Runcore T50 6Gb/s 120GB Review

Link: Runcore T50 6Gb/s 120GB EXCLUSIVE mSATA SSD Review - The Worlds First 6Gbps mSATA SSD Hits The Streets - The SSD Review

Looks to be a really good and fast mSATA SSD. I'm still waiting on the Intel 'Paint Creek' 80GB coming hopefully this month with a price drop over the Intel 310 80GB.

If Runcore decides to drop the price of the T50 to compete with the Intel 'Paint Creek's pricing per GB (when it's released) then I may highly consider the Runcore for more space and faster seq read/writes.

I really don't mint a SandForce controller especially when comes to mSATA's, mSATA's do not use SATA driver from Intel/AMD. Unlike Renice, Runcore now has a North American based office and is covered by a 3 year warranty.

I know a lot of people on this forum dislike and bashing SandForce based SSD's but the truth is not even Intel is perfect when is comes to stability and reliability on SSD's, recall the 320 firmware bug.

 

The SandForce issue is very minute and, just like all other similar issues in other hardware areas, we see the people experiencing the problems first and foremost and those happy are the silent majority.

IMHO, if we found an actual percentage, it would be similar to just about every hardware failure rate including hard drives.

As for the drive not using the SATA driver (being standard MSAHI from Win7 or Intels version in RST V 10), that wouldn't be accurate. It, of course is still SATA and requires same drivers.

 

Great reply, I'm thinking mSATA uses the standard MS driver and Trim is done by the mSATA's controller itself.

If given a choice between a 120GB Intel or SandForce, I'd definitely take the Intel but no such Intel based mSATA SSD exists.

I'm really split right now on a decision for which mSATA to get but one thing's for sure, I'm waiting around for the the Intel 'Paint Creek' to be release and make my choice from there.

 

Sandforce issue is minute?

No...

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7766184-post28.html

 

The Sandforce issue is far from minute. Yes, some of the problems have been fixed. But there are still tons of people with them randomly dying/BSODing every day, not so with non-Sandforce. Yes, Intel has had some issues with the 320 series, though it is a fairly rare one (no comfort to those that experience it I know). I personally have a 320 and am not terribly worried.

 

Just to be fair the point of mentioning the Intel firmware bug was is to clearly state not even the most favorable brand when it come to reliability is safe from SSD's failures and problems.

In all seriousness the same thing was said about AMD's Llano before release, Intel lovers bashing how AMD would not stand up to Sandy Bridge and reality is Llano's raw CPU power is no match for Intel but for the average gamer on a budget they now have the last laugh.

I'm not too keen but I don't think I've heard of any reports about SandForce mSATA SSD's having problems and maybe it's too early to tell but the same can be said about Intel mSATA SSD's both being just released in early to mid 2011.

Only time will tell which is more reliable and less prone to problems in the mSATA market, for now I'll play the waiting game and choose the one the best fits my storage needs and budget.

 

Indeed there are not enough mSatas out there to draw conclusions on the various brand reliabilities. But since they use the same basic controllers as the full-size brethren, Sandforce based ones would worry me.

 

For those think SF drive is not a problem, ask yourself a simple question, how come there is no major OEM using ANY BRAND of SF based drive ?

As for not hearing about mSATA SF issue, it could simply be that there may only be a handful of people even ever tried it.

This is not about bashing but making reasonable choice and honoursly speaking choosing a SF is not a reasonable choice given the alternatives one has.

And if you want to be very specific, Intel's mSATA offering is not using the same firmware as the 320 but the old G2 one, if I am not mistaken.

Your money, your time, your data, your choice.

 

Very true indeed, making my decision after the wait is over much tougher...

On one hand I don't exactly need the space of 120GB for just the OS and programs ATM but on the other hand 120GB much more future proof since the investment is likely to be used for up to 3 years, probably even involving a Windows 8 upgrade and not too mention programs updates only get bigger with every new release.

