setting up SSD, need help with multiple drives

I bought OCZ because it was a great sale, but people often complain about them. I remember reading something about these drives that recommended Samsung and Crucial. The crucial M4s are nice but they aren't very fast. I was going to get either that or a Samsung but they were ~$400 so when I saw the OCZ deal I went for it, all is well so far but I keep a backup.

If you don't have a SATA III compatible motherboard then I would go for the Crucial M4 in whatever size you need. It will run as fast as SATA II will allow. Otherwise, Samsung, Intel, Corsair, OCZ etc. are all viable options. At this point, most of the SSD bugs have been worked out. But before you buy anything, read the reviews on the site. On Newegg, I usually do a 'sort by: most reviews' in any given category and then look at the highest rated items before making a decision. Most importantly: make sure you get a good deal!

Nice info so can you run Sata 3 SSD's on a Sata 2? motherboard obviously with lower speeds

You can run a Sata3 SSD on a Sata2 port. For the OS it will make no difference in performance since the OS uses mainly 4K blocks which run even slower than the Sata2 port will allow.

It is, however, a waste of money to buy a Sata3 SSD for a Sata2 port. Buy the same model in Sata2 instaead.

thank you for the info. so now for the big question, what are some good brands to go with, i saw kingston and corsair, but when i went on new eg there where some other brands i hadnt heard of. any ideas of what will be best?

Crucial, OCZ and Intel are good makes. i have three OCZ Vertex, two Intels and one Crucial M4. They all run well - some already since nearly 4 years. The say that the Crucial M4 is very reliable, so I bought one. But that was very recently, so I cannot say much about it yet. It is fast though, on a Sata3 port.

As to your setup, I would approach that differently. If you are intersted, I will post my approach for you. But since this is a lot of typing (with my 2 finger search method), I'd like your input first.

whs said:

Nice info so can you run Sata 3 SSD's on a Sata 2? motherboard obviously with lower speeds

You can run a Sata3 SSD on a Sata2 port. For the OS it will make no difference in performance since the OS uses mainly 4K blocks which run even slower than the Sata2 port will allow.

It is, however, a waste of money to buy a Sata3 SSD for a Sata2 port. Buy the same model in Sata2 instaead.

Depends on the deal you can get. My OCZ Agility III is a SATA III but my laptop is only SATA II. Since it was $239 for the 240 gig I bought it instead of a SATA II drive which would have been more expensive. Then once I get a new laptop I'll be able to take advantage of SATA III

emaraszek said:

whs said:

Nice info so can you run Sata 3 SSD's on a Sata 2? motherboard obviously with lower speeds

You can run a Sata3 SSD on a Sata2 port. For the OS it will make no difference in performance since the OS uses mainly 4K blocks which run even slower than the Sata2 port will allow.

It is, however, a waste of money to buy a Sata3 SSD for a Sata2 port. Buy the same model in Sata2 instaead.

Depends on the deal you can get. My OCZ Agility III is a SATA III but my laptop is only SATA II. Since it was $239 for the 240 gig I bought it instead of a SATA II drive which would have been more expensive. Then once I get a new laptop I'll be able to take advantage of SATA III

I guess. I never looked at the Agility. It always looked like the OCZ stepchild. I always bought Vertex.

whs said:

emaraszek said:

whs said:

You can run a Sata3 SSD on a Sata2 port. For the OS it will make no difference in performance since the OS uses mainly 4K blocks which run even slower than the Sata2 port will allow.

It is, however, a waste of money to buy a Sata3 SSD for a Sata2 port. Buy the same model in Sata2 instaead.

Depends on the deal you can get. My OCZ Agility III is a SATA III but my laptop is only SATA II. Since it was $239 for the 240 gig I bought it instead of a SATA II drive which would have been more expensive. Then once I get a new laptop I'll be able to take advantage of SATA III

I guess. I never looked at the Agility. It always looked like the OCZ stepchild. I always bought Vertex.

From what I understand, Vertex always uses Samsung flash while Agility varies. So while the Vertex remains consistent, any given Agility could be faster or slower than a Vertex - luck of the draw.

Read all the reviews on Newegg. The crucial M4 is very reliable as is Intel. OCZ sandforce drivers have had problems. The Samsung 830's have received some very good reviews. I have an Intel X25, a Vertex2, and 3 Crucial M4's. The M4's are far from slow. On my sataII laptop it gets a 7.9 WEI and good scores in all of the benchmarks. But, whatever you decide, read the user reviews. The users are the best judge of which are reliable and which ones are not. Reliability is most important no matter what the speed and the price.