Current status of Vertex 3s with Clevos?

I'm doing some more research before buying my P170HM and I've just seen so many mixed reviews across the board via google.
I'm looking to get the Vertex 3 120G for the P170HM I plan to get in the next week. I've seen people that have not had problems with the sandforce controller on the new firmware that OCZ released...
If any of you are current owners of a clevo and a vertex 3, how's it going?

Depending on what I hear here, I'll go with either the Vertex 3 or Crucial M4 128g but I own a Vertex 2 on my X58 desktop build and couldn't wish for better(besides a vertex 3 ). Vertex 3 is much cheaper and has massively higher performance + redundancy.

 

We are still seeing issues with the Vertex 3 line on the Clevo shells even with updated firmware. The only sandforce based SSD's we use are the patriot Wildfire and Pyro drives as we worked directly with them to get a Clevo compatible firmware up and running on the drives, allowing us to actually use them.

However, some people haven't seen any issues, but the above is what we've seen with testing even with the latest firmware.

thanks

 

It seems like the Crucial M4 is the safer bet at this point.

 

I would go with the M4that is the drive we have had the most success rate with, that and the intel 510

Vertex' are just rubbish with Clevos

 

Clevo and Sager have confirmed that the Intel SSD's are the the ones with the best compatibility with the current models. This was discussed a few months back.
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The Crucial C300s are also reliable with Clevos, at least for my laptop.

 

I am unsure of whether you live in the US or Canada, but if you do, please do pounce on the price of the Crucial M4 128GB on Tiger Direct. $175 in both Canada and the US!! I know the Vertex 3 goes for around $200 in Canadian online stores, so what's the point? The M4's have speed and reliability all in one nice package.

My local shop price matched with these guys, so I didn't have to wait for shipping. This drive is ridiculously fast at boot times, right now I am impressed when the Windows logo barely having enough time to form from those four orbs.

 

I hope to have my NP8170 by next week and will be installing a 120GB Vertex 3 as the OS drive. I will post up my results. This will be my 3rd build using a Vertex 3 and I have had 0 issues on the other 2 (although those were PC's). A lot of what I have read in other forums as well as my own experience points to upgrading firmware BEFORE installing the OS as the key to these SSD's working properly. We will see if this is lucky 3... Wish me luck.

 

I use an OCZ Solid 3 without issues but I hear lots of people do have issues with this drive. Dunno what magic I used to make it work.

 

Yeah, I'm looking at that right now. Newegg also has a deal on the Vertex 3 120G for $175 so it is hard to pick... as the vertex is easilly 2x faster write than the m4(reads seem to be pretty similar). I guess it all boils down to writing in compressible data, but still, the features of sandforce are hard to turn down. I will most likely get M4, but I guess I'll see the results of Drift King before

 

Another option would be to see if you can find someone on Craigslist who is selling one. I found a guy in my neighborhood selling two 128GB M4's for $300 total

 

That's a nice deal in a pinch for money, but IDK, sometimes that $30 savings from buying from craigslist could turn around and screw you over.
Personal preference: I'd rather pay a bit more for something that I know has full life/warranty that I can do myself than get a discount... not to mention my state(Massachusetts) literally has nobody with a single ssd on craigslist

 

I have a 120gb vertex 3 in my NP8150 and it is running smoothly. I've also looked alot into it and I would suggest upgrading the firmware not just before installing windows but before putting it into the sager. I've read some places that some parameters get stored in the bios or something that don't get updated so if you put it in then update you might need to clear the CMOS. I updated it on a different system before ever putting it in the sager and its been running pretty smoothly since (about a month) so I'd suggest that to be absolutely safe.

Best of luck!

 

I hope he follows through with reporting his results.
Were you aware of the possible issues that the 120G Vertex 3 before you bought it? I just have this battle in my mind between 2x the performance and the "safe" route that everybody has success with, and every time I hear somebody running SF on the Clevos without BSOD, I get antsy .
Have you left your computer on for extended amounts of time/sleeps with no issues? I fail to believe that the BSOD and data mismanagement is a Q/C issue on OCz's side, so if you people are getting it to work with no issues, I should be able to as well.

 

I will be picking up my NP8170 tonight tonight and hope to have the time to get everything installed in the next few days or sooner... I'll let you know how the install goes and if there are any issues. =)

 

We look forward to your findings on this SSD in your NP8170!
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Quick update, I checked my Vertex 3 that was delivered last Wednesday and it already has the latest firmware installed (2.11). That's always a good sign! =)

 

Dang, the Patriot Pyro actually has very respectable performance... the gap between the M4 and the Pyro is small, but existant.

If all else fails, assuming mythlogic is correct in saying that they worked with patriot to get their SF firmwares to be compatible with Clevos, the Pyro is definitely my goto drive

 

Yea Patriot has some of our laptops in their labs and were able to reproduce and fix some issues with the drives. So yea we work with them and continue to do so =)

 

Update: OS installed. Only issue was a corrupted NIC driver on the disk from Sager... Damn this thing is fast! If I get a chance between cases, I'll run some benchmarks... =)

 

Try running it for a few days normally and see if you are getting any of the data mismanagement or bsods. Very convinced the v3s are actually working now

 

Well, I got all of the drivers installed... Win7 is updated... Been running benchmarks for the last hour or so. I have put her to sleep 4-5 times. Rebooted at least 50 times (its easy to do when it boots in seconds). So far so good. No issues. No BSOD's. Just all kinds of fast. =)

 

First all, remember to disable the auto turn-off disk on energy configuration, that gave me a lot of BSOD while surfing or doing nothig (I have desktop files on second HDD).
Once I disabled energy savings on HDD no BSOD's appeared.

 

Yes I was aware of the issue before I bought it but the performance was just so enticing that I decided to risk it. Luckily it was worth it .

I can't really say wether it is stable for extended periods (such as more than a day) becuase i tend to shut down my computer when i sleep.

If you are having issues even on the latest firmware try clearing the CMOS and see if that might help.

 

Vertex 3s are like playing roulette; it either works great, or is a nightmare. I've seen no in-between experience.

I just played it safe, and picked up the M4. My life is stressful enough as is.

 

Kevin is so right, I got lucky and received a 120GB Vertex 3 Max IOPS that's so far managed to run problem free. I still put my money on the Intel 510 250GB drive.

 

Well, I now have three 120GB Vertex 3's and also have an 60 GB Agility 3 and have had no issues with any of them... I am pretty sure that they fixed the issues, but maybe I am just lucky...