Are SSDs the new RAM for boosting system performance?

RAM was once the king of the system performance boost. Now, there's a new kid in town that's usurping the throne: SSDs.

SSDs are the new performance panacea. But, when SSDs first hit the scene a few years ago, we hated them. They were small--too small to be useful and too slow for anything but Netbooks. Technology took hold and now SSDs are our new heroes. They are the new RAM. Still a little pricey for widespread consumer use; servers, high-end laptops and ultrabooks come equipped with them. And, they're fast. They're cool. Sure, they're cool in the vernacular sense of the word but they're also cool in the Fahrenheit/Celsius sense too. No moving parts means cooler temps and cooler laps under them. My favorite thing to say about SSDs is that, "They toil not and neither do they spin."

Read more at source:
Are SSDs the new RAM for boosting system performance? | ZDNet
 
On a $/GB basis an SSD isn't even in the same universe as a spinner.

And until they are, AND are as reliable, I'm not interested.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Enterprise 64-bit (7 Ult, Vista & XP in V-Box)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G 'Super-Laptop'.
    CPU
    Intel Sandy-Bridge i7-2670QM quad-core
    Motherboard
    Acer
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel 3000HD / Ge-Force GT555M 2 gigs
    Sound Card
    Realtek/5.1 Dolby built-in including speakers.
    Monitor(s) Displays
    18.4" full-HD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1024
    Hard Drives
    2x750GB Toshiba internal, 1x500GB Seagate external, 1x2TB Seagate external, 1x640GB Toshiba pocket-drive, 1x640GB Samsung pocket drive.
    PSU
    Stock
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Air-cooled
    Mouse
    I/R cordless.
    Internet Speed
    Borderline pathetic.
On a $/GB basis an SSD isn't even in the same universe as a spinner.

And until they are, AND are as reliable, I'm not interested.

Well, you give up a lot of performance with that stance. As far as reliability goes, between home and work we have about 20 Intels and Samsungs...and 0 have had problems.

I get one SSD for my OS, apps and games...and 1 spinner for data, backups, etc....It's been working great for me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I have no performance issues with my 2 spinners.

Fast boot-up is not 'performance' and is, in fact, irrelevant.

When I can get two 750GB SSDs for the same or lower cost
than these, AND equal or greater reliability, then maybe.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Enterprise 64-bit (7 Ult, Vista & XP in V-Box)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G 'Super-Laptop'.
    CPU
    Intel Sandy-Bridge i7-2670QM quad-core
    Motherboard
    Acer
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel 3000HD / Ge-Force GT555M 2 gigs
    Sound Card
    Realtek/5.1 Dolby built-in including speakers.
    Monitor(s) Displays
    18.4" full-HD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1024
    Hard Drives
    2x750GB Toshiba internal, 1x500GB Seagate external, 1x2TB Seagate external, 1x640GB Toshiba pocket-drive, 1x640GB Samsung pocket drive.
    PSU
    Stock
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Air-cooled
    Mouse
    I/R cordless.
    Internet Speed
    Borderline pathetic.
I bought a Samsung 830 drive for my Gigabyte tablet, just to see how an SSD preformed. I wanted to have a separate drive containing a full disk image, should something ever happen, and there is no perceivable performance gain with the SSD over the HDD (especially using readyboost). I don't even get a power advantage, as the battery lasts the same amount of time with the SSD as it does with the HDD.

Unless all of your other components are high performaning, the system will be mostly limited by the slowest component. Most SSD reviews seem to get worked up by start up times, but how many times a day is anyone switching off and restarting their device? With me it's on in the morning and off at night.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
SSDs are now at about $1 a gig which is WAY better than even justlast year.

And the performance improvement is stellar. A 250Gig primary drive for $250 is not bad at all for boosting the performance of the WORST performing component in any modern computer. Then get a 1-2 Gig as the data drive.

