any recommendations on a SSD drive?

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darkpark

Gawd
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Messages
696
I have been thinking about making the SSD plunge but I'm not sure which one to get.
I prefer to have a smaller drive which will contain the OS and applications, but everything else (games, music, movies, etc...) will go on another larger/mechanical drive. So what would you guys recommend for something in 75 to 150 gb range?
 
X25-M G2 80GB would make an awesome OS drive. Has the random IO performance needed for such a role.
 
friend'scatdied said:
X25-M G2 80GB would make an awesome OS drive. Has the random IO performance needed for such a role.
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darkpark said:
I checked it out on newegg and read a review here:
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/storage/intel-x25-m-g2.aspx
it looks awesome, but that price... ouch! Has anyone heard anything good about the OCZ vertex drives? Those look much cheaper $/GB.
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You can get an 80gb x25-m from Newegg for $220 and a 160 for $430. Last time I checked, that was cheaper $/GB than the Vertex by a decent margin. I only checked the prices on Newegg, though. I'm not sure if they're offered for significantly cheaper elsewhere.

Edit: I'd definitely get an 80gb x25-m for an OS drive. I have one on my laptop and a few in my desktop on RAID0. I couldn't be happier with them.
 
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Buy the Intel. I use them at home and at work. Never had a problem. No 'tweaks' needed.
 
i have an intel drive.. but if you look at the anandtech ssd benchmarks, the vertex is beating intel
 
Those new Corsair Nova series look good. It actually sparked my interest in an SSD. I just don't believe that there would be any improvement from my WD 640 for what I do with my PC.
 
bigdogchris said:
Those new Corsair Nova series look good. It actually sparked my interest in an SSD. I just don't believe that there would be any improvement from my WD 640 for what I do with my PC.
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i love my SSD... everything is just snappy...

converting flac is even faster on my ssd because it can do more files at the same time!
 
I'll have to say intel also just got mine in a few days ago and got my copy of battlefield bad compay 2 and that baby install fast plus boots super quick love not having to wait anymore just wish it was bigger then 80gig but didn't have enough money for 160gig.Can't wait till these babies become more consumer friendly with prices!!!and fix the raid stuff to have trim with it then i'll be picking up more and taking my hdd outta my case forever.
 
the intel x25-m isn't $220. it's $300 (i rounded 299 to 300 :) ) you're paying 3.75 per gig
ocz doesn't offer an 80gb drive so i could compare either the 60gb or the 120gb. They're priced $214 and $360 respectively. Those two drives are 3.56 and 3.0 dollars per gig.
btw, this is per newegg pricing.
 
after my dealings with Patriot... don't get Patriot... get OCZ or Intel
 
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The X25-M has better random performance, while the Vertex has better sequential performance. For most OS and app usage, the random performance is going to be more important. If you're doing something where you want maximum sequential performance (Photoshop scratch file, using it for large video files, etc.), then the OCZ may be better. With the X25-M back down to normal prices, it's probably the better deal.
 
if you're rich, Crucial 128GB RealSSD C300 features Marvell/Micron's new SSD Controller and blows the lid off the intel drives.
 
InvisiBill said:
The X25-M has better random performance, while the Vertex has better sequential performance. For most OS and app usage, the random performance is going to be more important. If you're doing something where you want maximum sequential performance (Photoshop scratch file, using it for large video files, etc.), then the OCZ may be better. With the X25-M back down to normal prices, it's probably the better deal.
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http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr90/cipsaz/This.png

If you do get the intel drive make sure you get a SSDSA2M080G2XXX drive so it supports TRIM. They are still selling G1s which do not TRIM.
 
80GB Intel X25-M G2 OR 120GB OCZ Vertex or Agility or Solid 2

The Intel drive is $220, so $2.75 per GB. The OCZ drives all use the same Indillix Barefoot controller, just different flash (the performance difference is small), cost per GB ranges from $2.40 to $2.70 thru those three models. ($285-320)

The Intel drive has the edge on random read/write performance, the Indillix-based drives have a substantial advantage in sequential writes... For an OS drive the random read/write performance is more important, but if you work a lot w/very large content then the latter is worth taking into account. Either way they're all a very substantial upgrade from a regular HDD. Personally I'd just pick one based on cost vs capacity, or how much you're willing to spend.

There was a lot of price gouging going on w/the Intel drives for a while, that's why Newegg still has the retail version priced at $300... Just ignore that, heh, I paid $250 for my retail boxed X25-M because it was the cheapest one I could find in August (and that was the cheapest you could find it for months after that 'till the new year rolled over).
 
RageVI said:
You can get an 80gb x25-m from Newegg for $220 and a 160 for $430. Last time I checked, that was cheaper $/GB than the Vertex by a decent margin. I only checked the prices on Newegg, though. I'm not sure if they're offered for significantly cheaper elsewhere.
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As far as I've seen the Vertex drives have almost always been slightly cheaper per GB, since it was hard as heck to find the Intel drive for anything less than $250 over the last few months ($3/GB)... After rebates anyway (on the Vertex/Agility).

It's close tho, if the OP is looking for a deal or pinching pennies (and he feels he needs more than 80GB) then he might as well look at the Agility or Solid 2... OTOH if he's flush then the Crucial C300 is definitely the best drive out there right now, as someone else suggested (other than the limited run of Vertex LEs)... Not for the faint of heart at $500 for 120GB tho. :eek: You won't get the most out of it w/o a SATA 6GBps controller either.

QQ~ said:
If you do get the intel drive make sure you get a SSDSA2M080G2XXX drive so it supports TRIM. They are still selling G1s which do not TRIM.
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I don't think Newegg has sold the G1's for a while now, but it's definitely something to be aware of at other stores...
 
I thought I heard the XXX drives had the micro sata/power connection opposed to standard sized

I am still on the fence about what to get. I am currently thinking Intel 80g or Solid 2 120g...or may just hold off longer till prices are more reasonable. Right now they are borderline; its just a matter of time till we get 1TB drives for $100 like mechanical drives, lol. in a few years things will be quite a bit different as always
 
I've used the Vertex 120 and the Intel G2 160, I have to say that just using the computer for normal stuff and gaming, I couldn't tell a damn bit of difference. Literally. Both stupid fast. I don't even mind having to reboot now it happens so fast.

Now, like some previous posters have said, there are some programs that would expose one or the others weakness so take that into account in your decision.

For me, since normal use difference is undetectable, I would tend to go with the Vertex for the lower $ per GB and the fact that if you ever did decide to use one of those programs that benefit from fast sequential type access then you already have it.

Both drives I've purchased recently had to have the firmware updated to support TRIM so saying that buying the Intel means no tweaking is incorrect. Vertex currently is on 1.5 and Intel is currently on 02HD.(I think)

The boxed Intel drive I recieved did come with the 3.5 conversion kit so THAT was a nice touch.

Can't go wrong either way.
 
Yeah, I bought a retail boxed Intel drive and didn't even end up using the 2.5"-to-3.5" bracket... Bought my own 2.5"-to-5.25" bracket because of how I wanted to mount it inside my case. Other than the firmware updates you don't really have to do any tweaking w/either drive, a lot of the tweaks, guides, and info out there mostly pertains to older drives, pre-TRIM setups, etc.

The only reason I went with the Intel drive in August is that A) the 120GB Indillix-based drives were a bit higher then (rebates weren't as constant) and B) 80GB was enough for me so I was leaning towards the smaller up-front investment of the X25-M (that ran me $250), since I wasn't entirely sure how much I'd enjoy it despite the hype. When I got my 40GB X25-V for $120 last month I strongly considered a 30GB Vertex/Agility for $90-100 AR but I preferred having the extra 10GB over the faster sequential writes, for $20-25 more... Had the 60GB drives been priced as low as they are now at the time I probably would've just spent a bit more and gone w/that.
 
hofan41 said:
if you're rich, Crucial 128GB RealSSD C300 features Marvell/Micron's new SSD Controller and blows the lid off the intel drives.
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http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/31...56gb_sata_6gbps_solid_state_disk/index10.html
On 4K, the C300 is about 30/60 while my X25-M is 23.5/52. If you look at Anand's comparison tool, the C300 is actually listed as half the random write performance of the X25-M. While the C300 is quite a bit faster in sequential, it's the low latency and great random performance of SSDs that make them so much better than HDDs - notice that the X25-M's sequential write performance is slower than HDD even, but it's still a massive improvement for an OS drive. While I think this is a good step toward using solely SSD, for a plain OS drive there probably won't be that much improvement (or actually worse performance, if you use Anand's numbers).

Considering the 128GB C300 costs 2.27x as much as the 80GB X25-M for 1.6x the space, I think the X25-M is a better deal for most people using it as a boot drive. If you go with the $800 256GB version, you're getting 3.2x the space for 3.64x the cost. If you can fit your whole system on 256GB, then the extra sequential performance would help your big files, and the cost/GB is much closer to the Intel (assuming the random performance is more like TweakTown's numbers than Anand's).
 
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