The SSD thread (prices, news, benchmarks)

but can you really fit 2 hdd's inside a laptop?
unles you have one of those big ones...

 

Quite a few notebooks aimed towards multimedia use include two now. Most of the SLI gaming rigs have two bays as well, such as the m9750 (2), the M17x (2+ smartbay), the Sager NP 9262 (3), or the Dell XPS (2). I know there is a model coming out from ASUS which will include two Hitachi 5K500 500gb notebook drives, for a 1gb capacity as well.

 

ya, all of those are 17"+ laptops.

Anyways,
I was checking the price for the 32GB SSD 1.8" ZIF from Samsung on Newegg's Website, the price has gone up, not down :S

It used to be at 349.99, maybe 379.99, not exactly sure, byt now it's at 414$ :S

Edit:
NVM, did a search for the Samsung SSD on newegg again.
There's two different listings and the other one is at 314.
And they have an open box one for 184.
I would so buy it if they shipped to Canada ...:'(

 

flamenko:

Will you get any chance to test this new speedy SSD?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/ritek-joins-the-128gb-ssd-crowd/

The 2.5-inch SATA drive features a crazy 300MB/s burst read speed, SMART monitoring, and a read / write rating of two million cycles.

 

Check this 823GB SSD

http://www.dailytech.com/BiTMICRO+Pumps+SSD+Capacities+to+832GB/article10232.htm

To be released in Q3

 

That one's gonna cost more than a nice car, literally

 

Ive got new SSDs coming in from STEC-Inc, Mtron and Memoright at the end of the month. I will also put out feelers with BitMicro and Ridata.

 

I got a 16GB SSD from Mtron, the MOBI 3000. Here are some specs. I kind of thought I would see 100MB read and 80 MB write. It is really fast, and it is all the space I need now, but I would hate to have to return it to South Korea Thanks for any input. Dell D630, SATA in BIOS, wiht Flash Cache "disabled". I could not use ACHI in BIOS. I am new to these and not sure what the proper BIOS settings are, so I went with what worked.

It is so cool having a silent and FAST drive. Prices are coming down really really fast. Faster than most have predicted. 64GB is almost the sweet spot now.

Flamenko, I will be interested in purchasing a FAST 64GB from your testing lab when prices drop a bit

Thanks, Dave

 

Cape,

When you go into BIOS have you got the option for your system to run in ACHI mode? Also, has it run in that mode previously?

Im asking because my system runs in that smoothly and I have tested that drive in the 32Gb version extensively. It would be nice if we could get you up to my results somehow.

 

What happened when I was loading VISTA is that the screen blacked out 7/8 of the way thru and stopped installing.. I panicked and checked the BIOS. I think it was on ACHI, and I switched to SATA, re-installed, and it worked. The other thing is the high CPU usage. I had never paid much attention to that. However, if I do a READ test on HD TACH, as opposed to HD Tune (which is what I have), it goes to about 2%, which is much better. Having to pony up another $50 for the WRITE version of HD TAch is a bit much for me right now, so I am hoping to avoid that. Dave

 

Yes...what occurred was possible. You would have needed to start the installation and, in the select partition to install os menu, install the ACHI driver as described on several threads.

If your not sure, let me know i will write it out..or better yet, check my posts of the last few days. There is a specific thread.

 

Excellent, I will check the threads for ACHI driver installion. I would really like to try it giving the drive anyting it wants to acheive maximum throughput. Thanks, Dave

 

Here...I cut it and pasted for you:

In closing, the BSOD problem can be avoided COMPLETELY by installing the driver before installing Vista. Its a simple process of finding the driver, expanding it onto an external medium such as a SD/flash drive or DVD, and then installing it when you install Vista. When installing Vista, you will come to a screen which asks which partition you want to install the OS on to. At that screen, there is a menu, bottom left, for driver installation BEFORE OS installation.

At this point, you simply click on that, direct it to the place where the driver is stored (flash/SD/DVD) and it will recognize it. Highlight and select and then continue the OS installation.

This is the only method proven to be successful every time, if your system accepts the medium being used. I feel the best is the USB flash as some systems require drivers for the SD.

Also, once installed and working properly, you will not be able to utilize "Enable write caching on disk" and "Enable advanced performance" because the Matrix Controller uses this in its own way much more effectively.

