Which SSD to choose?

[Silent Knight]

Hi there.

I'm looking to upgrade my rig with a SSD. My budget is really tight so i've narrowed down to some options like the OCZ Agility 3 and Corsair Force 3 120GB. The problem is my mainboard only supports SATA2. Which one should i buy? Or should i pay $20 more for a Vertex 3 120GB?

Thanks very much.

 

[TechHead]

Samsung 830 128GB / Crucial M4 128GB if you can get them on sale.

 

[Jenova69]

All the ones you listed and will work just fine.

 

[Silent Knight]

Samsung 830 128GB / Crucial M4 128GB if you can get them on sale.

Not an option, i only got these following in my desired price range:
- Gskill Phoenix III and Phoenix Pro.
- Corsair Force 3.
- OCZ Agility 3
- Kingston Now V+

Also i got the OCZ Vertex 3 and Kingston HyperX 3K for $20 more.

 

[saranya]

I prefer corsair. had that and a ocz agility 3. the ocz would make my system randomly freeze and reboot.

ideally though, a samsung anything is probably better

 

[Damar]

Samsung 830 128GB / Crucial M4 128GB if you can get them on sale.

This pretty much.

I wouldnt touch any of the ones you listed if it were my PC and my data.

Intel, Crucial or Samsung drives are the only ones in my personal "approved" list.

If there's no rush, save some extra cash, get something better.

 

[JoeComp]

Intel, Crucial or Samsung drives are the only ones in my personal "approved" list.

You should replace Crucial with Plextor in your list. Plextor also uses a Marvell controller, but they have better quality control than Crucial, and the performance is slightly higher.

 

[Damar]

You should replace Crucial with Plextor in your list. Plextor also uses a Marvell controller, but they have better quality control than Crucial, and the performance is slightly higher.

I used to swear by Plextor products, and paid the higher premium prices, until I got burned bad and their support people just shrugged.

So, for the money, and recent quality support experience, I'd still go with Crucial over them.

 

[atarione]

where are you shopping? what is your budget exactly

cause looking at newegg right now the 128GB M4 is $124.99 and the Corsair Force 3 is $129.99 for example i guess the Agility 3 is $110

blah blah blah .... personally i'd gladly pay the $15 more for the M4 over any OCZ drive....


I have been rocking a 256GB Crucial M4 since my birthday in Aug of '12....it has been a delight..very fast and no problems.

I had a year earlier tried a Sandforce based corsair SSD which was the biggest piece of crap i have ever encountered and i returned it as i was very tired of BSOD'ing every time i looked at my pc funny...put me off the whole SSD deal for nearly a year


your money but the Samsung or Crucial suggestions are mine also.


if you like using you computer buy the samsung or crucial.....if you like troubleshooting you computer buy ocz or corsair...bahahahahaha

 

[JoeComp]

I used to swear by Plextor products, and paid the higher premium prices, until I got burned bad and their support people just shrugged.

Details, please.

 

[Damar]

Details, please.

Back in either 2005 or 2006 we bought 24 DVD burners (716A I believe, but not 100% sure on that) for where I was working at the time.

Fully 3/4 of them burned nothing but coasters no matter what media we used. Call the vendor, they told us to call Plextor, call Plextor, they tell us sorry, up to the vendor to take them back, not our problem.

So yeah, after that, when my Plextor burner finally died at home long after, I started buying other brands, mostly ASUS, and Samsung. Never looked back. As I recall, Plextor hardware is now outsourced and rebadged anyway, so I guess its luck of the draw on the guts of anything you get from them.

As for OP, virtually anything is a step up from his current buy list, and even though I wouldnt, Plextor might be a way to go for him.

 

[apf888]

Intel, Crucial or Samsung drives are the only ones in my personal "approved" list.
If there's no rush, save some extra cash, get something better.

+1. OCZ and Corsair are off my list for after what happened with Sandforce drives and how they were selling "refurbished" 90-way warranty ones.

