What SSD SATA3 model you picked or you would pick & why for our DV6t/DV7t

The title says it all, possible models are:

1. OCZ Vertex 3
2. Crucial M4
3. Intel 510

This will help me & others make up their decision based on ppl opinions/experiences on a specific model

 

Get the Crucial M4 when they are on sale. I don't have experience with the OCZ or Intel, but my Crucial SSD has been great to me so far.

 

Intel SSDs are always perfect.. running great on mah machines.

 

I put the crucial C300 in my DV7 sata II and it seriously boots and runs faster than my custom built desktop with the asus maxumis IV extreme with I7 2600K overclocked to 4.6 ghz with sata III with the M4. I don't know maybe Im doing something wrong here.

 

Does HP officially confirm that new dv6 and dv7 support SATA III ?

 

Yes sata 3 is supported

 

Crucial M4, best balance of power efficiency and speed. Otherwise the Vertex 3. From what i understand, any SATA3 will be indistinguishable from each other by human standards, but the M4 will last measurably longer.

 

The Vertex 3 is a beast.

 

I put the 510 in my dv6 right out of the box and it's awesome, load times are ridiculously short at start up and for the graphics software I run like AutoCad, Solidworks, and Adobe CS5 suite. The vertex is supposed to be great, but with all the back in forth on ssd issues..dos...don'ts..I went for a hopefully more reliable intel. It's been two months with no issue whatsoever. Speaking of 2 months is is too late to return? Would like to get all the upgraded stuff like screen,, etc.

 

The Vertex 3 is the fastest SSD available by quite a large margin (when installed in an SATA III capable environment), but it is also the most expensive. Every single benchmark available backs this statement up, all you need do is google it.

EDIT:

As to returning, HPs return policy is 21 days, however you might get lucky if you call them and complain. I dunno.

 

I had quite impressive results with the C300 as well, but it was when I had an Alienware M17x and I ran it with a 500GB Seagate Momentus XT for storage. It was just too expensive for me to jump from 128 to 256 when considering a SSD for my new dv6.

I have to start poking around for this article written about a guy who continues to test every SSD on the market in every size with horrifying results on shelf-life. This is why I just decided to stick with the stock HDD. A SSD for me is a luxury, not a necessity.

 

Oh yeah, I've read them all the vertex is definately faster in most situations. My only concern was reliability, since ssd have been out i've read a lot more horror stories about vertex, ocx, and crucial than intel. That being said.. If the vertex was available when I bought, I probably would have tried it, the dependability has become vastly improved across the board

 

Anyone ran the Samsung 470 series SATA3 capable SSD in their Dv6/7t? You can get a 256GB version for ~$300 or so now, so I'm considering it and want to know anyone use it.

Also, I know that the DV6/7 CTO-6xxx series are SATA3 capable, do I need to do anything to enable that? -Thanks.

 

It may have the top speeds but enjoy bsoding and firmware issues and many other issues. OCZ drives have been and continue to be unrealiable.

I returned mine and bought a Intel 510 250gb and put it in my dv6t quad. Works good.

 

At this point I feel that SSD is to young and unstable to really use as a primary drive.

However, that said, I would only recommend Intel 300 series at this point. Yes, OCZ, Crucial, etc. are faster. But they currently utilize the SandForce chipset. While this chipset provides faster performance. They seem to use the user, YOU, as a test bed. Not my cup of tea.

A simply look at OCZ's support page will show nothing but nightmares of Firmware updates, and drive failures.

Intel's Fail rate currently with SSD's stands at about .5%. SandForce drives are hovering at near 3% fail rates.

Intel offers a 5 year warrenty.

Is it fastest, no. Will you notice, no. Is it faster then HDD, yes. Is it more reliable (compared to other SSD), yes.

SSD is not a primary drive on my machine because of its volatile nature.

 

Id say in order of reliability from my research:

Intel Gen 1 & 2 plus the 310s
2nd gen Marvell controller SSDs (such as the Crucial C300)
2nd gen Sandforce controller SSDs (such as the Vertex 2)
3rd gen just generally most unreliable - issues with the Intel 6 series chipset

For me all my SSDs are 2nd gen bar one. I have an original Intel X25-M G1 (no TRIM). Had it 3 years and its still going as good as it was when I first bought it. 3 Vertex 2s, had to RMA one - had both BIOS non-detection problem (in ACHI) and SSD "amnesia" (where installed programs, saved files etc would disappear after a power cycle). I have two working Vertex 2s but to be honest I would not go with OCZ again. Just look at their forums...tonnes of problems. And my final SSD is the Crucial C300 which Ive only had for a couple of days. So far working very well.