Upgrade to SSD question

[Vdub90]

Hello. Currently I'm running a raid 0 configuration on an Asus Maximus III Formula board with Windows 7. I'd like to upgrade to an SSD to be used as a boot drive. My question is can I use a single SSD with my current raid set up? Is there anything special I need to to, or can I just plug the drive in and everything will work?

Also should I install a new copy of 7 on the SSD then erase it off the raid? Or can I plug in the SSD go into windows and move 7 over to the the SSD (is that even possible?). If I have to go the route of erasing it off the raid, will that mess up the programs I have on the raid?

Thanks.

[MarkOne]

You have a nice motherboard and a nice question too. and quite on time I say something also this morning in another post about some concern using raid with SSD. At least the interaction the Intel raid bios can have on them

Let see what our expert have to say

Originally Posted by Vdub90

.Or can I plug in the SSD go into windows and move 7 over to the the SSD (is that even possible?).Thanks.

to this want I can say no. You way better to do a fresh install on it. SSD use different way to deal with the allocation of the files on them.....it's the most I can go on it, AkG is far better than me to explain it

[Vdub90]

Thanks for the reply. I would definetly do a fresh install of 7 on the SSD. If I set the SSD as boot, would the version of 7 on the raid mess with anything?

[AkG]

If you are doing a fresh install...which I would. I would unplug the RAID'ed drives...heck ALL hard drives but the SSD to make sure windows doesnt install anything important unto one of the other drives. Would really suck if when you break you raid (for example) and the OS no longer works. Thats how I do it, regardless of SSD or HDD is the drive being installed to. Plenty of time afterwards to add back the raid afterwards ;)

[Vdub90]

Originally Posted by AkG

If you are doing a fresh install...which I would. I would unplug the RAID'ed drives...heck ALL hard drives but the SSD to make sure windows doesnt install anything important unto one of the other drives. Would really suck if when you break you raid (for example) and the OS no longer works. Thats how I do it, regardless of SSD or HDD is the drive being installed to. Plenty of time afterwards to add back the raid afterwards ;)

Thanks. So if I unplug the raided disks, and install on the ssd. When I plug the raided disks back in they will still be recognized as a raid and the ssd seperate?

I have installed 7 about 4 times now, and I just want to cover all the bases that I won't end up losing all my data again. Re-installing all my programs,games in particular, damn you Wow. lol.

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by Vdub90

Thanks. So if I unplug the raided disks, and install on the ssd. When I plug the raided disks back in they will still be recognized as a raid and the ssd seperate?

I have installed 7 about 4 times now, and I just want to cover all the bases that I won't end up losing all my data again. Re-installing all my programs,games in particular, damn you Wow. lol.

SSD will be worth it. Make sure you get a SSD that supports TRIM, update the firmware if required, and then as mentioned, do a fresh install with Windows 7.

Which SSD supports TRIM? Pick some in your price range and post on here and the real experts (not me) will help you pretty quickly.

[AkG]

Originally Posted by Vdub90

Thanks. So if I unplug the raided disks, and install on the ssd. When I plug the raided disks back in they will still be recognized as a raid and the ssd seperate?

I have installed 7 about 4 times now, and I just want to cover all the bases that I won't end up losing all my data again. Re-installing all my programs,games in particular, damn you Wow. lol.

Cant see why that wont work. BUT it has been a loooooong time since I ran software Raid for data only storage (as C drive level of importance I always back up multiple times via Acronis!). Someone else might be able to answer that better than I can. But if I was really worried about the data, I would make an image of it with acronis and back that up to my NAS, external enclosure, another hdd or even to DVDs. Then you would be sure the data is safe come hell or high water ;)

[Vdub90]

Originally Posted by AkG

Cant see why that wont work. BUT it has been a loooooong time since I ran software Raid for data only storage (as C drive level of importance I always back up multiple times via Acronis!). Someone else might be able to answer that better than I can. But if I was really worried about the data, I would make an image of it with acronis and back that up to my NAS, external enclosure, another hdd or even to DVDs. Then you would be sure the data is safe come hell or high water ;)

I'm not to worried about the data. I've done it a bunch of times before just takes a while sorting through getting all my programs loaded again more of a pain than anything.

I was thinking one of these 2 for the drive
NCIX.com - Buy Intel X25-M 80GB 34NM Postville 2.5IN SSD SATA Solid State Disk Flash Drive - SSDSA2MH080G2C1 In Canada.
NCIX.com - Buy G.SKILL Falcon II 128GB Indilinx Eco 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD W/ 64MB Buffer - FM-25S2I-128GBF2 In Canada.

[gingerbee]

out of those ssd i would pick the first one

[AkG]

The X25M gen 2 by a WIDE margin would be my first pick IF 80GB's is enough room for you. The X25m gen 2 is a enthusiast grade / "flagship" model. The F2 is a more mid tier model.