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    SSD Upgrade questions

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Skier88, Mar 8, 2009.

  1. Skier88

    Skier88 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Will I experience any problems, or bottlenecks negating the improvement in speed, if I upgrade a Sony Vaio Z (highest specs) with an Intel X25-M SSD? Will this SSD perform noticeably faster than other SSDs? Are there any faster 60GB+ SSDs? Thanks for reading.
     
    Skier88, Mar 8, 2009
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  2. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Intel X25-E 64GB SSD is one of the best. What's your budget?
     
    sgogeta4, Mar 8, 2009
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  3. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    No, yes, yes. In general the X25-M is stable enough such that you can have a good SSD experience without messing with it. While there are some SSDs that can match it in sequential read/write speeds, the X25-M is still the king of IO and random writes. I'd say the one all-around faster practical SSD is the 64GB X25-E... then you get into the realm of stuff like the Fusion IO.
     
    Commander Wolf, Mar 8, 2009
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  4. laserbullet

    laserbullet Notebook Evangelist

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    laserbullet, Mar 8, 2009
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  5. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    If you want performance and don't care about space, get Intel X25-E 64GB, if you need more than that and 160GB is good enough then X25-M 160GB, if you need even more space go for the Samsung 256GB.

    Intel and Samsung have the fewest problems out of the MLC drives. The Samsung is as fast as the X25-M, except as Commander Wolf pointed out, random writes and I/O.
     
    sgogeta4, Mar 8, 2009
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  6. Skier88

    Skier88 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the replies. It looks like the X25-M 80GB is my pick then. I don't need much capacity at all - I might even be able to use 32GB - so I think 80 is plenty. (However, 32GB is kind of cramped for $400...) As for the X25-E, I read that it isn't better than the X25-M in read speeds, but only write speeds, which, while important, does not warrant the price increase for me. Speaking of which, my budget is fairly flexible, but I think $400 is getting pretty close to the limit.

    Commonder Wolf, re fusion io - wow, I didn't even know they could make SSDs that fast! The price is equally unnerving though.

    laserbullet - I haven't heard about that SSD, but it doesn't appear to be as fast as the X25-M, right?
     
    Skier88, Mar 9, 2009
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  7. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    The Samsung is one drive that actually matches the X25-M in sequential speeds, but it's random write speeds fall far behind. It's not a bad drive at all; there doesn't seem to be any word of performance degradation and you don't need to tweak it. Nonetheless, I just don't think it's the best overall choice due to the lagging IO, and the somewhat exorbitant figures at which the drive is priced at the moment.
     
    Commander Wolf, Mar 9, 2009
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  8. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It might not be as strong of a performer but the Samsung 256GB version is cheaper than the Intel 160GB...
     
    sgogeta4, Mar 9, 2009
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