Ssd On Xbox Options

[vlatro]

Hi, I'm a newcomer to the forums, so forgive me if this has been asked, I didn't find much in the search results.

I am considering upgrading the standard x-box hard drive, specifically for the purpose of loading game images. I do have an 80GB SSD (solid-state disk) with an ATA interface. I see no reason why it would not work. Has anyone tried this? Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of, or any benchmarks on such a mod that will tell me weather it's worth dropping in my $300 drive for an 80GB gain?

Power consumption is lower, so it generates less heat. Helpful because I tend to leave the xbox on for extended periods.

The lack of moving parts should significantly reduce noise. The high pitched whirr of the drive kicking on periodically is always annoying when watching movies.

Access times should be significantly faster, reducing boot times and load times in games.

The install it's self is no problem (pretty much the same as a HDD upgrade). Is there anything I should consider before diving into this? Any resources, links, info or opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Vlatro

This post has been edited by vlatro: Nov 5 2008, 10:23 PM

[obcd]

If the xbox is softmodded, make sure the SSD supports locking.
For the rest, I see no reason why it shouldn't work.

Even some normal harddisks can be set for multimedia mode. In that case, the access times are a bit slower, but the head movements are less noisy.

regards.

[vlatro]

Thanks for the speedy reply.

It is unknown at this point weather the SSD I have can be locked. I guess I'll just have to try it. I'll record some time data with the original drive first. If it works out, it should give me a comparative benchmark to post. SSD prices are dropping like crazy, so if all goes as planned, I could see this becoming a common mod. There's no theoretical reason why SSDs shouldn't work, it'll all come down to the specific one I'm trying (Sandisk).

BTW, the drive appears to be only 64GB (according to the sticker), but it posts on my PC as 80GB. I haven't looked into why, but it does indeed hold 80GB. Possibly a labeling error, or there's something I'm neglecting to notice. We'll see how it goes.

[obcd]

SSD prices are dropping, but do you think they will manufacture them with a PATA interface?
As their main purpose is the PC world, I would expect them to have a SATA interface.

regards.

[vlatro]

Update:

Does it work? Well, yes and no.

Using the standard ATA interface was a no win. I have been able to throw it into an external drive enclosure and get it to opporate via USB. Naturally, the 11Mbps throughput of USB 1.1 bottleknecks the potential speed gains. Also, I'm working off of partitions of 512MB, I can't get it to recognize more than that. Don't know why, I'm pretty new at this. Those of you who know SSDs already know the troubles with partitioning them (kills the drive quickly). It is lightning fast for small files like game saves (reading NOT Writing), but even a stripped down game is impossible.

A simpler soloution emerges... I put it back in my PC and loaded a few movies on it to share over the network.

I've bench marked the difference in buffering rates. With the SSD, my "Pirates of the Caribbean" (1.45GB Divx) movie played in under 1 second (don't have specifics, I used a stop watch that only went as low as one second). This was the average over 10 trials, every attempt was under one second. Trying again with the same file on my 10,000RPM SATA drive in the same computer, it took 2.4 seconds on average. Lowest there was 1, highest 4.

SSDs are faster for network files. But the 1-2 second difference is meager given the increased expense. If this could be used for games, it would work phenomenally. My bad results are likely specific to the drive I'm using. When I get another, I will retest.

This post has been edited by vlatro: Nov 10 2008, 06:35 AM

[Knocks]

A cheaper and easier solution would be to get an IDE to SDHC adapter and a high-grade SDHC card.

[mwaterbu]

sorry about bumping this old thread, but i am interested in the potential of this.
are you sure you partitioned the dirve correctly? did you use xboxhdm to format it?
what happened when you put it in your xbox? did you get any errors from your bios?

[GoTeamScotch]

This is a very old thread. Your question will most likely go unanswered by the author.


I am curious, does the SD to IDE adapter work for an Xbox? That might be a good route to go.

[kingtiger01]

(Sorry for Reviving a Dead Thread. But its Relative, and should be a Sticky if it Works.)
The best solution, is to get a SATA to PATA adapter, and just get a MOLEX Y-Splitter. one to power the adapter, one to power the hard drive.

You should get the performance Gains of a SSD... Im going this route soon, i dont mind down-converting my Media to SD formats to watch it on the Comfort of my XBMC on XBOX.

and Standard PATA-HardDisks are getting hard to come by, and not worth the price. My older 60gb is Starting to do the Click-of-Death, @ boot...(Time to do a backup...)

This post has been edited by kingtiger01: Oct 17 2011, 07:07 AM

[shambles1980]

(Sorry for Reviving a Dead Thread. But its Relative, and should be a Sticky if it Works.)
The best solution, is to get a SATA to PATA adapter, and just get a MOLEX Y-Splitter. one to power the adapter, one to power the hard drive.

You should get the performance Gains of a SSD... Im going this route soon, i dont mind down-converting my Media to SD formats to watch it on the Comfort of my XBMC on XBOX.

and Standard PATA-HardDisks are getting hard to come by, and not worth the price. My older 60gb is Starting to do the Click-of-Death, @ boot...(Time to do a backup...)

i dont see the point of a ssd on a ata 133 system. the xbox cant even fully utilize sata drive speeds i would imagine that a quiet drive would be good but the xbox still has fans so i doubt its noticable. for the same price you can get a sata drive thats bigger but to each theire own.

This post has been edited by shambles1980: Oct 17 2011, 02:31 PM

[lordvader129]

youd get some performance gains, like in seek times and whatnot, but unless you already happen to have an SSD you arent using i wouldnt buy one for the xbox, its nowhere near worth it IMO

if youve got that much money to throw around i would suggest building an HTPC and running XBMC linux, you could get full HD and actually take advantage of the faster hardware

[pattythefatty]

...I am curious, does the SD to IDE adapter work for an Xbox? That might be a good route to go.

IDE to Compact Flash works, (provided you have a fast enough CF card), I can confirm from experience; so I see no reason why IDE to SD also wouldn't work (as long as the SD card was fast enough), but I have never tried SD.
-PTF