# SSD Upgrade Planned. Size dilemma.



## mukherjee (Dec 13, 2015)

*Hi guys! Hope everyone is doing well.*

I am back after a looong hiatus.

To get to the point, I have ultimately saved up for a SSD.

Now I have a 2600K,8GB DDR3 sandybridge setup running on a ASUS P8Z68VPRO-GEN3 mobo, with  1TB Seagate+1TB WD Blue HDDs, and a GTX970 too .

About the brand/model: *Samsung SSD 850 EVO/ Crucial BX 100/ You suggest*.

Now, I am thinking about the capacity of the SSD that I should be getting, *250GB or 500GB*. _I know it varies from person to person, but pointers would do me good_, a whole world of good!

*Usage*:

1. Obviously the *boot drive*(will clone---> _Any help regarding cloning will be appreciated, thanks_. I know I can google, but laziness is in the air )

2. *Few games too*: World of warships, COD, GTA V...( Their size makes 500GB seem a better, but a significantly expensive option)

3. Any further suggestions?

*Scenario*:

*My system drive at present weighs in at ~100GB*. So lets build upon that, considering that I'll want to have few games and maybe some other softies to add for the SSD.

2nd, what about _partitioning the ssd_(whatever the size)?_ Is it required, or not_? What are your suggestions?

Please put in your comments, since I intend to purchase before the 25th of December, probably.


----------



## Kaltrops (Dec 13, 2015)

If you're using it as your boot drive and for games then 500gb. I have a 250gb Samsung Evo 850 and it's too small. I have to use steam mover to keep moving games to and from my 1tb hard drive. 

I plan on buying another 120gb Evo 850 as my boot drive.


----------



## mukherjee (Dec 13, 2015)

Kaltrops said:


> If you're using it as your boot drive and for games then 500gb. I have a 250gb Samsung Evo 850 and it's too small. I have to use steam mover to keep moving games to and from my 1tb hard drive.
> 
> I plan on buying another 120gb Evo 850 as my boot drive.



Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. But then the price delta 8100 vs 14000 is significant initially.

Where do you recommend to buy from? Onlyssd? Flipkart? Amazon.in? I heard Md Computers Kolkata stock them, so thats an option offline. 

Btw, how much did you get the 250GB drive for? And how much space is actually available to the user? Have you partitioned it?, Lastly, how did you clone the OS drive?


----------



## Kaltrops (Dec 13, 2015)

mukherjee said:


> Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. But then the price delta 8100 vs 14000 is significant initially.
> 
> Where do you recommend to buy from? Onlyssd? Flipkart? Amazon.in? I heard Md Computers Kolkata stock them, so thats an option offline.
> 
> Btw, how much did you get the 250GB drive for? And how much space is actually available to the user? Have you partitioned it?, Lastly, how did you clone the OS drive?



You already have another drive so use that for games that don't require an SSD. Games like Mortal Kombat, Alien Isolation. Basically linear games that don't benefit greatly from SSD's.

But open world, put those on SSD. I have MK X and Alien Isolation on my Mechanical hard drive and The Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight, MGS V and Assassin's Creed Syndicate on my SSD. 

Then when you get more cash buy another 250gb next year. Prices will be coming down on SSD'S next year. So I might buy another one sometime next year. 

Online I buy from Amazon. I see a good price on the 120gb Samsung Evo 850. It's Rs4500. But physically I buy from Prime ABGB. I got my 250gb for Rs8000.

I got 224 GB of available space.


----------



## mukherjee (Dec 15, 2015)

So, to update, I went all in with evo 500gb from Amazon.in. 
13760-500 GV from Axisbank....13260 INR the total setback.


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 1, 2016)

So my SSD is causing problems.
I have initially cloned my OS drive with the Samsung DATA Migration software....worked fine for a couple of days.
Then BAM, all of a sudden the ssd becomes uninitialized.
I tried SDM again, but this time it wont work at all, more than 30 minutes spent without a single MB being copied. Gave up on SDM. Tried other freely available clone utilities.
Cloned twice, each time worked couple of days, then suddenly becomes uninitialized. No power cut, no hard reset nothing.

this time, after 4th cloning, it was working well for a week, then suddenly, i returned and put my pc on after a couple of days, it started off with checkdisk, found lots of orphan files and booted into windows 7 fine. Even after a restart, it was working fine. Then when i tried to boot up after an hour or so, it wont boot.

