"Real world use" performance between OCZ Vertex 4 1238GB vs Samsung 830 128GB

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mnagrecha

Weaksauce
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Aug 27, 2012
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Hey guys,

I decided to buy a Vertex 4 128GB just before SSD prices tanked, and am now contemplating on acquiring another SSD. The strongest competitor (IMO) is the Samsung 830. Is there going to be any noticeable difference in my daily computer use and in gaming? What if I went to 256/512GB?

What do you guys think?
 
In a word, no. The larger drives are slightly faster, but still not noticeably so.
 
Forceman said:
In a word, no. The larger drives are slightly faster, but still not noticeably so.
Click to expand...

Well, that's a relief, I guess...

I get so mad when people are like, "my computer starts up in under 20s from power." It takes at least 45s, if not more (I know, first world problems...) to get her up and going. I feel like something is wrong since I don't have very many programs that open on startup. I've made sure to keep that list as short as possible...
 
Could be slow BIOS, slow CPU or any one of the 400 million Windows bugs that cause a delay during boot. One way to check is to create a new user account and see if there's any significant difference in login times.
 
jwcalla said:
Could be slow BIOS
Click to expand...

I have a stock (for now) 2600k on a Sabertooth board. Last I checked, they were supposed to be pretty decent.

I will try your suggestion of making a new user to see if that alleviates the problem.

Any other thoughts out there?
 
Disable any unused controllers in the Bios: SATA (not the primary Intel controller, obviously), ethernet, usb (again, only if there is an additional controller), audio, etc...

Anything that's not in use = wasted time initializing = possibly several seconds.
 
Does it really matter how fast it boots up though? I know people use that as a surrogate for how fast their computer is overall, but I restart my computer maybe once a week, so 20 extra seconds doesn't matter at all. Plus, there are a ton of possible reason why it is booting up slower than others - USB devices being a culprit in a lot of cases.
 
Archmage said:
Disable any unused controllers in the Bios: SATA (not the primary Intel controller, obviously), ethernet, usb (again, only if there is an additional controller), audio, etc...

Anything that's not in use = wasted time initializing = possibly several seconds.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've done all that. There is a fantastic sticky in the OCZ forums on what all can be disabled on the MB and in Windows to optimize on performance.

Forceman said:
Does it really matter how fast it boots up though? I know people use that as a surrogate for how fast their computer is overall, but I restart my computer maybe once a week, so 20 extra seconds doesn't matter at all. Plus, there are a ton of possible reason why it is booting up slower than others - USB devices being a culprit in a lot of cases.
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I usually turn it off because if it's on, I'm on it... Too much of a temptation...
 
It sounds like I have a very similar build to yours, as shown in my sig. From a standing powered off state to boot into a useable windows desktop, it is roughly 26 to 32 seconds for me and that is using a 128GB SSD for OS +1 application. I have everything I don't need in bios turned off, so the bios part of the boot is like 12 to 14 seconds of that time. I also have four user accounts on my system, so I have to select one, then type in the password, which is part of the second 14 to 18 seconds.

As to why I shut my rig off, well, the sleep function on the sabertooth boards never really worked right, and with a boot speed that fast, why not shut it down when not using it. When it is shut down, I don't have to worry about fans or pumps breaking, I don't have to worry about the energy draw, etc. I never used to shut my rig down until I got the SSD though...
 
I have run Samsung 830 drives on SATA I, SATA II and SATA III kit ranging in final speeds from 115MBps to three times that.

In actual use you cant really tell the difference. Its the access times that count. Not raw MBps.

With the 830 running at 115MBps I still get to the Windows 8 Classic Desktop in 12 seconds.
 
When I did a fresh install of W7, it took about 20 seconds to boot, from cold to desktop. Installing drivers added a few more seconds to that. Installing Norton added almost another 20 seconds to boot time.

When I had a raid array, it took an additional 10 seconds to initialize the array.
 
the 4K performance of the 830 is better than the Vertex 4, more or less depending on the firmware, usually means the day-to-day use the 830 is faster. but at <256GB there isnt much difference.

when i went from the Vertex 3 120GB to 830 256GB there was a big jump. but there would have been a similar jump if i went to Vertex 3 240GB.
 
Well, you're using Norton, there is your first problem in terms of boot times into Windows.

Getting back to your decision about staying with OCZ or going with Samsung, this is a personal preference due to the SSD controller. A lot of people have opinions about the reliability of the OCZ drives and will swear by the Samsung controller. People of the other camp could care less as long as it works.

Given how the pricing on drives have been dropping like crazy, I would seriously eyeball going for a large capacity drive of either manufacturer.
 
Forceman said:
Does it really matter how fast it boots up though? I know people use that as a surrogate for how fast their computer is overall, but I restart my computer maybe once a week, so 20 extra seconds doesn't matter at all. Plus, there are a ton of possible reason why it is booting up slower than others - USB devices being a culprit in a lot of cases.
Click to expand...

