When it comes to new technology for computers, Intel is usually at the forefront. Today I stumbled across Smart Response Technology, also known as SRT. SRT is very unique to Intel based platforms and unfortunately it can only be used if you have two specific devices. The first device being an SSD (Solid State Drive) under 60GB’s, and the second is the newest line of Intel Z68 motherboard’s.
The reason you have to use a 60GB SSD, is because after doing a lot research, Intel determined that it’s not beneficial to the consumer to use such a large Drive VS. That may seem like a down side, but you will actually gain performance. Just an added note though, if you do use a larger SSD of 120GB or more, you can select a portion of the SSD to be used as cache for the system, and let the remainder be storage space. SSD’s are still relatively expensive for the amount of storage they offer.
Currently the cheapest SSD I found at Newegg.com was $119.99. It seems like a fairly low price for an SSD, but when you’re only getting 60GB’s worth of storage, its absolutely horrible when compared to today’s fastest Hard Disk Drives, which offer a terabyte or more of storage for half that price.
What SRT technology allows you to do, is use the SSD as a large cache for your Hard Drive only system. It will boost the performance of your PC, 4 times over what it originally was. Personally, I would opt out of using SRT technology and just save up until I could afford a larger SSD and use that as my main hard drive. For those of you who would rather use this method, here is a list of exactly what you need to have.
Item Check List
- An ‘1155’ socket type processor, preferably the ‘K’ Series
- An Intel Motherboard that supports the socket type ‘1155’ and has a Northbridge that is ‘Z68’ I recommend a ‘Gigabyte Motherboard’
- An SSD that has 60GB of storage and preferably a SATA III (6GB/s) connection
- A Hard Disk Drive preferably (1TB) and a SATA III (6GB/s) connection
There you have it! That’s everything you will need to use Intel’s SRT technology. There is a reason I recommend using a ‘Gigabyte’ motherboard. It is because it comes with a utility called “Easy Smart Response”, which doesn’t require you to reformat your boot drive. Stay tuned to The Game Fanatics for when I do a walk-through of enabling SRT and also the performance increases it gives.
