Intel SSD is better at making OS feel snappy?

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Sparrow_69

Gawd
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Jan 20, 2004
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Looking to jump on the SSD bandwagon. Was considering using a 60-80gig ssd for OS/some programs and 1TB for storage, running off an Asus P6T mobo. I'm looking for fast load times (os/games/etc) and general feeling of a snappy OS. Is intel the drive to get (vs ocz vertex)?

Info I've gathered so far seems to be that the intels have fast sequential read, fast random read/write, but lose out to the ocz on sequential write. Is that about the gist of it?
 
I've got one last week and the only program I notice a real difference with compared to VelociRaptor is Photoshop.

This comes at the price of sometimes never launching, at least for a good while. It could be because of something else though since I've just clean installed the OS and everything.
 
Sparrow_69 said:
Info I've gathered so far seems to be that the intels have fast sequential read, fast random read/write, but lose out to the ocz on sequential write. Is that about the gist of it?
Click to expand...

yes.

basically, Intels disk is prefered to use with a OS but I doubt anyone using the drives normally would ever notice a difference between the drives in practice.
Intels controller is the best currently.
 
I definately think it's a good upgrade as a OS drive and a the apps you use the most. Don't be cheap, grab a intel 160! Fast boot up, fast shut down ... no noise coming off your HD!
 
I got the 80 GB Intel SSD. No complaints; this drive is awesome!
 
A lot of people pooh-pooh SSDs until they try one out, and you see the sparkle in their eyes. "MUST...GET..."
 
Correct me if I'm wrong (I can't seem to find the info I thought I saw) but some users complaining that the slower write speed was affected read speed and making the disc stutter? I believe the scenario was downloading files from torrents while trying to do other tasks. I already have a 1Tb drive which I would use for file storage and use the ssd as os/programs.


On a side note, how are you guys managing the installed programs on the ssd? Do you find yourself uninstalling/re-installing games, etc because of size constraints? I presently have 5-6 games installed, but I can easily see myself filling up the 80 gigs very quickly and having to uninstall older games to clear room for the new ones.
 
If your usage patterns consist of mainly downloading stuff to your 1TB and using your SSD as your OS/programs drive, you're fine. More info here.

You don't have to uninstall anything but if you're running low on space, another option is to move the programs/games that are not used much on to your 1TB drive and create a symlink using a program like mklink if you're in windows. Linux users should already know about symlinks via ln -s. The game should work as before and not know the difference. Alternatively, you could uninstall also. Either way works.
 
I have the vertex, and it is solid.

Really, for me, it came down to Intels were not available anywhere, and the OCZ vertex was available (at Microcenter [which is local], with a damn good rebate).

I haven't shopped them lately, but I would not hesitate to grab another OCZ if the price was right, and I was in need of another.
 
Tks for the link a123456, very good article over @ anandtech.

I'd say the light trace if probably closer to my usage patters. That being said, its quite astonishing that the vertex does so much better than the more expensive intel drive, when usage is very heavy.

So then why is the intel so popular? The vertex seems to be cheaper and more readily available. The vertex is a bit slower on the light trace test, but is much faster in the heavy trace. I'm assuming I'm missing something here, since most users seem to have the intel. The ocz does support trim, right?
 
Sparrow_69 said:
Tks for the link a123456, very good article over @ anandtech.

I'd say the light trace if probably closer to my usage patters. That being said, its quite astonishing that the vertex does so much better than the more expensive intel drive, when usage is very heavy.

So then why is the intel so popular? The vertex seems to be cheaper and more readily available. The vertex is a bit slower on the light trace test, but is much faster in the heavy trace. I'm assuming I'm missing something here, since most users seem to have the intel. The ocz does support trim, right?
Click to expand...

OCZ actually supported TRIM before Intel. And OCZ had a Garbage Collection functionality, even before TRIM.

I have a 60GB OCZ Agility in my Corei7 desktop and a 80GB Intel G2 in my laptop (with ICH7 Southbridge, which might be a limiting factor).

I can tell you from gut feeling that my user experience feels about the same between the two platforms. The Intel SSD feels a little slower in some applications, but that could be the other hardware components.
 
PHiZ said:
OCZ actually supported TRIM before Intel. And OCZ had a Garbage Collection functionality, even before TRIM.