Samsung magician tell me there are no smart errors, but the POR Recovery is at 4 presently, and wera levelling at 99%. It shows 0.61TBW(my system drive was 100GB btw).

What to do now?


----------



## Thor (Jan 1, 2016)

More the merrier  if you can afford 500 GB SSD yes then go for it. But if saving up is something you would want , then yes 256 GB will get the job done - but then it won't let you store too many games at a time on it. So if you are the type who finishes his game and then moves onto the next, 256 gb will do just fine. But if you are the type that plays quite a lot of games in parallel - heh even 500 gb won't suffice  ...

I bought 256 GB SSD and it works out just fine - with some time spent managing the moving around of stuffs.


----------



## Kaltrops (Jan 1, 2016)

Thor said:


> More the merrier  if you can afford 500 GB SSD yes then go for it. But if saving up is something you would want , then yes 256 GB will get the job done - but then it won't let you store too many games at a time on it. So if you are the type who finishes his game and then moves onto the next, 256 gb will do just fine. But if you are the type that plays quite a lot of games in parallel - heh even 500 gb won't suffice  ...
> 
> I bought 256 GB SSD and it works out just fine - with some time spent managing the moving around of stuffs.


Are you having a stroke?


----------



## Thor (Jan 1, 2016)

I hope not!! All good at your end?


----------



## Kaltrops (Jan 1, 2016)

Thor said:


> I hope not!! All good at your end?


Oh, I think everyone knows I'm good 

Seriously, go get that checked out. If left untreated......


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 2, 2016)

Thor said:


> More the merrier  if you can afford 500 GB SSD yes then go for it. But if saving up is something you would want , then yes 256 GB will get the job done - but then it won't let you store too many games at a time on it. So if you are the type who finishes his game and then moves onto the next, 256 gb will do just fine. But if you are the type that plays quite a lot of games in parallel - heh even 500 gb won't suffice  ...
> 
> I bought 256 GB SSD and it works out just fine - with some time spent managing the moving around of stuffs.



Thor, I posted again 'coz i'm having some problems with my ssd. Would be nice if anyone can help out. Thanks.



Kaltrops said:


> Are you having a stroke?





Thor said:


> I hope not!! All good at your end?





Kaltrops said:


> Oh, I think everyone knows I'm good
> 
> Seriously, go get that checked out. If left untreated......



Guys, lets not start flaming here.

Please, i want some help on my issue.


----------



## Thor (Jan 2, 2016)

Sorry mukherjee - the problems way outta my league. I guess you have some sleepness nights and oodles of research ahead ... Wish you luck


----------



## tkin (Jan 2, 2016)

mukherjee said:


> So my SSD is causing problems.
> I have initially cloned my OS drive with the Samsung DATA Migration software....worked fine for a couple of days.
> Then BAM, all of a sudden the ssd becomes uninitialized.
> I tried SDM again, but this time it wont work at all, more than 30 minutes spent without a single MB being copied. Gave up on SDM. Tried other freely available clone utilities.
> ...


I'm not an expert of using SSDs, I used one very briefly. But can you try simply installing OS and running it for a few days without any cloning? If there are any issues then its safe to RMA it. If no error occurs then cloning is the problem.

Also during this time try to tax it using lots of file copying, like filling it up using movies, don't do repeated writes, just copy a lot of movies or games once and then play those movies.


----------



## Kaltrops (Jan 2, 2016)

mukherjee said:


> Thor, I posted again 'coz i'm having some problems with my ssd. Would be nice if anyone can help out. Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Apologies. I just found it astonishing that Thor couldn't read two posts up to see that you had already purchased a 500gb ssd almost 3 weeks ago, yet he continued to offer you advice on your purchase for some strange reason. 

Anyways. I'm no expert either but I second what tkin has said above. why do you have to clone? Can't you just run the OS normally? Just reinstall Windows and keep using it as you normally would without cloning and see if that works.


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 2, 2016)

As I had mentioned before, a previously formateed partitioned and working ssd, became suddenly uninitialized!

Before:
*i.imgur.com/90nOodW.jpg

After
1. Magician
*i.imgur.com/yyJIra5.jpg

2.SMART
*i.imgur.com/fo8dX4D.jpg

3.Disk management
*i.imgur.com/ng0N7xl.jpg

I hope I m getting my point across


----------



## tkin (Jan 2, 2016)

Just install OS and use normally, see where that leads you, then copy the data as required.


----------



## Ricky (Jan 3, 2016)

This must be really frustrating for you.. anyways..

