Cackle, 24 256gb SSD's in RAID0 = 2GB/s

[Tim]

I have that exact Patriot Torque 128 drive. I can tell you that the speeds I am getting are MORE than what they are spec'd for.

I get a consistant 255mb/sec read write across all sorts of file sizes, and my writes are between 195-205mb/sec. It is absolutely an amazing drive.

[Ualaa]

I went with the Patroit 64gb drive.
Put it on my Christmas list, and am quite happy with it so far.

You wouldn't need a drive per wow install.
With SymLinks or virtual config files, one folder is plenty.
Win7, without the virtual XP desktop, is 15gb or so; I believe you need another 10gb for the virtual desktop if you go that route.

I'm sitting at 70gb for wow+vista and assorted things like flash player etc. Have my OS on a 150gb Raptor, and wow on the SSD.

[Tim]

I use my Patriot 128G SSD for Mass Effect 2 (which I only played once lol) and I have 2 WoW installations, I like to keep a couple separate.

The thing just screams.

So when should I think about using the TRIM command? I'm not sure, but what are the symptoms to use it, slowing speed, or should I run it once every couple months?

[Ualaa]

If you're happy with the speed, there's not need to run it at all.

I perused their forums, when I first got the SSD.
The tech guy there, said he runs it once a week, in response to someone who asked when to use the wiper.exe tool.
Some people said they haven't needed to run it yet.
Others said they have.
Some say the drives speed up a little after you've used the tool a few times.
Not really sure on that.

Vista unfortunately doesn't seem to support the TRIM command at all.
My drive is benching the same speeds now as when it was new.

I've picked up windows 7, but have not gotten around to installing it...
There's a pretty good chance I'll pick up either one or two of the Intel 160gb gen2 SSD's over the summer, and put the OS on the drive.
Have not decided on RAID0 or not.
I'll definitely put Win7 on that drive, but not sure if I'll migrate over before then or not.

[Tim]

I just ran a benchmark on my SSD and it still is >250mb/sec so I'm pretty sure TRIM isn't needed.

But when you think about it, I'm not really *using* the SSD so much, since almost everything is file reads VS file writes.

Maybe the TRIM is needed if you are more intensive with writes than you are with reads?

[HaoleBoi]

I'm gonna read up on this Samsung trash collector tool, apparently it runs in the background looking for the problems, and clearing them. The only thing is it only does like 3-4% per day, where the Trim does it all in one shot. But.. if your OS doesn't support Trim it seems trash collector is your only route. Same with running 2 or more SSD's in RAID0 or the like, the tool appears to work there as well.

Thanks for the response on the Patriot drives, haven't ordered one yet but it's tempting.

[Ualaa]

From what I've read, over time as the drive is filled (particularly if you use it for your OS), and material is written/overwritten that slows them down. Reading should not slow them at all.

Unlike a platter drive, which slows down markedly at close to 50% capacity, an SSD runs at full speed until its over 95% full. I'm using maybe 20-25% of mine, so not too worried yet.