Solid State Drive

[AlexRD]

Hi,

I was wondering, with 400 Dolars to spend on HDs, which one do i choose?
I will never use more than 500 GB, which i think is too much.
And i wanted a fast drive, like an SSD.
But i heard that SSDs have a short-life, and they're speed are decreased according to its age.

So, what would be better?
Buy 4x 250 GB 7200 RPM HDs and make Raid 4

Or 1x 128 SSD and a 500 GB for storage

 

[johngalt]

Better that you should read these articles first:

http://www.sevenforums.com/news/6203-think-you-know-ssds-think-again.html

A *really really really* good article about SSDs - very long and intensive.

Memory (DDR2|DDR3) and Storage (HDD|SSD)

Any review that Guru3D writes regarding SSDs the preface with a basic refresher about SSDs.

 

[nate42nd]

But i heard that SSDs have a short-life, and they're speed are decreased according to its age.

That IS a great article. It really makes you think.

That said, it's fun to have an SSD. If you have the $$ DO IT!!

Get a Patriot, they have a 10 year warranty. You can't really go wrong unless you think they may go out of business.

I love mine. I would go the SSD and maybe a 640 - 750GB for storage. I went with 2 640GB.

 

[pparks1]

I would do the SSD and a storage drive if you want the best performance. The 2nd generation Intel X-25M's are very strong and the 80GB can be had for under $300.

 

[Captain Zero]

At the risk of some conceit, I encourage you to review this.

For $500, I would recommend 2x or even 4x smaller SSDs in a RAID formation and used for your OS. It will be outrageously fast.

 

[pparks1]

For $500, I would recommend 2x or even 4x smaller SSDs in a RAID formation and used for your OS. It will be outrageously fast.

I think for most people, just a single SSD drive is going to be a significant improvement and outrageously fast. Plus, people seem to really have a need for large amounts of storage...so I don't think that the smaller SSD's in an array provide enough storage for most. I mean, $500 would get you 4 x 30GB OCZ drives...but in a RAID0 stripe that's only 120GB drive. When for under $100 you can easily pick up a 1TB storage drive where speed isn't near as important.

 

[Captain Zero]

^^ Agreed. Which is why I suggest it be used for the OS drive.

 

[AlexRD]

Ok, so i read everything, like a book. 30 Pages of SSD and i am even more confused than i was before.

According to the review, i should buy the Intel x25m or the OCZ Vertex.
Now, which one do i choose?

I mean, have they fixed that problem?
How long does the SSD's life takes before it slows down?
1 month? 6 months? 1 week?

Would it fix the problem, if i would run CCleaner to erase the Free Spaces once a week?

 

[pparks1]

The new Intel X-25M Gen 2's have tested very well and Intel has dropped the prices. Should be around $300 for the 80GB drive. I'm really close to buying 1 myself just for the learning experience and the hands on experience versus just the reading and heresay that I deal with today.

As far as fixing the problem...what problem are you speaking of? If it's stuttering, that can still happen but with 128MB caches, it's less of an issue. If you are talking about the slower write speeds as blocks are used....it's always going to be an issue with SSD based on design...but with the TRIM functionality and so forth on Windows 7...it really isn't an issue to be concerned with

With regards to slowing down, it depends upon how fast you fill the drive. And keep in mind that SSD's do drive leveling which spreads all future writes out against all of the blocks on the drive...rather than using the same ones over and over. So, if you do a lot of writing, deleting and writing...it would possibly slow down more quickly. However, TRIM really addresses this issue.

I honestly don't think with the newer drives like the Intel or anything with the Indilinx controller that you have to really have to actively spend time maintaining these anymore.

 

[Brink]

For around $339, the Patriot Torqx 128 GB SSD, is not a bad one with 260 MB/s read and 180 MB/s write speeds.

Newegg.com - Patriot Torqx PFZ128GS25SSDR 2.5" 128GB SATA II Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

 

[pparks1]

Brink,

If it were to come down to the Intel 2nd Generation X-25M 80GB or the Pariot Torqx that you listed above....which would you guys recommend????

I'm close to plunking down the money and experiencing what these SSD's have to offer, but I want to make sure that I buy the right one.

