Does it make sense to upgrade - Page 2

You can get a 64GB now for about $65. So its still reasonable to consider it for HTPC.

Just depends on your budget.

I also paid $99 for Vertex3 60GB this year.

So double the size same price... I agree.

Now if they have a 160GB for $99 that I can use as the OS drive for my server... I might bite at that.

Although looks like if I wanted I might be able use a 60GB or 120GB with some tricks.

I think I will play around with the G530 or G630 and WHS first on my 320GB WD blue drive...

When I learn more about servers I might rebuild it better.

Its not going to be as snappy but who cares? Servers are meant to be setup and then tucked away. So you shouldn't really be accessing it all that often anyway.

So G530 and just move on ?

I plan to build this starting this weekend. I just need to get WHS.

Yeah, there's a difference, but whereas even a just three or four months ago, the gap from 64 to 128 was about $100, it now can be as little as $20 or $30.

Sort of like the way hard disks were before the flood. Yes, you could then buy a 500gb for $49, but when you could buy a 2tb for $69 why would you?

Since the first of the year the prices have fallen dramatically.

I wouldn't be surprised if 64gb ones are starting to be phased out by the end of the year. A year ago you could buy a lot of 30gb or even smaller SSDs. Now new model lines that are released don't even include anything smaller than 60. I suspect the 60 is headed the way of the 30.

If your goal is to build the absolute cheapest unit you can, then a 60/64 should probably be your choice. If you have any flexibility, then I think the 120/128 now makes sense and is the new pricing sweet spot.

Yes.

Take a look at FlexRaid as well. I am trying it out today. Currently I am initializing Raid which takes many hours to complete.

Server right now has four 2TB data drives and a fifth 2TB drive that I am using as the parity drive.

That should hold me for a little while as far as storage goes.

I agree 100%.

We began upgrading all the older P4 and socket 939AMD PC's in our office to LGA1155 based machines with SSD.

Huge difference in performance obviously... doing it cheap. $300-$400 a PC.

But- with the many 60GB drives we have I find a few of them fill up and we need delete stuff. These are just office PC's with less than 2GB of actual files stored on them (PDF and word docs) They back up to cloud.

With 120GB it's never an issue. Many of these are running with about 70GB used... and 50GB free.

60GB is just too tight. For slight cost 120GB is way to go IMO.

Is FlexRaid free download? Could I start playing now before WHS arrives?

Please keep me up to date with your thoughts on the two different server OS.

No, not free.

I am using WHS with Flexraid for parity and pooling. Both cost money.

I think I need to learn more The server software stuff is a new to me, this will be the first server I set up.

SO flexraid is a plugin or add on for WHS?

What does it do?

Why don't you play around and learn this stuff using one of those old P4 or AMD systems you're replacing?

I'm glad you never make any additions or do any tinkering. No trying out new video players, no checking out recommendations you happen to read about here, etc. If you're certain your HTPC is completely locked down, never to be changed or upgraded, no additions ever to be made either because something better comes out or to meet new standards or demands, I suppose that's fine.

I don't personally think that's a great approach for most people who may not be quite as certain that what they install today will be the very last thing they ever install over the life of their system. And the gap isn't $50.

Thanks everyone for making me feel a better about this.
Where is this for $99? I see it as $159. The one I linked to was the Agility3 not Vertex3.

I was wondering too....

He was probably talking about this: http://dealnews.com/OCZ-Agility-3-12...ng/566038.html

The Newegg page says 129.99 but 99.99 after mail in rebate for the Agility 3. I assume that's his reference.

Yesterday the Vertex3 was 109$ There was a post about it. I will dig it up.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post21903969

Well i just seen an open box on a crucial 120gb m4, is that a risky purchase or should ssds be bought new? I'll go back and if its not there get the agility 3...local is $13 more but i can easily return if its DOA.

Edit:
Been doing some thinking and I would be really upset to spend $120 on an ssd and i fails on me. Also my htpc has been at 40+ gb for some time and i try not to install anything on it besides a new BD ripper here and there but its been the same for a long time so the extra space for a 120gb may not be worth the money. I think i'd rather go with the 64gb Crucial ($80) for piece of mind on reliability and cost.

This is an htpc, blurays and tv nothing more. I have ps3, two macbook pros and a whs for everything else. This is going against my dealfinder thinking with the 120gb ocz for $100 and 60gb ocz for $55 but there are too many reliability posts on the web that i cant seem to ignore.

OCZ comes with three year warranty.

I wouldn't b afraid of an open box crucial either.

There is no moving parts... Fear not.

It will either work or not. If it works when you get it then it's unlikely it will fail.

Will i still be able to do a backup with my WHS and also a system restore if the drive fails?

Also my pc goes into S3 standby when i'm done watching a movie or tv. Will i have to turn that off and choose regular sleep mode?

Sure.

many have HTPC's set to back up the SSD OS to the server.

any advice on this
http://www.frys.com/product/7020771?...20page:Sat_p11

This is the reason i'm thinking of this higher end Corsair GT now. One guide listed it on the level of the Vertex 3, but the V3 costs $150, as opposed to this for $109 after rebate.

Like my previous post I also thought the benefits of security outweighed the extra space. I did read on that same guide that you need room to write and if i have a drive 85% full then it shortens the lifespan of the drive.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1179518/s...rmation-thread

120GB is also faster than 60GB.

Example: Crucial M4 64GB is slower than a Crucial M4 128GB.

SO a larger drive is not a bad idea in terms of headroom, room to grow, or life expectancy.

A 120GB drive will last longer theoretically- but the life of any of these exceeds the natural term of use.

Most PC stuff never last 5-10years+ anyways.

I am sure there will be faster cheaper drives in only a couple years anyhow.

This is the worst argument in this thread. I have 27GB free on my 64GB SSD. Video players/codecs use very little memory. There is nothing that will come out in the future for htpc use that will need 27GB.

The larger the drive the faster the benchmarks but in real life usage (opening programs, new windows ect) you won't notice a difference in speed. On a 1-10 scale the difference between different SSDs is a 1 while the difference between any SSD and a rotating hard drive is a 10.

I bought an extra G530($37) and Asrock H61 open box($48)

I have 8GB (4x2) of Crucial 1.35v 1600mhz I picked up for $30 also.

I will use a spare 320GB WD blue that is out for RMA as the OS drive. I have no other use for it anyhow.

I have a case and PSU I can frankenstien to play with until I decide a final resting device.

I have already given the Athalon 4800 X2 system to my mother in law. Suprisingly- it was a decent upgrade for her. lol...

The G530 should work fine, it was a good value, and it won't suck too much energy.

Once I get the learning curve down- I will begin to add 3Tb and 2TB drives currently in my main PC.

I have been researching and I just bought WHS2011 OEM from NewEGG. Looks like I might also want a flexraid type for pooling all my drives.

Currently I have about 20TB (full) of media. I will probably buy two 3TB 7200rpm Seagates and possible Raid 0 them to start it off at a 6Tb drive. Move content to my server slowly filling up and freeing up current drives.

Some of my drives like a few WD green 3Tb and 2Tb are totally full and I hope to just add them to the drive pool.

Can I ask...

Is it possible to set up two pools of drives?

Like a 6TB Raid 0 hardware array + a pool of 10-15TB normal drives as a different drive ?