Samsung 830 vs OCZ Vertex 4

Im really not sure which to get. From what Ive gathered the Samsung is one of the best and most reliable on the market which means alot to me, but the Vertex 4 is the new kid on the block, and while someone people say it has yet to stand the test of time, Ive read that the controller it uses is a modified Marvell controller, which has a much better track record than SF. I could probably find the Vertex 4 for slightly cheaper than the 830, especially tomorrow, but Im still unsure of which the better one for me is.

 

There's a reason it's cheaper: OCZ.

The V4 is not a modified Marvell controller - it is an in house (OCZ) Indilux controller.

Issues with high power usage (and OCZ's non-confidence building practices) is what keeps me from even considering it for a notebook (let alone testing it for compatibility for my use).

The 830 is the better one for anyone who simply wants to enjoy the benefits of SSD's and not be a beta tester for OCZ (and have the 'privilege' to pay for it).

 

hmmm I'm pretty sure the V4 controller is a marvell one... just with OCZ firmware... that said given equal price I'd take the samsung... but I would buy the OCZ, I've never had any trouble if any of my past OCZ products that in includes an Agiliity 2 90GB... and I know a few people with other OCZ SSD's and having no trouble... personally think it's a bit over hyped.

these days more users won't see a difference from one SSD to another... take a peak at the M4, it's pricing is much better than the V4, and has been around a while and is well regarded as a fast quality drive.

 

I've been out of the SSD debate for a while now, since my "means" virtually disappeared. Things are looking up again and I just ordered the Samsung 256GB for $238 inc shipping. I remember getting my 80GB x25-M two years ago for just over $200. I'm thrilled to see that prices have finally come down like they have and am looking forward to what performance boost I can get on my SATAII connection until I upgrade lappies later this year.

 

As I've posted many times before, I wouldn't bother w/OCZ or any of the smaller vendors. Most don't make their own flash, most don't make their own controllers, and it's likely they have far fewer resources to do a proper job of validation than the big guys.

Most people here would put the Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 as their drives of choice. I have 2 830s, my dad has an 830 in his desktop machine and we recently got an M4 for another of my parents' machines.

Re: the what controller the Vertex 4 uses, see AnandTech - OCZ Confirms Octane and Vertex 4 use Marvell based Silicon.

 

I was looking at the M4 as well and ruled it out for some reason ( dont exactly remember why ), but pending what tomorrow brings I think im probably gonna end up picking up a Samsung 830.

 

Thanks for the correction. Marvell controller - custom Indilinx firmware by OCZ.

Not quite up to the legends of the Intel 510 or the Crucial M4, imo.

 

Maybe because the M4 comes with no software and isn't all that fast compared to the competition?

Yeah, the V4 has potential, but the whole OCZ + SandForce debacle is still fresh in people's mind. On the other hand, the M4, 510, Samsung 830 and even the Plextor M3 have proven to be quite reliable. Right now, i find that the M4 holds a place in the price/reliablility/performance sweet spot, especially in Canada where the 830 isn't easy to come by and is still priced at 250$ for a 128GB drive.

 

I would recommend a Samsung 830 or 470 SSD to my friends, family or customers any day. They are bulletproof as far as I can tell. Sure they cost a little more than some of the others but its a small price to pay for something that's stable and reliable 99.9% of the time.

Since you're also considering the Crucial M4, here is a deal on the 128GB version that was sent to me by Newegg so I thought you could use it.

 

Thanks, but im looking for at least 256GB

 

Try here:
Amazon.com: Used and New: SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW

Price keeps falling slowly. And, if you order from one of these vendors and not Amazon directly, you may be able to save on sales tax... just like when ordering from Newegg.

 

Yea, Im probably gonna pull the trigger today. I was hoping for some good deals to come about due to the holiday but nothing showed that I wanted. I was hoping to pick it up for <$200 but that might not be possible any time soon

 

If it means anything to you, it's already $8 cheaper than when I ordered on Monday night.

 

My vote is for the Samsung 830. I have two of the them. Rock solid and I like their FW/Drive update tools.

 

Also, I noticed theres three versions of each size; one thats bare, one for a notebook and one for a desktop. Considering the notebook version has a spacer of some kind, does this mean that these SSDs are not 9.5mm thick? Or is that used for something else as I would expect to need the bare drive for a notebook.

 

These drives are 7mm thick. I may have ordered a bare drive. I'm not concerned. The mounting bracket for my VAIO F screws on the side, so the drive will fit regardless of spacer inclusion. The laptop I'm moving to (Alienware M18x) in a few months has space for two 7mm drives, so I won't need a spacer there either.

 

Hmm...my replacement M17xR4 is coming in within the next week or two. I know my R3 has space for two 9.5mm drives, but Im gonna have to look in to just to make sure I wont need anything more.

 

Bought a Samsung 830 256GB from Amazon (still no sales tax here in Georgia) for my m11x R3, and loving it so far. I was impressed by how fast the Windows install and updates ran.