Recommend me a ssd!

[AndreRio]

Hi guys can someone tell me what is the fastest 256gb "sata" 3 ssd today?

 

[AQ_OC]

I don't know if it is the fastest, but the samsung 830 is really nice. You get Ghost v15, Batman Arkcom (sp?), and a usb/sata connector with it. And it looks nice, if that matters or not. And it is fast. I got my for $367 on buydig.com.

 

[hotcrandel]

From experience I'd suggest the Crucial M4. It's not the fastest but I've had the least number of problems with it.

 

[Forceman]

Fastest by what measure? Sequential transfer or random performance? Basically, they are all fast enough that the relative difference isn't worth worrying about - just get the one with the best reputation and price. I'd go Crucial M4, but a lot of people like the Samsung 830 as well.

 

[XBarbarian]

sporting my first ssd now.. went crucial m4 256

r0x0z!

 

[AndreRio]

the m4 seams to be a good option but it's old compared to the 830! i think i'll get the 830 because it's newer! thanks all.

 

[af22]

The Samsung 830 is one level slower then the M4 and Vertex 3.

The M4 has also a longer and bigger user base to iron out problems. The Samsung 830 just had 2 firmware updates released last week to fix BSOD's.

IMO the M4 is a better buy as it is faster and more proven.

 

[MissJ84]

The m4 and 830 are both great choices, but I'd at least check out Corsair's Performance Pro (Toshiba 34nm Toggle NAND). I would mention the Plextor M3, but I'm pretty sure the Newegg deal is dead.

 

[samborarocks]

Just received my 256GB M4 today. I did need to upgrade the Firmware to 0309 as it came with 0009. It was a simple upgrade. Then used 'Redo' ( http://redobackup.org/ ) to clone my old 60GB Vertex to it, booted up, extended the drive in disk manager from 60GB from the Vertex backup to the full 256GB on the M4.

I'm extremely happy with the speed increase and ease of installation and especially the firmware updates (FW updates were a nightmare on my Vertex)

-SR

EDIT: sorry to the OP for getting off topic, was just extremely happy with the drive and the ease of the upgrade process from my old drive....

 

[batteriesnotincluded]

For whatever it's worth, I was less impressed by the M4 than I was the 830. Maybe it was placebo because I bought my 128GB 830 and not the 256GB M4, but the M4 just seemed a little bit slower on writes.

I had the same issue with the 470 and the LiteOn Marvell controller drive of the same family as the M4...the 470 felt faster even though the LiteOn was SATA III. Both were set up from a single sysprep image, Dell simply switched over for their 128GB SSDs in the month between our orders.


And both have had firmware releases in the past month dealing with BSODs. Either one would be good, the M4 has a longer track record.


Personally, I'm looking at a second 830 to replace the 470 in my Elitebook, and I'll put the 470 in my Latitude...

 

[QcGuy]

+1 Samsung

Built a new machine for Christmas and went with a Samsung 830 256gig version.
So far ZERO problems, I was torn between the Crucial M4 and the Samsung and I decided to go with Samsung and so far its performed perfectly.

 

[BigJayDogg3]

For whatever it's worth, I was less impressed by the M4 than I was the 830. Maybe it was placebo because I bought my 128GB 830 and not the 256GB M4, but the M4 just seemed a little bit slower on writes.

I had the same issue with the 470 and the LiteOn Marvell controller drive of the same family as the M4...the 470 felt faster even though the LiteOn was SATA III. Both were set up from a single sysprep image, Dell simply switched over for their 128GB SSDs in the month between our orders.


And both have had firmware releases in the past month dealing with BSODs. Either one would be good, the M4 has a longer track record.


Personally, I'm looking at a second 830 to replace the 470 in my Elitebook, and I'll put the 470 in my Latitude...

I went from the 830 to the M4 and noticed zero difference. To be fair, I don't do a lot of writes.

My opinion, if those two drives are definitely what you are going to buy, pick the one that is the cheapest.

 

[@dmin]

I'm going to hijack your thread a little bit here,
In the same boat looking for a 240ish gb ssd

I'm looking at this currently, at least when it come back in stock. Thoughts?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226237

 

[af22]

I'm going to hijack your thread a little bit here,
In the same boat looking for a 240ish gb ssd

I'm looking at this currently, at least when it come back in stock. Thoughts?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226237

If you wanted a sandforce drive, i would get the OCZ agility 3 or vertex 3. OCZ moves a lot faster on the firmware updates. Al ot of people will give OCZ a bad rep, but the problem is in the sandforce controller which in this case mushkin is also using.

 

[silent-circuit]

I picked up a pair of 128GB Plextor M3s for $300 shipped from Newegg during the deal.

I think the 830 is a little high, price-wise. $360 is a lot to ask for a 256GB drive. You can get a Plextor M3 256GB for $330.

