elanaAhova, what I understand the instructions regarding the bios mode to mean is after setting the bios sata mode to ahci windows (vista and later, do NOT try it with xp as xp does not support ahci) needs to be re-installed or installed on the drive.

the reason for using the ahci mode on a sata3(6gb/slimit) motherboard connector is the fastest performance of the drive, sata2 (3gb/s limit) results in a better than hdd performance but not what the ssd can deliver with sata3, and using the ide mode (which is compatable with all windows releases) results in slower performace again than sata2 ahci(I think it is mostly from ahci command queueing).

if your computer is set up in ide mode you should use the easy transfer wizard to backup the settings and data to  an external drive (just in case the mode change causes problems OR so that you can install windows on the ssd and get back the settings and data) THEN go into the BIOS and alter the sata mode then save the BIOS changes and try booting.

if it works then you should see windows load new device drivers due to the changed bios mode for the drives and possibly request a re-boot to set the drivers into operation

if it does NOT work the you will see THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH and rebootiteis(repeatedly booting flashing the BSOD and booting again .if this happens then you will need to boot from your windows dvd and repair install the windows, this might not work in which case you will need to re-install windows and programs then use the easy transfer wizard's backup to restore your data and settings.

OR you could just install the windows onto the SSD after chaning the bios setting and install the programs and restore the transfer wizarddata back into the newssd install and be good to go after a day or so of fiddle

hope this helps

harpo

I would suggest using the ssd as a boot drive as it DOES help with both the boot speed and responsiveness of the operating system.

the easy transfer wizard is a standard windows 7/8 (installed with the os) program (and there was a similar utility in vista called transfer wizard), BUT the win hate.1 version only will work with files collected from win7 and later, but the win7/8 version will work with data collected from all the OS's I have tried (xp,vista,7 & 8).

it is possible to check the bios mode inside bios without changing it by NOT saveing any changes when you exit the bios.

if you want it as a data drive, just plug it in, format it and use it, and do NOT ever defrag the ssd as defraging ssd's causes a huge amount of write wear on the drives and do not worry about the bios mode or sata interface as the OS drive is the main use one.

regarding the flash drive to use for easy transfer, it depends upon the total data quantity that you want to 'transfer' and the easy transfer wizard does use file compression during the transfer, so your 8gb stcik might get 9 or 10gb of data before it fills up.

hope this helps

harpo

How big is your ssd? If it is at least 120 gb you can have both. 60 might be a little tight. I would say windows is probably the most important. Do you have a 7200 rpm hdd right now?

Hi Umbraa

Hi!  Actually, don't have any SSD right now.  Researching before purchasing is part of the process I'm going through (along with skyrim S.T.E.P scheme).  I dug out system  data (below). Would not let me rt click to copy, or paste! Found out I have one core.  Very frustrating because the person I hired to put system together was directed to get a 4 core processor, i5 or i7, whichever was better for gaming (like skyrim).  Discovering I have an i7 with one core, three years later, well, I'm a tad miffed.  (Should I be -or was this a good decision / tradeoff?) Anyway, what would you recommend?  Get a new core processor say i5 multi core?  Get what size SSD to put OS and sky? 

Explanation: STEP uses the new mod organizer program - and MO uses a virtual game data folder so vanilla is never actually touched (unlike wyre smash).  Also means the modded files/graphics, etc can be on any drive as they get imported to the 'virtual skyrim build' when playing.  So putting the modded assets of sky on the SSD along with OS now seems totally OK, as you said.

...............  system data .............................

Sabertooth x58 Motherboard

Win 7 home prem 6.1.7601 serv Pak 1 build 7601  x64 based

IntelCore i7 cpu  960 @3.20GHz, 3207 Mhz, 1 Core(s) logical

11.99 GB usable RAM

1920 x 1080, 60 Hz

GTX 670, driver = 335.23

Hardware abstraction layer  ver=”6.1.7601.17514”

BIOS American Megatreands 0902 3/1/2011

SMBIOS version 2.5

Boot \device\harddiskvolumn1

Phys memory 12GB,  available 10.3GB

Virtual memory 24GB, available 21.8GB

Pagefile space 12.0GB

Creative x-fi audio processor (WDM)

Storage

C: NTFS 465.61GB (OS here), NTFS 1.82TB,  1.61TB free

D: NTFS 1.82TB 1.61 free

SCSI, marvell RAID console, JMicron JMB36X controller, Marvel 91xx SATA 6G controller

Intel..  ICH10R SATA AHCI controller

...............  end system  data .............................

Did i miss anything important?  What would you recommend I do with this sys to upgrade it?

Quoting harpo99999,

reply 9

Yes,

[quote who="harpo99999" reply="9" id="3455847"]  ... search through all installed programs (in programs and features of control panel) and un-install ALL not vital toolbars and browser addons(these are usually loading several times during startup and also running all the time the computer is operating so that they can report back to the poeple that created the toolbar what YOU do on your computer and where you co on the internet while YOU pay for their data collection in both power consumed and disk space used to store the information THEY want)

Yes, yes, a big help Harpo.   I greatly appreciate it.  Now I see why you have so much (good) karma here.  BTW, I love the Marx bros shows.  Their family history is an interesting study, as well.  Second generation USA, in NYC, with a matriarchal family structure.

Are you happy with SSD?

elahaAhova, the number of graphs for the 'cpu usage history' on the performance tab IS the clue that I was hinting at.

the number of threads is the number of active (or wanting to be active) processes in the computer at the time.

just out of curiosity, which program reported the single core for the cpu, so I can check it out and figure out if it is a false positive or a real report

regarding the power supply, my estimate for your system power use (at full load would be approx 430w (220w gpu ,120w cpu 10w/hdd, 10w /optical drive, approx 30w mobo, 10w sound card) and the common theory regarding power supply degridation is approx 10% of capacity per year of operation so a 600w 3 year old supply would still be able to supply around (600-((600/10)) 420 watts, so the power supply might be beginning to cause any system instability that happens, but that is based upon my guesses for the power demands of the components.

on my systems that I d o not want to have any stability issues with over the next few years, I tend to use 700w-800w platinum class supplies with single midrange video cards, so yes the power supply is GROSSLY over specified, but then I should not have to replace it for several years (probably have to replace the rest of the guts first especially the hdds, optos and fans first)

harpo

as both task manager(the 8 windows of cpu load history) and device manager(the 8 cpu's) both indicate 8(4 with hyperthreading that fakes a second core for each actual core) cores while your system information tool indicates a single core, in this case I would suggest that the system info is wrong ,but I do not have any idea how to fix other than the google fu.

other system identification tools like cpuz, sisoft's sandra, should also indicate  the 8 (4 real & 4 fake) cores sot it must be a glitch with the system information tool(but on reading the link you posted earlier it appears that home premium 7 might have a cores lock in it.

also and from memory my i7 930 oc'd to 4ghz got a cpu score of approx 7.6 in the system performace tool(might have been 7.9 but it was a couple of years ago that I checked it out last).

hope this helps

harpo

How many cores do you see when you do this?

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-set-processor-affinity-to-an-application-in-windows/