I am also looking to get a SSD not that they can be had for a reasonable price. What's the minimum size i would need to do a Win 7 install with several work suits from MS and Adobe, plus all the otehr commonly used stuff like itumes and Chrome. Will 120GB be allright or do i need to get at least a 240? Will the brand really matter with SSD? Also, should I use it as a cache drive for Adobe stuff for those familiar with the CS5? I have a 500GB system drive right now taht is nearly full, and i swear my personal folders do not exceed 200GB. I can't believe I have 300GB of system files. I tried cleaning the Adobe cache directory (from inside the CS5, not manually), and setting up a different drive to do any future caching. I remember Noen mentioned something about Windows cache files not being completely removed by the OS and the only way to clean that up being a full reformat/reinstall?

9/6/2012 2:05:00 PM

I'm good with a 120GB SSD. I've simply loaded my OS and a few resource intensive applications to it and leave my personal files on a traditional 1TB hard drive. This has worked really well for me. Honestly, I can't believe I hadn't bought an SSD sooner.

9/6/2012 2:41:55 PM

120GB should be fine for anything other than media storage. I keep linking here, it's a great resource:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-recommendation-benchmark,3269.html

9/6/2012 3:24:56 PM

ocz vertex 4 512GB ssd for $399 on newegg right now
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227820

9/6/2012 3:40:05 PM

Tiger Direct had the OCZ Vortex 3 120 gig for 60 bucks yesterday (which partially prompted this inquiery)

Okay so the next question is, what’s the best way to make my current system hard drive into a data-only drive, once I get the fresh install going on the SSD? I want to keep all my documents and pre-sets, but get rid of everything else. Should I just make it non-bootable and then delete stuff manually, or is there a better way? I have two user profiles, if that makes any difference


[Edited on September 6, 2012 at 4:32 PM. Reason : .]

9/6/2012 4:09:04 PM

that's a good drive - I've got 3 of them. make sure to update the firmware

9/6/2012 4:19:26 PM

It was $50 today on newegg, but it went OOS uber fast for obvious reasons.

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/79592/newegg-120gb-ocz-vertex-3-2.5-sata-iii-mlc-internal-solid-state-drive-ssd-vtx325sat3120g

I picked up the 120gb Vertex 2 for $43 last month and so far I like it, but I just have it as a spare drive, not MBR. I just put 2-3 games on it, adobe then use the rest as a scratch disk for premier pro. Since I keep my PC on 24/7, I see no need to redo the OS.

Just to note, since SSD prices have been dropping like crazy, not just OCZ brands, I'd hold off on buying anything bigger than a 120GB drive since large capacity drives should be hitting .5/GB mark or below as well.

9/6/2012 5:16:25 PM

Agility 4 128GB for $55 AR on amazon right now

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-2-5-Inch-Max-IOPS--AGT4-25SAT3-128G/dp/B007ZWVCOY

9/6/2012 7:31:17 PM

Bought!

[Edited on September 6, 2012 at 9:05 PM. Reason : Thanks Jeff, checked earlier but didn't see this deal]

9/6/2012 9:04:12 PM

np, good cheap SSD's. btw, Vertex 3 is back at newegg for $50 AR this morning. Probably won't last once people wake up in 2-3 hours and check at their work place... lol

9/7/2012 6:11:49 AM

Ok so the drive has arrived. Since i have some space to spare, and will need to re-install everything from scratch, I am considering a dual-boot, Windows 7 will be one, since that's what i'm using now, and for the second one I am torn between Windows 8 preview and Mac OS X. I really have more of a need for the Mac OS, so I can kick my mac proficiency level up a notch. It doesn't have to have full functionality, just work well enough for me to monkey around. I have an XPS Studio 9100, does anyone have any experience in running Mac OS on XPS desktops? How should I partition the hard drive? I assume that Mac OS will not be able to use my data (photos, videos etc) from my NTFS partitioned storage drives? Is this even a good idea or am I just wasting my SSD space/jeopardizing my other data?

9/10/2012 2:31:07 PM

If you want to mess around with OSX just install it in a VM in Windows 7. After I sold my last Macbook Pro that's what I did. Never end up running it anymore though.