With SSDs lately it's very much a "flavor of the week" situation -- for example, you could get a Corsair Force GT 240GB for $330 shipped via Newegg business a week or two ago, and now it's $480. Yeah, you read that right. Waiting around a little, watching [H]otDeals and SlickDeals, you can find a deal easy.

 

[@dmin]

If you wanted a sandforce drive, i would get the OCZ agility 3 or vertex 3. OCZ moves a lot faster on the firmware updates. Al ot of people will give OCZ a bad rep, but the problem is in the sandforce controller which in this case mushkin is also using.

I have a mushkin 60gb callisto and it did die but rma process was less than a week and the new one is great so I thought I would go with them again. Also, seems like the cheapest option at this time. what is considered the best current controller?

My plan was to get an intel 510 120gb but for that price I can get a 240gb

 

[silent-circuit]

I have a mushkin 60gb callisto and it did die but rma process was less than a week and the new one is great so I thought I would go with them again. Also, seems like the cheapest option at this time. what is considered the best current controller?

My plan was to get an intel 510 120gb but for that price I can get a 240gb

The Marvel 9174 used in the Crucial / Micron m4 seems to be well thought of, very fast if not quite as fast as the latest SandForce offerings, but seemingly more reliable. Plextor M3 also uses the 9174, as does the Intel 510 series and Corsair Performance 3 series.

 

[@dmin]

The Marvel 9174 used in the Crucial / Micron m4 seems to be well thought of, very fast if not quite as fast as the latest SandForce offerings, but seemingly more reliable. Plextor M3 also uses the 9174, as does the Intel 510 series and Corsair Performance 3 series.

Thanks, looks like I have some review reading to do.

 

[silent-circuit]

Thanks, looks like I have some review reading to do.

There may be other 9174 based drives out there, those are just the ones I'm familiar with off the top of my head. They're all fairly comparable performance-wise.

I'm glad to have picked up my pair of Plextor M3s so cheap, because they have a 5 year warranty -- almost unheard of at this point in the SSD market.

The Crucial M4, Patriot Pyro, Corsair Force GT, Samsung 830, Kingston HyperX, OCZ Vertex 3 / Agility 3, and most others are all 3 year warranty drives. A few Patriot SSDs have ten year warranties, but they are slower older drives and generally not worth bothering with. Intel's 320 series have 5 year warranties (though Newegg's pages haven't been updated to reflect that), but all other Intel SSDs have 3 year warranties.

 

[MissJ84]

Thanks, looks like I have some review reading to do.

Sandforce is fine. Just stay away from asynchronous nand ssds like corsair force 3 (non GT), agility 3, enhanced chronos (non deluxe), pyro (non SE), etc. I own a pyro SE, which has Linux on it and gets used for heavy I/O, writes, etc., and an m4 for windows, apps, etc. If this is just going to be a purchase for the OS, static apps, games, etc., then I'd go with Crucial m4, Samsung 830, Plextor m3, Corsair performance pro, etc.

 

[silent-circuit]

Sandforce is fine. Just stay away from asynchronous nand ssds like corsair force 3 (non GT), agility 3, enhanced chronos (non deluxe), pyro (non SE), etc. I own a pyro SE, which has Linux on it and gets used for heavy I/O, writes, etc., and an m4 for windows, apps, etc. If this is just going to be a purchase for the OS, static apps, games, etc., then I'd go with Crucial m4, Samsung 830, Plextor m3, Corsair performance pro, etc.

Sandforce controllers appear to have a lot more firmware related issues, it's not limited to OCZ as some seem to believe. With that in mind I'm hesitant to recommend Sandforce based drives until the 2xxx series controller is more proven.

 

[MissJ84]

Sandforce controllers appear to have a lot more firmware related issues, it's not limited to OCZ as some seem to believe. With that in mind I'm hesitant to recommend Sandforce based drives until the 2xxx series controller is more proven.

The statistic for people having issues with SF 2xxx is something like two thirds of 1%. I think more people had problems with Crucial's m4 coldboot issue over the summer, but everyone seems to forget about that. For general usage situations, Marvell is the way to go, but there are still other usage situations where SF is clearly the better pick.

 

[Forceman]

If you wanted a sandforce drive, i would get the OCZ agility 3 or vertex 3. OCZ moves a lot faster on the firmware updates. Al ot of people will give OCZ a bad rep, but the problem is in the sandforce controller which in this case mushkin is also using.

Sandforce issues aside, OCZ has a terrible reputation for customer service. If you want a Sandforce drive, I'd get one of the Corsairs.

 

[AndreRio]

I still haven't bought nothing. I am waiting for more input. I like those 500mb/s propagandas... oh, which is the fastest of them all?

 

[silent-circuit]

I still haven't bought nothing. I am waiting for more input. I like those 500mb/s propagandas... oh, which is the fastest of them all?

All the drives with Synchronous NAND based on the latest Sandforce controller (Corsair Force GT, OCZ Vertex 3, etc) are arguably "fastest" at this point. Performance should be within a few MB/s of eachother, only potential difference is firmware really.