And at least with the intel drives, their reliability has been pretty good, even outdoing several spinners I've had die in the last couple of years since I've been using them...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8
I have had my OS, both Windows 7 and now 8, installed on an SSD for a couple of years now and I would never go back to a spinner. If it was just the quicker boot ups that mattered, I wouldn't have one, but all my apps open quicker, read/write rates for data transfer are much faster, there is no noise from an SSD and they run cooler.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    i5 2500K
    Motherboard
    Asus P8P67 Deluxe
    Memory
    8 gigabytes Corsair PC3-12800 DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 460 superclocked
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 23" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    128 Gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD
    128 Gb Kingston Hyper X SSD
    1 Tb Western Digital Caviar Black HDD
    PSU
    1000 watt Coolermaster modular
    Case
    Coolermaster Haf X full tower
    Cooling
    Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitec M310 USB cordless
    Internet Speed
    1.5 mb/s download 300 kb/s upload
I have no performance issues with my 2 spinners.

Fast boot-up is not 'performance' and is, in fact, irrelevant.

When I can get two 750GB SSDs for the same or lower cost
than these, AND equal or greater reliability, then maybe.

I would disagree that fast boot ups are not associated with performance. I would agree that fast boots are not the be-all end all though. It's more about crazy fast random access times, fast app and game launch, fast AV and malware scans, super fast indexing, zero noise, no case vibration and no additional heat. But everyone has their priorities.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I really want an SSD to replace one of my regular hard drives. I've heard good things but have yet to try them out myself. If it does boot faster that is a good thing performance wise, although that also probably means Microsoft should have worked on windows even more than they have to make it quick to begin with. I've also heard it will make programs run faster(opening, processing, etc.) that I feel would be beneficial. Sometimes it takes a while to do simple processes that it gets annoying. However, I also recently got more RAM so I guess I'll see how well that goes.
 

My Computer

I really want an SSD to replace one of my regular hard drives. I've heard good things but have yet to try them out myself. If it does boot faster that is a good thing performance wise, although that also probably means Microsoft should have worked on windows even more than they have to make it quick to begin with. I've also heard it will make programs run faster(opening, processing, etc.) that I feel would be beneficial. Sometimes it takes a while to do simple processes that it gets annoying. However, I also recently got more RAM so I guess I'll see how well that goes.

An SSD, with the right hardware, will generally make any OS and associated software operate faster. It has nothing to do with Windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
Probably the single best noticeable thing you can do to your system is install an ssd.

In terms of reliability ssd wins hands down, no heat or moving parts.

No one says you have to use one, but your loss if you do not.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W7
As mentioned above, it's the access time that makes SSDs perform so much better than a HDD. Everything runs faster, not just bootup.

Seeing the response of people change from 'they are too expensive' to 'WOW, this is the greatest performance upgrade I have ever done'. The most common statement is 'Why did I wait so long' and 'I will never be able to go back to a spinner'.
But, the choice belongs to each person.

What I can't understand is when someone gets a new fast CPU, middle to upper range motherboard, large amount of RAM, powerful GPU, and then puts only a HDD in the system.
It's like putting wagon wheels on a Ferrari.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64/ Windows 7 Ult x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    76~2.0
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570K 4.6GHz
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-Z77X UD3H f18
    Memory
    8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600 CORSAIR Vengeance CL8 1.5v
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB DDR5
    Sound Card
    Onboard VIA VT2021
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LCD Dell SP2208WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samaung 840Pro 128GB, Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb, Seagate 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb,
    PSU
    Corsair HX650W
    Case
    Cooler Master Storm Scout
    Cooling
    Corsair H80 w/Noctua NF P12 12cm fan, case fans 2X14cm
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
    Mouse
    CM Sentinel
    Internet Speed
    Abysmal
    Browser
    Opera Next
    Other Info
    Dell Venue 8Pro: Baytrail Z3740D, 2GB Ram, 64GB HDD, 8" IPS Display 1280 x 800, Active Stylus.
    Haswell laptop: HP Envy 17t-j, i7-4700MQ, GeForce 740M 2GB DDR3, 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080, 16GB RAM, Samsung 840 Pro 128GB, 1TB Hitachi 7200 HDD,
    Desktop: eSATA ports,
    External eSATA Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm,
Oooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah!