However, one thing to note is that Crucial M4 sometimes has weird compatibility issues (fixed in firmware updates, they've been really good with that).

Samsung 830 128GB / Crucial M4 128GB if you can get them on sale.

Only 128GB? Not 256GB?

Also, that's if you can even get Samsung 830 drives anymore. Most of the stock seems to have dried up. At least the Samsung 840 Pro has a 5 year warranty (would not bother with the basic 840).

Back in either 2005 or 2006 we bought 24 DVD burners (716A I believe, but not 100% sure on that) for where I was working at the time.
Fully 3/4 of them burned nothing but coasters no matter what media we used. Call the vendor, they told us to call Plextor, call Plextor, they tell us sorry, up to the vendor to take them back, not our problem.

Can't see that many going bad. Lots of settings back in the day which would do that:
- not having UDMA enabled or correctly enabled,
- having a non-compliant device on the other connector of your IDE channel,
- trying to burn from a drive on the same IDE channel,
- having incompatible/cheap media (firmware is everything when it comes to media).

But yeah, Plextor used to be the gold standard for CD burners, but they outsourced everything when they started selling DVD burners (think they were using LiteOn mostly).

 

[odditory]

Not an option, i only got these following in my desired price range:

Then wait. And keep saving until they are an option.

But if you're dead set on buying junk to save $20-$25 then you certainly didnt need to seek any advice.

 

[JoeComp]

Fully 3/4 of them burned nothing but coasters no matter what media we used. Call the vendor, they told us to call Plextor, call Plextor, they tell us sorry, up to the vendor to take them back, not our problem.

Interesting story, but it has nothing to do with Plextor SSDs.

Plextor has the best quality SSDs in the industry. And Plextor SSDs have had significantly fewer problems than Crucial SSDs. For any size Crucial m4, there is a Plextor SSD at about the same price that is at least as high quality, and also with better performance.

 

[JoeComp]

Silent Knight:

None of those SSDs are good choices. If you buy any of those, then you deserve any trouble you may have. You have been warned by multiple people now.

 

[Silent Knight]

Thanks for the warning, guys.

But i live in South East Asia, and in my country, they only sell these:

And those from Intel are the 330 model.

I can find the Crucial M4 but they carry little to no warranty (normally 1 week, or a month top).

 

[CyberJunk]

i would recommend intel , crucial or samsung for ssd brands

 

[saranya]

Thanks for the warning, guys.

But i live in South East Asia, and in my country, they only sell these:

And those from Intel are the 330 model.

I can find the Crucial M4 but they carry little to no warranty (normally 1 week, or a month top).

IF those are really the only options you have in your country. I'd go with Corsair. Never liked the intel 330s.

 

[Damar]

Interesting story, but it has nothing to do with Plextor SSDs.

Never said it did.

Plextor has the best quality SSDs in the industry. And Plextor SSDs have had significantly fewer problems than Crucial SSDs. For any size Crucial m4, there is a Plextor SSD at about the same price that is at least as high quality, and also with better performance.

Sure, but I still wouldnt touch them, and performance in synthetics is the only place you'll see the difference. In real world use, assuming all drives are decent brands, no one will notice the difference in day to day use from one to another.

If I were buying right now for me, (and I will be thanks to a seriously nice tax refund), I'll be buying Samsung most likely, or Crucial if I cant get the Samsung models I want. Plextor support burned me back then, so now I vote with my wallet and they arent getting a penny out of me.

I hope OP gets a good drive with whatever he gets. A quality SSD makes a PC so much better.

 

[JoeComp]

In real world use, assuming all drives are decent brands, no one will notice the difference in day to day use from one to another.

Actually, Plextor SSDs have been less likely to have problems than Crucial SSDs, and that is quite noticeable to the people who have problems.

