C300 or Vertex 2?

[aznsniper911]

So I have done some research and it seems to come down to these two drives. I was looking at the 128GB RealSSD C300 and the Vertex 2 120GB. My main concern is reliability and speed. My first impression with the C300 reviews seem to make it a nice overall round unit while the Vertex 2 is comparable with certain areas better then others. Is there a big difference between the two? I'm planning on putting this into a Macbook Pro using bootcamp to utilize both Windows 7 and OSX

 

[FishAk]

There is some good info concerning those drives here.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

So I have done some research and it seems to come down to these two drives. I was looking at the 128GB RealSSD C300 and the Vertex 2 120GB. My main concern is reliability and speed. My first impression with the C300 reviews seem to make it a nice overall round unit while the Vertex 2 is comparable with certain areas better then others. Is there a big difference between the two? I'm planning on putting this into a Macbook Pro using bootcamp to utilize both Windows 7 and OSX

Vertex 2 (or any sandforce SSD) all the way, since you will be running OSX. OSX doesn't support TRIM, and the C300 GC isn't great according to reviews.

In general, with TRIM, performance between them is all the same when using them (as opposed to looking at benchmark numbers). To nitpick, overall speed seems to be:

256Gb C300 > 128Gb C300 = Sandforce > 64Gb C300

(The smaller the C300, the lower scores it gets)

 

[lmccrary]

I have no reservations about recommending the Vertex 2. Mine is stupid fast. It is easily the best computer product I have ever owned.

 

[aznsniper911]

Vertex 2 (or any sandforce SSD) all the way, since you will be running OSX. OSX doesn't support TRIM, and the C300 GC isn't great according to reviews.

In general, with TRIM, performance between them is all the same when using them (as opposed to looking at benchmark numbers). To nitpick, overall speed seems to be:

256Gb C300 > 128Gb C300 = Sandforce > 64Gb C300

(The smaller the C300, the lower scores it gets)

Well I am using WIndows 7 most of the time with the occasional usage of OSX when I need it. Besides Garbage collection is there any other noticeable difference to swing towards the Vertex 2?

 

[alaricljs]

4k random writes are quicker on the Vertex, random reads quicker on the C300.... So it can be very workload dependent.

 

[aznsniper911]

4k random writes are quicker on the Vertex, random reads quicker on the C300.... So it can be very workload dependent.

I would assume that the C300 would be better for my case. I am a student that does mostly homework, web browsing and starcraft 2.

 

[alaricljs]

Honestly in that case it doesn't really matter what you get as long as it's new(ish). The user experience difference between most SSDs is zero for "normal" users. It's when you're doing major work in particular fields that the particular SSD can have an effect.

 

[FishAk]

Buy a C300, Intel, or any of the SandForce drives. Get the cheapest/Gb for the size you need. For your games, consider the Samsung F4 320Gb drive for $42 + change. It pushes 160Mb/s on sequential reads over 8K.

EDIT: Oh, that's right, your putting it in a notebook. Can't use the F4 then.

 

[MagickMan]

I strongly doubt an average user can tell the difference between a Sandforce, C300, or Intel G2 drive under normal operation. They're all stupidly fast at everyday tasks and will kick any spindle drive into the dirt.

Of the three, I'd get the Sandforce. Largely due to the cost /GB.

 

[Voo]

I strongly doubt an average user can tell the difference between a Sandforce, C300, or Intel G2 drive under normal operation.

If copying larger files to the drive they sure as well notice the difference between the Intel and the other two.. other than that I agree - a few seconds here and there aren't that noticeable

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Are all of the Vertex 2 100g the Special Edition SF 1200 controllers? or "Special Sauce" as Anand puts it...

 

[capeconsultant]

What happened to Indilinx controller drives? I like my Corsair just fine. I tried a Vertex 2 and could not see much if any difference in real world use.

Indilinx was such an up and comer at one time. What happened???

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

How is the reliability on the Vertex 2 drives??? In the past 1yr I've had 2 Vertex LE 100g SSD drives die on me. One of my replacements is an OCZ Vertex 2 100g. I still have the Vertex LE that I haven't installed on or used (it's EOL for the LE)

 

[poohbear]

I strongly doubt an average user can tell the difference between a Sandforce, C300, or Intel G2 drive under normal operation. They're all stupidly fast at everyday tasks and will kick any spindle drive into the dirt.