9/10/2012 2:51:24 PM

Won't that significantly slow down my graphics performance while running OS X? I want to be able to learn some Mac-only media-heavy packages, such as Final Cut and QLab

9/10/2012 3:30:14 PM

No. VM won't slow down your graphics performance, but it will eat through your RAM since you are essentially running two OS' at the same time.

Just install win7. Win 8 has been nothing but trouble with the prebuilt version thus far for me and I'm pretty sure most VM software won't run smoothly on win8 anyhow. Go with neodata686's suggestion and use VM for an OSX since you would be using it sparingly. Not really worth the hassle to do a dual boot for the few instances you need to play with OSX unless you don't have the necessary hardware resources to run VM's on your XPS.


And Final Cut is crap... If anything, I'd jump ship to Sony Vegas Pro 11 for a nice video editor with a full gpu hardware support, with tons of 3rd party plug-in support; similar to that of Adobe Premier. But what keeps me with adobe is the great integration of Premier and After Effects, even though both are bloat software.

9/11/2012 10:12:27 PM

Ok then maybe I'll be fine, cause I got 12 gigs of it.

Yeah I have no plans to abandon CS5 for the same reasons you mentioned. I'm just tired of looking like a dumbass every time I need to hop onto someone's Mac. Also somehow for most paid editing gigs proficiency in Final Cut is required, even if you are doing editing on your own machine I think some people in the field equate it to being able to read or somethig

9/12/2012 9:49:08 AM

Quote :

"I'm just tired of looking like a dumbass every time I need to hop onto someone's Mac."

Its ok, just tell them you'd rather not look like a tool... Its against your religion...

And besides, Final Cut is really no different than any other video editing tool. If you are proficient with adobe premier, then you should be able to hop on and work with Final Cut just as good; shortcuts are different, but principles are the same. Don't get me wrong, Final Cut is decent, but I find it behind the times now until they update it to be competitive with Adobe Premier and Sony Vegas.

At least with Premier, your projects can be used on both platforms without issues, just have to make sure the drive partition can be used with OSX and Windows.

9/12/2012 1:14:44 PM

Mac not really against my religion, just against my budget Next laptop will probably be a Mac. Yeah I can use Mac and Final Cut, but I need to be fluent in it, so I can sit down in front of a Mac workstation and work it LIKE A BOSS

9/12/2012 1:23:13 PM

Just tell them your a pro and you do all your video captures and editing on an iPad...

If you are doing a desktop, just build yourself a hackintosh. Way cheaper and you get a much more powerful setup.

9/12/2012 1:27:46 PM

Haha I diddo some editing on the ipad (captures clips form 60D in the field with camera connection kit)

I already have a built desktop, and I'm OK with windows 7 environment for now. Although it is still said to see the OS slow down over time and see my hard drive space eaten up by mistery files. Like you said, price was a deciding factor, as I built it for probably a third of the cost of a comparable Mac Pro. Looks like i'll be running macOS in VMware as opposed to a true hackintosh and save up for a MB Pro in the meantime.

9/12/2012 1:38:55 PM

OWC SSD all the way!

9/15/2012 10:48:27 PM

128GB toshiba (MLC) for $72 after 10% v.me checkout discount using code VME10BTS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820168062

8/21/2013 9:09:49 AM

I guess imma get crucial m500

12/14/2013 11:22:27 AM

I should upgrade to a faster more modern ssd, but I'd like to get a 1tb though

12/15/2013 6:06:34 PM

^^http://slickdeals.net/f/6561442-crucial-m500-480gb-274

Quote :

"Crucial M500 480GB = $274"

12/16/2013 1:23:50 PM

we have some of the vertex 3 drives at work, and we havent had an issue since the firmware has been updated.

I wouldnt buy anything super new from OCZ, because who knows about support. For work related drives i've been buying samsung or intel as of late.

12/17/2013 7:41:43 AM

Samsung 840 series is da shit. Just grabbed the 840 EVO 256GB for a friend's build last week. I'd so like a few of them for my own.

12/17/2013 5:31:41 PM

i read the crucial m500 is cheaper for larger capacities. cant really be sure since the prices for thing be different here

12/17/2013 8:17:19 PM