Best SSD to use with laptop?

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
I currently have an 80GB X25-M G2 in there now. It's 7mm, which I believe the laptop requires. Need more room, possibly double the space, might dual-boot.

Which SSDs have better power consumption:
160GB X25-M
240GB M500
128GB M550

Or should I be looking at a different drive? Not a huge fan of Samsung, really, but I think I recall them being good on power-consumption too. A bit pricey for me though.

Edit: Laptop gets hibernated fairly often, so I feel I should exclude SandForce, even the Intel SandForce drives.
 
Last edited:

Soulkeeper

Diamond Member
Nov 23, 2001
6,738
156
106
the devslp function is the new thing
however, I dunno if the difference between SSDs power use is really that big tbh

Just looking at some storagereview numbers for the drives you mentioned plus the samsungs and they are all within <1W of each other

Idle numbers:
X25-M 0.6W (no devslp?)
M500/M550/mx100 ~1W
samsung 850 pro/evo 0.3W

I guess these would be "active idle" states and can be taken with a grain of salt
load power usages seems to be around 3-4W tops for all of them

looks like tom's has an article on devslp
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-850-pro-ssd-performance,3861-9.html
 
Last edited:

Charlie98

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2011
6,298
64
91
I don't think the newer gen SSDs are all that power hungry no matter what one you get... certainly better than your X25 in any event.

For my money, I would get a 512GB M550... because I just did!

Having said that, I would not get a 120GB M500... I got one for my daughter's laptop (which I eventually stole and put in my HTPC... ;) ) and it had abysmal write speeds, and I suspect the M550 wouldn't be just gobs better.

If absolute cost is a consideration, you can't go wrong with the MX100, although they seem to be fire-sale'ing the M500/M550's right now... watch the sales, that's where I got my 512GB for $170.
 

Soulkeeper

Diamond Member
Nov 23, 2001
6,738
156
106
M550 is better performance wise than M500 and mx100 because it has more channels

basically how their performance/budget has progressed
M4 -> M550 -> mx200
M500 -> mx100 -> bx100

The lines are kinda blurred when you consider the various sizes and how that affects performance however
64Gb vs 128Gb nand affecting the number of channels
 
Last edited:

Arcanedeath

Platinum Member
Jan 29, 2000
2,822
1
76
the 512GB MX100 and M550 are pretty much the same drive, but the MX100 is cheaper (most of the time.) smaller drives do not perform as well as the 512GB + drives in the write speed department.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
240
106
I would suggest turning off hibernation in a laptop if you have a SSD boot drive. Hibernation writes a large file to the SSD - and that will be restored on boot. It can save you time with a HHD, but it can slow down the SSD's boot process as well as create needless writes.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
I would suggest turning off hibernation in a laptop if you have a SSD boot drive. Hibernation writes a large file to the SSD - and that will be restored on boot. It can save you time with a HHD, but it can slow down the SSD's boot process as well as create needless writes.

1) Not worried about the extra writes. Been running that 80GB X25-M G2, and it hibernates multiple times a day (with 4GB RAM), and TBW is up to like 600-700GB. Intel toolbox still shows SSD lifespan at 99-100%. Been installed since I got the laptop, which was a year or two ago.

2) Yes, it takes more time to restore from Hibernate, but it maintains my state, which is much more important to me.
 

hhhd1

Senior member
Apr 8, 2012
667
3
71
I would pick either the m500 or the m550, since both support HIPM/DIPM, pick the one that fits your space requirements.

And I would definitely not worry about extra writes caused by hibernation.
1. the ram is rarelly full 100%.
2. by default, windows compress the hibernate file, making it faster and uses less storage space
3. it is fairly small to write 2~4GB, considering the SSD can handle 50+ GB per day
 
Last edited:

Essence_of_War

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2013
2,650
4
81
Which SSDs have better power consumption:
160GB X25-M
240GB M500
128GB M550

I'm not really excited about any of those particular models. Do you have a budget you're trying to stay within?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
I'm not really excited about any of those particular models. Do you have a budget you're trying to stay within?

Yeah, preferably $0. Those are the SSDs I already have. I was looking for the most storage for the least power-draw. Performance is secondary. (Laptop is a 1007U.)

If there is a drive that has significantly better power-consumption than those then I would consider purchasing it.
 

formula1

Junior Member
Jan 20, 2015
16
0
0
SSD's naturally are very low in power consumption simply due to the digital activity rather than the physical activity of how it computes. I don't think you need to worry about this.
 

razel

Platinum Member
May 14, 2002
2,337
93
101
With the SSDs you listed and your light usage, I wouldn't worry about power consumption or writes. You question is probably best answered by staying away from only one SSD which is the all-TOO powerful in many ways Intel 730. It's awesome as long as you are not on a battery powered device. Otherwise, just choose one and enjoy. As a fellow laptop owner you know very darn well that outside of intense CPU/GPU usage... it's often your screen brightness, followed by the health of your battery that will determine your battery life more than anything else.
 

coercitiv

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2014
7,391
17,531
136
If there is a drive that has significantly better power-consumption than those then I would consider purchasing it.
No you wouldn't: even if that SSD would have zero power consumption, your laptop autonomy would not see that big of a jump.

For example, considering an Ivy Bridge equipped budget system, you probably have a 36Whr battery and under 4 hours battery life when browsing: that equals to around 9W power consumption. Completely shaving off SSD power consumption would amount to about 0.5-1W, considering the drive is idle most of the time and at least DIPM is working (alternating between idle @0.9W, writes @3W, and DIPM mode at less than 0.1W). That in turn would lower your average power consumption to 8-8.5W and increase battery life to around 4.2-4.5h, a jump of 12-30 minutes in autonomy.

However, your new SSD will still consume power.
 
Feb 25, 2011
16,994
1,622
126
Yeah, preferably $0. Those are the SSDs I already have. I was looking for the most storage for the least power-draw. Performance is secondary. (Laptop is a 1007U.)

If there is a drive that has significantly better power-consumption than those then I would consider purchasing it.
Of the three, the M500 is the one I'd want.
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
21,063
16,298
136
Re: writes - using a conservative figure from techreport's SSD endurance tests (700TB, Samsung 840 PRO), I've calculated that my drive (with respect to writes) would last >400 years.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
126
You also have other choices, I have used 2 Crucial MX100s, and 2 Toshiba branded SSD (Q series Pro), in a variety of different laptops, and those have been working fine, no complaints.
 
Last edited:

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
Newegg has the MX100 512GB for around $180 until the 30th of Jan.

I kind of wish I had been able to jump on the M550 512GB drives that Newegg had recently for $170.