EDIT: A very important point to recognize is that, if you get a BSOD after an OS installation, 99% of the time this will be the result of the need for the Intel matrix driver. Your system is trying to function in that mode but the driver is not there.

 

Excellent! So I should look on the Dell site for the Intel Matrix controller driver? Dave

 

Yes...you will find it there. Remember, install it to an external medium such as a flash drive or DVD and then direct the menu there when you get to the right spot.

We will figure this out.

 

Yes, I am not worried. The laptop is so darn fast it is absolutely amazing. I am extremely excited to get a 64GB for my desktop, and store anything extra on an external drive.

 

What if I don't have AHCI on my laptop?
Would an SSD still work properly, at max speed?

I have Dell D420 and I've never come across AHCI mode in the bios settings.
I've been considering one, but not sure anymore. I was considering the samsung 1.8" with the zif plug.

 

You can use the SSD in normal mode as I have done with several for testing. I would still advise an email to the manufacturer to ensure there won't be any hidden conflicts identified by the company as was the case for some Sonys.

 

Okay, I'll send Mtron an e-mail about possible issues with my SZ. What other brands of SSD would you recommend other than Mtron? I want to ask other manufacturers about any issues.

 

The top two right now are Mtron and Memoright with STEC-Inc about to enter with higher capacity drives...they will be a bit more expensive.

 

OCZ to produce SSDs!

Read the article here

 

WOW, that is incredible! Prices HAVE to come down with all these new players!

 

Cape...you gotta be getting yourself a SSD soon!!!

 

I wish they made more 1.8" SSD's :'(
I wish apple would announce a new line of iPods that actually used the 1.8" ssd's instead of HDD's. That would surely drive the price down

 

Yes...I have seen the demand for SSDs growing. Its simply a question of competition now which you may see if OCZ releases their SSD at a low price. Its only a matter of time before you see s 3-400 SSD introduced which the OCZ would fit because of its mediocre performance results.

Its perfect for the average user.

 

Yup,
I wonder how long a 300$ bid would last on samsung 1.8" would last on ebay

 

Yes, I currently have the 16GB Mobi 3000 for my laptop. Gonna load it with ACHI drivers, but for now it is superfast even on SATA. I am thinking that I will spring for a 64GB 3.5 for my desktop as soon as they get reasonable, and a fast one, not a slow one Trouble is, I do not use my laptop so much for business. That may change, but for now it is just a FAST toy Dave

 

There's a new player in town, and Mtron has reason to worry.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01/10/ridata_128gb_ssd/1

128GB, 235MB up, 120MB down

 

great news, now the cheap SSDs are not far away

 

Its good to see a comparison made in gaming use with the SSD. I think this may draw alot of discussion.

 

I am now re-installing VISTA with the ACHI drivers on my Dell D 630. Man, I love that laptop. So, we'll see if it gives better speed. Flamenko, are you aware that there are 3 Samsung 64GB SSD's on Ebay in a row for 1000, 900, 800 respectively? Just search for SSD and you will find them. I think they are the same drive and 2 claim 100 and 120 write and read speeds. Or maybe 100 and 80. Still, what I would like to know is are these in the same leafgue with MTRON in all other important ways? 800 for a FAST 64GB SSD is not all that bad. Dave

 

I could only find two...799 and 899. These both appear to be the same drive when looked at closely although one is listed as SATA and one as SATA II. I can confirm the one for 799 is the same as the one I tested and comes nowhere near 80/100MB/s.

The only SSD that has exceeded the 100MB/s write that I am aware of is the Memoright. No other has done it and published tests as of yet although many are purportedly close.

I will concede that I was happy with the Samsung 64Gb amd found no problems although, by tests, it is only half as fast as the Mtron.

I have had several people pm and email me with respect to SSDs on Ebay and I have found that innaccuracy as to performance is pretty much consistant in each.

If you are seriously looking, I would email the seller regarding the 899 SSD and get the product number to confirm it is, in fact a SATA II (would be the first) and that the product number differs from the 799 one which is a SATA. Have him send you a clear picture of the product info on the back of the SSD.

Before buying any SSD that appears to be too good to be true, yahoo the heck out of it to find the test results. I will help if need be.