I want something that I can run my OS (Win7 64-bit) and primary apps from. I have a 1TB WD Caviar Black to use for my page file and storage. I don't want anything that I have to spend a ton of time to maintain either. Want to keep it as simple as possible.

 

[Brink]

For pure performance you can't beat the X-25E, but it's real high priced as well.

The X-25M G2 160GB is only a bit faster than the Patriot Torqx 128GB on readind, but a lot slower on writing. The Patriot is way better in price and warranty. Not sure about the X-25M G2 80GB, but it should be around the same speed as it's 160GB version.

AnandTech: The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD

and

AnandTech: The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD


I would go with the Patriot Torqx 128GB for performance vs price.

 

[pparks1]

Brink,

Thanks for the info. I'm starting to find the X-25M available through Amazon retailers for about $299....but I'd like a bit more breathing room than 80GB....so hence the reason the Torqx is appealing because it gets me to 128GB...which is more then enough for my OS.

The 160GB Intel X-25M G2 is in the $500+ price category...which is more than I want to spend to get some personal experience with this technology.

Anybody have any resounding reasons why going with the X-25M 80GB Gen2 is a much better idea than the Patriot?????

 

[pparks1]

Well, I just pulled the trigger and bought the Intel X-25M 80GB Gen 2 drive from Toshiba Direct. Got the drive for $249...which is the lowest price that I have found...NewEgg is asking $379 for this drive. The drive is also a retail kit so it has the mounting adapters and such.

As of 09-02-09 from Toshiba Direct:

80GB = $249
160GB = $473

Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5" SATA SSD Solid State Drive - Toshiba

Intel X25-M 160GB 2.5" SATA SSD Solid State Drive - Toshiba

 

[AlexRD]

Ok, do you people STILL recommend the patriot, even though i am in BRAZIL, and if something goes wrong with the SD i can't have an insurance?
And no one answered the question about the Ccleaner.
If, i weekly delete the Free Space through Ccleaner, will it always be at peak performance? Or there is another APp for it?

 

[fseal]

Both the Intel and the latest OCZ drives do not suffer from the write slowdown. Even without TRIM (though they do have it, but lets say you use it in a non W7 machine) their latest firmware self heals and prevents the issues that cause the slowdowns from accumulating over time like on most of the other SSDs. Intels first run of the X25 did suffer the problem but they fixed it some time ago and even the older ones can be flashed with new firmware and they slowdown will heal itself within a few days of use.

Oh but to anser the quesion with MHO... an 80 gig SSD as root OS/Programs drive with a one TB secondary for all user data is a great setup.

 

[whs]

Well, I just pulled the trigger and bought the Intel X-25M 80GB Gen 2 drive from Toshiba Direct. Got the drive for $249...which is the lowest price that I have found...NewEgg is asking $379 for this drive. The drive is also a retail kit so it has the mounting adapters and such.

As of 09-02-09 from Toshiba Direct:

80GB = $249
160GB = $473

Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5" SATA SSD Solid State Drive - Toshiba

Intel X25-M 160GB 2.5" SATA SSD Solid State Drive - Toshiba

This is really a good deal. I think I'll order one too for my laptop. On the desktop I have a Vertex which runs very well.

 

[pparks1]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited for this to come in so that I can do some fun benchmarking. Without a hibernation file and page file on C.....80GB should provide plenty of space for the few apps and games that I need to have installed. It's just too bad that a majority of my large files and file manipulations will occur on my other HD.

now it's time to do some reading to figure out how to best utilize this drive and maintain it.

 

[AlexRD]

So , a patriot TorqX that brink recommended, won't have that slowdown?

 

[greenmatter]

Hi,

I was wondering, with 400 Dolars to spend on HDs, which one do i choose?
I will never use more than 500 GB, which i think is too much.
And i wanted a fast drive, like an SSD.
But i heard that SSDs have a short-life, and they're speed are decreased according to its age.

So, what would be better?
Buy 4x 250 GB 7200 RPM HDs and make Raid 4

Or 1x 128 SSD and a 500 GB for storage

I bought Kingston 128GB SSD from amazon and installed it myself in my notebook. Amazing difference in performance. SSDs will last a long time because they have no movable parts like my old hard drive. And most of the manufacturers have 3+ years warranty