Th best thing to do is to just wait for a 120GB mSATA from Intel next year but I don't have the patience for that plus it does not fit in my current plan. If I were to do that then I may as well label my current SB laptop as a rental and upgrade to Ivy along with a phat Intel 120GB mSATA SSD next year all with W8 in the whole package.

Going back to currently, I want to play it safe but for the time being I'm unsure. Who knows, I might take a chance on a SF based mSATA SSD after 'Paint Creek' has been released. After all the Runcore SF based mSATA does fit in my plan for keeping the SSD though a Windows 8 upgrade providing 120GB is sufficient plus the 3 year warranty isn't too shabby either.

More thoughts and research is needed but I'm now leaning towards the Runcore because the space, speed and warranty fits in my long term plan.

 

Umm yes and actually, I find those results to be VERY low compared to what they should be. Lets examine this as it should be and use OCZ since it has the highest. First, OCZ has close to 80% of ssd sales correct? It would be natural then to believe that eight out of ten complaints will be OCZ related.

Now, lets look at posters. I admire Phil immensely and enjoyed looking at that but there should be an understanding of the consumer response provided. Typically, you will be lucky to find 1/10 happy users bragging about their electronics but as soon as something goes wrong, that number jumps drastically as people look for help. Its a very vocal minority with problems which jades any true representation of the actual level of failure.

The ONLY true representation will eventually be done by someone like Google who did it for hard drives which resuklted in the fact that hard drive failure is considerably higher than manufacturers have chosen to acknowledge.


Is the same possible here? We can't answer that just as we can't realistically guess at a failure rate by people who respond and have an unfair number who have come looking for help with their SSD.

Just my thoughts!

EDIT... Sorry but I didn't read all the responses. With respect to SandForce in comparison to other brands of SSDs, that is not a fair comparison as well as OWC has reported a failure reported a failure rate that is next to 0. They have had a great deal of success with the SandForce controller. What we need to determine is an accurate way of determining exactly what the true representation of failure is.

For instance, SandForce SSDs most likely make up 90 percent of total sales if not more. So, again, we can only expect to see 9 out of 10 complaints as a result. To this point, SandForce, or anyone else, has yet to prove that the issue is SandForce related whatsoever. Many might be surprised to find out that SandForce has even gone so far as to buy complete systems from unhappy consumers who stated that their system has shown failure in the SandForce series SSD, regardless of the manufacturer.

So, at the end of the day, we have an inordinate number of people who are having problems and come for assistance and then the fact that they are SandForce seems to create a 'bug' without most realizing that, in all actuality, there are a very high volume of completely satisfied SandForce customers that don't write about it.

Don't we wonder whats up with an issue that cannot be replicated on a consistent basis? There are so many variables that come into effect well before the manufacturer of the controller and, in the end, an impartial person also needs to ask why there are so many happy customers not experiencing this problem from a manufacturer (SF) that controls 90% or higher in sales.

In the end, I am NOT saying that there sin't a possibility that there is some issue with the SF controller but, at the same time, I am also saying that the total picture is very jaded and extremely difficult to put in proper perspective because of the above issues I have put forward.

 

The only TRUE representation is NO VENDOR wants to OEM the drive after it has been 15 months+ on the market and that serveral retailers HAS REMOVED them from their list !

Your or mine thought doesn't matter as it has no monetory impact by talking, vendors like Dell or retailers do as it means cost to them to handle failure returns etc. not to mention reputation.

 

I've already asked on another thread if anyone knows if Crucial or Samsung plans on releasing a mSATA SSD with higher capacity than 80GB and the answer was pretty much no or unconfirmed ATM thus the reason I'm looking into SF based mSATA SSD's.

The only other manufacturer I know that has a mSATA SSD coming out that is larger than 80GB is SanDisk which uses their own controller which is just as bad a SF IMO because it's not been end user test approved. Besides this fact the SanDisk is a hybrid MLC and SLC and the IOPs read/write numbers doesn't look too spectacular compared to even a Intel 310, reason being it probably uses SLC NAND as cache similar to the Momentus XT with slower MLC chips as the main.

