Assassin's Simple/Beginner HTPC Buying Guide - Page 420

I'll ask the same question of you snice you seem to have a history here .

Honest answers not the #an boy stuff

That aint good my friend So sorry to here that . Could you share the exact model # if it's not to much trouble ?

Yep you be right !!! .. I guess i'll just swap out the connectors when I get the mobo & case
the 300 was $45 shipped each time i got one, the last was the 300 with the blue LED fans agin $45

What are you asking ?

I guess I'll chime in on hardware. I think my Crucial M4 65GB SSD is going bad.

I started getting the BSOD 1-2 hours after the HTPC had been on (didn't matter what programs were running). When the HTPC would restart the BIOS would not see the SSD and I'd get a MSTRBOOT record not found error. I'd have to completely turn off the HTPC (switch on back of PSU) then turn it back on. It would then recognize the SSD no problem and bootup WIN7. After 1-2 hours BSOD.

Changed out SATA cable, used a different cable from the PSU, and tried different SATA ports on the mobo. Still BSOD 1-2 hours later.

Had to make a copy to a 500GB HDD and create a new MSTRBOOT record on it and I am running fine for 3 days now on the mechanical HDD.

Anyone know a good way to troubleshoot SSD's? I had loaded the latest firmware to it back last September. I know SSD's have a certain lifespan when it comes to read & writes, but it is only 8 months old and this problem seems different.

I just did a fresh install of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit and was going back through Assassin's guides to do the Shark07 codec settings. The guide says that checking the box to disable Microsoft codecs on the Swap tab did not break live tv (Ceton). I'm using a HD Homerun Prime and when I did this, WMC would not let me watch TV (was working before codecs). Anyone else have this problem? Is it specific to the HD Homerun Prime, or just me?. I'm going direct from my HTPC to my TV via HDMI, latest Intel drivers (i3-2100t).

Also, on a separate topic, my splash screen no longer says Windows Media Center, just shows the green button. Not sure what happened there. Any ideas? I'm thinking about removing WMC and reinstalling. Not sure it really matters though.

this thing any good ?

http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-2-5-I...4711645&sr=8-1

or this ??
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-SSDNo...4711645&sr=8-3

this looks good ==>http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-In...4712091&sr=1-6

It was the GA-H55M-USB3.

There is a few programs that you can test and bench mark your ssd.

First I would double check your firmware because Crucial M4's are notorious for having crashes around 5000 hours without the latest firmware.

Yup. I got two of those Sammy's too

I was not criticizing only informing him. It's true, his solution to his problem might just be a firmware fix.

I was trying to hide my dislike for the M4's... and being nice. lol.

My suggestion was meant with the purest of heart to help him.

What are you trying to get ? An SSD?

What is your budget?

Do you need the transfer kit? I would recommend against that if at all possible.

so what is everyone's opinion on which SSD is the best .. trying to pick yer minds here ..

Depends on budget and intended use.

I use a Vertex3 MAX IOPS. I would recommend it. It's one of the highest performing 120GB drives out. Doubt there is many faster.

Patriot Wildfire is another good one.

Or the Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB.

Those are probably the best three 120GB SSD's IMO.

They are probably better than most other brand 240GB or 256GB models. (SSD's get faster as they get bigger so rule of thumb is bigger drives are better drives.)

Here is a good resource:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rk,3139-6.html

Samsung for me strictly for boot time. In my setups the Samsung boots about 15 seconds flat...

The normal Vertex3 was recently on sale for $109. That's a great drive for that price. It's fast, and the price is right.

There is a split between most SSD buyers between the Sandforce based drives and the others.

Some feel the Sandforce is not a good option because they needed a firmware update when first released, and that a very small percentage have issues with certain hardware combos that is difficult to reproduce in testing.

Seems like most the issue have been worked out months ago. Personally I own 12 of these and love them. Never had an issue.

Usually people that don't like Sandforce drives go for Marvel controllers and SSD's like the Crucial M4's. Most M4 owners hate Sandforce and OCZ, it's this strange oil and water thing.

Now the Crucial have the same issue of needing a firmware update. Not a big deal either. But the general idea they are more reliable is total BS in my opinion.

I think both Marvel and Sandforce drives are good. And real world performance it would be tough to tell much difference between any of them. The Sandforce do benchmark and test better in most tests - but the Crucial is good at compressed data tests.

None of that really matters.

You would be happy with anything you choose.

Intel has long been believed to be the most reliable. But they are also the slowest and lowest performing for a long time too.

recently Intel has come out with a Sandforce Drive like the OCZ, Patriot Wildfire and others... but with Intel's stamp of approval and firmware. Intel tested a long time to ensure reliability - and charges for such with a much higher price tag. But it's nice to know you can buy the higher performance coupled with a name like Intel and a 5 year warranty for piece of mind.

