OCZ Vertex 3 or Intel 510 SSD? anyone?

(I posted this in general hardware section but not getting any feedback and hopefully someone can offer their experience here)

I am debating whether I should go with Intel SSD 510 250gb in my new Sager NP8170 or OCZ's Vertex 3 240gb.

There is no doubt Vertex 3 is faster in almost all tests. But their SSD's lack of reliability worries me. I hate to see my primary drive fail while I am abroad on a business trip. I had two OCZ's Agility series failed me before I finally switched to Intel's x25. It has been working flawlessly ever since. The fact that Vertex 3 is on 25nm doesn't comfort me a bit, many questioned its endurance comparing to 34nm.

I still can't believe OCZ tech told me I should reserve 15% space in my SSD to prolong its life when my drive failed. If they think this is important for the drive to function properly, they should send 140gb SSD to customer who bought 120gb.

Intel SSD has excellent reliability history, and probably better warranty service. I will more likely to be replaced with a 2nd generation sata 3 "if" this drive failed down the road. Not to mention Sager specifically said I should stick with Intel SSD.

Can someone shine some lights on Vertex's 60,000 IOPS vs 510's 20,000 IOPS in 4k random read? How much big of real world performance hit I will be expecting? Windows and application loading / responding time? I use my machine mainly for content creation, illustrator, photoshop and 3dmax.

I did get the Intel 510 250GB during a sale for $475, switching to Vertex 3 meaning I have to pay $75 more assuming I ebay Intel for $475. When take this into consideration, should I spend an extra $75 for Vertex 3 and bear the potential reliability risk? not to mention a lower resale value when compare to Intel, say two years later?
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Look also at the failure rate. I check also big stores like newegg and amazon for customer reviews. Answer this question does it matter to you if your computer boots in 10 or 15 s? Unless you reboot 1000 times a day I guess not. The ssd are in general quite fast anyway.

More comparisons Crucial M4 vs OCZ Vertex 3 vs Intel 510 - BeHardware.

 

-Anandtech

OCZ Vertex 3 (240GB) Review - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News


I'm not an Intel fanboy...I would even say that I used to be an OCZ fanboy . That's until one of my OCZ SDD died and I had to RMA it. You can see in my sig what I chose for my P170HM being built right now. Intel has a better track record in SSD and while the Vertex 3 is a faster drive, real word perceptual performance will be very hard to notice. I don't benchmark as a hobby but I work with my laptop and need it to work. Intel it is for me.

Also, no Sager reseller offer the OCZ drives anymore but only Intel as they have been burned with the Vertex 2 reliability and want to deal with as little RMA as possible.

See bottom page here: Components returns rates (page 6: Hard drives & SSDs) - BeHardware

 

Just wanna add that you might wanna look at this review too The Intel SSD 510 Review - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

I say go with the Intel SSD 510 there are incompatibility issues with the OCZ Vertex 3 and Clevo branded laptops anyway so its not worth the risk and its true most sager resellers dont offer the OCZ drives anymore. I was also considering getting an OCZ Vertex 3 but when you take into account the reliability issues I think that makes it less appealing, so what if it’s the fastest SSD out there if it does not work then it’s not good value for money. I personally much prefer the Intel anyway they make the most reliable SSD drives and performance is pretty close to the OCZ Vertex 3 anyway in real world tests.

 

Go with Intel for SSD. Don't let that little demonic voice in you gain the upper hand with its evil maniacal laughter of 'Get the OCZ!! I NEED SPEED!!!!!'

You need reliability over sheer speed. Honestly, that's what it all comes down to. My Intel X-25m 160GB SSD has been running flawlessly since the first day I got it in December 2009. I know it's slower, I know it does not have unreal 4k random speeds... but it kills every other brand in a bench test that no one seems to take into account: reliability.

You won't regret the choice of reliability over speed in the long run. You pretty much said it yourself regarding your desktop...

 

Well... I am in the same boat as you.
Looking for a 250GB SSD drive for my new NP8150 and can't decide between Vertex 3 and Intel 510.
Any good user reviews out here on the forum for those drives?

thanks!

 

possibly a question better suited for the SSD forums
Solid State Drives (SSDs) and Flash Storage

there's plenty of threads there discussing this exact topic

 

Thank you all!

I think I will keep the Intel 510 since none of you suggest OCZ due to their reputation of poor reliability.

Also, someone from Alienware forum said that Intel HM67 seems to have a 4k random cap which further lower performance gap between Vertex 3 and 510.

 

Yeah, even though I personally hoped to see OCZ shine this round, have to agree that Intel has a far better reliability. We have similar statistics for both Clevo and AW laptops.

 

Another good alternative to the Intel 510 and the Vertex 3 is the 256GB Crucial C300 or Crucial M4 drives which performs in the middle.

I almost bought my 8130 with an Intel 510 equipped but decided to hold out for the Vertex 3's but when OCZ's Vertex 2 issues came out and with the disappointing performance of the 120GB V3s, I went for a C300.

 

I keep my games on a large, inexpensive 7200rpm drive. Only my OS and productivity apps go on the SSD. For me, load time improvements for games on an SSD don't quite justify the insane cost/GB of high capacity SSDs.

 

I once saw a video going around where they showed the actual difference on the same machine with two different solid state drives the point of which was showing the wysiwyg aspect of a measurably faster ssd versus a slower one. It may be hugely measurable but watching them open applications and such I was hard pressed to tell the difference between 1.3 seconds and .9 seconds just looking at it. I thought back on that when making this decision and went the intel route. It may not give me bragging numbers but I need my laptop to work more than I need a performance gain that I cant actually see as I sit and click around taking care of business.

 

The Intel HM67 chipset doesn't reveal the full potential of these SATA III SSD, which further narrowed the performance gap in the random 4k (between Intel 510 and Vertex 3). In real application, the slight lead from OCZ can be ignored.

Also, I have serious doubt in OCZ's reliability based on this company's credibility. First, they tried to label Vertex 3 as Vertex 2. Now, they post a MTBF of 2,000,000 hours which is about 550 years based 10 hours usage each day. Heck, I would be surprised if it can even last 5 years. Which make me wonder how did they fabricated this number?

Surely they have friendly customer service when you file a warranty claim. But what good does it make when they just send you another returned drive with half full write cycle?

 

If I had the cash to burn, I'd put my money on Intel's 510 250GB. Or hopefully a 500gb a couple of generations later once the $/GB dips to ~.50.