I have a 60GB OCZ Agility in my Corei7 desktop and a 80GB Intel G2 in my laptop (with ICH7 Southbridge, which might be a limiting factor).

I can tell you from gut feeling that my user experience feels about the same between the two platforms. The Intel SSD feels a little slower in some applications, but that could be the other hardware components.
Click to expand...

While you are right about OCZ offering TRIM first, I believe the Intel G1 featured garbage collection.
 
PHiZ said:
OCZ actually supported TRIM before Intel. And OCZ had a Garbage Collection functionality, even before TRIM.

I have a 60GB OCZ Agility in my Corei7 desktop and a 80GB Intel G2 in my laptop (with ICH7 Southbridge, which might be a limiting factor).

I can tell you from gut feeling that my user experience feels about the same between the two platforms. The Intel SSD feels a little slower in some applications, but that could be the other hardware components.
Click to expand...

The ICH7 mobile is Sata 1 right? You are definitely limited the SSD with that. I tried my X25 G2 on my laptop (Sata 1) and only got like ~110 mb/s vs ~225 mb/s in HDTune reads.

Still a lot faster than the 60mb/s I was getting with a 7200rpm 2.5" drive though.
 
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Sparrow_69 said:
So then why is the intel so popular?
Click to expand...

Probably from this.

If I had to guess, real-world is going to be close enough so that the end user might not notice the difference between the Indilinx and Intel drives but tons of people love benchmarks. See all the other sections where people are talking about OCing to the last Mhz, lowering memory timings, etc. Even the IOPS is basically just another benchmark, though.
 
JohnleMVP said:
The ICH7 mobile is Sata 1 right? You are definitely limited the SSD with that. I tried my X25 G2 on my laptop (Sata 1) and only got like ~110 mb/s vs ~225 mb/s in HDTune reads.

Still a lot faster than the 60mb/s I was getting with a 7200rpm 2.5" drive though.
Click to expand...

I have one of those Kingston 40GB SSDs in my SATA1 T61 and it still screams compared to my old 7200rpm drive. Still totally worth it.
 
Sparrow_69 said:
Tks for the link a123456, very good article over @ anandtech.

I'd say the light trace if probably closer to my usage patters. That being said, its quite astonishing that the vertex does so much better than the more expensive intel drive, when usage is very heavy.

So then why is the intel so popular? The vertex seems to be cheaper and more readily available. The vertex is a bit slower on the light trace test, but is much faster in the heavy trace. I'm assuming I'm missing something here, since most users seem to have the intel. The ocz does support trim, right?
Click to expand...

The Intel tends to beat the others in the 4k tests from what I've seen.

I added one to my older system and it was a night and day difference. The only thing slowing me up now is the 3TB of normal HD's I need for image storage and workspace for Photoshop (which launches so quick I love it).

Here's my before and after.....notice the 4k write boost.

Drive_SSD_Test.jpg
 
biff_18 said:
G1 might have also had it... But I know the OCZ did too... I used it.
Click to expand...

It may have, but Intel had such poor documentation, we don't really know how it worked. OCZ gets points for transparency and engagement with the community.

JohnleMVP said:
The ICH7 mobile is Sata 1 right? You are definitely limited the SSD with that. I tried my X25 G2 on my laptop (Sata 1) and only got like ~110 mb/s vs ~225 mb/s in HDTune reads.

Still a lot faster than the 60mb/s I was getting with a 7200rpm 2.5" drive though.
Click to expand...

This links seems to say that the ICH7 will do 300mb/s which appears to be Sata2 speed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_Controller_Hub#ICH7 Does that make sense? I don't have the time to dig around Intel.com for datasheets at the moment. Windows says it is ICH7-M Family, for what that is worth.
 
That's the desktop version. The ICH7-M which is what laptops come with is limited to Sata 1 since no laptop drives at the time could ever take advantage of anything more.
 
PHiZ said:
It may have, but Intel had such poor documentation, we don't really know how it worked. OCZ gets points for transparency and engagement with the community.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Through their support, and constantly pushing out new firmware on their forums. They seem to have great community involvement (maybe too good, as they pushed out some beta firmware probably bit too early not too long ago).

But, that goes back on the user. You want to be a test mule, OCZ will let you.
 
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