I need a new SSD for my laptop...

Hello guys,
long time since last I've updated my self on SSDs here
I got to buy a new SSD drive as one of my Vertex drives died.

I still have two alive tou But the thing is, I really like OCZ but, I bought the SSD drives in their first stage, I wonder has anything changed so that it is better to go for another drive? (ofcurse it has but...)

So, any drives you can suggest me?

It is going to be used in my HP, which I actually never have discussed anything about on any forum It is a DV4 or 5? I'm not sure But it is a 15" I think and P8600, 4GB RAM and some kind of nVidia grapich card. It has dobble PCI mini slot, remote contol and fingerprint reader. However, it is going to be used for light photoshop, and surfing, music, movies etc.

Anything above 120GB is fine, price is not a big problem. Performance matters!
Thanks for reading

 

If performance matters, you could consider another SandForce drive but not OCZ. There is also the Crucial C300.

 

I did a really quick search on Crucial C300, it does look ok, what can I say
But is there anything else which is good? Also, how is the power consumption with this type of high performance SSD drives?

EDIT: I've saw the kingston and intel 2.5" 6Gbps SATA 9.5mm drives. If I get one of those, will I be able to get the maximum performance out of it with my about 2 years old laptop?

REP added Tsunade

 

I can only speak for the OCZ SandForce drives I own. My Vostro 1500 battery life went up significantly, though the 5400 rpm Hitachi drive in there was dying. I'm talking about 45 minute increase in battery life. My Latitude 13 has been maybe 10-15 minutes at most (already a ULV Core 2 inside)

The Intel 510 looks good but without a SATA 3 port it will drop down to its SATA 2 advertised speeds. For SSD it really is about what you do. Games will load faster but you won't get an increase in FPS. Overall Windows is more responsive.

 

Hmm, good to hear. I know what I get with a new SSD drive, but is there really a big diffrence between those that's what I need to find out.

But, so 6GBs drives are nothing I can get benfit of?

UPDATE:
I've did a bit more search, and from what I can see OCZ is still the largest here in Norway. However, I've found this;

OCZ 160 GB SSD 2,5" S-ATA II TRIM/GC
Vertex 2, Max Read/Write 285/275MB/sec

AND

OCZ 180 GB SSD 2,5" S-ATA II TRIM/GC
Vertex 2, Max Read/Write 285/275MB/sec

You want to know something?
The 160 is about 7.95 USD cheaper then 180!!

There must me something wrong, or what? However, I belive that is not my problem. I have also got some good reviews (norwegian) about this.

The thing is, should I go for it or not?
Total price for 180GB is 405 USD

Anyone here using this drive? I wonder if I should just go for it!

 

In the US, 405 USD for the 180 GB drive would be really expensive, but I know that in Europe prices are much higher. I think the drive should be fine, myself, even if there's a good chance that it's probably using 25 nm NAND.

 

Hmm, as I said I have no idea what to do. How long should a SSD drive last? I do not know why the other drive died actually. But as I said before, it is not dead, but extremly slow. However, that was a 30GB drive, I need more space then that now as I'm going to use that laptop more often.

Wait, is that a good or bad thing?

 

A lot of people consider it a bad thing, although I don't think it's quite as bad as people make out, considering that 25 nm NAND will be the new "standard" going forward in most SSD products. I do agree that the fact that you can't tell if a Vertex 2 (which came originally in 34 nm NAND) is 34 nm or 25 nm is a bit annoying.

 

Okay, here is some norwegian benchmarks
Ssd: OCZ Vertex 2 SSD 120GB - DinSide Data
7-Way SSD Round-Up: Sandforce vs. JMicron - HotHardware

The thing is, this guy tested the 120GB version not 180GB, which again looks like actually 180 is 25 nm?

Actually 34 or 25 is never mentioned in any of this tests, and only 120 GB is tested.

What do you think, should I go for it or not?

 

If the price is good, and the recent OCZ history doesn't bother you, I would. As I mentioned, I'm not familiar with Norwegian pricing, so I can't actually tell how good the pricing is.

