First SSD advice

[Jim Raynor]

Dear forum,

So I'm in the market for my first SSD.

It will run on an Asus M4A89GTD PRO motherboard with 4GB RAM and a Phenom II X4 955. My graphics card is a HD5870. I have 1GB of internal storage and 1,5GB of external storage, which is plenty.

On my SSD I want to store MS Office, maybe a game if the particular game benefits from the SSD (I know not all do) and other apps (like social media dashboards and statistical software packages).

I did some research and noticed the Samsung 830 128GB which is my preferred option for now. This would put me back €119. The Crucial M4 is a little cheaper (but performs a little less if I'm informed right) and can be bought for around €10 less.

Are there other SSD's to consider for my choice set?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[cmdrdredd]

Those are my two recommendations. Other good options are more expensive. Plextor M3 for example...

 

[stevech]

I have an almost 2 year old used daily SSD in my personal desktop (ASUS motherboard, WIndows 7). I started it when I had XP. SSD is 64GB. Boot disk. I install most frequently used software on this drive, including Office and many others. After all this time, it's still 1/2 full. I put my data on other drives or my NAS.

Also have same SSD in my office work laptop. Used more heavily. In that, I have a 250GB hard disk in the CD caddy slot, for data. Really nice in a laptop.

The 128GB SSDs were too expensive and I don't really need that much space.

I also image the SSD to the hard disk every week or two (TruImage).

 

[Arachnotronic]

I have had good experiences with the OCZ Vertex 4 lineup and the Intel SSD 510 drives.

 

[npaladin-2000]

I've also had good experience with the Vertex4. The Crucial doesn't perform as well but pricing is excellent and it has a long reliability record. I wouldn't consider the Samsung unless you can get it for less than the Crucial.

 

[Coup27]

stick with the 830 IMO.

 

[bryanW1995]

£10 is probably the right difference between the 128gb versions of the 830 and the m4. Both are high quality, but the Samsung is faster and it has a very nice ssd toolbox. If you're getting just a single drive and you won't get RAID in the future then I would lean towards the m4. If £10 isn't a lot of money to you or you might RAID in the future then I would lean towards the 830.

And under no circumstances buy an OCZ, UNLESS you are extremely price sensitive and you don't mind spending hours and hours beta testing firmware.

 

[Arachnotronic]

And under no circumstances buy an OCZ, UNLESS you are extremely price sensitive and you don't mind spending hours and hours beta testing firmware.

That's complete and utter FUD. I have not used their SandForce based drives, but the Marvell/Indilinx based Vertex 4 drives are fantastic. An even lower cost option -- the Agility 4 -- should be out soon, too.

 

[npaladin-2000]

That's complete and utter FUD. I have not used their SandForce based drives, but the Marvell/Indilinx based Vertex 4 drives are fantastic. An even lower cost option -- the Agility 4 -- should be out soon, too.

SandForce isn't always a wise idea anyway, given how drastically their performance drops off with incompressible data. On the other hand, they'd probably be real good for holding SQL databases: those compress real nice. But SandForce consumer controllers have overall had more issues than controllers from Intel, Samsung, Indilinx, or Marvell. It's still not a huge percentage overall but it's a greater percentage.

 

[GoStumpy]

That's complete and utter FUD. I have not used their SandForce based drives, but the Marvell/Indilinx based Vertex 4 drives are fantastic. An even lower cost option -- the Agility 4 -- should be out soon, too.

No reason to defend OCZ here... Their track record is ABYSMAL, and that is reason enough to not even bother with any new releases from them!

 

[Arachnotronic]

No reason to defend OCZ here... Their track record is ABYSMAL, and that is reason enough to not even bother with any new releases from them!

Well, my experience has been nothing but fantastic. In fact, earlier this year I ended up buying some OCZ DDR2 second hand from a forum. It arrived DOA and OCZ actually sent me replacements without any hassle. They're not even in the DRAM biz anymore.

Seems pretty legitimate to me, which is why I had the confidence to try their SSDs. So far, so good.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Well, my experience has been nothing but fantastic. In fact, earlier this year I ended up buying some OCZ DDR2 second hand from a forum. It arrived DOA and OCZ actually sent me replacements without any hassle. They're not even in the DRAM biz anymore.

Seems pretty legitimate to me, which is why I had the confidence to try their SSDs. So far, so good.

Give it up: most people who hate OCZ are completely and totally opposed to mythical things like "Facts." :biggrin:

 

[RaistlinZ]

My Vertex 2 is still running smooth 2 years later.

 

[bryanW1995]

Give it up: most people who hate OCZ are completely and totally opposed to mythical things like "Facts." :biggrin:

Great, let's list a few OCZ facts. OCZ released the Vertex 4 with beta firmware. Their firmware updates are destructive. They released Vertex 3 with beta firmware. Those firmware updates are ALSO destructive. They lied to consumers about the Vertex 4's controller. They have a horrible reputation for reliability relative to their competition.

Please feel free to attempt to counter any one of these assertions, but make sure that you bring links to the discussion.