Plextor has excellent quality control, as you can see by examining their publicized qualification tests:

48hr Sustained Read and Write Test
Two days continuous 4K file read / write test, zero error pass requirement.
4000 Times Idle Test–Sleep and Hibernation Test
After 24 hrs read & write SSD enters sleep (S3) mode and is woken after 5 minutes, repeated for hibernation (S4) mode, zero error pass requirement.
250 Times Power Cycle–Cold and Warm Boot Tests
Continuous cold boot and warm boot cycles 250 times, zero error pass requirement.

In addition, Plextor SSDs undergo high-temperature burn-in tests and accelerated usage simulation testing as part of their 100% production testing.

I found the above information at this location: http://www.goplextor.com/asia/index.php/ssd/m5-pro

Plextor is the only SSD company I know of that specifies the qualification tests and production testing that they do. While it is possible that other SSD companies are doing similarly rigorous quality testing, I think it is more likely that any testing that the others do is less comprehensive than Plextor (otherwise the other companies would also be publicizing their quality testing procedures).

It is irrational to say that because you had some problems with DVD burners seven years ago that you will not buy Plextor SSDs today. The rational approach is to consider the question of whether, TODAY, Plextor SSDs are less likely to have problems than Crucial SSDs. The question of customer support may also be relevant, but since you only need customer support if there are problems, it is of secondary importance to product quality. Also, in the vast majority of cases, all one needs from customer support is decent RMA service when something goes wrong. I've seen no evidence that Crucial's RMA service is any better than Plextor's.

 

[killian133]

i would get intel 330 hands down.. i been looking at fail rates for all ssd. and intel is lowest for some reason. (maybe not all models) but pretty sure.. I have a 330 i got for 100 for 180gb seemed like decent deal compared to the intel g2 80gb's i had bought for 175$ when first out. All work fine 0 problems at all. But i have not bought any other brand of ssd.

I LOVED OCZ untill they made SSD, never used one but never seen one used either

 

[MRoc]

I would recommend Intel if you can pull the price. I have 3 currently and they have outlived my Corsairs's and one of my Sammys.. On the other hand, I would say Samsung is the way to go..

 

[Silent Knight]

Looks like i'll get a Crucial M4 128GB with 3 months warranty. Hopefully it'll be fine.

 

[raptorxrx]

Looks like i'll get a Crucial M4 128GB with 3 months warranty. Hopefully it'll be fine.

It should be, Crucial is usually regarded as very good in the SSD industry.

 

[redrage]

I have 3 OCZ SSDs, 2 Agility 4 240GBs (i got on cybermonday for $90) and 1 agility 2 60GB i got shortly after they came out.. Not a problem with a single one of them.

I also got a Samsung 830 240 and an ADATA 128. again no issues

The samsung just performs better. Day today use I don't notice any real difference, but when making them work the samsung just feels more responsive, not that the others are bad just that samsung is better.

I know a couple other people locally using OCZ SSDs with one issue that was corrected by Newegg.

While I don't suggest OCZ, they have been fine to me in my small sample size.

That is just my experience

 

[John**]

where are you shopping? what is your budget exactly

cause looking at newegg right now the 128GB M4 is $124.99 and the Corsair Force 3 is $129.99 for example i guess the Agility 3 is $110

blah blah blah .... personally i'd gladly pay the $15 more for the M4 over any OCZ drive....


I have been rocking a 256GB Crucial M4 since my birthday in Aug of '12....it has been a delight..very fast and no problems.

I had a year earlier tried a Sandforce based corsair SSD which was the biggest piece of crap i have ever encountered and i returned it as i was very tired of BSOD'ing every time i looked at my pc funny...put me off the whole SSD deal for nearly a year
your money but the Samsung or Crucial suggestions are mine also.
if you like using you computer buy the samsung or crucial.....if you like troubleshooting you computer buy ocz or corsair...bahahahahaha

Before changing, did you check with your vendor for sandforce's latest firmware update? That would have solved your problems

 

[Fritingo]

Plextor has excellent quality control, as you can see by examining their publicized qualification tests. In addition, Plextor SSDs undergo high-temperature burn-in tests and accelerated usage simulation testing as part of their 100% production testing.