Have you tried to connect it alone to computer ie. remove all other drives .. ?
Also try changing ports if it changes anything..
Also, can you try this device in another system.. what you see there ?


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 3, 2016)

you left important details like which windows os(7/8/8.1/10),screenshot of disk management of original non-ssd boot drive,whether the original boot drive still works after disconnecting ssd(assuming you have not deleted/modified system partition on it) etc.In any case doing a fresh install especially on a ssd is always preferable.it may cost a bit more time at the beginning installing all software/games but in the long run it will save time.


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 3, 2016)

tkin said:


> Just install OS and use normally, see where that leads you, then copy the data as required.



Thats the last option, will take too much time. Still, keeping that option open.



Ricky said:


> This must be really frustrating for you.. anyways..
> 
> Have you tried to connect it alone to computer ie. remove all other drives .. ?
> Also try changing ports if it changes anything..
> Also, can you try this device in another system.. what you see there ?



Thanks for the kind words. Havent tried it alone. Changing ports tried, not helping.
Another system not available atm.



whitestar_999 said:


> you left important details like which windows os(7/8/8.1/10),screenshot of disk management of original non-ssd boot drive,whether the original boot drive still works after disconnecting ssd(assuming you have not deleted/modified system partition on it) etc.In any case doing a fresh install especially on a ssd is always preferable.it may cost a bit more time at the beginning installing all software/games but in the long run it will save time.



Os-Win 7 x64 sp1 with latest updates.
Original boot drive works, using it now. Even with the ssd connected, it works. Using ports 1-4 for the ssd, 2 hdds and the dvdrw, in my z68 mobo(refer siggy).
I am looking at visiting the service centre, before going down the install route.

I missed an important info before. Upon first installing the ssd, magician informed me of the latest firmware available for the evo, and I did update firmware first up. After reading up on the previous 850 pro firmware fiasco, i am wondering whether the firmware update is the root cause.

As I mentioned before, a fresh install it too tedious to follow atm.

Images:

1. Intel RST

*i.imgur.com/q9Uu17U.jpg

2. Drive management

*i.imgur.com/h3VJzhQ.jpg

*I had cloned from the OLD partition.*


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 3, 2016)

Initialize the disk & this time use easeus partition master home free edition.
Free Migrate Windows 8/7 OS to SSD with EaseUS Partition Master


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 3, 2016)

whitestar_999 said:


> Initialize the disk & this time use easeus partition master home free edition.
> Free Migrate Windows 8/7 OS to SSD with EaseUS Partition Master



Actually, the last time I cloned(which worked for the longest duration), was with easeus partition master 10.0.
Do you think I should visit the service centre? I intend visit it tomorrow.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 4, 2016)

no harm but what if they format & reinstall os then & there on ssd & show it to be working.warranty only covers hardware defects,not some specific problem like cloning of os not working because of possible firmware issue.also try aoemi partition assistant standard free edition:
How to Migrate OS to SSD or HDD with AOMEI Partition Assistant?
after cloning completes,shutdown system & disconnect the original drive so that at next boot there is only clone drive from which its 1st boot will be done.Once 1st boot from cloned drive is successful you can connect original drive.


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 4, 2016)

whitestar_999 said:


> no harm but what if they format & reinstall os then & there on ssd & show it to be working.warranty only covers hardware defects,not some specific problem like cloning of os not working because of possible firmware issue.also try aoemi partition assistant standard free edition:
> How to Migrate OS to SSD or HDD with AOMEI Partition Assistant?



I agree. But what about a perfectly working drive having partitions becoming uninitialized on its own? Its not related to cloning I'm sure.

- - - Updated - - -



whitestar_999 said:


> after cloning completes,shutdown system & disconnect the original drive so that at next boot there is only clone drive from which its 1st boot will be done.



Should I also be connecting the cloned drive to the original drive's sata port? Might that help?


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 4, 2016)

check my earlier post(i edited it a bit).sometimes these things happens,what matters is whether you can reproduce this issue on demand or it happens so frequently that anybody can notice it within a few hours of operation.


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 4, 2016)

Gave in my ssd with the service centre today. They were sympathetic to my issue and said they will look into it. Keeping fingers crossed


----------



## mukherjee (Jan 14, 2016)

Got my replacement ssd today. Brand new one.
Also noted 5-6 of the same ssds up for replacement at the service centre, heard quite a few of them are problematic.

At Supertron electronics sc, metcalfe street kolkata.


----------

