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128GB SSD: Crucial M4 or Samsung 830

Z

zanemoseley

Senior member
So I think I've finlly talked myself into stretching my budget to include a 128gb SSD. I will pair this with a older Seagate Barracuda 160gb 7200rpm drive for file storage. When HDD prices drop I will probably buy a newer/larger hdd for storage and additonal program storage when/if the 128gb gets full.

So I'm trying to figure out which SDD to go with. Looks like the Crucial M4's are liked by all and the new Samsung 830's have a good vibe going on. Intel 320's don't sound bad but the read/write speed seems much lower but they are cheaper if I can get in on a rebate like they've been doing.

If you guys had $220 max to spend on a drive, which would you get and why.
 
Those are the same two I've been eyeing for a while. I finally just just ordered an M4, haven't gotten it yet though.

You'd probably be fine with either quite honestly. I haven't been able to find anything negative about either one.

I only got the M4 because there was a somewhat decent deal on slickdeals from Neweggbusiness.

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Produc...82E16820148448

Comes with a free stick of laptop memory which I can actually use 🙂

I would have ordered the Samsung 830 immediately if a similar deal was out there right now.
 
That is a pretty good deal. I've been avoiding Newegg for large purchases as I have to pay 9.75% TN sales tax which would make the drive $203.
 
I purchased the M4 just over a month ago, before the 830 was readily available.
Happy I did, if only because samsung says something along the lines of "we do not support mac, linux, or any server os" in their 830 docs. You are tied to the lastest version of windows if you want to update the firmware on a samsung ssd. Also they say something like "may not function properly if not using windows 7 or later"

From what little research i've done, crucial/micron and intel are the only options for those not using windows who wish to update the firmware.
 
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There's 0% chance the drive I buy will be used for anything besides Windows 7 or newer. I could see this being a problem though for some people.
 
I'm even thinking of buying the 64gb Samsung 830 that is $97 @ Tigerdirect and comes with a copy of Batman. Then I could wait for a sweet deal on a 128gb-160gb SSD.

Could use the 64gb for Windows 7, Firefox and small programs. Use the 128gb mainly for games and just use the 160gb HDD for MP3 and picture storage.
 
I've just bought a Samsung 830 128GB on a new i3-2130 + Z68 rig and the thing absolutely flies.

I've just upgraded from an i3-530 + H55 + X25-M G2 80GB and I thought my last setup was fast but it is noticeably faster. Even suprised me.

I'm not on the right PC at the moment but I'll post my crystal disk mark scores for you so you can compare them to an M4. I did, and theres nothing between them really. Sammy wins in the odd test and the Crucial wins in another.

You can't go wrong with either drive, but the Samsung does come with a nice toolbox.
 
I too just jumped on the SSD band wagon. After about a month of research I settled on the Samsung 830. (I had it narrowed down to the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 830) Been watching Newegg for the past 2 weeks on the 128GB drives, they do not stay in stock long. (In the last approximately 2 weeks I've seen the notebook upgrade version come in stock for about 6 hours, and the desktop version came in stock for about 10, than they sell out.)

I settled on the 830 basically because the M4 and the 830 were identical in price, (although the price of the Newegg Business M4 is crazy good) and the 830 uses Samsung's own proprietary controller rather than a Marvell and it also includes the 3.5" adapter for desktops. It also includes a free copy of Norton Ghost and the new Batman game.

All in all though, I don't think you can go wrong with either. They both have phenomenal track records. (Even the Intel drives, although I think the 320 has that 8mb bug still, but not sure, I ruled out the Intel drives on price alone.) I am very much looking forward to building my new system. I am going to be running a Gigabyte Z68 board (here's hoping I don't have a boot cycling issue); Intel i5 2500k; 8GB of G-Skill DDR3; and a nice Samsung 830 128GB SSD. Can't wait to see the performance increase of this setup.
 
Coup27 said:
The 8MB bug was fixed 1-2 months ago. But the 320 can't hold a candle next to the performance of either the M4 or 830.
Click to expand...

Ah, good to know, thought I was reading that even after the firmware update, people were having issues, must've been an old report. 😎 I have considered the 320 for my system as it doesn't have 6GB capabilities. (The new build is for my wife, and boy am I jealous.)
 
So actually if I'm a W7 user the only difference between these two drives is that M4 is a tested and probably more reliable drive?

Is there any difference between the 256GB versions of M4 and 830?
 
Coup27 said:
The 8MB bug was fixed 1-2 months ago. But the 320 can't hold a candle next to the performance of either the M4 or 830.
Click to expand...

I have the Intel X25-M, 320, Crucial C300 and m4. The only time I actually noticed the performance of the Crucial over Intel is when I launches a VM, hibernation and copy/write a large seq file. Otherwise in general usage, they are all equal.
 
OP: Frankly, I don't think you can go wrong with either. I'd lean slightly towards Crucial because the parts are made in this country.
 
zuffy said:
I have the Intel X25-M, 320, Crucial C300 and m4. The only time I actually noticed the performance of the Crucial over Intel is when I launches a VM, hibernation and copy/write a large seq file. Otherwise in general usage, they are all equal.
Click to expand...
My experience is probably a little more skewed by the fact I upgraded CPU, mobo, RAM & SSD at the same time.

CDM scores for a Samsung 830 128GB for anyone who is interested:

CDM_Samsung_830.png
 
Since it's been decided, I would like to hijack this thread (we have enough "first SSD" threads) and ask.

I'm in market to buy a 256GB SSD and have decided to buy Samsung 830 for 320€ (428$ as of writing this) in Europe. M4 and 830 are almost the same and I'm turning to you to tell me if there are any other 256GB drives worth considering around that price and If 428$ is a good price for 256GB 830 SSD.
 
If you have a motherboard with SATA 6Gbps then there is also the Intel 510. This drive is very similar to the M4 but has an Intel badge on it and is nearly twice as much. Is it nearly twice as good? Not at all. They're about the same.

There is of course the current gen Sandforce's in that price range. Reliability and compatibility is at your own risk.

If you want a fast drive you can be sure will work, then its the M4 or 830.
 
nrmr44 said:
Soulkeeper: Pls see
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/m...8N/AM-features.

Under "Specifications" they do say
"Operating Systems Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Vista, XP, MAC OSX, Linux Hardware Compatibility"

Am I missing something?


Regards 🙂
Click to expand...
He said regarding firmware updating. To update the firmware on a Samsung SSD you have to install the magician software which is only Windows compatible. Once the firmware has been downloaded through the magician, you could make a bootable USB stick and then upgrade a drive which was installed in another computer with Linux on it.
 
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