SSD & HDD advice please!

[dizzynatnat]

Hello,

Myself and my partner are both trying to upgrade and sort out our PCs at the mo, mainly as we use them for gaming.
I have started by sorting my graphics card and power supply which seems to have made a huge difference which is great.

But my partners hard drive is on the way out.

We have been trying to work out if he would be best buying a SSD as the primary drive and then a WD 7200rpm HDD for storage purposes.


We have found a few in our price range, but the questions we need answering are.....
Patriot Inferno 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-007-PA

Western Digital RE2 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-102-WD


Are they compatible with the motherboard? Asus p5g-mx

Will they both fit in standard tower case?

Is there anything else we need to buy to get these to work together?

Or is there alternatives in the same price range?

We have roughly up to £150 to spend and want at least 320GB in the HDD and 60GB in the SSD

Also, would the SSD be compatible with my M2N68-LA (Narra3) motherboard and would i then be able to make my current WD 7200rpm 500GB HDD the secondary hard drive for storage?


Any advice would be brill,

Thanks in advance!

Dizzy

[stroyal]

Any drive will work, with any motherboard, as long as it has the same interface.
As long as the board has SATA2. It would even work, if it was SATA1 and SATA2 mixed.

I assume you know this is a waste of money, as the only time you will see any difference from a standard mechanical drive, is when you are booting, or when your loading programs.
It will make no difference when you are playing games, unless you have way too little RAM.

You can place the drives in any combination you want to, most new boards, have at least 1 IDE interface, for 2 drives, along with the SATA interface.

You can also get PCI expansion cards to add more IDE, or SATA drives, if you need.

[dizzynatnat]

Thanks for the reply stroyal,

Your advice has helped.

We did know that SSD will not make any difference in game play as such, but it would be nice for things to boot up and load quicker.

I was just worried about them not having the right parts to connect or something.

Thanks again!

Dizzy

[stroyal]

I understand the need for faster, I run a standard drive RAID 0, most would say that is a waste also.

Just make sure the drive comes with cables, OEMs sometimes don't have data cables.
Your power supply needs SATA power connectors or an inexpensive adapter.

Real incompatibility is rare these days, it is mostly confines to memory, and that is mostly with laptops.
If the interface is the same, it almost always works.

I have some Kinkston DDR that would not work in my son in laws Dell, but Corsair with the identical specs, worked just fine.

[Aaron_8015]

Make sure it comes with/have a bracket for that SSD as they are 2.5" drives as opposed to 3.5".

Quite tempted by a couple of those myself.

[quickoldcar]

I feel 2 sata harddrives running together in raid zero striped is pretty fast.

This is what I always use.

[kchia02]

SSD for primary drive is definitely not a cool idea.
For the price u pay, the capacity is too small to accomodate the numerous updates fr Microsoft. better off getting a standard SATA ( if ur system can accomodate it) the speedy file read/ write rate will take u further.

My current netbook that came with SSD had to downsize the programs as well as migrate plenty of other secondary programs jus so it wouldn't crash or slow down due to low disk space. Spent hours testing & reinstalling the system jus so run it.

[stroyal]

You would have the same problem, if you had a small mechanical drive also.
I know what you mean.
It really comes down to cost, the price is coming down, and the time is getting close to where they will make sense. The small gain, at large cost, isn't worth it, if you have a budget.

You can already buy SSDs for desktops, all the way up to 1TB, that's plenty for any primary drive.
That is if you have, an extra $3000 or$4000 laying around.

[dizzynatnat]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I did end up buying a SSD to add to my HDD though and it has arrived today.

Now as i have come to install it....

step 3. Attach the ssd cable to the motherboard and to the SSD Drive.

......what cable?
No cables came with it so I'm guessing i need to buy one!

So now then..........what cable do i need to buy for this ??

Also, once i manage to get the thing connected in all the right places! I would like to copy my OS from my HDD to my SSD, but i cant see an easy way to do it. Most places Ive read have suggested buying software, which i will do if a really need to, but i would have rather have had something quick simple....and free!

I don't have an OS installation disc as you only get to make 1 once with vista and that's lost.

Any ideas?

Dizzy

[stroyal]

I'll post pics in a minute, but you will need a data cable, and a power adapter, if your power supply dose not have the SATA type.

As far as transferring your system to your new drive, it couldn't be easier.

Which drive did you get???

All drive manufacturers have a free down loadable program, that will clone you old drive to your new drive.

Western Digital, for example, used Acronis.
There are other free ones we can recommend if you want, but when installing a new drive, like you want to/need to, I always use the one provided by the manufacturer of the drive, I'm installing.

[dizzynatnat]

Hello again Stroyal.

I bought a new power supply the
Corsair CX 600W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUK) [CMPSU-600CXUK]
so im pretty sure i have the power adapter.

I bought a Patriot Inferno SSD.
I knew kingston and WD had software for cloning Hard drives, but i didnt think patriot did. I will have to have a look.

Thanks again!

Dizzy

[stroyal]

I know you are UK, this is just for the pics.

6" Dual SATA 15-Pin to 4-Pin Molex Power Y-Adapter Cable w/ Locking Latch at SVC.com with lock
8" Dual Right Angle SATA 15-Pin to 4-Pin Molex Power Y-Adapter Cable at SVC.com without lock


10" SATA Cable at SVC.com
Notice the angled ends, if you have a tight space, but probably not with that little thing.

SATA 2 cables have the lock, but SATA1 cables will still work, with SATA2 devices, with no speed lost.

[stroyal]

I can't find it, guess the they are not like the HD manufacturers.

If your old drive is Western Digital, the WD Acronis will wotk.
Only 1 drive has to be WD, and they don't care which one it is.

[dizzynatnat]

Thanks again Stroyal!

You have been really helpful and always seem keen to give advice.

I'm glad theres still people out there who are willing to give without recieving!

This is the first forum ive joined for any help on anything, im usually the one people come to when it comes to their pcs! But i know little about the technical side of things, id never even opened one up till last week, so im glad ive found somewhere where i can get all the info i need so as not to blow myself up or totally screw up my pc!

I'm sure there will be many more posts from me as time goes on, im constantly in need of wanting to know more!

Thanks!

Dizzy

[stroyal]

Hdclone is free, but i have only used it once, a while ago.
HDClone Free Edition 4.0.2 Freeware download page - tested and reviewed software downloads from SnapFiles

You are welcome, and welcome to TechIMO!, if I didn't say it before.
You will find there are many people willing to help, and many of them are pros that actually know what the are talking about, it's just a hobby with me, but a 25 year hobby.

[dizzynatnat]

Thanks again!

I will post back here once i've had the cable delivered to let you know how i get on with the cloning of hard drives lol!

Dizzy