Which SSD to choose

HI ppl, time to upgrade
at the moment i have a OCZ vertex2 SSD , so its time to upgrade to sata 3 speeds as the prices are coming down
the one i have looked so far are:

OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 2.5"
240-256GB Max Performance

Max Read: up to 525MB/s
Max Write: up to 500MB/s
Random Write 4KB: 45,000 IOPS
Maximum 4K Random Write: 85,000 IOPS

Intel® Solid-State Drive 520 Series
240GB
Max Read:SATA 6Gb/s 550 MB/s / 520 MB/s
Max Write:SATA 3Gb/s 280 MB/s / 260 MB/s
50,000 IOPS / 80,000 IOPS

256GB Crucial m4 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s

Sustained Sequential Read: Up to 500 MB/s(SATA 6Gb/s)
Sustained Sequential Write: Up to 260 MB/s(SATA 6Gb/s)
4KB Random Read: Up to 45,000 IOPS
4KB Random Write: Up to 50,000 IOPS

this are the 3 i been looking but still cant decide, i want the fastest drive and the OCZ looks to be the fastest . am i right?
or if you guys know any other good and fast drive let me know :thumbsup:

 

I was recommended both the OCZ Vertex 4 (not Vertex 3) and the Crucial M4. I ended up getting the Kingston HyperX cause it was on sale. My buddy went with the Vertex 4 and he thinks its great...he plays a lot of Skyrim and says it really made a difference on his R3.

 

OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 2.5"
240-256GB Max Performance

Max Read: up to 525MB/s
Max Write: up to 500MB/s
Random Write 4KB: 45,000 IOPS
Maximum 4K Random Write: 85,000 IOPS

OCZ Vertex 4 SATA III 2.5" SSD
256 GB
Sequential Reads1 560 MB/s
Sequential Writes1 510 MB/s
Random 4k Read IOPS2 90,000 IOPS
Random 4k Write IOPS2 95,000 IOPS

Prices -
OCZ Technology Agility 3 240 GB - 136£
OCZ 256GB Vertex 4 - 175£
prices are not that diferent and the random write on the vertex4 is double , but does that justify the diference in price? and will you notice that speed diference?

 

Its not only the speed, but also the SSD controller. The agility 3 uses a sandforce controller whereas the Vertex 4 uses Indilinx. The sandforce NAND controllers are notorious for malfunctioning and causing BSODs. I have never had this happen with my Kingston HyperX (which has a sandforce controller) but my sister had an Intel 830 in her IBM laptop and it had to be replaced since it was getting BSODs all the time. Not so much anymore since we went with a Crucial M4.

 

i know the early vertex like mine vertex 2 have some probs IE not working with intel rapid storage software, will the vertex 4 work with the intel rapid storage now that it doesnt use sandforce anymmore?

 

Here is an SSD review article that used Intel RST 10 drivers to test the Vertex 4. OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD Review - Page 3

Here is a thread that discusses the Intel RST drivers on the Vertex 2: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...pid-storage-technology-driver-issue-read.html. You might want to ask if any of the people in the thread have used the Intel RST with the Vertex 4. I installed Intel RST on my buddy's Vertex 4 when installed it in his R3. He hasn't gotten a BSOD in the 5 months since I installed it. I just made sure he was on the latest firmware available for his SSD (Vertex 4 FW version 5.10.31).

 

Thanks for the links
i think ill be getting the vertex 4..... and going to try the vertex 2 on my ps3 lol see it goes faster
i'm still on the A08 bios as dell disabled the sata 3 on the more recent updates.... is there anyway of doig raid 0 on sata 3? cause i head one the port is not very stable on sata 3 i think port 1?

 

Not on the R3, I believe. I think only one of the SATA ports is SATA III, the other is SATA II. So in theory, if you use two SSDs on those ports, the SATA controller should default to SATA II since that is the compatible speed across both ports.

 

no raid 0 for then

 

Don't quote me on that...someone around the forums might have figured out how to enable SATA III on both ports using modded A08 BIOS.

 

I'd get the Samsung 830 >

 

for me I go Intel because of the past experiences I have had with their RMA process. They definitely back the warranty. I had two Intel drives die on me and no questions asked they returned sent replacements. They died because on was abused due to benching and the other was about 2.5 years old and well used. Still shouldn't have died, but Intel stood by it. Intel's reliability and customer support is top notch.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS using Tapatalk 2

 

Please do not buy Agility 3. I have them in my M18x and I am not satisfied with their performance.

Of the three choices in your list, I would go with Crucial M4 FTW. (The Samsung PM830 is also awesome.)

Intel's warranty is outstanding. So is Crucial's. OCZ also backs their warranty very well, but the only OCZ I would consider is the Vertex 4 with the Indilinx controller.

 

Samsung 830 is the golden ticket here (solid warranty as stated).

 

whats the speeds of the samsung 830?

 

I have the Samsung 830 and love it!!!!

SSDreview.com for some really good review info on the majority of SSDs.

 

I know the Intel drive is probably not going to get picked, but this kinda bothering me.

Intel® Solid-State Drive 520 Series
240GB
SATA 6Gb/s (Read/Write) 550 MB/s / 520 MB/s
SATA 3Gb/s (Read/Write) 280 MB/s / 260 MB/s
50,000 IOPS / 80,000 IOPS

They were just labeled wrong.

 

I was really hurting for a Samsung 830, but wanted 512GB. The price is murder. A friend caught a deal online for the Crucial M4 512GB for only $360. The price was just too good to beat, so I went for the M4. My m17x r4 arrives in less than 48 hours. I can't wait to get my SSD in there!

 

Guys where is the love for the Corsair Performance Pro? I have one and the speeds are amazing. It has the same controller as the M4 but much quicker and is fully stable. Beats the SandForce drives in many benchmarks and real world usages. I highly recommend it. Or one could try the new Corsair Neutron GTX but I would stick to tried and tested for first timers

 

Those of us who recommend the Samsung 830 are totally right and those who go against Agility 3 are also correct . Sandforce-based SSDs are prone to failure when bad packets are written too often onto the asynchronous NAND cells (thus it is highly recommended to turn off Virtual Page File feature in windows).

Intel 520 is also another good candidate since they use cherry-picked IMFT NAND (according to Get To Know 21 Mainstream Solid State Drives from 7 Big Brands) and is the only manufacturer that has successfully fixed the aforementioned Sandforce issue. Crucial M4 is also pretty reliable and performance has been slightly increased after the recent firmware update (M4 uses JMicron controller).



On the other hand, there have been so many good feedback on the 4th gen of Vertex and Agility that use Everest II controller. They are more reliable than the previous line up and are just as fast.

You can place your bet on Samsung 830 or Intel 520 or Vertex 4 if you are going to use the drive in a laptop.

 

I've got a Kingston HyperX SSD. Haven't had any BSODs when resuming from sleep, nor any other problems at all. I haven't turned off virtual page file (should I? my SSD has a sandforce controller). If you want to spend the money, then a Samsung or Kingston are right up your alley. Intel is pretty decent for a reasonable price. OCZ and Crucial are mid level priced drives with top notch performance.

 

I don't think I have ever heard this. Where did you see this data? I have a hard time believing sandforce would have such problems since they come with their RASIE feature that protects against errors that other SSDs don't even cover. If anything sandforce is probably the only controller that can stop that from happening

 

SandForce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia