Intel`s next SSD, 520 - Includes Sandforce

With all the bad publicity with SF I wonder how much of that is user problems. "BSOD, must be the SF drive".

Something very wrong with those bench results, could be the sata cable or drivers but lets forget about those and just blame SF.

 

The Crucial M4 is a good SSD with the 009 or newer firmware but the Corsair Performance Pro has a newer Marvel controller.

If price is the most important thing then the older M4 should be the choice.

Bang for the Buck

 

BTW, for everyone out there using the M4, skip [FW] 0009 and go to 0309 to avoid any problems after 5100 hours of uptime.

 

Tough one. I had an 80GB X-25M a year ago and loved it but it was a bit tight for space. Just wondering if 128GB is enough for me. I have about 70G on my recent backup on my ext. but thats with the OSX.

Warranties are kind moot but when it comes to resaling it really helps.

With the M4, does it have the f/w version on the box or drive itself? Cause how would you update it before putting it into your laptop?

I know intels you have to do it after.

Just did a shutdown and boot test on my current 7200rpm WD Scorpion black. Got 14secs shutdown and 39 boot. thats pretty fast for 7200rpm. When I had my X25M a year ago, my previous laptop would boot in 25secs tops. Its a Western Digital, theyre rated as one of the best!

I loaded up 10 apps (not even big) at once just now and it took a bit. Not instant. NEar the end could tell HD was lagging a bit. And I thought this 7200rpm drive was suppose to be good?!

 

oh yeah, MATLAB opening in 1sec was a wow for me the best computer upgrade possible, any SSD on the market (reliable ones definitely )

 

Since this phase is beta-testing, I'd rather not touch any Intel 520 SSDs then, sigh.. I wonder when it will be officially announced..

So, guys, can you recommend me a SSD? Planning to buy a 120GB, which would be great? I'm comparing between Mushkin Chronos Deluxe, Crucial M4 and the Corsair Performance Pro.

Please advise me, thank you.

 

Out of those, I'd definitely pick the Crucial M4, though Mushkin is starting to gain respect in the SSD market, if Newegg reviews are to be believed. However, have you considered the Samsung 830 series as well? Reliability is pretty much way on the top since the whole drive is made by Samsung: NAND, controller, everything.

 

I don't really care much about the benchmarks since you all said in real use, there's not much of a difference.

Even so, would Mushkin bring problems? So far I have not heard of any issues with the Mushkin using the SF controller.

You tried Samsung 830 already? Besides reliability, is the performance at par with the many other SSDs as well?

 

I have a samsung 470 and couldn't be happier

 

The SSD Review uses benchmark software called PCMark Vantage x64 HDD Suite to create testing scenarios that might be used in the typical user experience. There are eight tests in all and the tests performed record the speed of data movement in MB/s to which they are then given a numerical score after all of the tests are complete. The simulations are as follows:

•Windows Defender In Use
•Streaming Data from storage in games such as Alan Wake which allows for massive worlds and riveting non-stop action
•Importing digital photos into Windows Photo Gallery
•Starting the Vista Operating System
•Home Video editing with Movie Maker which can be very time consuming
•Media Center which can handle video recording, time shifting and streaming from Windows media center to an extender such as XBox
•Cataloging a music library
•Starting applications
If you are new to testing and considering benchmark software, this is the best you can get because the program goes well beyond the results of simulated testing as we have already done. In comparing SATA 2.0 SSDs, we have reached the bandwidth limit and the performance of most new SATA 2 SSDs is as high as it can get with typical high sequential access speeds in the area of 280MB/s read and 270MB/s write. This observation can again be seen with drives of different manufacturers that utilize similar components within and have very similar specifications.

We needed a way to differentiate these drives and to find a method that can actually put one drive above another and this is exactly what Vantage testing does. Its tests combined can provide an accurate comparison between drives and its tests individually can assist a smart shopper in finding the best SSD for their needs. Next to actual ‘true to life’ testing which can take an insurmountable length of time, PCMark Vantage is the only program that can compare any SSD, side by side, regardless of SATA interface or controller in use.

