Upgrading my computer - faster & more efficient

[freebeard]

1989 was the year I started with La Cie, a hard drive manufacturer, where I supported their product all over the [English-speaking] globe. I left there for Symantec where I supported Norton Utilities in the USofA.

If you want adequate power management, get a Mac.

And stop capitalizing freebeard, i feel like your mocking me.

[Daox]

I've started getting the components. Its my first time using a M.2 drive. WOW they're crazy small! Very cool stuff.

Here is the 500gb M.2 SSD. It mounts right to the motherboard. No cables to deal with.

[NeilBlanchard]

SSD's are addictive. They boot crazy-fast.

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

I replaced the HDD in my weather computer with a 128MB SSD and boy it loads fast!

I just wonder about its ultimate "longevity" as SSD's DO electronically wear-out!

The drives will lose capacity over time. SSD's incorporate software that monitors performance of the individual memory cells and stops using them when they become compromised.

[redpoint5]

I've been using SSDs since 2009 and have not had one wear out, lose data, or shrink in capacity. So far I don't know of anyone who has had issues related to wear.

Under normal usage, they should last a decade or more.

[Daox]

I'm not worried about the SSD wearing out. I've had one normal HDDs fail on me after quite some years of use. It happens. The current SSD I'm running right now is 6 years old. It was buggy when I first installed it, but with some firmware updates its now rock solid. I'll most likely be selling it once the new computer is up and running.

[Ecky]

Depends on your use case. They do have write limits and some SSDs are not suitable for some workloads, but I doubt most home users will have any issues.

I have a pair of Intel X25M SSDs from back in 2009, which have been used continuously as boot + program drives, and both report 90-92% write endurance remaining.

I generally stick with either Intel or Samsung for SSD purchases. I've never had a failure from either, but multiple random failures from other companies.

[NeilBlanchard]

It also depends on which brand / model you use. The newer Samsung models are rated much better than older SSD's.

And I've got news for you: spinning hard drives break down all the time.

[freebeard]

It's been years since I dealt with that stuff, now-a-days I'm a simple meme farmer.

Winchester disks are mapped into tracks with sectors. And servo tracks and spare sectors. None of that pertains to memory sticks and SSDs. I got two 16Gb memory sticks for $8 each. They were wrapped in cellophane when I got them, but I consider them one step short of finding them on the ground in a parking lot. I wish I had the forensic tools available to me in the 1990s (Norton Utilities/Norton Disk editor) to examine them before I insert them into anything world facing.

I also have a computer I bought 2nd hand that I haven't plugged in yet while I process through the five stages of finding out about IME.

edit:
The Vulture offers some reassurance:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/0...vulnerability/

And says it can be exploited via USB.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/1...sten_dump_ime/

Bootnote

The IME is able to control a computer because it runs an OS of its own, namely MINIX: a small and simple microkernel system designed to teach computer-science students how hardware and operating systems work. And it turns out that while Intel talked to MINIX's creator about using it, the tech giant never got around to saying it had put it into recent CPU chipsets it makes.

Which has the permissively licensed software's granddaddy, Professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum, just a bit miffed. As Tanenbaum wrote this week in an open letter to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich:...

[freebeard]

I used to worry in the reverse of that order. The Russians are over there, but the CIA ruined my life.

But now, by my current understanding, the NSA are putting the FBI and the CIA on a short leash. (buzzing Langley for half an hour at the very least).

And if Putin, Trump and Xi are conspiring to bring an end to 6K years of Babylonian debt slavery, so much the better.

Ontopic: old Mac Minis: No microphone, no webcam, no soldered in RAM (like the new ones).