Affordable SSD for NP9170

Hello Gents,

I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for SSD's for me to put into the second slot of my NP9170. I ordered it a month ago and had decided against an SSD drive for games, but now I've come to realize I probably need one.

Do any of you have recommendations on a specific SSD that would fit the bay? 60-120gb is just fine.

On Sager/Xoticpc's site they recommend:
120gb Intel 520 Series Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA III)

Do any of you know if it HAS to be Serial-ATA III or can it be SATA II?

Cheers and thanks for reading

 

Don't waste your time on a SATA II SSD. They're so old. SSD's have been going SATA III since last year.

I just got the Samsung 830 256GB for my SATA II Vaio and it's wonderful. The price is reasonable on amazon. I'm sure you can get a fantastic deal for a smaller drive either there, or on neweggie.

 

Crucial m4 is great SSD for price. Samsung 830 series are also great but a bit pricier. You can find deals on SSD these days as low as $0.56/gb. Also, you can find an ocz for killer prices also. People say they have bad customer service and generally suck, but at least 90% of it is heresay. I have one and it performs well. Not as well as my Samsung but for $200 I got 360gb drive. Not much to complain

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I've always used Intel SSDs though they're pricier, but I didn't want to take the risk with all data! Still, if you're only putting programs/games in there, you could probably try another.

I've heard good things about the Crucial m4 though I've not tried them myself. I beg to differ on the OCZ though, my friend got one and had to RMA it within 3-4 months of use. Customer service wasn't that bad though, at least it wasn't too much of a hassle, though he had to pay shipping.

 

I second a Samsung 830 or Crucial M4 SSD, both seem to be priced very well and tend to have good reliability ratings.

 

Yeah, forget OCZ (are they really get bought out by Seagate?).

And for gaming, I would say forget SSD too (no FPS performance difference while gaming).

Finally, forget about SSD's smaller than 240GB's - simply not worth their price/performance/reliability - even if they're free/$0 (if heavily used).

I too would definitely recommend the Intel 520 Series - only at 240GB and larger.

 

Thanks for all of the replies guys!

I'm not sure I understood So your laptop is SATA II, but the samsung 830 is a SATA III, is there a benefit to this? I think I'm noob-failing here on understanding that one.

Also, should I worry about the width of the drive? I hear stuff about 7mm and 9.5mm. Would both fit my NP9170's second bay drive?

Thanks again guys!

 

A SATA III drive in a SATA II slot will function at SATA II speeds, but a little bit better.

It's not width that's the variant. It's thickness. Most SSD's come with adapters for laptops or desktops. It really depends on your mounting bracket. For example, the mounting bracket on my VAIO F made it easy to install a 7mm drive w/ no adapter. I was able to save $. Some brackets need the spacer though. Depends.

 

In certain situations, you may not need for a spacer, just two plastic pieces would suffice to hold the drive in place.

 

Also, Velcro tape is your friend

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