How to set up GA 890XA-UD3 with the OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2?

[Wonderwrench]

The only thing I would disagree with in Wonderwrench's list is the necessity the move the Windows page file from the SSD. I would definitely do this as the page file is writing to the drive constantly if it is enabled so moving it to another drive is a must. The rest of the list seems sensible.

Don't forget to vote!

I theory moving the page file to magnetic drive will cut down on writes to the SSD which should make the drive last longer. I played around with moving the page file and found that any time the page file did get used I would get a micro lag. This did not happen often but it would freak me out when it happened. SSD's are so fast you get accustom to the feel and when the page file gets hit its like WTH. Most people may not notice this so try it your self. I also found that when you move the page file you can't completely remove it from your boot drive so you end up with two page files. A small one on the boot drive plus the one you made on the magnetic drive so you still may get page file writes to the SSD. I found a work around on the net to get rid of the small page file and it seemed to work. Something told me to test what would happen if I disconnected the magnetic drive that the page file was on and see what happened. Windows hung on startup. I was able to boot to safe mode and once done reboot back into normal windows. At this point I decided I had enough of that.

Other thoughts: The more ram your system has the less the page file is used. SSD's are expensive and people that use them are more on the cutting edge.  I would guess these people are also able to spend more money building their systems. So IMO spend some extra money and get 8 or 12 gigs of ram. Everyone is worried about wearing out their SSD's including me. The only way to eliminate writes to you shinny new SSD is to leave it in its shipping box. Tweaking windows to lesson writing to the drive is a good idea but where do you stop. Each person must decide for them selves.

Bill  

[Dark Mantis]

That's all interesting thoughts Bill and I wouldn't argue at all. As you say the best way is not to need a pagefile. I am running with 6GB RAM and often thought about trying to run without one but have never put it to the test so far.  Maybe it's a good excuse to get the wife to let me buy some more memory.

[Wonderwrench]

Note: many people make the mistake and partition and format the SSD incorrectly. The easiest way to get it right is to partition and format the drive while connected to a windows Vista or windows 7 PC. Only use a single partition. Using more than one partition or allowing windows setup to partition and format the drive will cause alignment problems which will seriously reduce drive performance and drive life.

OK, this raises a couple of questions.
When you install Windows 7 it wants to create a small 100Mb  partition called system reserved. Are you saying that this shouldn't be done if using an SSD?
If so, how do you stop Windows from creating this partition?

From the research I have done on the net allowing windows to create the 100 MB partition will cause the OS partition to be misaligned though I never did testing to prove it. Stop windows from making the 100 MB partition by using either method in my previous post. Even if its not true why have it anyway. Besides having more than one partition on any drive can cause problems when restoring an image backup to the drive by breaking windows Vista/W7 1024 sector offset. Only some of the latest imaging programs handle the backup and restore correctly. Which ones? I'm not sure. I use TrueImage 2010 and even the brand new 2011 version will break the offset unless the complete drive is backed up and restored.

Bill

[soarwitheagles]

A big thank you to all who have contributed to helping us understand how to set up a SSD properly.

Ok, one more question...

I have heard from a number of forums that I should not dare hook up my data drives [platter drives such as 2 terabytes] until after the SSD is set up.

Several people are saying I can avoid major problems by NOT hooking the data platter drives.

Is this an accurate assumption?

Please help me.

Thank you,

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

To be honest, Soar, I don't know exactly why this has got around. There must be some validity in it I guess because you often see it posted but personally I haven't had a problem with mine at all. I just build my system as normal and then install Windows with the other drives in situ. Maybe I'm just lucky

[soarwitheagles]

To be honest, Soar, I don't know exactly why this has got around. There must be some validity in it I guess because you often see it posted but personally I haven't had a problem with mine at all. I just build my system as normal and then install Windows with the other drives in situ. Maybe I'm just lucky

Hi DM!

Ok, thanks for your valuable input!

Soar