Which SSD to buy?

[Blassreiter]

so I heard all these amazing stories about SSDs and their amazing BOOT times and etc >.>


so I guess I'm going to buy one

but the thing is that they are still **** expensive and a bit too pricey for my likes

I was looking for one under $150

and I'm trying to decide between these three

OCZ Vertex Series 30gb - Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD - $89 after rebates

OCZ Vertex Turbo Series 30gb - Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Turbo OCZSSD2-1VTXT30G 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD - $119 after rebates

Intel X25 - V 40gb - Newegg.com - Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD - $129

Kingston SSDnow V series 64gb - Newegg.com - Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2BN/64GB 2.5" 64GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD - $144


ok So the OCZ Vertex Turbo has the Fastest read/write speed 240/145

but Kingston has 64gb for like only extra 20 bux and the speed is 200/110 or something


Intel has the slowest read/write speed and seems like 1st gen SSD - 170/35 - but intel one has like amazing reviews - why? does intel have like special SSD technology or something?

and OCZ vertex 30gb is the cheapest 230/135 speed - which is fast and cheapest


so which do you think is the best guys?

 

[nOcLuE98]

In all honesty, I would not buy one. They do not provide enough speed boost to make the price worth it. Not only that, but you are looking at buying a harddrive with 30gigs of space. You are going to run out! When was the last time you considered a harddrive that small? Just doesn't seem worth the jump at all. I would wait longer...

but if you are set, I would go with the OCZ.

 

[InsaneJester17]

I have the 30gb OCZ Vertex and I love it. It's my Windows 7 drive. Just make sure you disable hibernation to reclaim a bunch of space. I have Win7 ultimate, Star Trek online and a bunch of small programs like firefox and such on it and I have over 5 GB left. Any other programs I install to my 500gb drive. My system boots in about 22 seconds from power button press and shuts down in about 10. It's amazing because once it's booted it takes like 3 seconds until all of the background services are loaded. Very snappy!

 

[synergy]

I would get the Vertex Turbo or the X25-V. Intel SSDs have the best controllers which provide the best random write speeds, but the V series are the lower end. In that regard you might be better with the Vertex Turbo.

They do fill up really fast, so you might want to look at going bigger. I know it's expensive for the GB, but the performance is worth it. Boot times for me didn't increase that much until Explorer loads. Basically at that point (once you see your desktop and icons) it's instantaneous and you can launch any program. Make sure you have Win7 because it is the best OS for SSDs.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

In all honesty, I would not buy one. They do not provide enough speed boost to make the price worth it.

As a SSD owner I couldn't disagree more. Moving from a conventional drive to a SSD is like going from a p4 to a Core 2 Duo, the difference in system responsiveness and loading times is incredible.

If your looking for a drive under $150 I think the Intel X25-V would be your best bet, the Vertex Turbo might be a little faster but the extra 10gb on the Intel more than makes up for it.

 

[nOcLuE98]

As a SSD owner I couldn't disagree more. Moving from a conventional drive to a SSD is like going from a p4 to a Core 2 Duo, the difference in system responsiveness and loading times is incredible.

If your looking for a drive under $150 I think the Intel X25-V would be your best bet, the Vertex Turbo might be a little faster but the extra 10gb on the Intel more than makes up for it.

I said this more relating to boot times. I have one in one of my systems and it just doesn't make enough of a difference for me to justify doing it again. Granted I keep my computers really clean, and make sure they are always fast. But after the initial shock I feel like it won't make that much of a difference, specially not in boot times. In program loading it should though. It just doesn't seem like a worthy investment, but that is only my opinion. I prefer space...

 

[synergy]

Yea, the low capacity of them definitely takes some adjustments. As long as there's a larger drive to load games, larger apps, and data on then SSDs start to get more functional.

 

[dirkpitt45]

I said this more relating to boot times. I have one in one of my systems and it just doesn't make enough of a difference for me to justify doing it again. Granted I keep my computers really clean, and make sure they are always fast. But after the initial shock I feel like it won't make that much of a difference, specially not in boot times. In program loading it should though. It just doesn't seem like a worthy investment, but that is only my opinion. I prefer space...

Use a data drive?.... I only keep OS, photoshop, illustrator, office, age of empires 3 + expansions on mine, got 2gb left.

I can recommend the intel x-25v, very nice drive. Though it seems that writes/reads are slower, they're far from slow. During the C&C4 beta I was always 1st to %100, boots in 6 seconds to desktop (after POST, and depending if I mess up my password or not ). What's a couple mb/s gonna matter when you can't even notice?

I got it cheap too, NCIX had a sale for $121.99 CAD + free shipping soo. My favorite upgrade so far, cause its just so nice to have everything instant. Though I can't stand the school computer's anymore. It was bad enough before the SSD, now its unbearable .

 

[synergy]

Use a data drive?.... I only keep OS, photoshop, illustrator, office, age of empires 3 + expansions on mine, got 2gb left.

I can recommend the intel x-25v, very nice drive. Though it seems that writes/reads are slower, they're far from slow. During the C&C4 beta I was always 1st to %100, boots in 6 seconds to desktop (after POST, and depending if I mess up my password or not ). What's a couple mb/s gonna matter when you can't even notice?

I got it cheap too, NCIX had a sale for $121.99 CAD + free shipping soo. My favorite upgrade so far, cause its just so nice to have everything instant. Though I can't stand the school computer's anymore. It was bad enough before the SSD, now its unbearable .

You're going to want to be carefull filling it up that full with data. Any drive should have at least 15% free on it, but best practice for SSDs is about 20%

TRIM will make sure that you don't have to worry about your drive filling up with invalid data, but it doesn't skirt the bigger issue: dynamic controllers see their performance improve with more free space.
My rule of thumb is to keep at least 20% free space on your drive, you can get by with less but performance tends to suffer. It doesn't degrade by the same amount for all drives either. Some controllers are more opportunistic with free space (e.g. Intel), while others don't seem to rely as much on free space for improved performance. Addressing performance degradation as drives fill up (with valid data) will be one of the next major advancements in SSD technology.

AnandTech: The SSD Improv: Intel & Indilinx get TRIM, Kingston Brings Intel Down to $115

 

[dirkpitt45]

Meh its still working fine. Actually have 8.7gb free, overestimated AOE3's file sizes, was installing it as I was typing