Basically is it the right time to get myself an SSD? Is it the cost effective way to go for me? Storage isnt an issue for me. I have 160gig and currently only using 16 of it.

My latest piece of crap computer has been playing up so i've decided to TRY and put a new one together ideally building it around an SSD. Anything over 60gig is going to be more then sufficient for my uses so I think its the right time for me to purchase one or am I being a bit premiture?

Also if i get one.

a) What do I need to do to optimise the SSD? ie RAM heavy very rig.

b) What manufactor should I be looking at? Intel, OC, other

c) What price range is most cost effective atm

Thanks

I don't think it's the right time for desktop users. Modern hard disk drives with high data density are pretty fast. Note that a 2 platter, 1TB 7200rpm HDD will kill any 1 or 2 platter 160GB 7200rpm HDD performance-wise.

I'm basically saying, your HDD is likely v slow, you'll get a huge performance bump by upgrading to a larger drive, without paying a huge amount of $ per GB of storage (as with an SSD).

Different story for laptop owners, at least imo.

a.) Not much on the hardware side, assuming your computer is relatively new (no more than 2-3 years old).

b.) SSDs vary v widely in quality, many of the cheaper ones are, essentially, garbage. Intel, Samsung, and manufacturers that put their own brand name on Intel/Samsung drives are good.

c.) Around 80GB-128GB with prices of $320+.

Thanks dude, I am looking at getting an Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB for £252.99 which is about $405, if i do get one, that is.

But thinking about it I might give it some time. I am really undecided atm eitherway I am upgrading my pc and would love to have myself an SSD in it but maybe xmas will be a better time to get one.

Would the X25-M Mainstream be reliable? (as far as SSDs go)

What cheaper equivalent other models are there?

The Intel X25-M is a very good choice. I would just go for it if I were you, if you look around on other forums everyone who has actually got one is very happy with it. In contrast to people that haven't tried an SSD as OS drive.

FYI, I bought OCZ Vertex 60GB few months back and I will never go back to conventional HDD for my OS+psql.

Intel X25-M is your best option if it has to be an SSD.

Oh, forget to mention above that while there's no need to change anything on the hardware side (given a reasonably new PC), your SSD will run better on a brand-new OS such as Windows 7. This is not so much an issue for an SSD with a top-notch controller and large cache such as the X25-M. But life expectancy and performance of cheap SSDs might be greatly reduced on legacy OSs.

SSDs suffer from slowdown. Their initial read/writes are great, but the drives become fragmented and can eventually perform as low as 25% of the manufacturers listed speeds. There is no current defrag software, so the only way to return the drive to initial performance is to format.

Considering the price per GB, and a shelf life of 5-10 years, I would think buying an SSD for a desktop makes little sense for most users.