What SSD should I get for my Dell M3800?

I just bought a new Dell M3800 which unfortunately didn't come with an SSD, so I'd like to buy one to put in it. There's only room for one 2.5" drive, so I was thinking of getting either a 250GB or 500GB drive. Of the SSDs available on Amazon, these are the most highly rated 250GB models:

$169.99 - Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE250BW
$129.99 - Kingston Digital 240GB SSDNow V300 SATA 3 2.5 (7mm height) with Adapter Solid State Drive SV300S37A/240G
$139.95 - Crucial M500 240GB SATA 2.5-Inch 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) Internal Solid State Drive CT240M500SSD1

I have the previous version of the Crucial drive in my Desktop and it's been great, but I don't know how it compares to newer drives.

What SSD would you recommend I get? An alternative to one of the options above is fine.

Thanks for your advice!

 

the M500 can be had for less here : Crucial M500 Series 240GB SSD - 2.5 Form Factor, SATA III, Encryption Technology, Advanced Controller Technology, Adaptive Thermal Protection - CT240M500SSD1 at TigerDirect.com. I would eliminate the Kingston, based on the fact it has a SandForce controller which have been problematic for some in the past. The Samsung is pricier, and has TLC nand; I would therefore get the Crucial (which has MLC nand & marvell controller)
BUT Tom's Hardware seems to disagree with me We Like The High-Capacity Crucial M500 SSDs Best... - SSD Deathmatch: Crucial's M500 Vs. Samsung's 840 EVO
(NOTE if you are going to leave 30% unallocated you will only have ~ 150 GB usable with any of these drives.)

 

Thanks for your advice. Is there a reason to leave 30% unallocated?

 

Good Question I will defer to the SSD guru http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...707276-unallocated-space-ssd.html#post9068560
How much capacity do you actually think you will need? And congrats on the 3800!

 

I started suggesting 30% 'unallocated' capacity (in addition to the 25GB 'free space' Windows needs and any additional capacity used for temporary storage; like Photoshop's 'scratch disks') a couple of years ago (or more?). In my desktops, I have them set closer to 50% 'unallocated'.

Anand Lal Shimpi is also recommending 25% 'unallocated' for the newest SSD's, still.


Why?

To have the highest possible sustained performance over time, (almost) no matter how you use your SSD - while also offering the lowest WA (write amplification) and degradation from TRIM and GC (garbage collection) routines and making those routines as invisible to the user as possible (which we see as a faster, more responsive storage subsystem).


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...ir-performance-pro-256gb-why.html#post9448572


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...64-smartplacement-defragging-perfectdisk.html


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...ntel-x-25m-slow-write-speeds.html#post9406327



You can do google searches with unallocated, OP'ing, 30%, etc. and my name and notebookreview.com for more reading...




Edit: Thanks JOSEA!

 

Well, maybe I should go with the 500GB drive then. So the question is whether to go with the Samsung 840 EVO ($309) or Crucial M500 ($270).

 

Well, I just found out that my laptop actually has an mSATA connector available inside it, so I can add an mSATA SSD and keep my current 500GB HDD as well. It appears that there isn't an mSATA version of the Samsung 840 EVO yet, so I guess that means I'll probably be going with the Crucial M500, unless anyone has any other suggestions..

 

You could go for the plextor m5m msata