MP with OCZ Vertex 30GB SSD (1 Viewer)

[BugsBunny]

Got my OCZ Vertex 30GB this friday and integrated it into my media center PC as a system+program drive this weekend.
I'm really pleased with the performance of the Vertex SSD. My boot time (time from when I press power on to the time the Media Portal screen appears) got from 1:20 (WD Caviar) down to 0:40 with the Vertex. (BIOS takes about 10-15 secs from these 40 secs)
The system got faster/snappier with the SSD - programs open faster - some instantly, others (dotnet) open faster than from a conventional HD. And there is absolutely no noise from the SSD
My data stays on the WD 750 GByte disk. In a few years the SSD probably will get even faster an bigger in storage capacity whereas the price drops further then one can completely drop the conventional HDs.
The OCZ Vertex 30GB is in an affordable price class and very fast - a definite recommendation for a HTPC.

 

[mpadam]

I also built an HTPC with an OCZ 30GB SSD (OCZ Technology | Products | Flash Media | OCZ Core Series V2 SATA II 2.5" SSD), in my case the Core series because the Vertex was impossible to get hold of.

I have it partitioned as 2 x 15GB, one partition for OS and programs (this is a dedicated HTPC), the other partition for timeshifting.

I can report that performance is great, really pleased with it. The obvious advantage for an HTPC is the totally silent operation.

In fact, I have created an almost entirely silent HTPC that also incorporates passive CPU, GPU and PSU cooling. The only source of noise is from a low-noise WD Caviar Green hard disk (640GB) that I use for TV recording / playback. My main media library is on NAS in another room, so no problems there.

Prior to buying the OCZ SSD I experimented with using Compact Flash cards using an IDE / CF adapter. The results were poor, even with the faster CF cards. I also tried using standard USB sticks for timeshifting. This also gave poor results.

Basically, I would highly recommend the general approach of a small SSD for system / timeshifting to anyone building an HTPC.

 

[BugsBunny]

mpadam is it useful to put the timeshifting on the SSD? I didn't thought that this was something time critical.

By the way for those using SSD + Win XP, partition alignment is of great importance. Here's a good read:
Partition alignment importance under Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit)..why it helps with stuttering and increases drive working life. - OCZ Forum