Eh, marketing. And that's all it is. Don't think that Intel, Samsung & Crucial (among others) don't put all their drives through the same sort of pre-production testing. You make it sound as though little gnomes put each and every drive that comes off the line through that sort of testing (woohoo for reduced drive life). Although little gnomes are cute.

In the same price range ($240+ for 256 GB, $150 for 128 GB) as the M5 Pro, the faster benchmarked Samsung 840 Pro is a better deal.

But i live in South East Asia, and in my country, they only sell these.

Seems like you are only looking at a single vendor. That is not a good plan if you want good selection or good prices. You can also shop at vendors from other countries (with trackable shipping), such as Amazon Japan (has the 128GB 840 Pro here; 10384 Yen=$116 US).

Edit: going over the entire thread, looks like you've already decided on the Crucial M4. Hope it works well for you. Be sure to update the firmware before installing anything on it.

 

[JoeComp]

Don't think that Intel, Samsung & Crucial (among others) don't put all their drives through the same sort of pre-production testing.

I do think that the other companies put their SSDs through less strenuous production testing than Plextor. I cannot prove it, but I think they do not consider it cost effective, since a large number of SSD consumers do not seem to care about quality (witness how well OCZ SSDs sell). Skimping on quality is probably considered to raise profits slightly. But in that sort of environment, it could be profitable to be the one (or two) vendor that has higher quality standards.

 

[Fritingo]

I do think that the other companies put their SSDs through less strenuous production testing than Plextor. I cannot prove it, but I think they do not consider it cost effective, since a large number of SSD consumers do not seem to care about quality (witness how well OCZ SSDs sell). Skimping on quality is probably considered to raise profits slightly. But in that sort of environment, it could be profitable to be the one (or two) vendor that has higher quality standards.

You cannot prove it is the operative statement.

That company, among others, has for years tried (and perhaps continues to try) to separate consumers from their hard earned money with unverifiable quality claims. I don't like snake oil vendors any more than those that sell low quality junk. At least with junk, you can find out that it is junk before buying it. Deceptive "quality" marketing is much harder to avoid wasting money with. As you can't really prove its true or not; you are forking over your hard earned dough for intangibles that give you warm thoughts.

If you think that Plextor M5 Pro drives are a better buy than Samsung 840 Pro drives despite being slower at an identical price (and despite using Marvell drive controllers, a company that does not have a history of high quality in the computer space; i.e. SATA controllers), more power to you. I'll recommend instead computer items that I have personal confidence (via research and/or experience) that are quality, good buys.

 

[JoeComp]

I'll recommend instead computer items that I have personal confidence (via research and/or experience) that are quality, good buys.

I'm not sure why you go through a long rant about me not having proof, and then make this statement. It seems you think proof is only required for people who do not hold the same views that you do.

 

[Old Hippie]

It is irrational to say that because you had some problems with DVD burners seven years ago that you will not buy Plextor SSDs today.

Plextor hasn't actually made an optical burner since @ 2007.

Alll drives after that date are rebranded.

 

[Damar]

Actually, Plextor SSDs have been less likely to have problems than Crucial SSDs, and that is quite noticeable to the people who have problems.

It is irrational to say that because you had some problems with DVD burners seven years ago that you will not buy Plextor SSDs today. The rational approach is to consider the question of whether, TODAY, Plextor SSDs are less likely to have problems than Crucial SSDs. The question of customer support may also be relevant, but since you only need customer support if there are problems, it is of secondary importance to product quality. Also, in the vast majority of cases, all one needs from customer support is decent RMA service when something goes wrong. I've seen no evidence that Crucial's RMA service is any better than Plextor's.

Plextor can claim anything they want. I still wont touch them.

I've installed multiple Crucial SSD's for myself and friends and not one has had an issue. I've installed a handful of Samsung 830's and they worked fine as well.

My personal experience with Plextor CS was horrid, hence my choice to leave them behind.

