Help With Finding the Right SSD

[Maxxwire]

The 1 TB Hitachi HDD in my 8 month old HP Elite Win 7 x64 desktop crashed the other day and my Tech says that he can replace it with the G3 SSD of my choosing. The 120 GB size would be great and I've been cruising Newegg looking at SSD's from Intel, Crucial and Corsair, but I have very little knowledge and even less experience with SSD's and when I read that the new generation of 25 nm SSD's are about to be released I knew it was time to come here and get some expert advise on which SSD to get rather than to wish I had later.

~Maxx~

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[linnemeyerhere]

Maxxwire,
You may want to consider the OCZ line as well as many here are very happy with them. I have the Crucial Real SSD and it's been great. I will say that going from a 1TB spinner to a 120GB SSD is a flawed logic. I would consider the purchase of both and put only the OS and all Applications on the SSD then all data goes to the spinner with another for a back of the main spinner and an image of the SSD. You are always on the cusp of the newest technologies and I would say that short of waiting for the latest SSD's to hit I would jump on one of the four brands mentioned and enjoy. Is a revo drive in your budget?
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6472004&CatId=8

 

[GeneO]

The 25 nm SSDs are slower in writes and some have less usable space than what is advertised. Look at the new Intel 510 series (which are still 34 nm). All the 25nm technology provides is lower cost to produce - and it usually is not passed on to the consumer (witness, e.g. the silent switch of OCZ vertex 2 from 34 to 25 nm and the ensuing complaints).

 

[Maxxwire]

Maxxwire,
Is a revo drive in your budget?

Oh yeah! Verrry nice indeeed! Thanks for bringing this RevoDrive to my attention! You deserve an OC'd Rep for helping me not to have gotten something else. I will definitely be giving him a call tomorrow as I was able to locate the good news that my HP Elite desktop has 1 PCI Express x4 available for the RevoDrive so it looks like I will be placing an order for the RevoDrive thanks to your great suggestion!

~Maxx~

 

[Kipper]

Have you tech guy research if your motherboard will support a Revo drive, the newer boards with latest BIOS are working fine but these drives can be very finicky

 

[Maxxwire]

Kipper- If the RevoDrives can be that finicky would an OCZ Vertex 2 3.5" SSD be better for someone like me who has little experience with BIOS settings and a Petegron Truckee motherboard in my HP Elite? I've been without my Win 7 desktop for a couple of weeks now and the desire for getting it back with a dependable although somewhat slower SSD over blazing fast benchmarks grows each day.

~Maxx~
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[Kipper]

The Vertex2 is SATAII and has a track record of reliability and compatability. I am not familiar with your MB but would think you do have SATA2 connections.

If you are doing a clean install of the OS then I would recomend that you set up the BIOS for AHCI for better perfromance.

 

[essenbe]

I Have both an OCZ Vertex2 90GB and an Intel 80GB SSD. They both have their advantages. Intel is normally reguarded as the most reliable and has faster read speeds OCZ has faster write speeds. Either one is heads and shoulders above a spinner. I have always believed that faster response times were most important for an OS drive. I did a comparison. after a secure erase of both, I did a clean install and setup of one and cloned that drive to the other. So, same hardware alignment and software. I have done this twice. These are the results

​

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Truthfully, In actual usage, not much noticable difference between the two​

 

[Maxxwire]

essenbe- Thank you very much! That is just the kind of useful information that I was seeking. You now have me considering the Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH120G2K5 120GB SATA II SSD...

I had originally shied away from this Intel SSD because of its lower write speeds, but as your tests show it is actually faster overall and I'm now thinking that it would be a more reliable and stable replacement drive candidate for my HP Elite desktop. Would you agree?

~Maxx~

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[essenbe]

I don't think you would be unhappy with either one. IMO, I like thr Intel best but many others would disagree. As I stated, in reality there is no practical difference in useage. However, reports have claimed that Intel SSDs are more reliable. But, given the timing, if you can wait for the G3 to come out, it will be $30 cheaper. Still, I don't think you will notice any appreciable performance difference.

As far as your desktop, my opinion is that the worst performing SSD is much better than the best performing spinner. I think as an OS drive, access times are the most important statistic unless you are transfering very large files. I read an interview with a Microsoft Exec who studied usage of OSs. He said that typical useage shows reads outnumber writes 40-1. I hope this helps and whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy it. Look through the tutorial section here. You will find plenty of SSD related info to help you set it up.

