SSD questions
 

hi all

im about to buy mine first ssd from newegg and want to know whats the best 256gb ssd in the $200-$250 price rang? i also want to know is there a way to put win7 on the ssd and use it to boot but still keep everything that i have on my 500gb hdd.


pc spec
ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68
Intel Core i5-2500K oc to 4.5ghz
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600
Western Digital Caviar Blue
win7 64-bit
COOLER MASTER HAF 912
CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro
CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W GOLD

Corsair Neutron GTX or Corsair Force GS. Either are insanely fast. Both are in your price range. The new LAMB controller in the neutron GTX is a beast, but the firmware is still rough around the edges. In the long term its the best. Force GS uses a controller with mature firmware. Update it to 5.03 and you probably will never HAVE to update the firmware again. It too is a beast...just not as fast. But it is cheaper by about 50 bucks.

Cant go wrong with either.

As for your question...install the OS to the SSD...and install the programs to the HDD (ie do a custom install and 'point' the installed to the 'd' drive).

Newegg.com - Corsair Neutron Series GTX CSSD-N240GBGTX-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series GS CSSD-F240GBGS-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I think the Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB is still worth mentioning. It is also a lot cheaper, ~$170

Its good. But it uses older gen Toggle Mode NAND. If the OP wants to step down a performance level from the two I mentioned....s/he would be much better off spending the extra ten bucks over the older Chronos Deluxe and getting the SanDisk Extreme. It goes usually in the 180 range.

but its FW does not support TRIM ATM AFAIK... The 5.0.1 FW that the SanDisk Extreme 240GB comes with has broken TRIM.

No recommendation for the Samsung 840 series?

The 840 only hit the market yesterday'ish. I have high hopes for it....but its a little early to tell.

5.0.1...meh. SannyD like all mfgers either are prepping or have out 5.0.x firmware fix out. Its a short...SHORT term issue only. Hardly worth avoiding a drive over.

I recently got a 240gb Corsair Force GS. Worth every penny I got. Nice to be able to finally play Civ 5 with 18 civ and the game not come to a standstill after 250+ turns.