Optimal 120GB SSD - HP 4330s

Hi,
I'm looking for optimal SSD for my notebook:
HP 4330s
i3 2350m
8 GB RAM
Usage is as my only one computer - internet, office, programming, sometime games. I'll also add caddy and have HDD (7200 rpm, 320GB there.
I'm looking for 120GB sata III models because of price. My price limit is 155 USD.
Wich one is optimal?

BTW is better to use SSD & HDD or SSD as a cache? Is there any SW or guide how to make ssd as a cache with no raid option in BIOS?

 

I'd say go with this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009NB8WR0/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1371074964&sr=8-2&pi=SL75

You won't be disappointed
SSD for Windows and software/games & HDD for storage (movies/music etc). In my opinion gives the best combination of speed and storage capacity.

 

Pro series is here (in Czech republic) lil' bit overpiced - cost 192 USD

 

Try googling for the store named extreme digital. They have extremely low priced samsung 840 128gb in my country. Also try looking into ocz vertex 4 as it comes with 5 year warranty. I also have good personal experience with kingston ssd now v300. I've upgraded my gf and sisters notebooks with v300 (cheapest drive availible in croatian market) and they are working flawlesly. In terms of speed 3 of the drives i recomended go vertex4->samsung 840=kingston

 

I'd say you'd be disappointed (in a short amount of time) with any 120GB SSD you get... Simply too small capacity-wise, too expensive and not enough performance vs. a 240/250GB drive - especially after the drive reaches 'steady state' and the sustained performance is 1/3 or less of the advertised speeds...

I'm glad that you know your budget. Stick with it. But what it's telling you is that you need to keep saving for a proper upgrade in your storage subsystem.

The smallest capacity SSD that is usable is 160/180GB or greater capacity (for the 'older' SSD's - the new generations like the M500's start at 480GB and higher...). This will allow you to have a drive that has fully populated controller channels, some degree of nand interleaving, the ability to OP the drive by ~30% (all contribute to higher, sustained performance over time... while keeping the degradation of the nand cells to a minimum during GC and TRIM operations)...

If you want to have the SSD for a few weeks/months and will be getting a new system in the foreseeable/near future - go ahead and play with these 'throwaway' drives. If however, you're looking to keep your system indefinitely, do yourself a favor and keep saving. The sustained, long term performance with the added capacity you gain will more than outweigh the instant but inevitably short term satisfaction you'll have with an SSD that is cheaper by a few $$ now, but built/designed cheaper by an order of magnitude or more.


Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

When I saw prices on Amazon, I was surprised.
For example: one of cheapest 250GB SSD - Samsung 840 - costs there 231 USD. Same drive on Amazon 171 USD. That's why I want only 120GB drive.
BTW now I'm using about 100GB of my HDD, so 256GB will be much more space than I need.

 

That 120GB SSD will be only ~111GB of user usable space.

Of that, Windows wants/needs ~25GB 'free' space by itself for optimal performance.

And using (not filling) the drive past ~70% is a recipe for a performance disaster (vs. a regular HDD).


See:
AnandTech | Exploring the Relationship Between Spare Area and Performance Consistency in Modern SSDs

This is not even taking the detrimental effects (from a reliability and performance perspective) of a controller's channels not being filled optimally nor proper interleaving of the nand chips themselves on each channel that ALL small capacity SSD's suffer from.

You may think you only need a 100GB capacity storage subsystem - but the hardware will soon tell you otherwise (may as well stick to your HDD and save some cash).

 

OK, I'll thik about 180 - 250GB models (but bigger will be better). Price limit is 210 USD.
Wich one do you recommend for my usage?

 

I have recommended (and installed) the SanDisk Extremes to many people and they're extremely happy with them.

They are very close to the Intel 520 Series level of performance (without the Intel SSD Toolbox 'bonus') and work very well for the price that can be ~$170 with sales (or less sometimes).

See:
SanDisk Extreme Solid State Drive (240GB) SDSSDX-240G-G25 B&H



This will give you the most bang for your $$$.

Make sure to follow these suggestions too for the best long term experience.


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/solid-state-drives-ssds-flash-storage/718208-asus-ux32vd-db71.html



Hope this helps.


Good luck.

 

What about Samsung 840 250GB or Kingston V300 or SanDisk SSD 256GB SDSSDP-256G-G25?

 

All of those are less than third tier models for one reason or another imo.

Nothing I would recommend.

 

Personally I would recommend against the Samsung 840. 840 Pro is so much better as is the Crucial M4 and M500.