beta/fo...15697&roomid=2

If you skim the entire thread you'll learn lots about TRIM, including some interesting perspectives on why its not necessarily all its cracked up to be.

[photon]

Nice, when I first got my Vertex 2 I was upset because I discovered that while yes it supports TRIM, it doesn't do much beyond simply ignore it... TRIM made zero difference, but the built in drive GC improved performance over time by itself.

I felt like I'd been ripped off, but after more reading realized that that's just the best of a difficult problem.