 

Actually, I've just saw this;
complaint about 25nm SSD drives

And what I can say that, I'm not on OCZs side anymore. To be honest, it did scare me off. So I think I'm just going with another brand. And what they did, is clearly nothing to give them rep for. A well known brand like OCZ, if you ask me, should have not done it in first place...

I've got 3 OCZ Vertex (some v2). And one of them is dead, two is still alive, but 120 GB (laptop in signature) started to freeze random for last few weeks. Quite annoing, nothing big tou, but it just freeze and about 3-4 seconds later just continue where it left from...

About the price,
Intel 160GB X25-M SSD 2,5" S-ATA II GEN2
MLC High Performance SSDSA2MH160G2C1
is about 485 USD

Corsair Force 180 GB SSD 2,5" S-ATA II
Read/Write 285/275 MB/sec
is about 502 USD


So yes, it is the cheapest 180GB drive... But I really do wonder if I'll get; Max Read/Write 285/275MB/sec.

EDIT: I can't find this 180GB drive anywhere else in Norway.

But I've found this, which looks cool
G.SKILL PHOENIX PRO 120GB SSD 2.5" SATA 285MB/sec read, 275MB write, SandForce SF-1200 controller
ProductNumber: FM-25S2S-120GBP2

First time I see G.SKIL SSD.
It is also a bit cheaper, only 321 USD!

 

Wow stuff in Europe is pretty crazy expensive, 120 GB SF drives and the Intel 120GB float around 189-229 USD (usually lots of rebates/sales). Yeah I'd would stick with the cheapest non-OCZ SF SSD.

 

lol, I do not know if the whole Europe is like this, but dude, I live in Norway, every thing is money here... And no, we do not like it...

By non OCZ SF, do you mean not SF at all?
The last G.skill is SandForce SF-1200 controller...

 

No I meant SF drives are good, just don't buy OCZ. GSkill, Mushkin, Corsair, Patriot all have SF controller in their SSD too.

 

I have seen very similar problems reported on OCZ/Corsair/Patriot/Mushkin support forums so I don't think these problems I saw is OCZ problems. They are SF issues. Though after 8 or so firmware updates(in less than 6 months), I hope they have enough beta testers to test out all corner cases.

 

Hmm I see. What about G.SKILL then? Those are also SF, it is important that whatever I buy relase updates to their drives and not let costumers go alone as Toshiba does with their driver updates

I remember when I had to upgrade the FW on any of my OCZ drives, that was a real pain..

I have actually, never heard about G.SKILL SSD drives, (exept one time, I've saw it on Norwegian benchmark site' But how is the real life performance, any one got into this?

 

Performance should in reality similar to other SF drives as the controller is the same BUT certain SSD may react differently with certain laptops. I don't have personal experience your laptop (as I recall you had a Toshiba Qosmios?)

 

Yeah, I've have 5 laptops, I think.
Here is the model of HP laptop I'm going to use it with, it is an
it ıs a DV5-1095eo
Beside this, I've got the Qosmio, laptop in my signature, and antoher HP DV3 or 4..

For the HP I'm going to use this with it's specs. is;
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2,26 GHz)
3072 MB RAM
320 GB (5.400 rpm)
Blu-Ray ROM
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
15,4" WXGA (1280 x 800)

But I do wonder if I should use this as my main laptop and leave the laptop in my signature out for a bit. I'm however going to replace the T9600 with the laptop I'm going to use as my main.

 

Look at Samsung 470 series,,,64Gb,,128gb,,256Gb,run cool, I Have the
64Gb ,WEI is 7.6 out of 7.9. Amazon,Newegg are good places to look.

Cheers
3Fees

 

Vertex 2 is a pretty solid performer too. OCZ is now offering free replacements for affected 25nm SSDs.

Real world performance between Vertex 2 and Samsung 470:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...-corsair-nova-vs-ocz-vertex-2-discussion.html

 

Hmm, my current drive gets 7.3. But I'll have a look on it, thank you

Phill, I know that you know a lot of drives, would you recommend me buying a OCZ drive at this point?

I'll also have a look at your links, thank you

 

I have only good experiences with OCZ SSDs. On top of that their support forum is very active and helpful.