 

You cannot disregard the fact that Sandforce SSDs have been plagued with incompatibility problems since day 1. Look at SSDs with Marvell controllers, at Samsung controllers, at Toshiba controllers, at Intel controllers, you won`t find any major problems there. I said "any major" because yes I agree with you, they too can experience BSODs rarely, but it is never a problem that is "typical" with the drive. For SF SSDs with these problems popping up all over the place, I can say with 100% confidence that it IS a typical SF problem. And it IS Sandforce problem that the drives are unstable, because it is Sandforce that makes the firmwares, not the OEMs. Intel is as far as I know the only one who makes their own firmware to their SF controller. And it is their obligation to make a SSD compatible with any setup out there, whatever drivers people are using, hardware etc. Intel, Samsung, Crucial, they all have made that possible, why not SandForce?

Now for the record, I have never said that 520 will be plagued with this problem too. I just pointed out one single post I found at the Intel forum. It can be a random unrelated problem that happens to everyone

/rant (sorry for the long post)

 

Here is a review of the 240GB Intel 520. It is fast

Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB review: Benchmarks | from TechRadar's expert reviews of Disk drives (HDD & SSD)

 

My post was to suggest that it was a typical knee jerk reaction to blame the SF controller without considering it might be something else. That is how your post came across to me.

Unfortunately it's not a perfect world, IMO the best you can hope for is minimal failures. For instance you could google "areca M4 FW0009"

IIRC that was back in September and AFAIK no fix to date.

Thank you for the clarification, lets hope that's all it is.

 

Store here got the 520s in today, selling fast but theyre just out of my budget. Well over $2/GB.

 

Wow the Intel 320 isnt even on the list. The M4 crushes it. Looks like i will indeed by swappin my 320 for a M4 today.

 

Well its official now. Intel have finally released the drive.
New Intel Solid-State Drive 520 Series

The drives are also listed at Newegg and Amazon now:
Newegg.com - Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Amazon.com: Intel SSDSC2CW120A3K5 520 Series 2.5-Inch 6Gb/s SATA SSD 120GB 5V 1A Drive: Computers & Accessories


Hardware heaven review: Check it out. They are the best in reviews. More pics @HardwareHeaven
Intel 520 Series 240GB SSD Review - Introduction

 

Intel SSD 520 review roundup: Intel reliability, SandForce speeds starting at $149 -- Engadget

Intel SSD 520 review roundup: too expensive

 

Intel 520 240GB SSD Review (Round One) - Intel Releases Amazing SATA 3 SandForce Driven SSD - The SSD Review

 

Well, I heard a lot of great reviews and responses about the Samsung 830.
However, Marvell controllers are the most reliable currently, right?

I saw the Corsair Performance Pro using a newer Marvell Controller and it seems to be great in terms of performance, no need to say about reliability.

I've narrowed down a lot, either a Corsair Performance Pro, Intel 520 or Samsung 830..

Did Intel really make their 520 SSD as stable as the Intel 510 SSD?

 

Too early to talk about. It has been only a few days so far.


--

 

Definitely more reliable than Sandforce, yes. However, imo I think that Samsung might have the edge in reliability seeing as everything in their SSDs are made in-house. Just my opinion though.

 

I hear the Corsair GTs are reliable no?

 

The Corsair Force GTs are very similar to the Patriot Wildfire and OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS.

The firwware is what sperates these drives.

They use the premium Toshiba 32nm synchronous toggle eMLC NAND memory.

Future models will probably be changed to use Toshiba 24nm synchronous toggle eMLC NAND memory.

 

Wouldn't the Performance Pro by Corsair be better than the Corsair Force GT?

Looks like the Intel 520 received many praises, did u read the reviews?

Most said that it is on par with the Vertex 3 Max IOPS, looks interesting =)

 

^^ yeah it has crazy good reviews so far, I will wait for a month or two to understand it really worth this trouble, +500 bucks for SF, hope their software really worth +150 premium over other SF based SSDs

 

I'm on the fence with this one. The SandForce controllers have such a bad reliability wrap; if Intel managed to actually improve the reliability for a SandForce controller that would be pretty impressive (for Intel).

That being said, it's still a SandForce controller. Garbage in (SandForce controller) could still mean garbage out (Intel 520). Give it a few months for us to know...

