SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

[netmen]

Hello,

I have GA-P35C-DS3R motherboard.
I would like to buy SSD disk and I would like to know, who know what kind of SSD worthwhile to buy for full compatibility with this motherboard.
board.

Thank.

[Vinster]

Re: SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

SSD's are "connectivity" wise compatible. That MB has a SATA II ICH9R Intel chipset. I would think any SATA II or SATA III SSD would bring a lot of life back to that MB.

My X58 has an ICH10R chipset and I'm running (3) 40GB SSD's in a RAID 0 and the SATA controller is far beyond capping out with my little drives... so I would expect your board would be no different.

everyone has a preference on manufacturers of SSD (Like everything else)...

My I like in this order;

1) Intel 330 or 520 based on cost (with a MIR the 520 can be cheaper sometimes)
2) Samsung 830's
3) Crucial M4's
Then if I can't get any of the other 3, and fall in a coma might consider getting an OCZ Vertex (Not Agility's, because they're agility gets them broken too easily... just read some reviews and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about)

Does that help?

Vin

[profJim]

Re: SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

I've used an ssd as a boot drive in my P35-DS3L for almost two years and the only problem was that my 60GB ssd recently ended up being too small. I replaced the first ssd with a 128GB ssd two weeks ago. If you are into gaming or running several large applications, I suggest buying a 256GB ssd.

My recommendations:

• 128GB - 256GB Sata III (6Gb/s) ssd, even though the maximum performance will be limited to sata2 (3Gb/s) speeds for now
• toggle nand or synchronous nand
• definitely avoid buying an ssd that uses asynchronous nand, see http://forums.tweaktown.com/storage-...rformance.html for more information
• Crucial, Intel, or Samsung current models, as suggested by Vinster

My new ssd is a Samsung 830 128GB, bought on sale for $80.
I didn't buy the model that included the additional desktop upgrade kit for about $20 more.
I used EaseUS freeware to clone my old ssd to the Samsung.
Samsung recommends that you use their included Magician software to set over provisioning to 7 - 10% of the ssd capacity. I set aside a larger amount of O/P space and I currently have ~ 100GB for my boot partition.

Installing an o/s boot drive ssd is a major improvement, enjoy.

**edit**
If you're running win7 (or Vista?) you're good to go.
It's best to use AHCI mode for optimal performance with an ssd.
There are 3 windows registry settings that need to be changed before you clone and install your ssd.
A web search using: how to enable ahci in windows 7 will provide information links and we can help you if you have any questions.

[netmen]

Re: SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

Vinster, profJim

First of all, thank you for answers.

I think today, this does not mean, buying SSD less than 120GB, especially, if you using windows 7.
All manufacturers, today make same products with same quality, more or less.

I would like to find SSD, with good quality and suitable with my MB.
I'm running windows 7.

I'm just want to be sure, which one from SSD, will suitable with this kind MB.

[profJim]

Re: SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

You're welcome.
In general, the 256GB ssd's have better performance, but this will not be true with your P35 system.
128GB should be large enough now and in the future if you are NOT playing pc games.
When an ssd has too little remaining free space, performance degrades somewhat and ssd life will be shorter.
My original 60GB ssd only had 9.5GB of free space after almost two years and I started having random short term delays when running my system. There wasn't much that I could delete to free up space on the ssd. Upgrading to a larger ssd was the best and easiest solution.

I set my Samsung ssd overprovisioning space to ~ 17% of the total capacity for maximum ssd life. If I had used Samsung's recommended 7% to 10% suggestion, my ssd life would probably still last for a long time.
My Samsung 128GB rated space is 128GB (decimal) but is ~119GB (binary) reported by windows when it is empty.
With my O/P setting of 17%, I had ~98GB (binary) of free space before cloning the operating system to the new ssd.

Spending more for a 256GB ssd might be useful in the future if you build a new system and move your ssd to your new system.
Checking the ssd user reviews at Newegg is interesting, as many models from other manufacturers have much lower ratings than the ratings given to Crucial, Intel and Samsung models.

Keep in mind that user reviews are often done by owners who don't really know what they're doing.
The fact that the brands we've suggested have an average 4 or 5 star rating of 80% to 90+% speaks volumes.

Samsung 840 models will be on sale shortly, but the price will be higher than the 830's current price. The 840 Pro model is a higher performance ssd, but it's cost is higher than the standard 840 model and won't perform better with your current sata2 system.

Any of the models we have suggested should work fine with your motherboard.
My P35-DS3L motherboard is a low end board.
You can contact the ssd manufacturer's tech support and ask them which models they recommend if you want.
A web search using

• GA-P35C-DS3R ssd

or

• GA-P35C-DS3R ssd problem

should provide some useful information.

[profJim]

Re: SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

Check out http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...tex-3-ssd.html where it looks like there might be a problem with using sata III SandForce base ssd's on some older systems. I had no problems with my sata II ssd in my P35 system and my new Samsung ssd uses a Samsung controller, not a SandForce controller.

[Vinster]

Re: SSD Compatibility for GA-P35C-DS3R

Right now, Crusial M4's are the best bang for your buck SSD's.

I'm partial to Intels but that's me.

A great tool to have installed is called SSD Life (found here;SSD life - tool for solid state drives health and endurance monitoring) it will tell you how you are using your SSD and what kind of lifetime to expect from it baring any beyond normal use.

Only thing with this software is that is won't read a drive in a RAID system. so if your MB is set to IDE or AHCI you'll be good to go.

Vin