ghetto SSD question

ok I was thinking of getting this CF to SATA converter and then this interposer

Will that work no problems? I just wanto put a 16GB CF card and install XP onto it.

 

CF cards are just plain slow...you're laptop will become significantly less useful if you go this route.

 

Even something like this

with Ultra DMA and 90MB/S reads?

 

That might be a bit different...but that's expensive. Why not just get a regular SSD?

 

Those compact flash cards will die quickly if you put an operating system on them. They can't handle the write cycles that an SSD can because the quality of the flash memory is lower.

 

haha yeah but thats in NZD though remember so not super expensive.

well I probably will get an SSD but first I'll see if I can make a halfdecent small ghetto SSD for a fraction of the price and if I can't I'll just buy a 64 GB SSD or something. I really don't need much space.

hmmmm interesting I've read that somewhere else as well, but I think I'm going to do it anyways just for cheap fun. if it lasts cool if doesnt oh well.

 

A couple points...

CF cards have these quoted speeds like "133x" or "300x" and so on... when you're installing an OS on a CF card, these speeds mean nothing. Usually this rated speed is for the fastest sequential read speed you'll get out of a certain card.

When running an OS on a CF card, you've got to consider writes and random writes, just like with an SSD. Because of the small number of flash cells in most CF cards, the difference between SLC and MLC flash does suddenly become relevant.

I've been using a 4GB Transcend 300x (supposedly SLC) as a boot drive for over a year and a half now. Installed XP on it without any silly tweaks (save for killing the page file) and never had a problem yet. An appropriate CF card should last at least that long, if not longer.

4GB has always been a bit small, and when I came across one of these 16GB Adata "533x" cards, I figure I could use the speed and capacity boost. But that 533x rating doesn't mean anything when you're running an OS off the drive... yes, the sequential read speed was significantly faster than that of my Transcend, but XP stuttered so much it was effectively unusable.

That, I believe is because the Adata card uses MLC flash. That SanDisk card that you linked may use SLC, and just may be better in general, but as Greg mentioned, you may as well get a true SSD for that price.

 

sweet! good to know. Yeah lol that sandisk extreme would be pointless when I could just get an SSD but I'll see if I can find a CF card that compromises a little bit of speed for way less price

 

This is the card I've been using:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...208418&cm_re=transcend-_-20-208-418-_-Product

They also make an 8GB flavor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...208417&cm_re=transcend-_-20-208-417-_-Product

Truth be told, though, these cards may be cheaper than a real SSD on an absolute cost basis, but they are a horrible value. For about three times the price of the 4GB card, you can get the 40GB Intel X25-V, which is TEN times more spacious and many times faster.

I'm honestly only using the CF because I haven't found a PATA SSD that'll work with my HP. I've tried twice and failed twice already. If you have a SATA-based machine, a cheap, genuine SSD IS the way to go; there is pretty much no benefit to a DIY SSD anymore.

 

While I don't have any experience with an Operating System on a CF card, I am using Linux on a SD Card. It's sluggish in my Netbook but runs as fast as normal ubuntu on my regular notebook. I haven't wore it out ... yet.

 

I would get a 16gb SSD for the OS + put the files on a HDD in your optical bay:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4936086

Maybe a 32gb SSD.

Anyway, that will give you really fast startup times and you will still have plenty of space.

 

thanks everyone. I'm gonna have a think before I go ghetto SSD or really cheap proper SSD. theres some 99 USD SSD's on new egg that are tempting me.