Advice On SSD For m17x

I am due to get my m17x on wednesday and i am currently stuck between the below drives, will these fit the m17x? i am not worried about price just looking for a good all rounder.

Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB 2.5"
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-005-IN&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1427

Crucial M225 256GB 2.5"
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-004-CR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1427

Samsung PB22-J 256GB 2.5"
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-077-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1427


Any advice would be appreciated.

 

If you're looking for the best out of them (highest performing and most reliable) then it's the Intel X25-M.

 

Unless the SSD has the Indilinx or Intel controller, that SSD is not worth the money.

Stick with the Intel X25 or the OCZ Vertex SSDs. I hear those are the best of the bunch.

 

Agreed.

Vertex SSDs are slightly cheaper and have better write speeds, but Intel SSDs are vastly better at small writes and multi-tasking basically

 

Thanks for the advice guys gonna go with the Intel X25-M.

 

got my m17x today and installed my X25-M, any suggestions for software to benchmark the drive?

 

RivaTuner
10char

 

X25-m G2 all the way!

 

Diskeeper 2009 with hyperfast.

 

thanks guys will give them a go!

 

Since the m17x has two hard drive slots (I think), would I have to buy two X-25s in order for them to work or could I use just one?

 

no just 1, second bay is the slave so you could use that for a storage drive, or you could put another x-25 in and have them in raid0 config.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/diskeeper-ssd-defrag,6848.html

 

http://www.v3.co.uk/vnunet/software/2234895/review-diskeeper-09-pro-premier better review I think.

 

This may be too little/too late, but last I checked, the Samsung PB22-J 256GB you mention above, was the very SSD offered by Dell/AW for the M17x...... a terrific option for the price & performance...... and to my knowledge, can't be beat, especially for a 512GB in RAID0 configuration.

As a customizable option, Dell/AW's price is pretty nice in this regard!

This SSD will give the famed Intel X25-M a run for it's money, and in some ways, outperforms the Intel SSD. Check 'em out.......:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/samsung-ssd-pb22-j-storage,7318.html

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/ssd/2008/home/home.html

Good Luck!

 

I fail to see how this review is any better than the Tom's Hardware review, and most all I read at your referenced site, is for the most, the same advertising rhetoric I read at Diskeeper.

The Tom's Hardware review points out the following:

 

u can get the samsung drive in the uk, i went with the intel drive, and i have to say i am really impressed, i have found a big difference in ARAM2!

 

GREAT! Glad it's working out for you!

Yeah, I just found one retail supplier of the Samsung SSD here in the U.S., and they want $699.00 EACH!

Getting the Samsung's package in your M17x purchase, is a far cheaper way to get these SSD's.

Again, good to hear it worked out well for you.......

 

had the Samsung 256gb SSD in mine, honestly didn't notice a mad speed improvment over my 500gb 7200 rpm drive. selling the 256gb again.
Considering that my M17x is my secondary gaming system, decided to go back to a hard drive in it. the SSD is wasted on me.

 

Can't flash the samsungs though.

So once performance degrades I don't know how your going to reset the cells (and no trim support too).

Other than that they are excellent drives.

 

The intel drives actually use an indilink controller

The samsung drives are excellent drives as well, they tend to give lower power usage, but the intels (and other indilink controlled ones) usually win in shear performance

I was going to get one of the G2 Intel 160GB drives but they were not available at my university Comp Store until end of november, I am not a patient person haha. I have a debit account there and cant spend the money anywhere else, so figured I would see what they could order haha. I ended up order a Corsair X128 drive (for about $400, will find out soon when it comes in - they ordered just for me). This uses an indilink Barefoot controller and I am optimistic on the performance

 

No... they don't. The Intel drives use Intel controllers.

And it's Indilinx.

 

I've seen at least 2 reviews showing the samsung drives out perform both the Vertex and Intel drives. I can search for them if you want to see them.

 

Please do, I haven't seen reviews that've said that.

 

Here's one that state's the Intel drive is only slightly faster on reads but the Samsung beats it in write.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/03/17/review_storage_ssd_samsung_mmd0e56g5/

There was a review I'm trying to find that compares the Intel (gen 2), Vertex and Samsung drive and the Samsung comes out on top on the majority of tests.

Edit: Here it is: http://hothardware.com/Articles/Intel-34nm-X25M-Gen-2-SSD-Performance-Review/?page=1

The tests show Intel is faster at reads but much slower at writes. If you compare price/performance/capacity the Samsung drive is still the best on the market. They still show up as $479.99 for the 256GB model before any coupons on Dell's site.

 

dont get me wrong, I wanted a samsung drive (the p128) but they were not available to me at the university comp store. lol

 

Did you get your RAID issue straighten out? I plan on going RAID in my new system.

 

I love my Samsungs SSD, Win7 will have some tools to improve performance once they degrade, that said I'll take Samsung 256 over Intel 128 today. I have a 512 RAID 0 of Samsungs SSD and I'm already looking to buy an external drive...

 

I am going to try a standalone SSD instead of raid. I trust it more

Still not sure what was causing my issues, will troubleshoot some more this weekend. Gotta slim my main drive down so that it will fit on the SSD haha. Do they have performance issues when they are filled up? Is there a % of full I do not want to exceed?

This is my first experience with an SSD so I am going to have ALOT of questions lol

 

It looks like the samsung drive wins in pcmark vantage but loses in atto and hdtach to the vertex.

 

I was told that over 80% full you will loose a significant amount of performance? Not sure how true that is, I am sure some of our ssd pro's on here would be able to answer that?

 

I see. Games like Gears of War will be installed on the mechanical HDD then haha (nearly 10GB alone ). Crysis will have to be on the SSD though, long a$$ load times lol