Of the three, I'd get the Sandforce. Largely due to the cost /GB.

erm, the c300 is cheapest cost/GB when i was buying, so bought the c300. Totally agree though, avg user will NOT notice a difference.

but OP beware if you have an AMD chipset its drivers do NOT support TRIM, so if the SSD relies on TRIM like the C300 and alot of non sandforce based SSDs. u're SOL as u'll have ot stick w/ the MS default drivers which dont perform as well. If you're using Intel then u're fine. Sandforce based SSDs have their own internal garbage collection mechanism so it wont matter if you use em w/ AMD.

 

[Makaijin]

You can't really go wrong with either drive. But personally I'd go for the Vertex 2 mainly because sandforce has way better internal garbage collection. I have a Mac Mini my brother left behind, and I to retire my Vertex 2 to it after seeing that Intel comes up with in a few months time. Well also those C300 firmware horror stories kinda scare me too.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Well I am using WIndows 7 most of the time with the occasional usage of OSX when I need it. Besides Garbage collection is there any other noticeable difference to swing towards the Vertex 2?

IMHO, no. With TRIM, I doubt you could tell the difference in a blind test between the two.

EDIT: Beaten by just about the whole forum, bummer

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

I would assume that the C300 would be better for my case. I am a student that does mostly homework, web browsing and starcraft 2.

shocker.

 

[aznsniper911]

I strongly doubt an average user can tell the difference between a Sandforce, C300, or Intel G2 drive under normal operation. They're all stupidly fast at everyday tasks and will kick any spindle drive into the dirt.

Of the three, I'd get the Sandforce. Largely due to the cost /GB.

I'm more concern about the reliablity of the Sandforce SSD over the C300. I actually put an Intel G2 into another laptop and I could tell the difference in speeds. As for Cost per GB, it's all about the same so I'm not concern about that.

Buy a C300, Intel, or any of the SandForce drives. Get the cheapest/Gb for the size you need. For your games, consider the Samsung F4 320Gb drive for $42 + change. It pushes 160Mb/s on sequential reads over 8K.

EDIT: Oh, that's right, your putting it in a notebook. Can't use the F4 then.

I seen the F4 and while it looks interesting, I'm planing to switch my desktop to full SSD when I can.

Honestly in that case it doesn't really matter what you get as long as it's new(ish). The user experience difference between most SSDs is zero for "normal" users. It's when you're doing major work in particular fields that the particular SSD can have an effect.

Well I do transfer a lot of files between different places on the computer because of my inability to be happy with putting files in one area or another.

[/b]

shocker.

You see my "homework" desktop consists of an i7 920 @ 4.1ghz, 12GB DDR3-1600 and 5870 Crossfire. To justify the cost at the time, I told myself I need all that power to do my word documents

IMHO, no. With TRIM, I doubt you could tell the difference in a blind test between the two.

EDIT: Beaten by just about the whole forum, bummer

The difference does seem minimal but how about degradation or slowness due to being filled? I notice my Intel G2 in the other laptop has become a bit slow due to being filled. It's okay, it happens on forums hahaha.

You can't really go wrong with either drive. But personally I'd go for the Vertex 2 mainly because sandforce has way better internal garbage collection. I have a Mac Mini my brother left behind, and I to retire my Vertex 2 to it after seeing that Intel comes up with in a few months time. Well also those C300 firmware horror stories kinda scare me too.

By any chance do you have test of these? I want to see how these test are performed. I'm not too worry about C300 firmware because it seems to have gotten better however I'm still a bit wary of Sandforce controllers. It may just be me being too cautious however I need it to last.

 

[Mark_K]

You do relieze that if you have a SATA 3 port the C300 is faster than the V2.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I just installed on the Vertex2 and the thing is sick-fast.. feels faster than my old Vertex LE that died... anyways. Vertex2 has Firmware 1.11

 

[alaricljs]

You do relieze that if you have a SATA 3 port the C300 is faster than the V2.

Specifically with sequential reads. I seem to recall 4k random read being a strong point for the Vertex 2 and writes being a strong point for the C300 (of at least 128GB size)

 

[Campy]

Are all of the Vertex 2 100g the Special Edition SF 1200 controllers? or "Special Sauce" as Anand puts it...

Special edition? If you mean the ones that have SF-1500 firmware for better IOPS then yes, the Vertex 2 drives have it and they're the only SF drives that do as far as i know.