Would a solids state drive (SSD) for FSX be beneficial?

[SlowFlyer 78]

Hi,I haven't really seen this question come up, but with the new SSD coming out, I was thinking of using one just to have FSX on it. Currently, I have FSX on it's own drive (a 150mb Western Digital Raptor). I figure it will help with loading times (I'm not complaining about that. I can load FSX in under a minute) but I am hoping scenery and textures will load faster. Overall I am happy with how FXS runs on my system. I keep the frame rate around 23. I don't plan upgrading to a faster CPU and video card, etc for at least another year. I am hoping a SSD will make sense and also I would be able to use it in my next build. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks, JohnI have the following PC:Core 2 Duo E6850 3.00GHz2GB of ram32-bit vista home premium8800gtx video card2- 150mb western digital raptors

[Emile 28]

Hello,I use eBoostr V3 with 4 Usb (very fast) memories with success.

[jackcnd 0]

I considered it, but given the high cost now per MB for SSD decided to wait.In fall Intel is releasing new SSD's up to 320GB, maybe prices will drop a fair bit then.Right now OCZ's Vertex line is taking a number of sales away from the higher priced INtels.I'd think it will help loading times for FSX but if your WD Rap is defragged fps during play will probably be similar?

[peppy197 165]

I suspect it would be as a 320G Virtual RAM?It would not obviously have any direct RAM address access, unless it was assigned as virtual ram page space.

[Guest Nick_N]

I would not bother with SSD until the motherboard manufactures catch up with SATAIII and at the same time the cost per gig dropsregardless they are volatile and slowly degrade every write operation that takes place. You can not unplug a SSD and store it.. the data will be lostTo be quite honest I think it will be another year before they will present a realistic solution. A Vrap on a controller card will deliver the access and throughput needed for FSX.. the only thing SSD will provide is less CPU overhead which in itself is not a bad thing.. none the less if you have money to burn and wish to play.. have at it

[jackcnd 0]

You can not unplug a SSD and store it.. the data will be lost

First I heard that, how long does it take?

[Guest Bob Huntley]

For info - I've just replaced the dedicated drive I use for FSX - went from a 150 GB Raptor to a 128 GB Corsair SSD. The installation went easily enough (just copied the files from the Raptor to my large storage disk, installed and formatted the SSD, and copied them back again).You can certainly tell the improvement in FSX's start-up time. My system has 32 GB of UK based VFR Scenery, and I think it pre-loads most of these when starting at my default airport of Bristol. It almost halved the start up time. I've also noticed faster (instantaneous) loading of the high res tiles of ground texture as you fly near to them - which has helped to reduce the blurries. Not sure why, but I've also noticed that the external texture of the plane now loads instantly when you switch to an outside view (before, there was a noticable pause of half a second or so).Overall, a recommended (if somewhat expensive) change - which can only get better as prices of SSDs drop over the next few years. A couple of questions for NickN:Is it a good idea to try and keep a third of the drive unused, as for mechanical disks (at

[Guest UlfB]

Bob,What are your system specs (CPU and graphics card)?

[Guest Bob Huntley]

I've got a Quadcore 6800 Extreme - overclocked slightly to 3.333 GHz. Also 8 GB of Dominator DDR2 1066 RAM (but my Asus P5W motherboard wont run it at rated speed, so its set up to run as DDR2 800, with CAS 4 instead). (FSB of 333 with a *10 CPU multiplier, and a 4:5 memory ratio). I could push the CPU harder, but overall prefer a cool (and quiet when the fans slow down) machine when I'm not gaming so have limited it to that speed and keep coming back to that "sweet spot" of speed.My graphics card is a ATI 4870, with 1 GB of VRAM - running the latest Catalyst 9.4 drivers.My OS is Vista x64 Home Premium edition.Bob,

[Guest Nick_N]

I

[Guest Nick_N]

I just came across this which keeps the tech at a level most can understand.. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=669It could use some refining but it is a good 7 page write-up and something anyone who is interested in SSD should readand one other thing... NCQ and AHCI is actually a GOOD thing with SSD... where those features kill raw perf in a high performance mechanical drive such as the Raptor, they enhance SSD because there is no mechanical latency involved in the perf curve and their functions are therefore truly beneficial.

[Guest Bob Huntley]

Thanks Nick,I really appreciate the support and advice that you provide to this (and other) newsgroups.Just switched to AHCI mode, and will see how it performs (I previously gave up on it because it caused a slow down (pauses) when doing my regular Acronis True Image backup of my OS drive to my storage disk. Will see it that problem returns)Bob,

[Guest Nick_N]

I do wish to point out that NCQ and AHCI will ONLY help if the storage solution system is self contained and ALL SSDBy enabling with mechanical drives in the system, and sssuming those drives are being used for the OS or applications, you are hindering their performance so there is a catch22 involved. Storage drives alone would not present a problem as we do not need the max perf curve for backups. A controller card which the SSD units can run from which allows bypass of the motherboard BIOS and allows those functions to operate without requiring the system BIOS enable the features would be the way to run thatWhen it comes to mechanical drives.. NCQ and AHCI are great for networks and multi-user access but terrible in single user home systemsRight now the Intel drives are the ones taking 'full' and 'high' advantage of AHCI, again.. you get what you pay for.. however others are following that roadmap. When it comes right down to it.. buying these drives and playing with them is fun but if one is looking to get all the advantages the drives have to offer a controller card and the Intel X drives are the way to go which is a very expensive proposition.

[Guest UlfB]

Hi all,Article on Tom's about SSD's and degrading performance: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-pe...power,2279.htmlUpdating firmware seems to be mandatory.

[Guest MHiroshi]

Hi,I haven't really seen this question come up, but with the new SSD coming out, I was thinking of using one just to have FSX on it. Currently, I have FSX on it's own drive (a 150mb Western Digital Raptor). I figure it will help with loading times (I'm not complaining about that. I can load FSX in under a minute) but I am hoping scenery and textures will load faster. Overall I am happy with how FXS runs on my system. I keep the frame rate around 23. I don't plan upgrading to a faster CPU and video card, etc for at least another year. I am hoping a SSD will make sense and also I would be able to use it in my next build. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks, JohnI have the following PC:Core 2 Duo E6850 3.00GHz2GB of ram32-bit vista home premium8800gtx video card2- 150mb western digital raptors

I think W/D VelosiRaptors are faster then solidstate, Just run two VelociRapters with Raid0 Configuration......