My old WD Raptor 74GB boot drive is starting to get a bit long in the tooth and rather noisy.
Since it's about time to reinstall a clean version Win7 anyway (system is running slow despite all of the usual remedies) I might as well replace the boot drive - the oldest component in my PC.

A year or two ago the 'answer' would be to get another Raptor, but since SSD's have improved are they better for strictly O/S duty?

It's really time for a complete PC replacement (still running a Intel Core2 Duo E8400) but video is ok (GTX 275) and I can't afford to do much else at the moment.

 

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The SSD blows the Raptor away. You can put your OS on it and a game or two that you play frequently. I have the 80GB intel x25 as my boot drive and I usually keep WoW on it. I have a second Vertex 2 60gb that I will install non-steam games I am playing.

My steam drive is a 600gb Raptor.

If you can though, try and get at least a 120gb on sale in the $150-200 range as that way you can install a few games on it and benefit with faster load times on those games.

 

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Sounds good. Any specific brand/model recommendations for the 120gb?

 

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The cheapest right now is probably the OCZ Vertex 1 or 2/Agility series. I see those on sale for $150 all the time.

 

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NewEgg's daily "Shell Shocker" is the 120GB Vertex 2 on sale for $175 + $30 MIR ($145 after rebates).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227551

Corsair V128 128GB SSD for $128. Refurbished drive.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=760031&CatId=5300

This uses an Indilinx controller like the OCZ Vertex 1 (I use two OCZ Vertex 1 120GB drives in my computer, they are still great).

OCZ Solid 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive $169.99AR Free Shipping

These drives feature SATA III, TRIM support, and up to 500 MB/s (SATA 6Gbps) read, 450 MB/s (SATA 6Gbps) write speeds.

$30 rebate Exp 7/18/11

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/262244

If you keep checking techbargains, there has been a 120Gb SSD for $169 every week or every other week. I assume your motherboard does not support SATA 3, so you won't get the 500 MB/s max speeds, but it will be fast enough even on SATA 2 and you can always move it to your next computer build.

 

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