My 2600k on my B3 Sabertooth P67 board will actually refuse to boot if I have my UPS plugged in via USB to the motherboard. It is weird...it won't boot at all.
 
Boot time has little to do with SSD and more to do with specific BIOS version (some POST faster) and the motherboard initializing controllers (as others have correctly pointed out). With my Asus Z77 Pro, disabled onboard sound/wifi, enabled 3rd party SATA/USB3 my total boot time to Windows 7 Pro x64 login is 14 seconds, about 6 from pressing power to Windows loading then 8 seconds for Windows to login. The newest BIOS for this board cut 3-5 seconds off the process.
 
So, it seems that the BIOS is the "culprit" as far as boot times are concerned... I'm going to have to take a look at the Sabertooth boards and see if I can find a fix.
 
I happen to feel that a SSD has at least 50% to do with a faster boot.

You put a HDD in place of a SSD and watch those longer boots times.
 
Samsung 830 all the way, only things that come close to it I'd say is Sandisk Extreme. Maybe just maybe a Kingston 3k.
 
another thing to make sure of..when booting..if you have a quad core..is make sure all 4 cores are working @ boot..

Run>type msconfig>click on 'OK'>in System Configuration select the 'Boot' tab> select 'Advanced settings'>select the 'number of processors' and use the drop down box to select how many processors your system has at its disposal. Dual Core = 2, Quad Core = 4. Click on OK in the Boot Advanced Options. In the 'Boot' tab Check the 'Make all boot settings permanent' box>Click on OK in System Configuration. Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

it helped my boot times..alot..but then again..I never really reboot.
 
The OCZ Vertex 4 is still fairly new I presume... but the Samsung 830 has proven reliability.
 
Col_Hogan said:
another thing to make sure of..when booting..if you have a quad core..is make sure all 4 cores are working @ boot..

Run>type msconfig>click on 'OK'>in System Configuration select the 'Boot' tab> select 'Advanced settings'>select the 'number of processors' and use the drop down box to select how many processors your system has at its disposal. Dual Core = 2, Quad Core = 4. Click on OK in the Boot Advanced Options. In the 'Boot' tab Check the 'Make all boot settings permanent' box>Click on OK in System Configuration. Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

it helped my boot times..alot..but then again..I never really reboot.
Click to expand...

I tried this and noticed no change... Unfortunate...
 
mnagrecha said:
I tried this and noticed no change... Unfortunate...
Click to expand...

I was always under the impression that tweak of adding in the cores and ram didnt actually have anything to do with performance but was more for debugging/system notification purposes.
 
I had the same problems, it was an invalid boot-device entry in the BIOS which timed out after ~10 secs and then the valid SSD was chosen...
This happens just before the windows bootloader starts. So, check your boot-devices in the BIOS...
 
I would get the Samsung if OCZ were twice as fast. Speed doesn't mean anything when your system is down waitin for OCZ to RMA your drive.
 
Wasn't there an issue with a few of the Asus 1155 boards and boot times? I thought I saw that on newegg reviews when I was looking at buying a year or so ago.
 
mnagrecha said:
So, it seems that the BIOS is the "culprit" as far as boot times are concerned... I'm going to have to take a look at the Sabertooth boards and see if I can find a fix.
Click to expand...
Its sounds like you might have 2 separate questions, so here are 2 different answers.

If your question is diagnostic related (you just want to make sure your ssd and system are working well) then you can compare just the boot time (Post time is irrelevant for this) to others.

For example, i have an e6750, 4GB Ram, and an x25-m 80gb intel ssd. My computer boots windows in about 14 seconds to windows 7 pro x64 desktop. Keep in mind this machine does not have any AV, so you will probably want to add a few seconds. If you're fresh windows7 install boots much slower than this i would think there is a problem. (again, disregard post time)

If you're trying to actually have your system turn on faster, than both boot time and post time are important, and then you will want to check any bios settings you might have to make it post faster, bypass any storage controller initilization, etc etc. You will also want to isolate any installed software that slows your computer boot time.

another thing to make sure of..when booting..if you have a quad core..is make sure all 4 cores are working @ boot..

Run>type msconfig>click on 'OK'>in System Configuration select the 'Boot' tab> select 'Advanced settings'>select the 'number of processors' and use the drop down box to select how many processors your system has at its disposal. Dual Core = 2, Quad Core = 4. Click on OK in the Boot Advanced Options. In the 'Boot' tab Check the 'Make all boot settings permanent' box>Click on OK in System Configuration. Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

it helped my boot times..alot..but then again..I never really reboot.
Click to expand...
That setting does not give the computer more cpu's to boot with. The machine, by default uses all cores from the get go. That setting is there to limit your cpu cores to LESS than what you have. It's useless for attempting to speed up your computer.
http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/myth-speed-up-windows-7-boot-up-time/

please stop spreading this myth.
 
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