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    SSD Crucial M4 vs Force GT

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by nayilalien, Sep 13, 2011.

  1. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    nayilalien, Sep 13, 2011
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  2. Bill Nye

    Bill Nye Know Nothing

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    Crucial M4 hands down. There's no comparison.

    Unless you want to play the RMA game until you get a good drive, which could still die causing complete loss of data. Is a bit of unnoticeable speed worth it?
     
    Bill Nye, Sep 13, 2011
    #2
  3. Na8331

    Na8331 Notebook Consultant

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    Is that because the GT uses sandforce?
     
    Na8331, Sep 13, 2011
    #3
  4. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    It isn't just about Sandforce. It is what they are paired with. If you ever want a Sandforce drive, make sure you get ones with Toshiba 32nm nand, not the Intel 25nm ones. So far there are only 3, the Mushkin Chronos, Patriot Wildfire and The Vertex 3 Max IOPs. I have the Wildfire, I experienced some freezes initially but the LPM fix sorted it all out. Very fast and totally stable now. I would advise against the Force GT as it uses 25nm nand. If you want stability, M4 all the way.
     
    widezu69, Sep 13, 2011
    #4
  5. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    thanks for the advice guys ... rppd
     
    nayilalien, Sep 13, 2011
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  6. airacutie

    airacutie Notebook Consultant

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    Also recommend M4, absolutelly no problems here :) No LPM fix or something similar needed, no special care.
     
    airacutie, Sep 14, 2011
    #6
  7. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    ordered the m4 !
     
    nayilalien, Sep 14, 2011
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  8. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    i bought a M4 also for my alienware. And yes, it required no special tweaking which is a plus.

    BUT, i also didn't require any tweaking on my Patriot Wildfire either.

    To OP, given the price difference between the two, i'd go M4 (and did). There's like a $45 dollar difference and the corsair drives aren't known for their reliability.
     
    SlickDude80, Sep 14, 2011
    #8
  9. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    I got it installed in 10 mins!!
    I didn't go through copying the OS .... I just used the transfer cable and the cloning software to get it through. That took about 30 mins for 110 gigs.

    WEI index on HDD is 7.7!!!!!
     
    nayilalien, Sep 16, 2011
    #9
  10. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Congrats. Although WEI isn't much to go by, you should be able to get a higher score. My wildfire gives me a full 7.9, I've seen other M4's get 7.9 as well. Have you put the harddrive in port 1 not 0? Sometimes port 0 has problems staying at Sata III speeds.
     
    widezu69, Sep 16, 2011
    #10
  11. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    I think I put it in port 0 (if port 0 = where the original factory HDD was). So far the boot times have gone up drastically.

    How should I check if i'm having issues with SATA III speeds?

    is there a software to monitor HDD speeds?
     
    nayilalien, Sep 16, 2011
    #11
  12. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Download the latest Intel RST. When selecting your drive, it should always read Sata 6GBps and not 3GBps. Or you could just take out the SSD, stick it in port 1 (the other port), boot into bios, set your boot sequence to Secondary HDD first and then you are a go! Port 1 guarantees Sata 6GBps speeds.
     
    widezu69, Sep 16, 2011
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  13. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    I did as you told me... Everything is working perfect except WEI can't run the disk assessment test cause of driver conflict or compatibility?

    The intel rst for port 1 does say 6gb/s :D

    EDIT: NVM it RAN FINE! and it's now at 7.9

    DUDE U're the MAN!!!
     
    nayilalien, Sep 16, 2011
    #13
  14. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Congrats good to see those scores right up there! Enjoys the much increased speeds :)
     
    widezu69, Sep 16, 2011
    #14