Just in the case I do go SandForce, would a 2100 or 2200 series controller be better in the terms of less problematic?

 

it has nothing to do with series.

Go over to OCZ/Corsair support forum then search your specific model, i mean the notebook(or model similar to yours). If you don't hit anything, you have a better chance of 'i am ok with SF' case. If you find anyone similar, read and determine. I have seen people have multiple return/RMA and still face the same issues.

I cannot common on size(don't know what you use them for) but don't believe SF IOPs as Intel G2 already has a very high number which normal usage can't even feel the difference.

 

Samsung only plans to make their PM800 mSATA available through oem channels and you may find it on Ebay as that has always been a popular venue for Samsung drives. Samsungs is a 128GB and reviewed where the first of this post was reviewed.

There will be other mSATAs coming out by AData and Mach Xtreme but they are again SF-2281 drives. Other than Intel, there are no plans by other manufacturters, Intel remaining with the released 310.

 

I've decided again to just play it safe and stay with the Intel Paint Creek, NewEgg is out of stock on the Intel 310 which a usually as sign that they are getting ready to stock the new models within a few weeks.

I expect Intel hopefully makes an official announcement sometime next week regarding the new 25 nm mSATA SSD's.

 

i just got my runcore t50 120gb and it did not work in my dell precision 4600. drive was not detected in the msata slot. works with the supplied sata adapter but that defeats the purpose of msata

 

That's sucks, can you still return the drive?

I'm not sure if has to do with the RunCore T50 being SATA-3.

If you're into SandForce mSATA with high capacity, OCZ has a lineup called Nocti that uses the SandForce SF-2181 controller coming out very soon.

You might want to check out the OCZ if you're able to return the RunCore.

 

This link say Intel also doing



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Intel SSD 520 Cherryville The Faster, Tougher Successor of SSD 510 by VR-Zone.com

 

If you cant return the runcore and you're in the UK give me a shout - I might take it off your hands.

 

i'm in australia so that doesnt help.
but the company i bought it off seems great. they are trying to figure out if anything can be done to get it running and if not i can get a refund.

 

Cool - thats ok then If you hit F12 on boot to get the boot menu does it not show the msata drive to boot from then?

 

yep the drive doesn't show up in the boot menu.

but when used with the supplied adapter, it does work, but then it is no longer msata. defeating its purpose.

 

Same exact problem here, no msata but works with adapter. God I'm so happy I found this thread, I was feeling like I was the first and only imbecile to experiment with this new msata card in a dell laptop (4500 for me).
Your post is interesting as it proves that this problem is not due to lack of SATA3 6Gb/s, because 4600 should be sata3-enabled. It just means that runcore sold its product on dishonest claims of compatibility with m4500/4600 or 6500/6600, and even 6400. Well I guess technicaly it IS usable with provided adapter but then again, any laptop that's less than 5 years old could work that way. And that defeats the sh*t out of the purpose.
Maybe it's a firmware issue? That'd be he best-case scenario, I guess, easily fixable.

 

Guess that email to Intel asking for a 120GB mSATA SSD worked out and they listened. I basically told them if they don't have one out when "Paint Creek" now "Hawley Creek" is release (Q4 '11) then I'm jumping boat and going with an alternative brand which offers the capacity but still prefer Intel only if they can release one.

Q4 '11 is in a couple weeks, was hoping for an announcement on "Paint Creek" a week ago but it didn't come. This is better news, finally 120-128GB Intel mSATA "Hawley Creek".

 

just a quick update. i didn't manage to get the runcore ssd working on the dell precision m4600.

the shop i bought it from asiatechtrade had great customer service and gave me a full refund on it.

in the end i bought the intel 310 80gb msata. works fine in the m4600