BEST SSD under 150

I believe I saw a deal on a 130GB Corsair Force GT for $145 which would be better since it using sync nand instead of the async nand in the agility.
 
I'd stay away from OCZ SSDs. Too many problems with them, especially with Sandforce drives like that one. Their new Octane line may work out okay - but there is a reason those Agility drives are so cheap.
 
Seriously spend 10 minutes and read some threads here :rolleyes:

It seems every SSD question is asked at least once or twice EVERY WEEK.
 
you don't want an agility drive, they can't handle random data.

you want a patriot wildfire, samsung 830, chronos enhanced deluxe, or crucial m4
 
XdVeLoPeX said:
why not a corsair force gt gj?
Click to expand...

a corsair force gt is a very good ssd. I own 4 of them in a raid0. and at the time, it was the best 60gb ssd you could get your hands on.

however, mushkin took that title with this drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226246

it uses the same controller as the force gt, same capacity, but it has 32nm toggle nand instead of the 25nm nand the force gt has. if anyone is looking for the absolute best 60gb drive, I would recommend this one.

if you want to save as much as $30~ though, the force gt rebates often and I would definitely pick it up if you needed it right away.
 
my problem is i cannot spend more then 150 and it has to be 80b or 120/128gb so far the only nice deal was the one that i missed out on for 140$ the 120gb corsair gt that chroonos looks good but is only 64gb and the one id want is around 210 are their no decent ssds cheaper? how about the intel 310 or a vertex
 
Intel 320 120GB for $120 after MIR IMO, way too many random compatibility issues still lingering around Sandforce drives... It seems they've finally got a handle on it with their latest firmware but I still wouldn't give them my money. If you want anything faster than the 320 you'll have to spend more or settle for lower capacity (which in turn sacrifices performance anyway), Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 if you're going that route, the latter is being sold with Batman AC which you could resale.
 
ok if i was to spend the 150 forget getting the 80$ mail in rebate intel drive im looking at

VTX3-25SAT3-120G

or the

Agilty version as i can pick them up locaclly if anything i can return!

or what else?
 
XdVeLoPeX said:
ok if i was to spend the 150 forget getting the 80$ mail in rebate intel drive im looking at

VTX3-25SAT3-120G

or the

Agilty version as i can pick them up locaclly if anything i can return!

or what else?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't touch an OCZ SSD with a 10 foot pole. Too many issues with both the drives and the customer service.
 
That's interesting. Where did you read about the SATA power daisy chaining thing?
 
so many say its bad some say its good but if it retails for 300 and is on sale for 150 i might as well buy it? the agility 3 is the one thats on that toms review but on newegg the vertex 3 isi the one that says fastest ever that one he linked... i need to buy it today just not sure what to do either the agility or vertex depending or an intel..
 
XdVeLoPeX said:
so many say its bad some say its good but if it retails for 300 and is on sale for 150 i might as well buy it? the agility 3 is the one thats on that toms review but on newegg the vertex 3 isi the one that says fastest ever that one he linked... i need to buy it today just not sure what to do either the agility or vertex depending or an intel..
Click to expand...

It's like this... the Agility and similar other drives (like the Corsair Force 3) use asynchronous NAND, which does not perform as well as synchronous NAND which can be found in the higher-end drives like the Vertex 3, Corsair Force GT, etc. The intention there is to provide a lower-level SSD at a cheaper price. Whether or not the speed difference is enough to sway your opinion one way or the other is really your preference and may depend on what you're willing to spend.

The Agility 3 is not in the same category as a Vertex 3, just like a Core i5 is not the same level as a Core i7. Whether or not the performance difference is perceptible in ordinary use is probably debatable.

My philosophy is that if I'm going to lay out my money, I might as well get as good as I can without breaking the bank.

You'll probably be happy with any of the latest-gen SSDs available.
 
SlipperyPete said:
Turns out you have to give the drive a dedicated SATA power connector, no daisy chaining. This has been the reason for BSODs.
Click to expand...

I find this explanation/solution dubious at best. So, what, the drive draws so much power that it needs a dedicated line? Or are we to believe that other drives are somehow dirtying the power so much that it goes out of spec and the drive can't handle it?
 
I got this information from a certain gentlemen "Eir" on the Newegg reviews for the faster "MAX IOPS" Vertex3 drive. I quote:

"Found root causes of BSOD's with this drive as a system drive on my configuration with the Intel SATA controller. It is caused by power fluctuation on the SATA HDD power wire. Some power supplies come with multiple SATA power connectors on one power wire, and hooking up this drive in such a daisy-chain manner with other SATA devices can cause a sudden voltage drop which win7 would detect as power instability and throw a self-protection method (BSOD).

The simple fix is to dedicate only one power wire to this drive if it is being used as the system disk."​
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227714

Seems reasonable enough to me. I'm going to give it a go; if it turns out to be a PITA, I'll just return the damn thing. This isn't IT for a Fortune 500 I can afford a little downtime if need be to get the best performance; that's why this is [H]ardOCP, not for wimps.
 
ok so like still super confused have exactly 3 hours before the deals run out so this is what ive come down to so far not spending more then 200$

ADATA S511 Series AS511S3-120GM-C 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit
OUT OF STOCK Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR120GB-DX

the adate is 180 after rebate the mushkin is out of stock and the m4 is 215 is the adata compared to the m4 crap? irather save the 40-50$ and if i was to say get either of those two drives how does that vertex compare for 150 after rebate (its the cheapest) !?!?!
 
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

or i could go tommorow locally and pick up the vertex 3 (which has around 350 reviews by far more then the other drives and is the cheapest at 190 with a 30 mir for 160$)

what to do pck one for mE!!
 