EDIT: Wohoo!!!! Got the money?? http://cgi.ebay.com/128GB-SSD-SOLID...ryZ42184QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Thanks. That is as I suspected. I knew 2 were about the same, the one for 999 looks quite different. I have loaded VISTA with the ACHI drivers, but it appears that the SSD is using a Windows driver, although there is the Intel Storage driver also installed in device manager. I will get to testing tomorrow sometime.

I am very interested in OCZ and Crucial SSD drives, as I have had most excellent luck with their RAM Dave

 

I think this thread can be made into a sticky sooner or later. OP (or someone else that is capable) needs to consolidate whatever good piece of info was found in these 24 pages and append it to the first post. This way, methinks it can better serve the community =)

Just a thought.

P.S.: I wouldn't mind reading through 24 pages, but it's going to take some time. I can't append anything to the first post either, so...

 

OK, I have tested my ACHI install of VISTA on my D630 with MOBI 3000 16GB SSD. It appears I must have gotten a bad SSD. My graph is NOTHING like the straight line at about 100 and 80 that I was expecting. I have attatched graph.

I am going to check BIOS settings. One thing that confuses me is that I AM able to check write caching and "Advanced Performance" uder th driver, which it has been mentioned that are ALREADY checked using ACHI driver.

This is one wacky all over the place graph for a SSD, I am sure you will agree. And 17% CPU Utilization? If I was not crying I would be laughing Thanks, Dave

 

Ok...first, if you can check to enable write caching and advance performance, AHCI is not working.

Secondly, with regards to the up and down of the graph, that reflects other things you may have running in the background. Try and make your background as pure as you can by turning off such things as sidebar, virus programs, updaters, system restore and whatnot.

I will concede however that, with the Memoright, I still had some 'up and down' but both Mtrons I tested were nice and smooth.

 

I will check, but it was a clean install, although yes, sidebar was running.

Weird that I DID install ACHI at the proper time during VISTA install, as well as have the correct setting in BIOS.

I also did have the biggies like SYSTEM RESTORE off. With only 16GB one must be pretty strict with space Dave

 

I agree it should be a sticky but then I remembered flamenko already has a sticky. While you can not make this less pages maybe an update and a unified updated thread as a sticky, assuming flamenko has the time (and wifey says OK) not a bad idea. This technology being new means the info expands and changes very fast.

 

If I get the chance, I may create a new Ultimate SSD thread that will link all the pertinent threads as well as manufacturers and things such as the videos which show start time and whatnot...

 

WOW, have a look at this. All I did was put the image from Acronis of my old SATA install back, and voila! Look at that drop in CPU % and look at that nice almost flat line at almost 80 MB! I'll take it. That's the performance I was looking for. And now I have all my programs installed, which is getting to be way too much work

Dave

 

Yes its very impressive. The thing we need to take into consideration is the fact that, unlike a HD, the SSD shows no decline in performance with extended use.

 

Yes, And I still have almost 3GB left, after Office, Adobe Photo, etc. Nice. So, for now, this is it for me. I heard that the CEO of SanDisk was on the news touting SSD's and the amazing future for them. Dave

 

Glad it worked...

Made a new thread after so many requests...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=208242

 

Perhaps you didn't see my link

 

No..I have seen this SSD and there will be one on the way to me shortly. It has not been released yet and there are no independent tests out yet.

Company tests aren't very reliable as they cannot be impartial.

If you look at my last benchmarking, you will see Memoright made big steps for their first release. Although I have no doubt as to Riteks (Ridata) claims, release and independent benchmarks are paramount.

EDIT: And thank you. I just added that to the new thread (attached)

 

There is so much news on these bad boys every day it is really exciting. Off topic, Flamenko, how do you get the nice sig with all the icons? Do you have to build it yourself? Seems like a whole lot of work. Dave

 

It was built by another on the site who has the same. I was very appreciative.

 

That's a creative sig. Not too hard to do with copy + paste either.

 

By all means. I got it one other who had it and made it up for me on this site. Im not much of a graphics guy myself. It sure gets alot of attention.

 

And since some people are considering 128GB SSD's.

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7168.html

Will try to compare with the previous, smaller models.