SSD Questions regarding TRIM and SRT, etc...

Decided to join the SSD club finally, and have resolved to get a Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK
($164.99 on Newegg + $35 MIR atm)

I currently have two 1TB Samsung F3s in RAID 0, and would like to take advantage of Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching).
However I recently learned that TRIM can't be used on a RAID drive, and an SSD MUST be in RAID to be used for SRT.

So my question is, how much of a benefit will I really lose or gain from having SRT vs TRIM? (since I can only use one)

You don't need SRT, it's just a feature that lets you turn a small SSD (ie ~20GB like the Intel 311) and a larger HDD into a glorified hybrid drive (and I have no idea where you heard SRT requires RAID). Just make the SSD your OS drive and use the HDDs for bulk storage.

TRIM is designed to keep your drive's performace at its peak level throughout its useful life. Not having TRIM will lower the drive's performance very slowly, over time. No one knows *exactly* how much and by how fast your drive will deteriorate. Many modern SSD's have built in garbage collection that is a form of TRIM built into the SSD's controller. Manufacturer's claim it works just as well as TRIM - maybe or maybe not. In all honesty, its a bit too fuzzy to tell.

Chances are, by the time the lack of TRIM will be even a small issue, you're probably ready to dump that drive for something newer, faster, and cheaper, since it'll take years to affect you.

Having said that, SSD caching is specifically designed for people with small drives to get "SSD-like" performance along with their larger disk drives. A 120 GB drive should work just fine for install Windows, your apps, and maybe 3 or 4 of your more played titles without issues.

You will get far more performance, i think, having that SSD as a primary drive than as a cache - regardless of the TRIM.

I was planning on using it as the boot drive AND allocating the max of 60gb allowed for caching.
Also, I'm really debating the Corsair Force GT vs the Crucial M4 right now if anyone has any advice on that.

I was planning on using it as the boot drive AND allocating the max of 60gb allowed for caching.
Also, I'm really debating the Corsair Force GT vs the Crucial M4 right now if anyone has any advice on that.

SubGum

Huh? You don't need SRT if you're using it as a boot drive -- it's already going to cache on the SSD.

Corsair should be cheaper and a bit faster, Crucial will get you an extra 8GB of space and better reliability. I'd lean slightly towards the Crucial, but if money's tight the Corsair probably makes more sense.

Money's not exactly tight but I still like to seek out the better value wherever I can.
I've been researching SSDs like crazy trying to catch up the last few days. Boggles the brain having to learn new things like this.

My understanding is that I can still get better access times on my commonly used programs stored on my HDD with caching enabled.
So the cacheing was mainly for random programs (such as Steam), not the OS which I would boot directly from the SSD.

Set me straight here if I'm confusing things.

EDIT: Good lord the price on the Corsair goes up $30 when I go to order it.
Convinces me I'll wait a bit to see how prices go, as well as allowing me to do some more research.

Decided to join the SSD club finally, and have resolved to get a Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK
($164.99 on Newegg + $35 MIR atm)

I currently have two 1TB Samsung F3s in RAID 0, and would like to take advantage of Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching).
However I recently learned that TRIM can't be used on a RAID drive, and an SSD MUST be in RAID to be used for SRT.

So my question is, how much of a benefit will I really lose or gain from having SRT vs TRIM? (since I can only use one)

SubGum

I use SRT because I frequently use drive imaging and that dramatically shortens the life of an SSD. Also many of the programs I use require large temp space which always has the main set for default. I get basically the same speed from SRT as with using my SSD as a main, the difference is the SSD is now only being used for files and programs that are frequently accessed. In addition, I can store ALL my games on my 500GB main rather than on a secondary drive.

A RAID array is not required for SRT. TRIM has no purpose with SRT since the SSD is just a cache dump. For me, SRT offers greater flexibilty than using an SSD as a primary because the only advantage of an SSD is access speed which is sufficiently achieved through SRT.