New Build Plans - Thoughts, Advice, Etc

[Bigpapa42]

Thanks. I was aware of performance degredation issues, but I read that TRIM took care of those. Was not aware that they would literally wear out after so many cycles. I also don't like that they die without any warning - at least you can hear an HDD wearing out.

Despite the clear speed advantage, I'm really leaning toward just avoiding an SSD for now.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

All TRIM does is find any blocks that are no longer in use and wipes them clean.

MLC SSD's usually last around 10,000 write cycles and the more expensive SLC' SSD's last about 100,000 write cycles. (degradation is only write)

If you setup the ssd correctly, you can have it last quite a while. cdawall has an ssd that he's had for 2 years now.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Interesting - so there is a reason beyond speed that those high end SSDs are so much money.

I'm still thinking I'll go with regular HDDs for now and possibly look to add an SSD for the boot drive down the road a bit. Saving that money now will allow me to move to the dual-monitor set up quicker.

 

[mastrdrver]

Dont put games on the SSD. MLC SSD drives are limited to 10,000 write cycles and after which it begins to deteriorate. The less write cycles the better and longer lasting performance you will have. If you get an ssd you will want to setup the page file on a hard drive as well.

SSD drives are really only good for putting the OS on it for a very fast boot time and just a few programs. That is it. You would install the OS on the SSD just like you would a hard drive.

What does games and write cycles have to do with each other other then install or reinstall?

Sure there are updates to games but while playing one your not writing much more then the OS does since the only thing games do is read the data on the hd.

 

[Bigpapa42]

I was finally able to order everything. The ASUS Sabertooth board still isn't available on Newegg, but I did find the B3 revised version on another site which was recommended to me. Got everything else from Newegg... So in addition to the CM HAF X and the Kingwin 1000-watt PSU, I have the following on the way...

ASUS Sabertooth P67 TUF motherboard
Intel i5-2500K processor
G. SKILL Ripjaw 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
HIS Radeon HD 6950 2GB video card
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB HD (for OS)
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB HD
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler
ASUS DVD-writer
Windows 7 Home Premium full

I would like to add a second or even a third Samsung F3 drive later. Plus the dual 23" monitors. Eventually more RAM, though it will hardly be necessary for now. Should be able to put things together soon enough. Can't wait...