[skunkfu]

Hello chaps,

I looking for a way to speed up the Revo by means of hard drive speed. I'm currently using XBMC-Live with the accompanied 160GB hard drive. Is it faster to run XBMC installed to a SD card, using a cheap SSD, or compactflash? I'm not sure if I can use a CF, but there is another I'm hoping for answer

Thanks!

[poofyhairguy]

I love my SSD + ION!

[skunkfu]

Oh very good poofy

Any other suggestions besides SSD? I admit it, I'm cheap.

[cable_guy]

I'd also like to know this.

I wondered if it made a difference what speed (class) SD card or USB stick you use?

[Hannes The Hun]

the factory installed drive is super-slow. I already got a decent speed boost by installing a 7200rpm drive, but an SSD greatly improves overall system speed. we have a lot of SSD threads here, a small 40GB drive for around 100$ is enough (intel, ocz, etc)

and forget the usb or SD-card solutions, way too slow.

[cable_guy]

and forget the usb or SD-card solutions, way too slow.

interested in that comment, how come? Is there any merit in trying a Class 10 SD Card?

Is there any way to do benchmarks or do we just test by how snappy we think the GUI performs?

One more question : With XBMC live, where does it store the thumbnails and gallery info? I can imagine the speed of access to the database with those in is paramount.

[Driver 944]

I want to address the OP with information that may be useful. Once upon a time I was in the same spot he is in.

First, a disclaimer. I'm new to all this, I have a few answers and they may be wrong .... but I'll give it a go.

I have a REVO 3610, OCZ Onyx 32GB, 3GB RAM running Linux Mint 9 "Isadora", XBMC/Linux.

I got the following numbers using Disk Utility in Mint 9. I'm not sure how accurate the program is, but I know it's difficult to find any benchmark comparisons.

Here is a list of everything I've tried with XBMC.


Transcend SDHC 4GB (class 6)

Partition type: Linux (0x83)
Min. read rate: 15.3 MB/s
Max. read rate: 20.4 MB/s
Avg. read rate: 18.6 MB/s
Avg. Access Time: 1.4 ms


Patriot XT 8GB (USB 2.0)

Partition type: FAT32
Min. read rate: 33.2 MB/s
Max. read rate: 34.7 MB/s
Avg. read rate: 34.2 MB/s
Avg. Access Time: 0.8 ms


Hatachi 250GB SATA Hard drive - original disk with the Revo, converted to a portable USB drive.

Partition type: NTFS
Min. read rate: 40.6 MB/s
Max. read rate: 86.1 MB/s
Avg. read rate: 67.2 MB/s
Avg. Access Time: 18.1 ms


OCZ Onyx 32GB

Partition type: Linux (0x83) Ext4 (V1.0)
Min. read rate: 127.5 MB/s
Max. read rate: 150.2 MB/s
Avg. read rate: 145 MB/s
Avg. Access Time: 0.2 ms

I would recommend the 32GB OCZ Onyx. It's perfect for my needs and you can buy one from NewEgg for around 52.00 when the have a special.
I know some of the others are using bigger, better and more expensive SSD's, but I can't justify the extra money for use on a REVO.

I hope this will help someone. I got so much from this site I want to try to give something back.

[poofyhairguy]

Wow that is awesome!

[Geeba]

Corsair F40 - 40Gb SSD read 280MB/s write 270MB/s for only £83! it BLAZES! every review on Ebuyer is 5/5.

And use the fastest memory the board can support..... for instance if the board can support 667/800 dont put 667 value RAM in it.. for a few quid more sling some Kingston 800 in there!