It's a pity the latest 22nm Vertex 2 aren't as fast as the first generation but as OCZ says they will exchange for free.

So yes if the price is right I would definetely consider the Vertex 2 for SATA II notebooks. Others on my shortlist would be Samsung gen 2 and 3, Intel G2, Corsair Force. Samsung 256GB gen 2 is often very cheap on Ebay.

 

I would have a look into the prices. I'll take a look how this is OCZ drive is vs. G.SKILL drive I've found.

 

Phill, I've just did take a look at the prices. Then I relaised I have done that before.

OCZ 160 GB SSD 2,5" S-ATA II TRIM/GC
Vertex 2, Max Read/Write 285/275MB/sec

and

OCZ 180 GB SSD 2,5" S-ATA II TRIM/GC
Vertex 2, Max Read/Write 285/275MB/sec

This two drives are at the same price...

G.SKILL PHOENIX PRO 120GB SSD 2.5" SATA 285MB/sek read, 275MB write, SandForce SF-1200 controller
is cheaper about 100 usd.

INTEL X25-M 160GB SSD SATA 2.5" 9.5mm MLC Gen2 is at sale now, I've just found it. Same price as Vertex 2s. above. BUT it has very low reade/write speeds...



EDIT:
I've even found OCZ TECH SSD 160GB 2.5" SATA II Vertex 2 Extended Series OCZSSD2-2VTX160G cheaper!! Vertex 3 drive is also listed, 120GB is again about 50 usd cheaper!

The laptop I'm going to use this with is in my signature now. It won't take all benfit of the Vertex 3 series, will it?

 

Do you copy and paste large files often? That's the only place where the 285/275mb/s sequential read/write would matter anyway..But if you're looking for real world performance such as startup/shutdown, application loading, level loading between games, I hear the intel is king..But don't take my word for it, I'm just telling you what other people tell me lol..and I have been doing research on ssd's for quite a while now..Looking at benchies everywhere, comparing drives with one another..Of course all this are based on other people's tests, I have no hands-on experience as I don't have money to spend on all drives and test them..Also samsung 470, write speeds are monstrous..I'm talking about SATA 2 btw..no idea what SATA 3 ssd is best..I'd also think that reliability is important, having said so, intel is the king..samsung is also being used by most laptop dealers as their "upgrade to ssd" option, in which they charge twice the price of the actual cost of the samsung..This probably means they've done rigorous testing cause they(the laptop companies) wouldn't want to get a bad rep just because the ssd they picked failed..IMHO of course..All these info is basically compiled info of what people tell me and what I read lol..=)

 

I think this will answer your question;
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...lash-storage/563648-drive-health-warning.html

11TB and my OCZ is dying. I'll however have a look on Samsung 470, thanks for your input, rep added for friendly user

EDIT:
I'm not able to find Samsung drives at all in Norway...

 

Thanks for the rep, I just joined the forums yesterday, a rep already, that's cool lol..Same problem here, no one seems to be selling any samsung drives, all the hype in sandforce (OCZ,Corsair,G.skill,Mushkin) as well as intel, but no samsung..

I can also recommend getting a vertex 2 ONLY IF you don't mind contacting support to have your drive replaced every time it fails..this is assuming there are OCZ retail centers there in Norway? In my case, i can't afford a drive that has high failure rate cause I have to ship it to another country, which will cost me a lot of time and money so it's not really all that practical..

 

A drive failure for me can be catastrofic. But I'll have a look, I also do like the G.SKILL drive. But The OCZ is cheaper as well. However, I do not buy stuff from shops here, but over internet. So, send it back and things like that will take too much time etc.

 

Same problem here..I would like to order through the internet but then sending it back would be a waste of time and money..So I'm kinda stuck with the resellers here..Which sell the drives I stated above..Regarding the G.skill phoenix pro, it has around the same performance as the Corsair Force series, which means it's as good as a non-OCZ sandforce controlled ssd can be, but it also suffers from the high failure rate sandforce drives are known for..(info gathered from newegg/amazon buyer comments as well as g.skill official forums)

 

I have actually never used a G.SKILL drive. But I've allready killed a OCZ 30GB drive. And as I linked above, 120GB is on his last weeks as well. I either go for G.SKILL or Vertex 2 drive. This is like gambling!

