SSD for XBMC and/or Win 7

[EndersShadow]

So I am looking to build a XBMC HTPC. I am not sure if I want to run just XBMC or XBMC + Windows 7.

Either way thats not the reason for this thread.

I am looking to get an SSD for my OS drive to keep wattage down and also keep the entire system pretty snappy.

I just need to know what size SSD I should be looking for and what brands to go with/stay away from.

Any comments on XBMC and or Windows 7 + XBMC are welcomed as well.

On that front, basically looking to stream FLAC files to my HT system as well as play ripped DVD/blu-ray files (still figuring out how to do that/best way to do that).

So what size drive and or brand would you go with?

 

[ChrisBenn]

Win 7 SP1 x64 + XBMC, Firefox & Intel Driver pack - otherwise nothing else. Only about 3 weeks old, so not much cruft either. I removed the leftovers from SP1 install when it was finished.

I'd suggest 40Gig minimum.

 

[spankit]

I've got a 30GB SSD in my atom based XBMC box. Running XBMC Live. I'll be honest I don't notice a difference with an SSD. If I were to do it again I would have just used the cheapest drive I could have found. I use mine to play Movies/TV/Music on my home theater.

 

[EndersShadow]

I've got a 30GB SSD in my atom based XBMC box. Running XBMC Live. I'll be honest I don't notice a difference with an SSD. If I were to do it again I would have just used the cheapest drive I could have found. I use mine to play Movies/TV/Music on my home theater.

looking to keep heat/noise down. An SSD is a great way to do that. If I can run the OS off a silent SSD I then have 2 3.5 drive spaces in my case.

The case can do 2 x 2.5 + 3.5 OR 2 x 3.5 + 2.5

I figured on going with 5900 rpm 3 TB drives (one to start with) loaded with all my DVD's and music.

 

[ChrisBenn]

I actually iSCSI boot off my server, no drives at all in the HTPC (started out as an intel 40Gb but I ended up moving that image to an iSCSI LUN and using the SSD to mirror my server boot drive)

 

[EndersShadow]

I actually iSCSI boot off my server, no drives at all in the HTPC (started out as an intel 40Gb but I ended up moving that image to an iSCSI LUN and using the SSD to mirror my server boot drive)

Dont have a server so thats a no go for me. Trying to keep most/all of my media on this to start with.

I realize adding drives will add noise, but I am doing my best to negate that fact by going w/ a fanless motherboard and using PWM on 2 120mm fans and then setting the other 120mm fan on the cpu header. The PWM fans can run at a min of 400 rpm and the 3 pin fan will be set to run at around 1000 rpm max.

With it being a Zacate board it will be small, require little power, give of less heat as well.

So I am hoping that by going w/ SSD on the OS and then 2 3 TB drives I will be fine with DVD and blu-ray rips for a bit.

Then if needed I can always add more HDD's via a external NAS or External drives.....

So it looks like so far a 30 gig drive would work for the OS and/or XMBC. Any suggestions on which one to go with as well as the diff between MLC and SLC?

 

[EndersShadow]

So I am going to try out XBMC Live on a USB 2.0 8 gig drive. I figure if I like it enough by itself I might just run everything off a flash drive to start with (with internal storage). Then if I want to go w/ Windows 7 + XBMC I will get a 32 gig Corsair SSD.