And I stand by my previous statement, in day to day use, no one is going to notice the difference in performance 95% of the time anyway, so why should I put myself as risk to deal with their shitty CS again? No thanks.

If you love Plextor (which is plainly obvious by the rampant defending you're trying to do for them), then enjoy.

 

[Fritingo]

I'm not sure why you go through a long rant about me not having proof, and then make this statement. It seems you think proof is only required for people who do not hold the same views that you do.

Not at all. My recommendations for what to buy (and most other people's here) are based on experience, research, corroborated test results and so on. Hopefully not on marketing that cannot be verified. I was just pointing out that the the specific marketing claims on that page of what they do to provide "better quality" for that model cannot be proven (or disproven) over what other manufacturers do, as you yourself brought up.

Back in the old days, the same sort of thing was passed around on Usenet groups. CD burners made by that company were far more expensive than anything else and they continued to be so through the subsequent years when many other burner manufacturer models could burn with the quality of those models and lasted as long. Thus the price premium became much less justified, but many still preferred to buy them because they were seduced by the more-expensive=better-quality thought.

I also personally have a thing for spending extra on stuff that does not provide actual benefit. Similar to recommending $400 HDMI cables & speaker wire in the audio world and the like. $200 giant teddy bears for your long time gf/bf/significant other though, yes!

Now, if the M5 Pro actually performed better than, for example, the 840 Pro (using the same type of "toggle-mode" MLC NAND), and the Marvell controller it uses was found to be reliable over time, then I'd have no problem recommending it. But I personally just can't do it based on some unquantifiable quality claims on a manufacturer's web page. If others don't have a problem with it though, no problem here.

 

[JoeComp]

And I stand by my previous statement, in day to day use, no one is going to notice the difference in performance 95% of the time anyway, so why should I put myself as risk to deal with their shitty CS again?

And I already answered this question. For the benefit of the oblivious, I'll repeat:

1) People will notice when their SSD has problems, and the Crucial m4's have a history of more problems than the Plextor SSDs

2) Your experience with DVD burners from seven years ago is irrelevant to Plextor SSDs today

3) The vast majority of people only need SSD customer service when they have a problem and require an RMA. Even if Plextor SSD RMA service is worse than Crucial (a claim for which I have not seen any supporting evidence), that is of secondary importance to the quality of the SSD, which determines whether or not you will require RMA service at all. Plextor SSDs are higher quality than Crucial SSDs, so you are less likely to even need RMA service.

4) The Plextor M5P SSDs have a 5 year warranty, as compared to the 3-year warranty on the Crucial SSDs.

 

[JoeComp]

Not at all. My recommendations for what to buy (and most other people's here) are based on experience, research, corroborated test results and so on.

I see you are changing your tune now by adding "corroborated test results" to your claim, since your original claim of personal "experience and research" is no more provable than published quality control procedures from manufacturers.

Unfortunately, your "corroborated test results" have nothing to say about quality and reliability of SSDs. Which is a much more important consideration than performance for the vast majority of SSD buyers.

And I am not sure why you keep bringing up the straw man of the Samsung 840 Pro. The comparison under discussion was the Crucial m4 vs. Plextor M5P (or M5S).

 

[KENNYB]

And I already answered this question. For the benefit of the oblivious, I'll repeat:

1) People will notice when their SSD has problems, and the Crucial m4's have a history of more problems than the Plextor SSDs

I haven't looked into problems with M5Ps (I don't own one or know anyone that does), but I'll comment on the M4. I think the main problem I've seen (from friends, but not myself) is blue screens due to that "power on time hitting X hours" problem and the associated side affects. Go through a few rounds of sudden power loss and the BIOS will not detect the drive.

Updating the firmware has fixed all issues I've seen, but updating firmware is sometimes a problem too. Depending on the system, the update tool will not detect the drive. I've never had any bluescreens, but I have had problems updating firmware. I've had to wait for the next update once. A friend had the same problem with the update not working, but he was having blue screens. We had to install that drive into another computer to update the FW.

