X200 with SSD - what a difference!

Recently decided to sell my "old" X200 with a 320GB harddrive and buy a second hand X200 with the same specs but with a 128GB SSD instead. Nothing special - far from the fastest SSD compared to the likes of Intel SSDs. Just the stock Samsung and not even the latest one.

However... that doesn't mean it is not fast. In fact it is extremely fast. What a pleasure working on a SSD fitted system. What a performance boost.

The X200 I have comes with the 2.4GHz P8600 and 3GB RAM, running XP. Now with the SSD it is beyond awesome. No harddisk clicking and presumably less heat as the temp readings I am getting for the CPU are now lower than my previous system. The X200 already runs very cool and very quiet with a normal HDD. But now it is consistently showing idle temps at around 32-33 degrees celcius when plugged in and using the Power Source Optimized mode. Ambient temps are about 22 degrees celcius. In addition, the fan is dead silent at these temps.

Just ran HD Tune with standard settings so people can benchmark if they have the same SSD. More than happy with the numbers, although they won't win the numbers race. Did I mention that real life performance is amazing

 

Have you tried to see if the speed stays the same after a few reboots and running the benchmark test a few times to get the drive to its used state. I just started a separate thread about the 128GB ssd and TRIM - I would presume the X series have the same SSD as the T series. AFAIK Samsung drives use the JMicron controller and so they do not support TRIM which would impact the performance of the drive just after a few days... maybe?

 

I have run the test at least 5 times thus far and the results are consistent. I will test the performance again after some weeks and post numbers .

 

This isn't correct. Samsung uses their own controller and never have outsourced their controllers to JMicron. TRIM is overrated IMO but Samsung should be getting TRIM (eventually/hopefully lol).

OP: can you post up CrystalDiskMark scores for 100 or 1000MB?

 

Here's an interim update. Still very consistent in performance. Been using the laptop extensively and also run HD Tune at least 20 times now. The latest result was as shown on the screen dump below.

 

I just noticed the drive you have is the "older" revision - MMCQE28G8MUP. The "newer" ones (MMCRE28G8MXP) are supposed to be even better.

As I keep reading, it seems that no matter how "bad" a SSD is, it is still much faster than the most HDDs. I am happy that more and more people can afford the SSDs and enjoy them like you.

I just cannot wait for my T400, ordered it a couple of days ago and it is going to be my first solid-state drive. For a few hours, I had some regrets that I did not get a regular drive and then upgraded aftermarket (supposedly cheaper and/or faster drives are available than the Samsungs) but I am sure coming from my EIDE drive that can hardly put out 20MB/s it will be quite a change .

Thank you for posting results again. Please keep them coming every week .

BTW did you get an extended warranty for your machine? It seems some of those drives are failing and replacing them would be more than the cost of the warranty.

 

My point exactly. I don't care if there are faster revisions out there. The Samsung SSD I have is beyond capable for my needs (or 99% of all users' needs). I can be transferring loads of GBs from my USB harddrive and at the same time still instantly open a web browser and surf away. Previously it would take forever and stutter when using any HDD.

No extended warranty. Haven't heard of issues with these SSDs failing. Are you referring to the model I have? If so, would appreciate links.