Best Of

@Sonorous said:
TLDR; Because budget.

Uh, is the number one item on @BobbyDigi list not harddrive. @Tushon already listed one build that was at $377 with a 500GB SSD but everything else people have suggested is lower. If there is a need to upgrade why do what people have been doing for a couple years so far instead of moving forward. Install all your software on the SSD and dump just pure media and backups on the HDD, that is where everything is going.

I go as far to say if the budget allows you to buy the core parts but not a large SSD, buy the SSD and then wait for the rest. The harddrive is the primary issue here. If his machine is running fine except for load times and slow failure then replace the issue part first with forward tech not current. Use that and when you have the money a little later buy the correct parts for the remainder of your list. The Trion drive is twice the price for twice the storage. Digi already stated he wanted to get beyond having the 1 game installed scenario.

Even a low end TLC SSD like the OCV Trion will out perform the SSHD I listed. That said, I've installed the SSHD in single drive systems where that was the right option for the client, and I'm pleased with them. Having that extra solid state cache is a big performance aid. You just have to weigh it in your budget, plus there is a certain convenience factor to just running a single large drive especially if you are working in a case with limited upgrade space.

When I buy SSD's I'm about 100% sure I'll buy a Crucial MX200 now. Good price for MLC drives that offer superior voltage stability vs. the low end TLC competition. I've purchased a number of Crucial MX SSD's and I'm really pleased with how they have held up. Have yet to have one fail. I can't say that for a few cheap TLC drives that I rolled the bones on.

@_k said:
Why are we talking about 200 GB range SSDs? Jump it up to 480+ and just live on that drive.

TLDR; Because budget.

Why are we talking about 200 GB range SSDs? Jump it up to 480+ and just live on that drive.

Buy My Shit™

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820228135&cm_re=TRION100--20-228-135--Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820228134&cm_re=TRION100--20-228-134--Product

^ exactly this. I have Windows and TF2 and Photoshop installed on my measly 120gb SSD. The rest of my steam library and wow and stuff that isn't so dependent on load times is on my 2tb spinner.

Result? Me and Ninja sitting in the MvM spawn room almost instantly while waiting for everyone else to load up.

If you have a 256GB drive, you can tell steam to default to porn drive and only install certain games to the SSD (either my most used or currently playing). I've got windows and a few games installed on main SSD, everything else is on extra HDDs.

@BobbyDigi said:
I appreciate the RealTalk™. It's why I love you guys and why I started this thread here, but I am pretty sure I had this convo already. Granted it was probably during MVM so maybe I didn't communicate my concern properly. I fail to see how installing Windows to a "tiny" SSD will help TF2 booting from my 1TB "porn" drive. What am I missing here?

I know I have an SSD in my residence somewhere, I believe it is a 256GB even. A few configurations back I had windows installed to the SSD but I did not have a secondary drive so I ran into space issues. I wanted to have more than 1 game installed at a time so I went with everything installed to the 1TB drive configuration. I'll search some more and if I can not find it I may take you up on the offer there Signal . That is super awesome of you to offer.

You would move games and apps you want to load fast (now normal) to the SSD. A 128gig drive should hold windows and a handful of games and apps without a problem. I started with 128gigs of SSD glory and as soon as I got a taste for dat speed I never looked back. You'll have to read a few guides on SSD optimization and take a few steps to help shrink the Windows install. Typically you can go from a 40gig install to 20. That leave you about 90-95gigs for games and stuff.

Realer Talk has never been spoken on this site.

If there were a "super serious real talk do not pass go do not collect $200 don't do anything but this" button, I would have pressed that too.