Advice: First SSD, 256Gb class, which one?

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c3k

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This will be my first SSD. I'm going to make a fresh Windows 7/64 install on it. It will be my primary drive. I want decent storage for my games (and the OS, of course). I'll probably keep all my documents on it, as well.

I'm aiming for a 240/256 Gb drive.

I'm thinking that one of these four brands would give me the reliability/longevity needed for a prime drive: OCZ, Crucial, Intel, or Samsung. They all price right near $1/Gb. A few bucks one way or another doesn't matter. A few milliseconds seek/access doesn't matter, since I'm coming from a disk drive (WD Caviar Black).

Which ones are best for reliability, longevity, no data corruption?

Thanks!
Ken

(I'm leaning towards the Samsung 830.)
 
One vote for Samsung. Great track record, and they make all the parts. Software works fine.
 
Samsung 830 or Crucial M4. Wait for a sale.

They all price right near $1/Gb.
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You can usually get the M4 for $155 to $170 on sale. Although I have seen a report that spot prices for MLC NAND is supposed to have begun to rebound because of lowered supply.
 
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c3k said:
A few milliseconds seek/access doesn't matter, since I'm coming from a disk drive (WD Caviar Black).
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SSDs are under a millisecond, so "a few milliseconds" would be a broken SSD. And of course there is nothing moving so no seek.

As for reliability, OCZ is a big no, but you have to make backups no matter what.
 
i have a vertex 4, but i recommend the samsung 840 or/and plextor m5 pro.
 
Thanks! Based on what's been posted, and my own research, I've settled on a Samsung.

Right now the 830 seems to have a lot of different sub-models. I don't know if the differences matter.

There is an 840 on Newegg which won't be released until Tuesday. Again, there are several sub-models.

Do the different sub-models matter? I see the "kits" which are for drive transfer and don't need one. The confusion stems from the non-kit varieties offered. They're all 256Gb. Any clue?

Since some drive brands show 240Gb, keeping back some memory to replace bad sectors, how does the Samsung deal with memory degradation over time?

Thanks all.
 
Since some drive brands show 240Gb, keeping back some memory to replace bad sectors
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That is not exactly the purpose of the over provisioning. It's more to help with wear leveling than bad sectors.

how does the Samsung deal with memory degradation over time?
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The same way all SSDs work with wear leveling.

BTW in ny opinion neither of these should be concerns to most users. I would expect your 240/256GB SSD to last significantly longer than the expected 5 years you get from a hard drive.

Although with this said that does not remove the need for a backup as not all drives meet their expectations (some will fail unexpectedly on the first day or any day up to and over their expected lifetime) just like any other storage method.
 
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+1 for Samsung and/or Crucial. I just updated to a 256gb Samsung 830, and I have been extremely happy with it. Prior to that I was using a 128gb Crucial M4 that was also rock solid. Only reason I even upgraded was that I was running low on space all the time, and the 830 was on sale for $150.
 
c3k said:
Right now the 830 seems to have a lot of different sub-models. I don't know if the differences matter.

There is an 840 on Newegg which won't be released until Tuesday. Again, there are several sub-models.

Do the different sub-models matter? I see the "kits" which are for drive transfer and don't need one. The confusion stems from the non-kit varieties offered. They're all 256Gb. Any clue?
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Actually, the Samsung 840 is already available. It is the 840 Pro that is listed for Nov. 6 release.

As for the different flavors of 830, there is no mystery. Just read the details carefully. And unless you need something specific like a mounting adapter or transfer kit, just choose the cheapest one -- they all contain the same SSD.

At the moment, I'd avoid the 840 since it sells for about the same price as the 830, but has new TLC flash as well as a new controller and firmware -- no reason to risk all that newness when the 830 should have similar performance for most people, and is proven. The 840 Pro might be worth a look if you want the absolute highest performance and are willing to pay for it.
 
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