 

If Intel is serious about the commitment to their userbase, I would buy 520 before any other SF drives any day of the week. Looks like 520 perform better than 510 in real world tests too. I`d say we have a "winner" if the reliability is turning out to be up to Intel`s standard

Keep an eye for the reviews @ Newegg. They are a very good indication
Look for them here Newegg.com - intel 520 ssd

Here are some real world tests:

 

I wish the Plextor SSD was included in more to of these tests. It has a Marvell controller and like the Intel 320 and Intel 520, it comes with a five year warranty. It is also priced aggressively.

 

Interesting reading regarding the SF-2281
AnandTech - Intel SSD 520 Review: Cherryville Brings Reliability to SandForce

Some quick quotes of interest...

So, with Cloudfire's post the other day - http://communities.intel.com/message/149389 ppl need to be aware of any warts that may come with the Intel 520. There may be none at all, and this could be an isolated incident for this user. But at posting time, the BSOD post has not yet been resolved, so those who are in the market for an SSD (including the Intel 520) should remain vigilant of the situation.

 

I agree. Atleast wait a month to look at the reviews @ Newegg before deciding. Well if you want to dive in, go ahead. Good quotes btw jclaus. Intel have the best knowledge in the chipsets they make, which is probably why they didn`t suffer with the same problems as M4 did.

 

Whichever SSD anyone finally desides on putting in their PC they should do a fresh clean operating system install on it while it's the only drive in their notebook.

Cloning one drive onto another is an invitation to errors.

Pilot Error is the #1 cause of reported issues.(newegg included)

If you're doing a clean install of Windows 7 x64 on a notebook with an Intel chipset here's my suggested procedure.

What you'll need to install Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit the way I recommend.

USB stick 4GB or larger
USB stick 256mb or larger
Windows 7 Ultimate ISO
Intel RST f6flpy x64

Download the Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ISO
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...&txt=English&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13245194375773

Unpack the Windows 7 Ultimate ISO onto the 4GB or larger USB stick using the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - Download.com

After the files are on the USB stick open the files and expand the Sources folder.In there find ei.cfg and delete it so all versions of Widows 7 x64 can be install from a single USB stick.

Download the Intel RST v11.0.0.1032:
intel drivers pour Raid/Sata/Ata/Ahci
Now unpack the 7z file then drag and drop the x64 folder onto the 2nd smaller USB stick.

Remove all hard drives from the notebook except the hard drive you will be installing Windows 7 x64 on.It optimally should be in the primary drive position 0 on the SATA bus.I you got your notebook with only one hard drive that drive will be in position 0.

Doing this will insure that a MBR is created for the installation drive.

Make sure the bios is set to ACHI.
_____________
Now your ready to install either Windows 7 x64 Ultimate,Professional,Home Premium or Basic.Install the version you have a key for.

Put the 4GB USB stick with Windows 7 x64 in a USB port and press the power-on button.Quickly start pressing the F? key on your notebook that allows you to choose to boot from the USB stick.

The 1st sceen will be for keyboard layout>OK
Install Now>OK
Licence Agreement>OK
Custom Install>OK

Now put the 2nd USB stick with the RST software into a USB port

A screen that has disk utilities and Driver Installation should be showing.

Click on the Disk Utilities.A screen will open where you can view all partitions.

Format all partitions that are showing.(Do this if not a new drive)

Then delete all partitions until only one large full drive partition remains remains.(Do this if not a new drive)

When that's finished click on Add Driver.

Browse to the RST folder(don't open it)on the 2nd USB stick and install>OK

Windows 7 will now begin to install.

During the 1st reboot in the Windows 7 installation process remove both USB sticks.
If you don't remove the USB sticks the installation process may start from the beginning after the reboot.

When W7 install finishes install:
Intel Chipset Installation Software( intel drivers pour chipsets)
Version 9.3.0.1020 is newest WHQL.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167093

Based on the link, it seems the Intel 520 is only in it's best performance with the 240GB above right?

With the 120GB,

4KB Random Read: Up to 25,000 IOPS
4KB Random Write: Up to 40,000 IOPS

This will lose out to Corsair Performance Pro & Samsung 830 right?

 

As a general rule reguarding SSDs the 240~256 GB is the sweet spot where write speed can be much higher and overall performance better.

Look at the difference on the same drive model but different capacity.

The Patriot Pyro,OCZ V3 MI and Corsair Force GT are examples in the Vantage HDD Suite.

The Intel 120GB han't been added to the test yet but the 120GB will suffer the same.

