Sata 2 to Sata 3 ssd - worth doing it?

MrCrispy

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I have a X25-M G2 80Gb, and now that my new build will have Sata 3, I'm curious if there are any real world benefits to a newer ssd like the Crucial M4. I know boot times may be faster, but would I notice it outside benchmarks?
 
The biggest difference would be when you are transferring very large (as in manay GBs) files. If that is something you do daily, and are constantly tapping your toes waiting for a large file copy than you may notice that difference. Of course that only matters if both source/destination are Sata III SSD. If either source/destination is a regular HD, than Sata II is fine.

The second biggest difference would be when you load large programs and or play a lot of games that have large level loads, although the difference here would hard to notice in most scenarios.

Response times are where SSDs shine, and Sata I/II/III has no real impact here.

Like dual/triple/quad channel memory, Sata interfaces are toward the bottom of things to worry about as far as system performance.

For most users, I would definitely not recommend upgrading an SSD simply to take advanatge of Sata III. Save your pennies for now.
 
Actually boot times may suffer going SATA3 from an X-25M. Boot times rely a LOT on small 4K read speeds/IOPS, which the intel excels at. The newer SATA3 drives, using smaller process NAND, for the most part excel at sequential speed, but lose a bit in the small 4K read IOPS dept.
Even the first-gen Vertex SSDs had blazing fast boot times compared to the newer Vertex 3's, M4's etc. Ask me how I know - I've owned or own them all. The C300's had amazing small 4K read performance as well - great SSDs.
If you're looking the the ultimate in that fast "snappiness" experience, the current gen of SATA3 drives may not be the best choice. However, OCZ's new Octane Indilinx SSDs bring back a bit of that insane small 4K IOPS performance. Tempted to replace my 2 V3 240's with 2 of the new Octane 240's, but I won't beta test for OCZ this go-around again.
The X-25M's are still amazing SSD's. What the newer SATA3 SSDs offer is massive heavy workload performance and insane sequential speeds. I am the first player on the map in BF3, every time with my 2 RAID0 Vertex 3's, game level load time is insanely fast. But, that same box boots slower and doesn't seem quite as snappy as my other one with an older-gen Vertex 1 Turbo. FWIW.

Keep in mind we're splitting hairs here. It all depends on usage and how much you "notice" about you're storage's performance. I notice eveything - others not so much, or they don't care as much. It's way faster than spinners and that's what they care about.
 
Thanks, I just saved $200. I still have 20GB free so I don't need more space. Had no idea 4K reads are actually slower this gen.
 
Actually boot times may suffer going SATA3 from an X-25M. Boot times ........
Nice overall view! (BIG Thumbs-Up).

I'm thinkin' many don't understand that an old, moldy, out of date SATA2 SSD can possibly be better than a new SATA3 drive.

I just purchased another (3 total) 256GB C300 drive because they are much better suited for my desktop usage and probably the majority of others.

As usual, marketing hype (it's a SATA3 drive and MUST be better....LOL) and fast sequential speeds win the game with uneducated consumers.

It's unfortunate that everyone can't be educated at the same time. :D
 
and fast sequential speeds win the game with uneducated consumers.

This is the biggest factor - as SSD drives become more mainstream the manufacturers need a "headline" number they can put on the box to draw sales, and since sequential is easier to measure (and is bigger, so must be better), that is what they picked to focus on, even though it makes much less real world difference. Welcome to the megapixel wars, SSD-style.
 
That's the same exact problem they ran into with the original stuttering first gen drives. They tweaked the controllers for maximum speed, not efficiently moving the data and that exacerbated the stuttering problem. But they had great numbers for marketing to play with. Who cares if everyone hated actually using them.

Your Intel is a good drive, and I would not consider updating it until you run out of space on it.

I am in the process of setting up a new system and I am going to use 3 old 1st gen Intel X18M drives for it. I am going to Raid 5 them so it will still boot if one of them goes belly up.

Don
 
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