 

[JoeComp]

Updating the firmware has fixed all issues I've seen, but updating firmware is sometimes a problem too.

Also, there were a number of reports of problems with a recent Crucial firmware update, with many people recommending staying with an older one.

The point is that Crucial SSDs have a history of more such problems (some requiring firmware updates) than Plextor SSDs. In fact, since I have been following Plextor SSDs (back around the M2 models), I haven't seen any widespread reports of problems requiring a firmware fix, while in the same time period, Crucial has had several.

I do not mean to say that Crucial SSDs are bad, only that they are worse than Plextor. The only reason to choose a Crucial m4 over a Plextor M5P or M5S is if you can get a much better price on the Crucial. Otherwise, the Plextor SSDs are higher performance and less likely to have problems.

 

[Fritingo]

I see you are changing your tune now by adding "corroborated test results" to your claim, since your original claim of personal "experience and research" is no more provable

Bleh, cute. Turning into a troll thread from you. Nothing is/was changed on this end. And the 840 Pro was not a "straw man", it an accurate comparison item to the M5 Pro because its another popular model in the exact same price range. The Crucial M4 is less expensive than either of them and doesn't perform as well as either of them, so its not in the same comparative bracket. I'd in fact say you are using the M5 Pro as a "straw man" here vs. the M4.

You go on and on about the supposed "quality" of Plextor drives. Yes, its fun being an unwavering fan of something. The issue is that the M5 Pro is more expensive than the Crucial M4 (both of them use Marvell drive controllers which are what firmware updates; different ones)...not because of its "quality differences", but because its in a different bracket.

The Micron M4 contains standard 25nm Micron MLC NAND (and a Marvell 88SS9174 drive controller). The Plextor contains Toshiba 19nm "toggle-mode" MLC NAND (and a Marvell 88SS9187 drive controller). The 840 Pro contains Samsung "toggle-mode" 21nm MLC NAND (and a Samsung MDX drive controller). The "toggle-mode" NAND in the last two drives is purportedly faster than the standard NAND in the M4. The performance scores on the web (one being that Anandtech link in my last post) bear this out.

In addition to being faster, the last two drives have 5 year warranties, the M4 has a 3 year. So again the M4 is not in the same bracket as the other two drives.

So who's strawing who?

 

[JoeComp]

So again the M4 is not in the same bracket as the other two drives.

Finally got there, it only took you 3 posts!

Yes, the Plextor M5P is a better SSD than the Crucial m4. As I already wrote.

The 128GB models are both selling for $125 at newegg at the moment. The Plextor is the obvious choice.

 

[Fritingo]

Finally got there, it only took you 3 posts!

LOL. Too bad the OP has already bought the M4.

And too bad you didn't detail those exact differences that I did in _any_ of your "its more expensive because its higher quality" misleading posts (besides the warranty).

The M4 128GB is $110 at Amazon right now ($114 at Newegg in kit form; you were conveniently looking at the pricier bare drive to try to make a point). The M5 Pro 128 GB is out of stock at Newegg, $125 at Amazon, more expensive. So...not so obvious.

Moving up to 256GB, the M5 Pro is $250 at Amazon. The Samsung 840 Pro is $228. The M4 is $195. The faster 840 Pro is the "obvious choice" there...heh. That is, if you can afford the price difference with the M4. Then again, prices of all the drives change frequently. But again, the M4 is older and in a difference performance/warranty bracket. Things are not always so obvious.

First thing I think of when I see Plextor and/or employees and/or overzealous fans purporting "higher quality", it takes me back to the Usenet days of the same thing being spouted about their overpriced CD burners. There is a lot of "more money=better" nonsense spewed all over the internet in an attempt to separate people from their hard earned moola. About the only computer component where spending more (within a wattage range) regularly scales with higher quality is power supplies. Hard data backs up claims of quality, not web page marketing.

What names do you give your Plextor drives?