The ADATA S511 is nowhere near crap. It is practically identical to the Vertex 3, Corsair Force GT, Kingston HyperX, etc.

Dude, it's this easy:

If you value completely hassle-free, no-need-to-worry, just have it work: get the Crucial m4.
If you value speed and are willing to risk a BSOD fiasco, get either the ADATA S511 or OCZ Vertex 3, whichever is cheaper (or whichever you feel more comfortable buying, i.e., online vs. in-store). They're practically the same drive.

Whatever drive you choose, the ADATA, OCZ, or Crucial, make sure you update the firmware if the latest isn't already on there.
 
We've given you dozens of opinions, you're just one indecisive mofo. ;) Like the above poster said, if you wanna avoid potential compatibility hassles or don't wanna deal with rebates then get an M4 (or Samsung 830 imo, with the option to sell Batman).

If you don't mind taking some risk, the Vertex 3 is potentially the fastest drive (at least with incompressible data) and it's priced right. OCZ generally gets new firmware updates from SF before anyone else, dunno why you would opt for any other SF drive (specially if the Vertex is the cheapest anyway). At this point you're not really looking at any particularly special pricing outside of the Vertex anyway...
 
im just anal when it comes to buying something dont want to regret it i dont want to deal with bsods so while i was looking at the m4 i noticed *(how much better is the realssd300?) theiris two models ones not in stock im assuming thats the one i want???

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148448

^^ is the one in stock less reviews but this one says the specs are faster???

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

and it has more reviews should i wait for that to get back in stock or get the vertex and pray??
 
Those two are the same thing but the one that's in-stock provides some software to transfer your system to the new drive.

The RealSSD C300 is a little older. I wouldn't get it when there are better options available.
 
and better options being? (the m4 is what i think im gonna get unless theirs a better option) if thats the only difference between the one thats in stock and not because from what the specs say this

SeriesM4
ModelCT128M4SSD2
Device TypeInternal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Used ForConsumerPhysical
Form Factor2.5"
Capacity128GB
Memory ComponentsMLC
InterfaceSATA III
Width69.85mm
Depth100.5mm
Height9.5mm
Weight75gPerformance
Sustained Sequential ReadUp to 500 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
Sustained Sequential WriteUp to 175 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
4KB Random ReadUp to 45,000 IOPS
4KB Random WriteUp to 35,000 IOPS


-------------

Crucial
SeriesM4
ModelCT128M4SSD2CCA
Device TypeInternal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Used ForConsumerPhysical
Form Factor2.5"
Capacity128GB
Memory ComponentsMLC
InterfaceSATA III
Width3.95"
Depth2.75"
Height0.37"
Weight0.17 lbs.Performance
Sustained Sequential Readup to 415MB/s
Sustained Sequential Writeup to 175MB/sFeatures
Features4K Random Read/Write: 40K / 35K IOPS

ATA-8 w/TRIM

SMART Command Support

High-speed Synchronous MLC NAND

Performance – Improve boot up and application load times

Reliability – Withstand extreme shock and vibration

Compatibility – SATA 6Gb/s, backward compatible to SATA 3Gb/s

Quality – Crucial, a Micron company, is a trusted name in DRAM and SSD products

Data Transfer Kit includes: Cloning Software for PC and Mac, USB to SATA cable

the one in stock slower by 100mb
 
Could be the other one has updated product stats to reflect the newest firmware, the M4 had a boost in performance not too long ago from one of the updates... Anand did a short re-review cause of it. If it were me I'd avoid SF drives just cause I don't have the time or inclination lately to deal with the potential issues, but that's a personal choice.

I was between the M4 and the 830, both priced the same at NE, similar performance, 830 came with Batman so I went with that. I was definitely tempted by the Vertex 3 when NE ran the 15% promo discount on top of the $20 rebate tho. If I was buying for a laptop or secondary system I probably would've jumped on one of those 320s despite the massive rebate involved.
 
ya the whole thing started like this i was gonna buy a 80gb intel 320 since it was only 80$ but i hate dealing with rebates and figured if i was gonna spend the 160 up front let them keep the money and me get a better drivei but then i realized i need a 120gb one and the good ones are 200+ so now that im willing to spend the money i cant decide which one to get lol... i miht just go ahead and pick up a vertex 3 locally for 190 and return it if i run into any issues and shell out the extra 30ish for a m4
 
It sounds like you are worried about the purchase, so my advice is to pick the worry-free choice, which is the M4. Again, there is a reason why the OCZ drives are cheap.
 
well i still want to wait till the other one is in stock because it says it has faster speed
 
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ughh i still cant decide how is newegg return i dont ever buy online to much usually go instore so if im not satisfied ill pay the 15% restocking but get my money back instantly are they good with their refunds and whatnot?? I was gonna go buy the ocz locally but id feel stupid if it BSODs on me cause the crucial m4 is only like 20$ more and I can buy it so before I bite on the m4 how is it compared to the wildwire or chronos deluxe?
 
Wow you still haven't bought this thing yet? Every hour you wait, another sad panda dies somewhere in the world.

The Patriot Wildfire and Mushkin Chronos Deluxe are practically identical to the ADATA S511 and OCZ Vertex 3.

I feel like Gozer here... Chooooose! CHOOSE!

100% Hassle-Free: Crucial m4
Speed / Price: Any of the SandForce drives -- Vertex 3, S511, etc.

We can't choose for you because it depends on how you balance your preferences and values -- which is personal to you.

Personally I've racked up four SandForce (SF-1200) drives and they've been nothing but awesome for me. But that was my preference... I was willing to take the risk.

For heaven's sake, man... do it for the pandas.
 
well im buying a set of nvidia 3d vision 2 glasses on newegg so im gonna end up paying the extra 20$ for a crucial m4 for 215
 
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