You really don't understand how throttled down hard drive based PCs are until you pop a SSD in one. Seriously, an Intel Atom powered netbook can start up faster than a hard drive bases system with an i5 and higher. Yes, boot time isn't a full indication of performance, but that does show just how limited PC hardware can be with a hard drive.

It is like putting wagon wheels on a Ferrari.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I have an Intel Atom powered tablet, the SSD makes diddly squat difference to anything; start up, programs, shut down.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
Hi there
a 128 SSD can be had for around 90 EUR now -- was around 170 EUR about a year ago - so larger capacity drives will soon appear.

I find a 128 SSD in a laptop with either a USB3 external data stick or smal 2TB self powered passport USB3 ext drive a really good combination.

W8 on an SSD really does FLY. If you don't get an improvement with an SSD there is something else radically wrong with your system / hardware.

(USB3 ports and devices really do work as well -- you should get Disk transfer rates at LEAST 6X faster than USB2 -- I think the theoretical maximum is 10X but you'll be very luck to get that --6X faster than USB 2 though is very acceptable).

@ Ray8 --tablets are different -- the whole I/O / Bus structure etc are different to a PC -- also the OS unless your tablet is running W8 wil be totally different -- things like Caching, overlapping I/O with processing requests etc etc are all fundamental to the OS.

You have to compare like with like. On a "traditional computer" or laptop the differences are HUGE.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
@ Ray8 --tablets are different -- the whole I/O / Bus structure etc are different to a PC -- also the OS unless your tablet is running W8 wil be totally different -- things like Caching, overlapping I/O with processing requests etc etc are all fundamental to the OS.

You have to compare like with like. On a "traditional computer" or laptop the differences are HUGE.

Cheers
jimbo

Considering that one of the central tenets of Windows 8 is its use with tablets, then the performance of an SSD in a tablet is fairly relevant. And I did specifically note that the SSD in my tablet didn't make a substantial difference in performance.

Also, if I were considering an SSD for a PC, I think I'd rather consider an accelerator SSD, rather than a dedicated one for the OS and programs. An accelerator SSD brings almost the same speeds as a dedicated SSD and if it bites the dust prematurely as some SSDs are wont to do, then the system merely reverts to its normal speed, with nothing lost.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
Hi there
depends also on the SSD -- if the SSD is an old one then the performance wouldn't be THAT great -- but the newer one's (SAMSUNG, VERTEX etc) really DO FLY. The technology has improved hugely in the last 12 months.

If your tablet is designed to run windows7 or windows 8 I'm surprised that the SSD doesn't make a difference unless it's an OLD SSD

I doubt in a cheaper tablet whether the original HDD would have been good (fast 7200 RPM with decent cache) so I'm really surprised by your findings.


Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Would it be worth upgrading to a new ssd on a sata 2 mainboard ? As far as what I see on the net, ssd drives performs slower on sata 2 mainboards.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
On a $/GB basis an SSD isn't even in the same universe as a spinner.

And until they are, AND are as reliable, I'm not interested.


I've had 2 SSD's over the past 3 or 4 years, and still using the 2nd one. Haven't had a single problem with either one. The reason I bought the 2nd one was because I wanted one a little larger.

If there are reliability problems, I haven't experienced any.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware M18xR2
    CPU
    i7 3820qm
    Motherboard
    Alienware / Dell
    Memory
    16gb Corsair ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Dual GTX 675m
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 120gb SSD
    1tb storage drive
    Internet Speed
    Not nearly fast enough
Would it be worth upgrading to a new ssd on a sata 2 mainboard ? As far as what I see on the net, ssd drives performs slower on sata 2 mainboards.

Absolutely. People hyper focus on megabytes/sec throughput. However, the biggest bang for the buck, far and away, is the ultra low random access time and getting to any file on the file system, in 0.1ms. Versus a standard hard drive which is around 15ms.

The SSD's that I use on systems, are ONLY on machines with SATA 2 boards. I don't have boxes at present with Sata 6.0Gbps ports.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
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