I tripped over some money!

[Optix]

Well, I didn't really trip over it so much as I was given a bonus at work in the form of a card that I can redeem for a gift card from different stores. Immediately my head goes straight to something for my rig.

What to do?

I could go with a new processor but anything worth while above my i3 530 is too pricey, plus at 4.2Ghz it's doing just fine. I could go with another video card to run Crossfire but my board will knock the 2nd card down to x4. I could go with a solid state drive...hey, now. That sounds fun.

I'm thinking I'd go with a 60GB drive since by the time you finish loading the OS, drivers, the usual applications and such a 30GB would be pretty much ready to pop. Any suggestions on budget drives that will give good performance on the cheap since I'd likely end up having to pay what the card didn't cover?

Another option would be to check out the rig in my signature and see if there is anything that you would upgrade so I'm certainly open to suggestions but keep in mind my budget would be about $100 so I'd end up having to pay the rest.

 

[Rob Williams]

To be honest, given the GPU you are using and the resolution you're gaming at, I think an SSD is absolutely the best choice here. It'll improve the performance of your PC in a way that a CPU will be unable to. It's interesting you mention this quandry though, because we'll be publishing an article within a month that takes a look at some budget SSDs. I'll point Robert toward this thread as he'll no doubt have far better recommendations than me for what to choose.

60GB sounds good to me though, I wouldn't go lower, because you'll find yourself juggling things around a lot. I'm using an 80GB partition now which is prepping me for when I move to an SSD, and I find that I am already having to work around the lack of space.

 

[Optix]

Sounds like a plan. I was thinking about splitting my bonus down the middle with my wife but she just found out she's getting one of twelve bitchin' bonus gifts from her work so I may have all the cash to myself and step up to a higher density or maybe a higher performing drive.

I was thinking of the Kingston SSD Now V-Series but may go with an OCZ unit since they tend to be screamers.

 

[Kougar]

Hmm, well as usual pricing outside the US is different. But looking around at a few sites here were the better deals I noticed. I'm open to other brands, but apparently OCZ seems to be the lowest outside the US right now. Corsair models were on average $10 more.

OCZ Vertex 2 60GB $109 AMIR
OCZ Vertex 2 90GB $179 AMIR
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB $204 AMIR

Just find the price you're after, these were the best deals at a given capacity that I saw after settling with Newegg.ca

 

[Optix]

Well here is what I have found so far (name, read, write, sustained, price, in/out of stock).

Future Shop

Kingston V-Series = 250 r, 145 w, n/a sustained, $119, in stock
OCZ Vertex+ = 255 R, 150 W, 110 sustained, $119, out of stock
OCZ Agility 2 = 280 R, 270 W, 200 sustained, $139, out of stock

Amazon

Corsair V64 Nova = 270 R, 195 W, n/a sustained, $139, in stock

 

[DarkStarr]

Nice but seriously, my main partition is only 100 gb and of that about 40 are used (windows forces the hibernation file on there and the page file is on there too so without the page file its only 30 gb used). Part of it is my programs are on another drive so that's basically only windows, if I got an SSD I would probably leave it how it is but possibly move the adobe stuff to it.

 

[Optix]

If the Agility 2 comes back in stock I'm going to get it. Awesome performance on par in some instances with Intel.

 

[Kougar]

Hey Optix, any news here? I've been out of the forums for a bit, but just let me know here if you're still looking/deciding on anything as I'm happy to help.

 

[Optix]

I found a 60GB Mushkin Callisto Deluxe for $169 at Future Shop and Newegg.ca has it on for $124 so I think I'll get them to price match -10%. I'll still have some cash left over and might pick up Lego Universe but I'm in a holding pattern until this gift cars arrive. Silly postal system!

***EDIT: Forget Lego Universe. Looks like I'll be going for the 80GB Intel since after the price match and tax it should come to less than $2 more than what the cards are for. 20GB more space, slightly less performance than the Mushkin drive.

 

[Optix]

Well, I finally received the gift cards and the 80GB Intel drive went up in price on the other website so price matching is out of the question. Now I'm left with the 60GB Mushkin Callisto Deluxe or OCZ Agility 2. Both have the same theoretical max read/write. I doubt I'd notice any real difference between the two.

Any suggestions eithe rway?

***SCRATCH THAT! The Mushkin drive is out of stock. Looks like it's OCZ.

 

[Rob Williams]

I wish I had some great suggestions, but I'm a bit of an SSD n00biephile since I haven't been keeping up on things. The Agility 2 looks like a great drive, though.

 

[Optix]

Well, now the Mushkin is back in stock. I'm sure real world performance differences between the two drive will be trivial and I'm sure to notice a HUGE boost regardless of the drive. The biggest problem I have now is, and you won't believe this, I'm out of SATA cables! Ha!

 

[Rob Williams]

Oh gee, if only you knew someone who probably has a hundred of those lying around. *ponders*

 

[Optix]

I may have to raid said person's stash if possible. I guess I must have given too many away in builds using OEM DVD and hard drives.

 

[Rob Williams]

I'll go ahead and raid the "tech closet" and have them for the next time you drop by.

 

[Optix]

So I'm all set to pull the trigger on the Mushkin drive and call Future Shop today to see about them price matchng the same drive found on Newegg for cheaper. It turns out they won't touch it because there's a rebate attached to it. I figure "Ok, whatever. I'll just bite the bullet."

Lots of gun metaphores in this post...

Anyway I sign in, put the drive in my cart, head on down the virtual checkout and BAM! You can only enter two gift cards online. It turns out I have to go to the store, combine them and THEN place the order.

It wouldn't be so bad if the item was available in store but it's only online so now I have to drive over town, deal with someone who probably wants to be there as much as I do and then drive all the way home and place the order.

I'll buy your damned drive, Future Shop but you're off my Christmas card list!

 

[Kougar]

Well, both drives use the same Sandforce controller so as long as you use the latest firmware you won't see any differences between those drives! Just make sure to flash the latest firmware before you do anything else to the drive http://www.mushkin.com/Digital-Storage/SSDs/MKNSSDCL60GB.aspx

That's a rather silly rule about gift cards, because when dealing with technology prices are going to usually be pretty high. Sounds more like they want to force multiple orders for people that can't use all their cards at once...

 

[Optix]

The only difference between the two is that the Mushkin drive uses tweaked firmware that give 50,000 IOPS. I'm not sure if that's marketing fluff or if it will really make a real world difference.

Oh well. It was free!

 

[Kougar]

Actually, the IOPS on both the Callisto and Agility 2 are rated at 10,000 sustained... don't let the burst speeds throw ya.

Except for the Vertex 2 which got a special agreement with Sandforce, everyone's using the same firmware supplied from Sandforce. The Vertex 2 also uses a firmware from Sandforce, but the firmware was for the SF-1500 and has the data caps removed to let it run at full speed. Even then the boost isn't really that much, it's just more important to use the latest Sandforce firmware the manufacturer offers as those can provide measurable differences.

 

[Optix]

Sorry, I should have mentioned it is the Callisto Deluxe. Fancy!

*pinky finger up*