Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler - New System Build

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | New System Build - SSD?

DVA057
Senior Captain, B777-200
COMM

Joined on June 02 2002
Events Century Club
Six Century Club
Online Quintuple Century Club
Everett 500 Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary

"We Are ... Penn State!"
Atlanta, GA USA

672 legs, 1,338.4 hours
531 legs, 1,076.4 hours online
392 legs, 786.1 hours ACARS
190 legs, 406.3 hours event

Posted onPost created on March 03 2012 13:41 ET by Terry Eshenour

I am building a new sim PC to run FSX. On current dual core system my OS is on a separate SATA HD with FS9 and FSX on separate SATA's. I plan to leave the OS SATA with the old setup moving the physical HD to the new one.

Seriously considering buying a 120 Gig SSD for the OS. Is 120 Gig sufficient size? Do I need a HD SATA to mirror the SSD for recovery? Is performance better with FSX installed on the SSD?

Regards,

Terry

Terry Eshenour

Senior Captain, B777-200

DVA5255
First Officer, A330-300

Joined on November 17 2007

Western United States

31 legs, 54.8 hours
15 legs, 18.7 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on March 03 2012 15:14 ET by Louis Vanbelkum

A 120GB ssd is perfect for flight sim and a OS. I can't see wanting to put much more on there though or you will start to get crowded.

Posted onPost created on March 03 2012 15:24 ET by Terry Eshenour

Thanks.

Is it necessary to mirror image the SSD in case of a complete wipeout?

Terry Eshenour

Senior Captain, B777-200

DVA1690
Senior Captain, MD-88
OLP

Joined on May 05 2004
50 State Club
Quatercentenary Club
Online Quadruple Century Club
Stage 1 Jet Double Century Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary

"Life begins at Vr"
Longmont, CO USA

477 legs, 700.4 hours
468 legs, 686.6 hours online
254 legs, 389.4 hours ACARS
3 legs, 3.9 hours event

Posted onPost created on March 03 2012 16:35 ET by Trevor Bair

I have a 60GB SSD for my OS only (Win 7, 64 bit). It currently has 29.3 gb free so you should be A-OK with 120. smile

Trevor Bair

Senior Captain, MD-88

DVA5255
First Officer, A330-300

Joined on November 17 2007

Western United States

31 legs, 54.8 hours
15 legs, 18.7 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on March 03 2012 16:54 ET by Louis Vanbelkum

I am not sure on the mirror i don't back up anything because i don't keep more then a few school files on my computers

DVA5661
Senior Captain, B737-800
OLP, COMM

Joined on March 07 2008
50 State Club
Online Triple Century Club
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Globetrotter
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Two Million Mile Club

"737 or MD-11, how far you wanna go?"
Melbourne, FL USA

1,928 legs, 4,823.7 hours
304 legs, 639.9 hours online
1,880 legs, 4,735.4 hours ACARS
19 legs, 40.9 hours event

Posted onPost created on March 03 2012 18:57 ET by Vic DeSantis

Terry - I actually use a 256g SSD as the back up to my WD Velociraptor that contains my OS and several other programs including the Office suite, etc. My FSX resides on a separate SSD and other FSX related programs (ASE, FSCommander ETC) on a separate HDD. My defense after the last meltdown was to create a complete mirror image of the WD Raptor using Acronis. This provides a perfect DNA match including registry information, etc. In the even I ever crash this drive, I can simply remove it from the rack, insert the SSD and fire back up. The computer does not see any difference between it and the HDD. Periodic backup is conducted as things are added. I still have plenty of room on the larger SSD and consider it my insurance policy. As a matter of fact, it is totally removed from the system after back up and placed into a safe.

Vic DeSantis (DVA5661)

DVA3794
Senior Captain, A320
OLP, 737-ATP

Joined on December 03 2006
50 State Club
Globetrotter
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Events Quadruple Century
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Tri-Millennium Club
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Online Thirty Century

"volando libero......."
Antarctica

3,459 legs, 8,141.9 hours
3,131 legs, 7,039.5 hours online
3,251 legs, 7,332.7 hours ACARS
478 legs, 964.8 hours event
65 legs dispatched, 72.4 hours

Posted onPost created on March 04 2012 19:31 ET by Vincenzo Musumeci

Definetely 120G SSD is a good size but keep in mind that is not going to make any difference in terms of performance....glad your setting yourself up to came back in the virtual skies , I guess is time again to fly more events biggrin

DVA5255
First Officer, A330-300

Joined on November 17 2007

Western United States

31 legs, 54.8 hours
15 legs, 18.7 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on March 04 2012 20:07 ET by Louis Vanbelkum

Vincenzo Musumeci wrote:

Definetely 120G SSD is a good size but keep in mind that is not going to make any difference in terms of performance....glad your setting yourself up to came back in the virtual skies , I guess is time again to fly more events

SSDs do improve performance slightly plus the start up is quick and amazing.

DVA3355
Senior Captain, B777-200

Joined on July 19 2006
Online Century Club
Flying Colonel
Everett 1500 Club
Four Million Mile Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary

"guiding you home..."
Denver, CO USA

1,959 legs, 8,711.6 hours
181 legs, 715.0 hours online
1,891 legs, 8,382.8 hours ACARS
18 legs, 67.1 hours event

Posted onPost created on March 04 2012 20:22 ET by Daniel Hodnik

Terry Eshenour wrote:

Thanks.

Is it necessary to mirror image the SSD in case of a complete wipeout?

i would always image your important files/drives - including your ssd

Daniel Hodnik (DVA3355)

Posted onPost created on March 04 2012 21:41 ET by Vincenzo Musumeci

Louis Vanbelkum wrote:

Vincenzo Musumeci wrote:

Definetely 120G SSD is a good size but keep in mind that is not going to make any difference in terms of performance....glad your setting yourself up to came back in the virtual skies , I guess is time again to fly more events

SSDs do improve performance slightly plus the start up is quick and amazing.

I would love to know what that slightly is......1-3 fps

wink

Posted onPost created on March 05 2012 10:44 ET by Terry Eshenour

So, the main advantage to using an SSD is cold boot speed, but not FS performance. Its value the way i operate becomes questionable. Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Terry

Terry Eshenour

Senior Captain, B777-200

Posted onPost created on March 05 2012 12:16 ET by Vincenzo Musumeci

Terry Eshenour wrote:

So, the main advantage to using an SSD is cold boot speed, but not FS performance. Its value the way i operate becomes questionable. Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Terry

Terry,
put it this way if you want to run FSX without problems Quad core is a Must paired with a nice videocard of your preference and at least 4G of memory .....then if you load the game in a SSD or a regular HD (+ I suggest you one that runs at 10000 rpm )the difference in terms of performances will be very minimal

Vincenzo Musumeci (DVA3794)

Posted onPost created on March 05 2012 12:23 ET by Vincenzo Musumeci

And also if you aren't into OCing,the QCore has to be at minimum 3.4 Ghz out of the box ....FSX will love that smile

Posted onPost created on March 05 2012 13:46 ET by Terry Eshenour

Vincenzo,

Thank you for your further input. I did a bit of research about the SSD vs. VelociRaptor drives. It would seem SSD is the route to go since WD drives are still in short supply and high in price due to the Thailand flood.

My CPU is Quad-4 i5-2500K out of the box it is 3.30 GHz. Looks like I'll have to bump it up a tad.

Regards,

Terry

Terry Eshenour

Senior Captain, B777-200

Posted onPost created on March 05 2012 14:27 ET by Vincenzo Musumeci

No problem Terry ...just another little suggestion do another search about SSD auto trim
...very important wink

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