 

Ya, you're right, but it's too costly for me to afford a 240GB Intel 520 SSD or any other 240GB SSD.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the Intel 520 performs much weaker with its 120GB SSD right?

Any recommendations?

I just don't wish to regret what I buy later on, I wanna get the best of performance for what I'm paying for. Anything other than OCZ would be fine with me =)

 

I am in this same conundrum myself. I keep reading the posts saying to stay away from the OCZ despite it's great speeds.

I too want to get great performance with a good measure of reliability. The posts on this forum endorse the intel 510, and samsung 830 for good performance and great reliability. More forum posts endorse the crucial m4, and corsair performance pro for good performance, and good reliability as well.

It's really a tough decision for me, as I am reading some posts stating the Samsung hasn't been out quite long enough to absolutely prove the long term reliability, the 520 series is much too new to determine reliability considering it isn't all intel parts any longer.

 

Gotta agree with you on this.. We're on the same boat *cheers*

My options are limited only to Corsair Performance Pro, Mushkin Chronos Deluxe, Samsung 830 and this Intel 520. But looking at the 120GB segment, Intel 520 doesn't seem to favor this size, the IOPS dropped by half, seriously..

Well, it was based on that link I showed earlier, but I hoped that it isn't true, sigh..

 

I know, based on what I have read here I am trying to decide between the new Intel 520, and the Samsung 830 for a 120gb SSD.

Is it worth buying the Intel if it's $55 more than the Samsung?

 

There's nothing worse than buyers remorse.

Buy a little later than now.

Save more and get the right drive.

The 240GB grives are actually 256GB but 1 16GB NAND memory chip is alloated for wear leveling.

After formating a 240GB has approx. 223GB for storage use.

For SSDs to perform well about 20% should always be free space.

So,on a 240GB SSD how much space do you actually have to use and maintain performance.

Seasoning the drive will result in performance lose.

Trimming SSD Performance Degradation - The SSD Review

 

So, your advice is for me to get a 240/256GB SSD drive?

A 120GB is a no no?

 

You can see from my signature tha I have 3 OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS.The 240GB blows the 120GB away in small file reads and writes..

I got the 2 x 120GB for a raid0 array but it didn't work well all the time so I broke the array.

I also have 2 Vertex 2 34nm SSDs,1 x 120GB and 1 x 100GB, that perform great in my desktop.In the MSI GT780DX notebook the 100GB is not seen on a cold boot,but on restarting it appears.

I have a 240GB Intel 520 coming today just for curiosity.

 

SSDLife I believe works for Macs.

 

SSDLife supports practically all SSDs that are in use – from the latest Intel models to the time-proven first Vertex models. SSDLife has been tested with solid-state drives from most SSD manufacturers – such as Kingston, OCZ.

*It support Apple MacBook Air if Windows is installed on it!*

SSD life - tool for solid state drives health and endurance monitoring

 

Answered similar post you had here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...f-someone-no-more-warranty-3.html#post8305121

AND

here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...f-someone-no-more-warranty-3.html#post8306068

 

I have decided to take the plunge and get a 480GB Intel 520 SSD.

Looks like Newegg is the place to get it from but they have 2 models with a $30 price difference:
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW480A3K5 2.5" 480GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) @ $1,049.99 or
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW480A310 2.5" 480GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) @ $1,079.99 + shipping

Does anyone know what the difference is?

Also if you know of anywhere to get it cheaper, please post a reply.

Thanks

 

I'm not 100%, but my wild guess is one is the OEM version, and the other is Retail - which comes w/ 3.5" bracket converter, manuals, and the like.

See if searching on those model numbers can confirm this.

Other than that, an email or chat session with newegg may get you the info as well.

 

Just received Intel 520 SSD 120GB from newegg SSDSC2CW120A3K5 last week. Been running for over a week w/o any issues. Boot times approx 15 seconds on Lenovo X220. Extremely satisfied with purchase.


ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

I've bought Intel 520 120gb SSD to HP ProBook 6465b and it is not recognized by BIOS. When I put it as primary hard drive and turn notebook on,i go 5 blink of caps + num lock, and all stuck.
I can't install system. But ssd works when in external eSATA enclosure. So it isn't ssd related problem.
I know for sure that 320, m4 are perfectly working on 6465b. Other SF drives, Force GT and Agility 3, too.