Hi,

I know my windows 7/xp build is old, corrupt files everywhere, start up takes 7 years. So I was thinking of wiping and putting 64-bit on along with 16gb RAM.

OR, should I go for an SSD? My hard drive scores lowest on my windows test.

My question is, is it worth it?

I do things like 3d modelling, gaming etc, so I think it is, but can anyone offer a first hand experience?

SSD + 64-bit is the way forward.

Eklipze3k said:

SSD + 64-bit is the way forward.

Click to expand...

What size SSD have you got? Those things are not cheap!!

100% go for 64bit and as much RAM as you can throw at the machine SSD's ain't cheap and if you get enough RAM the HD speed (as long as it's at least 7200rpm) shouldn't hold you back too much, biggest problem is a lot of people have slower speed HD's with less RAM and get stuck paging......

I'd favour more RAM over SSD but if you can afford both you'll be very happy.

128GB Kingston, just use it as my system drive. Games stay on a regular HDD. Boots up and usable in about 30-40 seconds.

Edit: Had an OCZ Vertex SSD which died after less than 6 months, apparently quite common so would avoid.

I use 3 Hybrid drives best of both worlds, you get storage and the SSD part stores your most used programs.

jenks69 said:

100% go for 64bit and as much RAM as you can throw at the machine SSD's ain't cheap and if you get enough RAM the HD speed (as long as it's at least 7200rpm) shouldn't hold you back too much, biggest problem is a lot of people have slower speed HD's with less RAM and get stuck paging......

I'd favour more RAM over SSD but if you can afford both you'll be very happy.

Click to expand...

My hard drive is extremely old (in comparison to the machine). In fact, its only 250Gb, which shows you how old it is - there is little point in buying 250Gb as larger ones are available for the same price now.

As for affording both, id rather one or the other but it seems both may be best.

Eklipze3k said:

128GB Kingston, just use it as my system drive. Games stay on a regular HDD. Boots up and usable in about 30-40 seconds.

Edit: Had an OCZ Vertex SSD which died after less than 6 months, apparently quite common so would avoid.

Click to expand...

Nice! Dad has the a similar SSD and his boots rapidly, may have to consider then.

my current issue is that there are so many messages "loading" in the background that seems to hog the system. E.g. It will take around 5 minutes from logging in, to display 'your windows firewall is disabled'. Then afterwards all is well.

There are several other issues (probably registry issues) which is why I'm just gonna wipe the thing!




Also, can either of you recommend whether I should go for Crucial Ballistix or just normal RAM? Both are DDR3 and infact, both have the same clock speeds so I'm not sure what the difference is really.

Not interested in a 750gb Hybrid.

http://www.ebuyer.com/321969-seagat...ium=products&gclid=CL_w64a1zbgCFU_MtAodgn0A4g

I moved my OS [Win 7 64 bit] onto a 128GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD a few months and would never go back.

But as mentioned above, it is purely an OS drive - a few apps and programs are installed to it, but all documents, games, music, video, etc. and are on multiple HDDs around the network.

But the usability is immense plus the speed. I just wish my motherboard had SATA III but that will come next year

Honeymonster said:

Not interested in a 750gb Hybrid.

http://www.ebuyer.com/321969-seagat...ium=products&gclid=CL_w64a1zbgCFU_MtAodgn0A4g

Click to expand...

I don't see the purpose when it only has 8GB of SSD NAND, it might speed things up a little but that's barely enough space to keep a modern OS.

Eklipze3k said:

I don't see the purpose when it only has 8GB of SSD NAND, it might speed things up a little but that's barely enough space to keep a modern OS.

Click to expand...

It's four times faster than a normal drive. I used to run a Raptor, then OC's SSD for my operating system (now it just stores my sims), prior to that I ran Raid but the hybrid has worked best for me.

It's not quite as simple as it seems, look at the reviews and speed comparisons.

It is easily the best bang for buck option.

I got 2 OCZ 120GB in RAID0 and it owns. Don't underestimate the result of HDD on a machine.

I've got a 2009 Acer Travelmate with Core2Duo, 4GB and I've just put a 128GB SSD in it and almost trippled it's everyday performance .

It seems using an SSD as a cache drive (same theory as the hybrid but even better) may be the ultimate bang for buck solution. However there's obviously some work involved setting this up which is probably beyond most peoples interest. This should yield much better results than just putting your operating system on an SSD which in theory only increases boot up and OS application based performance. Not all of the operating system is used regularly so this utilises all the available SSD to improve performance on all applications.


And I have to agree with Chris, I've been using fast drives since the first Raptor came out and they have always been the biggest noticeable improvement on system performance. I have a Momentus in my dinky Atom DC Net book and its turned it form a slug into one of my most used PC's.

I have 16GB of RAM in my machine and 3 SSDs. An Intel 520 180GB main drive, 120GB Kingston V200+ media drive and an old 60GB OCZ Vertex 2 for down loads and a general dumping ground.

It all depends what you are doing but SSDs do make a huge difference in boot times. 8GB of ram really is a minimum for a general purpose machine but you can get away with 4GB if you are just doing web browsing, work processing and the like.

Just remember the more RAM then the more space the page file will take up

Sorry Gents, posted a topic and didnt reply.
But just ordered Crucial M500 120GB Sata 6gbps 2.5" SSD. Memory to come once iv been paid

64-bit is definately worth it. Multitasking heaven! As soon as its booted, BOOM, instant internet.