 

Yes it is..Which is why I haven't decided what ssd to get yet..lol, well vertex 2 will probably fail after a couple of months as well..G.skill isn't as well known with regard to ssds, but I've read some failing drives as well as deteriorating write performance over time..So take a pick! lol, also consider the fact that vertex 2 drives have recently switched to 25nm wherein benchies show half the performance of the original, "legendary" 34nm vertex 2..you can have it replaced for a 34nm at OCZ though, but you have to buy the 25nm drive first before you can contact OCZ for the replacement..or you could get lucky and get the 34nm drive on the first try, again, it's gambling..

 

lol yeah, but because of my drives failing does not mean that OCZ is not good, my drive has a read of 11 TB (!) And has over 4500 hours on it.

 

Yeah don't get me wrong, I know OCZ makes one of the best ssds, but they're just having some probs right now as I'm sure you know of..So I guess it's just about whether you're willing to look past those issues or not.. peace

 

Yeah, I don't know yet. I'm now using a HDD, going from my über fast SSD to a WD HDD.

 

Ahh yeah..I hear going from ssd and back to hdd is torture..As for me, I'mm really excited on getting my first ssd..probably gonna get one next week, still can't decide..my personal problem is getting an x25-m g2 feels like spending a whole lot of money on "older" tech rather than spending less money on "newer" sandforce drives..It just has an odd feeling to it..

 

It is a huge imporvment! Just huge!

I can't decide between the G.SKILL and OCZ Vertex 2. I'm stuck.

 

I've just found this;
Corsair SSD Force Series™ F115, 115GBSATA2, 2,5", 285MB/275MB/s read/write, incl 2,5" to 3,5" bracket

Any idea about how it performs? It is cheap too. But I do really don't get why the capacity is listed as 115GB

 

Have you considered an Intel G2? -> I posted this in your other thread, but after 6,7TB of writes its doing fine and that SSDLife program claims a 99% health.

 

at your usage rate(5TB in 6 months), I am not sure SF is a good idea. Beside, whatever SF drive you want to buy, check compatability with your particular notebook model.

 

Hmm, I've found this;
INTEL X25-M 160GB SSD SATA 2.5" 9.5mm MLC Gen2

is that the same?
But the read/write is quite low, or not?


What do you mean by 'check compatability'

 

there are compatability issue with SF drive and certain models of notebooks which would result in BSOD from resume, time warp(i.e. a shutdown would take your drive back to say 2 months ago image) etc. All seems to be related to power management.

They have been busy fixing these for the past 6 months(8+ firmware upgrades) or so and it has been greatly reduced. However, it seems that there are still fresh new cases seen on OCZ's forum.

 

That's the Intel I mean (and have).
Read write low? Not really.

This is the current firmware - benchmarked in SafeMode: (In normal OS operation speeds for random reads/writes are lower due to OS access)

By detlevcm at 2011-03-26

 

Do you recommend me this drive?
Here is benchmark for my drive, not in SafeMode,
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7276337-post2.html
My OCZ drive, which is 'dying'.

 

Well, I'm definitely happy with the Intel.

I can't guarantee that you won't break it with your usage pattern, but considering it feels 99% healthy after 6,7TB and Intel pretty much guaranteeing it for 20GB per day for 5 years it might be your best bet with reliability in mind.

 

I know you for long from this forum, and I know that you're not the child from yesterday. So I'll go ahead and order this tomorrow, when I get home
It is on sale anyways, about 100USD. That is something to spare + your suggestion = buying!

 

100$ sounds really good considering mine was about 370€ 1,5 years ago.

 

100 USD for an x25m 160G ? sounds too good to be true to me.

 

Hmm, 1,5 years ago? You sure that I'm not buying something that is on its way out of the market?

 

Way too good to be true. Even if its on sale it cant be that cheap!

 

You guys got me wrong, it is about 100 off the orginal price, which is 481 USD.
And yeah, I've live in Norway, so don't be suprized.