I still go with the cheaper ones, they work just as well IMO for less cost.
If my $109 Vertex3 120GB broke in a year or two.. I probably would just buy a faster larger one for $99. That's how these things work anyways.

But- I do own 13 total SSD's and I have never had a major issue except swapping out a 64GB Crucial M4 that was buggy. I bought it on Black Friday deal for $79 (cheap then). It's not my favorite for sure, but I won't totally trash it.

I could see many owners being happy with it. I tend to think I had bad luck.

Hope that helps.


Samsung is a good choice for someone who decides they don't want the high performance of a Sandforce for whatever concern they might have.

Indeed, I would recommend the Samsung to anyone who decides they don't want a Sandforce based drive.

It's better than the Marvel drives like the M4's IMO.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rk,3139-6.html

SSD Performance Hierarchy Chart

Tier 1
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240 GB
Patriot WildFire 240 GB
Samsung 830 SSD 256 GB
Other 240 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Toggle NAND
Tier 2
Adata S511 240 GB
Corsair Force GT 240 GB
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 240 GB
Other 240 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Sync ONFi NAND
Tier 3
Crucial m4 256 GB
Intel SSD 510 250 GB
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120 GB
Patriot WildFire 120 GB
Samsung 830 SSD 128 GB
Other 120 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Toggle NAND
Tier 4
Corsair Force 3 240 GB
OCZ Agility 3 240 GB
Patriot Pyro 240 GB
Other 240 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Async ONFi NAND
Tier 5
Intel SSD 510 120 GB
Crucial m4 128 GB
Tier 6 Adata S511 120 GB
Corsair Force GT 120 GB
Kingston HyperX SSD 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB
Samsung 470 SSD 256 GB
Other 120 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Sync ONFi NAND
Tier 7
OCZ Agility 2 240 GB
OCZ Vertex 2 240 GB
Tier 8
Corsair Force 3 120 GB
Intel SSD 320 300 GB
OCZ Agility 3 120 GB
OCZ Solid 3 120 GB
Patriot Pyro 120 GB
Samsung 470 SSD 128 GB
Other 120 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Async ONFi NAND
Tier 9
Corsair Force 3 60 GB
Crucial m4 64 GB
Kingston SSDNow V+100 128 GB
Intel SSD 320 160 GB
OCZ Agility 3 60 GB
Patriot Pyro 60 GB
Other 60 GB second-gen SandForce SSDs with Async ONFi NAND
Tier 10
Intel SSD 320 80 GB
OCZ Agility 2 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB
OCZ Solid 3 60 GB
Other 120 GB first-gen SandForce SSDs

Even the crappiest performing SSD is still a Corvette.

I only installed the codec packs listed in your guides. Prior to installing the Shark007 codec pack I went back through your guides to make sure I'd uninstalled all of them. It was working as I'd watched a number of the files in the same format last week. I can't think of anything I've touched or changed since. When I discovere the issue I changed from the LAV splitter to the Miscrosoft Splitter under the AVI tab, and that seemed to fix it. I subsequently upgraded from v3.5.9 to v3.6.0 (uninstalled the old version before installing the new) to see if that would fix things, and now none of the options work. I have some other XVid encoded AVI files with MP3 audio which play fine. It only seems to be affecting AC3 audio encoding.

thanx Guys this has really help loads , really (i know nothing about the SSD's at all) , Ive been outta the building of PC's for awhile & never really paid any attention to the new gear but I'm back in the water now & want to rebuild all the PC's in the house that I built years ago ,except for the Wife's rig , Soo I got 2 HTPC 's & my office burner to rebuild . you guys are the best.
sure wish this place was around back when I built my 1st PC!!
damn , that stressful but with the threads & the Assassin's guides it's gonna be a breeze , looking forward to building 2 world class media centers , when I get the PC's done I'll do up a server as well . Again ThanX

Obviously something has changed but what? The only new thing I've done is stream some recorded WTV files using DLNA on my new TV using the WMP DLNA server. and I didn't touch any settings on the HTPC. I've rechecked all of the settings, which are as per the guide, with the exception of bitstreamnig (which was always off). It is only affecting AC3 playback under AVI files. MKV with AC3 audio works fine. Is there a setting somewhere else outside of Shark007 that can affect it?

I was merely asking what has been your / Assassins experience with Asus motherboards in regards to updated bios , chip set drivers and support when things go wrong, cause we all know that at some point it will .

Except this time I'll ask a bit more politely ... sorry

Wilky: What version of MC Buddy are you running? I'm still not getting acceptable results (even when the conversion takes place, audio is off by 1/2 second). I'm running .18 (not the same start up files as in your guide).

I haven't been testing much, no time. Still don't have a big HDD.....

Also, buck fiddy for a 3TB... I can't speak for or against this line of Seagate... the WD Green is a buck eighty...

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeAg...4752906&sr=1-2

I updated the firmware to version 9 last September. I'll gave to look tonight and see if there is a newer version on their website.