Upgrading to SSD

[mouldeeves]

I'm still stuck on Vista (I know right) and I'm finally going to upgrade to Windows 7! I'm also making the jump form 32 bit to 64 bit. As I'm going to need to do a fresh install I thought now would also be the time to upgrade to an SSD for the OS and any other important stuff.

My PC is getting on a bit now but when I built it it was at least alright. I have 4gb DDR2 Corsair Dominator, an Asus P5K mobo and an Intel E6750 core 2 duo processor.

I have several questions:

Will the SSD be compatible with all those parts?
Should I upgrade any of it to get the best performance from an SSD?
What SSD do you recommend? I'm not looking for huge memory and want to keep the cost down.
Should it all be pretty straightforward using an SSD for the OS alongside a 500gb Spinpoint F1 for all the other stuff?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is my first upgrade in some time and I really want to get it right!

 

[xerolen]

Well in order to utilize the SSD and the OS as a whole, when using 64-Bit, you should upgrade to DDR3 RAM at the very least. How big of an SSD are you getting and from who?

 

[carnageX]

Well in order to utilize the SSD and the OS as a whole, when using 64-Bit, you should upgrade to DDR3 RAM at the very least. How big of an SSD are you getting and from who?

Why is it necessary to upgrade to DDR3 to utilize an SSD? I don't see the reasoning for that at all..

And if he were to upgrade to DDR3, since he's still running an e6750 (which is on a motherboard with DDR2), he would have to upgrade his CPU, motherboard, and RAM. None of that will matter for an SSD unless its on a super-slow system. The e6750 is aging, yes, but it's still not bad.

 

[tj_extreme]

Well in order to utilize the SSD and the OS as a whole, when using 64-Bit, you should upgrade to DDR3 RAM at the very least. How big of an SSD are you getting and from who?

How is the DDR3 going to make a difference? Care to elaborate? Especially when his motherboard doesn't support DDR3? Please, do a minute of research before you reply with a stupid comment and confuse people.

OP: Your motherboard only has SATA 2, so here's the SSD I'd suggest:

Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

120GB is plenty for Win7 x64 and your games/programs.

 

[mouldeeves]

Thanks for your help!

I've had a look at your suggestions and also done some more digging myself, any thoughts on this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-OCZSSD2...5JCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342296339&sr=8-1

I'm looking for reasonable performance and 60gb would probably do, if its pretty much only the OS on there, maybe a few games. Its pretty cheap at under £50 as well, would it be a good buy?

 

[tj_extreme]

Same one I suggested, just half the size. It'll work fine. :cheers:

 

[strollin]

An ssd is probably the best possible upgrade to the system you have. You'll be amazed at how fast your computer will boot and how fast programs load from disk. That 60G drive you linked to will work but I think you will regret it if you don't get at least a 120G like the one tj_extreme linked to.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I run from a OCZ Vertex 60GB. I have almost half it full. Just install everything on an external drive.

 

[Tangolima600]

Ive heard a couple posts from people that have problems installing images they made prior to upgrading to an SSD. Is there anything I need to know if my intent to save an image (Arcronis) of my current system and dump the image on an upgraded SSD?

 

[strollin]

You shouldn't have any real problems unless the image is greater than the size of the ssd. Also, you may need to adjust the partition "alignment" for max performance. Here's how to check if alignment is needed: http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/checking_ssd_alignment

If alignment is needed, here is one possible way (there are others, google is your friend): Paragon Paragon Alignment Tool - Overview