which to buy-SSD

J

Jeeprs69

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 2, 2005
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314
1st- I'm SO bummed by the PRICE hike on the G2's//
That being said- Which would be the better dirve- a OCZ vertex 60 or the G1 Intel x25? they are about the same price. I'm so confused!!!!!!!!
 
I just picked up a pair of 60GB OCZ Agility for $240, quite a bit cheaper than the G1 or Vertex.
 
I'm in the same situation. I'm frankly getting tired of the X25-M gen2 fiasco at newegg, and was thinking about picking up the Vertex, since it does have TRIM support compared to the X25-M gen1 which does not. However, be wary of the random read/write speeds, which are far worse on the Vertex. Will it affect daily activities/gaming though is the big question.

Any expert opinions? :D
 
Yea, do you HAVE to make this purchase this week? Why not wait till the market settles. Patience.
 
lgr said:
I'm in the same situation. I'm frankly getting tired of the X25-M gen2 fiasco at newegg, and was thinking about picking up the Vertex, since it does have TRIM support compared to the X25-M gen1 which does not. However, be wary of the random read/write speeds, which are far worse on the Vertex. Will it affect daily activities/gaming though is the big question.

Any expert opinions? :D
Click to expand...

Do some research? Anandtech's articles are pretty well written if you're looking for somewhere to start that explains it all in great detail and looks at the broad picture... The X25 drives have no equal when it comes to random read/writes, but the Vertex are still many times better than a regular HD when it comes to random/read writes... Basically, you're still gonna see a huge improvement in the usability of your system with a Vertex over a regular HD... And no SSD will do much for gaming beyond level loads (or huge texture loads in games that do it on the fly frequently, like MMORPG), some games won't even see much of a benefit in that regard because textures or maps are highly compressed and the HD isn't the bottleneck.

The Vertex drives are a great alternative, the only issue is price/capacity... As Anand keeps alluding to, the sizes they're available in actually kind of complement the Intel drives, a 120GB Vertex is $330+ and a 60GB Vertex is around $140... A lot of people are looking to spend $200 or less so they opt for the X25 (or lust after it now that there's a huge shortage), myself included. The Vertex might offer slightly better price/GB but I don't need 120GB nor do I wanna spend $300+ on it, I do want something slightly larger than 60GB tho. The 60GB drives are a lil' slower too FWIW.

A cheaper pair of Agility drives in RAID 0 is another interesting option... But SSD are fussy enough as it is with firmware revisions and such, personally I'd rather not throw RAID into the mix and make a real mess out of it, that's just me tho.
 
If they're the same price, you're comparing a 60GB vertex against an 80GB X25-M. There's no comparison, buy the X25-M. It's faster and bigger.
 
I have done my research, or at least some of it. Only through first-hand experience, though, can you translate the raw IOPS and rr/rw benchmarks into real-world usage. Numbers are great and all, but user experience can help out the decision-making process a ton. I know people say "OMG! programs open instantly on my X25/my vertex/my falcon!" but in reality, does general computer usage improve significantly beyond Vertex's rr/rw levels? Because if it doesn't, the X25-M doesn't have a HUGE advantage then (except at the cost per GB level and/or price:performance level, obviously)

Also, just to note, I would be looking to purchase the 120GB vertex, not the 60GB, since I fear the 60GB may not be enough for me.
 
The X25-M definitely does not have a huge advantage in real-world scenarios (unless you're really pushing it or multi-tasking a lot), that's what I was trying to convey with my previous post... Even the Vertex is still many times faster than a regular HD when it comes to random read/writes (as well as sequential stuff obviously), so either is gonna be a huge improvement in daily use of the system. If you search around you can find similar comments from people that have owned both... The Intel drive is just generating a lot of buzz because 80GB/$200 seems to be some kinda sweet spot for early adopters and the fact that it's the best overall performer adds that cherry on top. Anand's articles go way beyond benchmarks and numbers btw...
 
lgr said:
I have done my research, or at least some of it. Only through first-hand experience, though, can you translate the raw IOPS and rr/rw benchmarks into real-world usage. Numbers are great and all, but user experience can help out the decision-making process a ton. I know people say "OMG! programs open instantly on my X25/my vertex/my falcon!" but in reality, does general computer usage improve significantly beyond Vertex's rr/rw levels? Because if it doesn't, the X25-M doesn't have a HUGE advantage then (except at the cost per GB level and/or price:performance level, obviously)

Also, just to note, I would be looking to purchase the 120GB vertex, not the 60GB, since I fear the 60GB may not be enough for me.
Click to expand...

The OCZ part will be such a big jump from a physical HD, that you'll be happy. Right? Without comparing it to the Intel part, you'll have no comparison except to the slow physical HD... And then when prices come down, you can either buy the next gen of OCZ drives, or the Intel part. (My plan is to swap my OCZ SSD into my laptop from my desktop, when the time comes.)

Also, I have a theory. When you WRITE something, you are EXPECTING some kind of wait/delay. Because it was triggered by you. However, when you READ, like when you open programs, then you are impatient because you are on the computers time. So, having a slightly slower write speed probably isn't a deal-breaker as far as user experience goes. The OCZ adn Intel drives are pretty much neck and neck on read speeds, it is write speeds where Intel eclipses.
 
We need someone to film a Pepsi Challenge for SSDs and put it on YouTube.
 
PHiZ said:
The OCZ part will be such a big jump from a physical HD, that you'll be happy. Right? Without comparing it to the Intel part, you'll have no comparison except to the slow physical HD... And then when prices come down, you can either buy the next gen of OCZ drives, or the Intel part. (My plan is to swap my OCZ SSD into my laptop from my desktop, when the time comes.)

Also, I have a theory. When you WRITE something, you are EXPECTING some kind of wait/delay. Because it was triggered by you. However, when you READ, like when you open programs, then you are impatient because you are on the computers time. So, having a slightly slower write speed probably isn't a deal-breaker as far as user experience goes. The OCZ adn Intel drives are pretty much neck and neck on read speeds, it is write speeds where Intel eclipses.
Click to expand...

These were my thoughts exactly when picking up the agility drives. 2 in Raid0 will be far far better than my current HD so I'll be happy. I'll also be happy that the upgrade cost 100+ less than going intel. Lower cost will make it easier for me to upgrade to the next wave of SSDs that will be even less expensive. Then move the agility drives to my HTPC drones.
 
Here is a spreadsheet I threw together based off the Anandtech article and current prices at the EGG. For those that like all the information in one place...... SSD
 
NeonFlak said:
Here is a spreadsheet I threw together based off the Anandtech article and current prices at the EGG. For those that like all the information in one place...... SSD
Click to expand...

Haven't taken a look at it but prices on the X25-M drives are obviously all over the place right now. Depending on whether you get it at close to MSRP ($225-ish, but very unlikely), or at what most of us are getting it at ($255-ish), or at what most online stores seem to be trying to hawk it at ($280+), you could end up w/a slightly lower cost per GB than the Vertex, or a way higher cost/GB. Intel needs to get it's ducks in a row as far as availability, tho I suspect this is just making people want 'em even more, heh.
 
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