help with pickup up SSD

Hey guys,

I would like to upgrade my r3 and since all recommendations are towards SSD over RAM, I think Ill go that way first. (I dont need to upgrade anything else and even the RAM really as 4gb is fine for now, Ill get the 8gb hyperx latter but I would like to get the SSD first).

But I really have no idea whatsoever which one to pick. First is it worth it to get the 256gb one? Ill use the ssd, like others, for Windows and applications primarily but since the other hard drive I have is only 320gb I was thinking of going 256gb because if I go with 128gb chances are Ill have to upgrade my secondary HDD in time too.. any thoughts on that?

Second, which brand/type should I choose. I gather a lot of you here have crucial m4. How does that one compare for example to others on newegg (ill probably buy from there as I dont like ebay that much - and I hate paypall) ie Samsung (it looks nice ), Kingston and others?

Thanks for your help!

 

how much cash you want to spend? i picked up a 128 gig Crucial M4 for $174 plus tax...but the Patriot Wildfire perform better and are completely stable.

BTW, the cost goes way up for 256 gigs, so i avoided that for the time being.

AND ram is dirt cheap. Picked up 2 x 4 gig GSkills for $38.

 

well ideally I want to spend as little as I can, but if 256gb SSD is worth the money than I will buy that one. I have read some reviews on patriot and they say that even the new software doesnt fix the problem for some people

 

if you're worried about space, a 128GB SSD plus a new 750 platter drive is still cheaper than a 256GB SSD.

 

so there is basically no advantage in getting the 256gb as 100gb should be enough for apps? I still think its kinda small

 

I went with the 256 GB Crucial m4, but I debated between it and the 128 GB. I think 128 is probably optimal value these days, and you'll be doing good to get a 256 for double the price of a 128. A 128 should be sufficient being paired with a nice sized data drive. I was in the same boat having a 320 GB as my initial single drive, which will now become my data drive.

Of course it depends on you budget, but the overall value pricing (comparably-speaking) of the Crucial m4 makes the 256 a compelling option. I think some have scored the 256 m4 for around $330-340. I paid $390 for mine. At ~$570, the 256 Intel 510 was out of the question for me.

 

James, ultimately, only you know how much storage you need, if you think you need a 256 gig ssd, then buy it. But you mentioned that you didn't want to spend a lot of cash...

The current cost of a M4 128 gig version is $174
The current cost of a M4 256 gig version is $395
The current cost of a 500 gig Seagate Hybrid SSD (that perform significantly faster than regular 7200rpm harddrives) $99

It would make more sense if you want a compromise is to get a M4 128gig and a 500gig hybrid SSD

 

Would go with the Dual hard drive route others have listed above.

Crucial M4, Intel 510 are my top two SSD (128gigs) and then pick up a HDD for storage. Been running this combo for awhile with zero issues. Works great.

 

As a practical matter, the difference in speed between high-end SSD's is not material for most users outside of benchmarking. The increased speed and responsiveness of 120GB+ SSD's over traditional HDD's is so dramatic that they provide the user with substantially the same subjective look and feel. Reliability is the more important consideration if your SSD is used as your primary/OS drive, which is almost always the case. The Intel 510's and the Crucial M4's currently lead in that category.

 

thank you guys for your answers!
from what I gather, you all pretty much suggest the 120gb + hybrit SSD combo? which would be like under $300 bucks..

my main issue is that I dont know how much space is windows going to take + all those new games are like what, 8-10gb space so I fear that I might run out of space :/ but if you guys have experience with that and have enough space, than I think Ill go with what you suggested

 

I mainly installing just windows, office, adobe CS5 on the SSD. All my games are installed on my Scorpio black 500gb hard drive. Installing games on SSD only improves load times from what I have read.

Intel 510 SSD cost me $210
Scorpio Black 500 HDD cost me $60.

Both would put you under your 300 price. Go with the Crucial M4 if the deal is better.

 

I don't think the hybrid hard drive get you a lot if it's not your boot drive. (dont get me wrong... They're nice I have one as the only drive in mt backup machine)

However, fundamentally, it's just a regular 500GB drive with 4 or 8 GB of flash. The drive basically makes a guess about what small files you access the most and stores those files in the flash. If you're using it as a media drive, you're not going to see much (any??) benefit of it being a hybrid drive.

 

So I gather the Intel 510 SSD is better than Crucial M4?

 

Some say yes some say no. When I purchased both where about the same price and Intel has management software with it. Both are great products.

 

they're pretty comparable speed and reliability wise from what I've read... but usually the intel costs more.

 

Im now leaning towards Crucial M4 as it is much cheaper. Vertex 3 is the same price, but I have read there are a lot of issues with it... is that so?

 

The only vertex 3 i would touch is the max iops version. that one uses more expensive memory and doesn't suffer from any of the same issues that all Sandforce drives do/did who use cheap 25nm nand

 

so even the better Vertex 3 would be poorer choice compared to Crucial M4? As itel510 is really much more expensive and doesnt seem all that better than M4 Im leaning that way

 

From what I can tell, something like 3% of systems are basically incompatible with sandforce drives. no matter how many times they replace the drive you still get BSODs. There's no way to know if you have one of those systems in advance though...

My personal guess is that those machines are somehow borderline on the SATA3 spec and the drive just doesn't like it.

if you're in the 97% who sandforce works just fine for, they're great drives. in fact they're the fastest drives around. if not, you're in for a lot of CS calls and frustration.

personally, I'm planning to order an M4 the day my m17x ships.

 

what drivers does M4 use than?

 

James...you get the M4 not because it is the fastest (it clearly isn't), but because it has a reputation for stability and reliability...and i got mine for $174 so its a good deal.

I have a Patriot Wildfire SSD in my desktop. It is much faster compared to the M4...plus it uses 34nm nand which gives it stability...it is also much more expensive

BTW, my neighbor who builds and sells performance desktops, uses Vertex 3's. He has had zero issues since the latest firmware updates, and only had marginal issues with them before. OCZ has been very good in this regard.

 

Not entirely sure what you mean by what drivers.....

But both the intel 510 and the crucial m4 use a marvel controller as opposed to the sandforce controller you find in ocz, patriot, corsair, etc.


The drivers would be the same no matter what drive is there; it's using the drivers for the SATA controller on the motherboard. Those are intel chipset drivers.

 

I meant the controllers, sorry, thanks for clarification!

 

I was looking at newegg for the SSD and this is the ones that came out:

Kingston HyperX SH100S3B/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (HyperX Upgrade Kit) $234.99 after mail-in rebate
Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX SH100S3B/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (HyperX Upgrade Kit)

Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Now: $279.00
Newegg.com - Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $259.99
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit $227.99
Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit

thats basicaly what Im deciding between now. I know I might get some better deals on other sites and I will, just some final thought on these models

 

to be fair, you have transfer kits on some of those and not on others... the m4 without transfer kit is 199.

The hyperx upgrade kit includes a bunch of stuff mounting it in a desktop. without it it's 215

also, fyi the mushkin and kingston are both sandforce (if you didn't know that)

 

I went with the Crucial m4 for price and reputation of reliability. If price was equal, I might have gone Intel.

 

And the M4's, though not the fastest, are not slow (256GB M4 in R3).

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Crucial M4 128gig...$ 174.99 (that's the price...no rebates, there should be very little thought now on which one to buy)

Crucial CT128M4SSD2 m4 2.5 Solid State Drive - 128GB, SATA 6Gb/s at TigerDirect.com