 

[jimbo45]

essenbe- Thank you very much! That is just the kind of useful information that I was seeking. You now have me considering the Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH120G2K5 120GB SATA II SSD...

I had originally shied away from this Intel SSD because of its lower write speeds, but as your tests show it is actually faster overall and I'm now thinking that it would be a more reliable and stable replacement drive candidate for my HP Elite desktop. Would you agree?

~Maxx~

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If you just store your OS and APPS on the SSD write speed is actually MUCH less significant then READ speed. Go for the FASTEST READ speed.

You shouldn't be writing too much to the SSD although if you have a large enough SSD then you could also use it as a Photosho scratch area too. Even a "Slow" write ssd speed is yonks faster than a typical HDD.

However as I said if the OS and apps are on the SSD then DO GO FOR FASTEST READ rather than worry about WRITE SPEED.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[essenbe]

Jimbo45 is absolutely correct IMO. All SSDs advertise their speeds. However the advertised speeds are of no use to the average user. Unless you spend your day transferring 5-10GB files around, you will never see the advertised speeds, and even then you probably won't see them. In my experience, Jimbo is right; the two most important factors for an OS drive is the 4Kb read speed and the access time. For most of us, those are the only thing that matters. If Microsoft was right in reads outnumber writes 40-1, then it is a no brainer- reads are much more important.

 

[Maxxwire]

I just read Dave76's post about intel-x25-m-120gb-ssd-deactivated by newegg which is being replaced by the 25nm Intel SSD 320...

Form Factors: 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch
Capacity — 80/160/300 GB (1.8-inch), 40/80/120/160/300/600 GB (2.5-inch)
Intel
Intel 25nm NAND MLC Flash Memory
SATA 3Gb/s interface
Sustained sequential read: Up to 270 MB/s
Sustained sequential write: Up to 220 MB/s
AES 128-bit Encryption
Intel SSD Toolbox
OS-aware hot plug/removal
Enhanced power-loss data protection
Power - Active - Up to 4W (TYP), Idle: 700 mW (non-DIPM)
Uncorrectable Bit Error Rate (UBER): 1 sector per 1016 bits read
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): 1,200,000 hours
Lifetime Endurance - Up to 60 TBW
Weight: 1.8-inch: up to 49 grams, 2.5-inch 7mm: up to 82 grams, 2.5-inch 9.5mm: up to 88 grams
3-year warranty

I have been without my desktop for almost a month now and I was hoping to get the new SSD for it this next week. Newegg is currently out of stock on the Intel SSD 320's and I'm trying to decide whether to wait and get one or just go with the 34nm Intel SSD X25 like I was originally planning on doing. Is it risky adopting new technology like this?

~Maxx~

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[essenbe]

Newegg now lists it as out of stock and expects replacement on 4/4. There are other places to buy it also. Amazon is showing the 310 in stock ( through someone else).

 

[Maxxwire]

Update- essenbe, thanks for the heads up! The new 120 GB Intel 320 series SSD arrived today and I have an appointment to take it in to have it installed in my HP Elite desktop this next Monday.

~Maxx~

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[essenbe]

Good job, I hope you enjoy it. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[pparks1]

You will really like the Intel drive, really any of the SSD drives. I've had the 80GB Intel X25-M G2 for quite a while now and it performs great. The new OCZ Vertex 3 just got released and has some fabulous specs and is reasonably priced at $299 for 120GB. My mobo only has SATA II, so I'm not going to upgrade at this point since I cannot completely take advantage of it, but it certainly does have a great spec sheet.

 

[The Howling Wolves]

You will really like the Intel drive, really any of the SSD drives. I've had the 80GB Intel X25-M G2 for quite a while now and it performs great. The new OCZ Vertex 3 just got released and has some fabulous specs and is reasonably priced at $299 for 120GB. My mobo only has SATA II, so I'm not going to upgrade at this point since I cannot completely take advantage of it, but it certainly does have a great spec sheet.

Dave,
Isn't there an SSD made in the USA?
Don't want to bring politics into the forum so I will for now!

 

[Maxxwire]

I got my Win 7 desktop with its new 25nm 120 GB Intel SSD 320 installed yesterday exactly 1 month to the day from when its original HDD crashed and it now boots in 14.5 seconds! Here are the initial benchmarks I did on it and Intel delivers just what they advertise...

~Maxx~

 

[essenbe]

Maxxwire, congratulations. Those look like the numbers Intel advertised. I hope you enjoy it. They do make a difference.