Exactly how important is TRIM?

[Djinni]

I've just got my weekly newsletter from Novatech and on it is this little thing

SanDisk SSD SATA III 2.5" 128GB Solid State Hard Drive


Read Speed: 490MB/Sec, Write Speed: 350MB/Sec, Flash: MLC.
£54.98 inc vat



Question is... How important is TRIM really? Because as far as I know that's the only real downside for SanDisk drives...

(The intended use is in an 6-7yr old clevo laptop we have that my Dad still uses and constantly moans is too slow...but we can't afford to replace it right now)

[glo]

Without it, lifespan degrades big time and there will a lot of degradation of speed over time. I'm not even sure an old XP machine like that could handle the drive in the first place.

Regardless, the notebook more than likely doesn't have SATA connectivity if it's that old. If it does, it would only be SATA I.

[Djinni]

No notebook... A real 17" laptop, currently runs Win7 Pro without any issues (when I use it anyway) It was top of the line built to spec when it was originally bought so we aren't talking a poor mans laptop which didn't have enough power to begin with. This thing still runs rings around most peoples "home computers" which are bought today from catalogs and retail stores.

Update: Its a Clevo M57RU, it came pre-installed with Vista Ultimate

[glo]

No notebook... A real 17" laptop, currently runs Win7 Pro without any issues (when I use it anyway) It was top of the line built to spec when it was originally bought so we aren't talking a poor mans laptop which didn't have enough power to begin with. This thing still runs rings around most peoples "home computers" which are bought today from catalogs and retail stores.

I'm more talking about whether or not the board would accept it as a viable HDD. It's definitely not going to have AHCI, and again you have to make sure it has some form of SATA. Back then many notebooks (even the good ones) were using mobile IDE.

[Djinni]

hmm... maybe its not as old as I think it is... looking it up it was still being sold in 2008...

[Keller]

I'll board your thread, yarr, i'm looking for an ssd too!
Where did you find that deal and do you reckon that it would would it improve the b. life of my x61t?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sage...rs-lounge.html

According to this it does indeed support SATA 2 (3Gb/s)

[Djinni]

Where did you find that deal and would it improve the b. life of my x61t?

It's from Novatech, (the link is on the original post) and not knowing what a x61t is I couldn't say... but in general yes, SSD's use less power than HDD's so stands to reason the battery would last longer, weather it would be a noticable difference or not I couldn't say.

---------- Post added 2012-09-28 at 10:12 AM ----------

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sage...rs-lounge.html

According to this it does indeed support SATA 2 (3Gb/s)

Thats a shame... can't go there... get this:

Warning: Something's Not Right Here!
forum.notebookreview.com contains content from www.gophn.com, a site known to distribute malware. Your computer might catch a virus if you visit this site.
Google has found malicious software may be installed onto your computer if you proceed. If you've visited this site in the past or you trust this site, it's possible that it has just recently been compromised by a hacker. You should not proceed, and perhaps try again tomorrow or go somewhere else.
We have already notified www.gophn.com that we found malware on the site. For more about the problems found on www.gophn.com, visit the Google Safe Browsing diagnostic page.

On the up side, thanks for finding it :-)

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I'll quote the relevant part of the OP in that thread for you then (while wondering why my Firefox didn't warn me like your browser does):

Faqs

1. What are the dimensions?

A: 15.6" x 11.5" x 1~1.8"
8.35 Pounds fully loaded including Battery

2. What cards can it have?

A: 7950 GTX, FX1600m, 8700m GT, 8800m GTX

3. Does it support SATA II?

A: Yes

4. Does it support 800 mhz RAM?

A: No, but if you do have it then it will automatically downgrade to 667 mhz.

5. What does U-U mean?

A: The U-U signifies that it is capable of overclocking with extreme proccessors.

6. Are there Different Colors?

A: Yes. The silver trim is called the m571ru, while the orange trim is called m570ru.

7: What does "User Upgradeable" mean?

A: This means that the user can easily upgrade the components such as the RAM, CPU, HDD and GPU by themselves with little hassle for a given price. Please note that some upgrades may require a motherboard or BIOS modification.

8: Whats up with the last digit in the model names?

A: The 1 signifies that it is the silver/black trim, while the 0 the orange/black. Other than that, there is no difference.

9:Sager Model Names

Since its debut, the Sager np5790 has undergone many changes. Below are the main differences between the sub-models.

Sager np5790:
Proccesor support: Intel C2D (Santa Rosa)
Graphics Support: 8700m GT or 7950 GTX

Sager np5791:
Same as 5790, but added support for intel robson 1GB Turbo Memory.

Sager np5792:
The motherboard was revisioned to support the 8800mGTX.In addition, Sata II were implemented, along with Penryn processors.

Sager np5793:
New Motherboard, BIOS, heatsink and cooling system for added functionality with the overclocking capabilities of Intel Core 2 Extreme processors.

Other Names

Clevo is the ODM, or original design manufacturer, of the notebook. The chassis is then built upon by Orginal Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS). The following is a list of OEMS in North America who have the m57ru and their corresponding name given to it.

Sager - np5790/1/2/3
Eurocom - M57ru Divine X
Prostar - Prostar 5728

[Djinni]

Ok thanks, so it will work, bringing us back to the original question :P Exactly how important is TRIM, how much less life could be expected?

Main uses are word processing and email, nothing amazingly heavy.

(P.S. Butler Log: I use Chrome)

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Sager np5792: The motherboard was revisioned to support the 8800mGTX.In addition, Sata II were implemented, along with Penryn processors.

Just make sure your laptop is the 5792 revision or newer, or it might not work.

[Deleted]

Think of Trim as a Defrag for SSD's
under no circumstance should you defrag a SSD as it will wear it out faster. (There I said the statement)

Basically what trim does is reorganize the data on the SSD in the background so that the drive runs at best possible performance.
it is enabled by default in windows 7 when you format a PC with AHCI mode enabled in the bios I believe

So I would say that it is very important to get a drive with a TRIM system just to keep the performance up.

as for life expectancy, the SSD I bought (Agility 3) has a 10 year life expectancy so they should last the same as a normal hard drive.

[Djinni]

Difference being though that the Agility 3 has TRIM ;-)
The SanDisk doesn't

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Difference being though that the Agility 3 has TRIM ;-)
The SanDisk doesn't

However, his has the SF 2281 controller, which is very likely to reduce the lifetime of the drive considerably

[glo]

However, his has the SF 2281 controller, which is very likely to reduce the lifetime of the drive considerably

Agility 3 / Vertex 3 / Solid are all on the 2200 controller. Unlike 2281, it has very few issues if updated to recent firmware. I'd still go for the Vertex 4 or Agility 4 though if you're going the OCZ route as they only cost around $10 more than their last generation.

Speaking of which, Microcenter has an awesome deal on Vertex 3 90GB drives. $60 bucks, no rebates or any other hoops. I went there with the intention of buying a 128 M4 after I gave my Agility 3 (which I also had no problems with for months) to a friend in need, and noticed the sale. Got 2 of the Vertex 3 drives for $120. Can't beat 180GB of SSDness for that price. Plus, they're just stupid fast with the latest firmware, exceeding just about anything else on the market, although that wasn't exactly what I was after.