After careful consideration, including a review of this Tom’s Hardware article, and consultation with my friend Rip, who made a similar purchase last year, I finally sprang for a solid-state drive for my desktop PC. I went with the 128 GB Crucial drive, and just spent the last 8 hours or so installing it. (Breakdown of time required: installation of drive = 3 minutes; reinstallation of Windows and all of my software = 7.95 hours).
But so worth it—this thing is fast! With approximately the same software installed, my Windows 7 start time has dropped from a minimum of 3:11 or so before the upgrade to right around 1:30 now. More importantly the computer feels faster, more noticeably than it did, for example, after my last processor upgrade. I moved my data directories and my sizable Steam games directory onto a spinning drive (following Keith Survell’s instructions here), leaving ample room on the SSD for Windows and my other programs. Every time I run an application, I find myself smiling as it pops open so much faster than expected. Hey, when you spend as much time in front of a keyboard as I do, believe me, these things matter.
Great upgrade.
brenthawthorne
David Gaw
reviewsbyrussell
Rip Rowan