 

[jwilliams4200]

Definitely do NOT buy any SSDs from OCZ. The facts are that OCZ has a terrible track record for return rate -- more than 8 times more likely to be returned than a Crucial SSD -- and has awful newegg reviews -- OCZ SSDs are more than 7 times more likely to get bad reviews than Plextor SSDs.

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/862-7/ssd.html

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33493799&postcount=19

I suggest getting either a Plextor M3, or a Samsung 830, whichever is cheapest.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Great, let's list a few OCZ facts. OCZ released the Vertex 4 with beta firmware. Their firmware updates are destructive. They released Vertex 3 with beta firmware. Those firmware updates are ALSO destructive. They lied to consumers about the Vertex 4's controller. They have a horrible reputation for reliability relative to their competition.

Please feel free to attempt to counter any one of these assertions, but make sure that you bring links to the discussion.

You first on the links. BTW the Vertex 4 was released with firmware 1.3, not a beta. Please prove that they lied about Everest 2: last I checked they confirmed it was Marvell silicon developed with Indilinx providing firmware, and so far the silicon is exclusive to OCZ.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927 using Tapatalk 2

 

[npaladin-2000]

Definitely do NOT buy any SSDs from OCZ. The facts are that OCZ has a terrible track record for return rate -- more than 8 times more likely to be returned than a Crucial SSD -- and has awful newegg reviews -- OCZ SSDs are more than 7 times more likely to get bad reviews than Plextor SSDs.

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/862-7/ssd.html

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33493799&postcount=19

I suggest getting either a Plextor M3, or a Samsung 830, whichever is cheapest.

Ahh the infamous and uncorroborated french article.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927 using Tapatalk 2

 

[lehtv]

Ahh the infamous and uncorroborated french article.

Is there evidence to the contrary?

 

[Arachnotronic]

Definitely do NOT buy any SSDs from OCZ. The facts are that OCZ has a terrible track record for return rate -- more than 8 times more likely to be returned than a Crucial SSD -- and has awful newegg reviews -- OCZ SSDs are more than 7 times more likely to get bad reviews than Plextor SSDs.

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/862-7/ssd.html

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33493799&postcount=19

I suggest getting either a Plextor M3, or a Samsung 830, whichever is cheapest.

I would say the big deal with return rates would be the lower end, cheaper drives. I need to look into the situation further, though, and read the reviews more thoroughly.

My recommendation still stands: I have used a LOT of Vertex 4 drives in machines for clients, friends, and family. They're all working perfectly. I plan to pick one up for myself soon.

 

[jwilliams4200]

Is there evidence to the contrary?

Only in his mind.

When talking to npaladin-2000, you have to remember that you are talking to someone who claims that others lack facts, when in reality it is he who lacks any convincing facts to show that OCZ is worth buying. When others present facts that show that he is wrong, he pretends that the facts do not exist. It does not really matter whether he is one of OCZ's many paid shills or whether he is just a deluded OCZ fanboy who cannot accept that his beloved OCZ is dishonest and perpetually releasing products with little or no quality control -- either way, in his mind, he must defend OCZ despite its many flaws, sort of like a battered wife who continues to defend her husband despite everything he has done to her.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Only in his mind.

When talking to npaladin-2000, you have to remember that you are talking to someone who claims that others lack facts, when in reality it is he who lacks any convincing facts to show that OCZ is worth buying. When others present facts that show that he is wrong, he pretends that the facts do not exist. It does not really matter whether he is one of OCZ's many paid shills or whether he is just a deluded OCZ fanboy who cannot accept that his beloved OCZ is dishonest and perpetually releasing products with little or no quality control -- either way, in his mind, he must defend OCZ despite its many flaws, sort of like a battered wife who continues to defend her husband despite everything he has done to her.

You realize how insane you sound, especially since I'm pretty much the first one to talk down their SandForce-based products?

 

[guskline]

Dear forum,

So I'm in the market for my first SSD.

It will run on an Asus M4A89GTD PRO motherboard with 4GB RAM and a Phenom II X4 955. My graphics card is a HD5870. I have 1GB of internal storage and 1,5GB of external storage, which is plenty.

On my SSD I want to store MS Office, maybe a game if the particular game benefits from the SSD (I know not all do) and other apps (like social media dashboards and statistical software packages).

I did some research and noticed the Samsung 830 128GB which is my preferred option for now. This would put me back €119. The Crucial M4 is a little cheaper (but performs a little less if I'm informed right) and can be bought for around €10 less.

Are there other SSD's to consider for my choice set?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I have gone to Intel 520 120Gb ssds in 2 of my rigs and been very pleased. Almost all reviews of the Samsung 830 have it as one of the top ssds. Chosing it will be a smart move.

 

[thelastjuju]

No reason to defend OCZ here... Their track record is ABYSMAL, and that is reason enough to not even bother with any new releases from them!

In a free market, we are supposed to be REWARDING those who produce SUPERIOR goods, while those who REPEATEDLY release INFERIOR products (like OCZ) would eventually stop selling products and FAIL.

OCZ is somehow completely exempt from this though. They should have been out of business by now, but OCZ somehow keeps convincing these ignorant, wannabe "enthusiasts" to keep buying their products. OCZ's strategy seems to be to just continue to focus on advertising, product promotion, and public relations. Something tells me concepts like "quality control" are on the absolute bottom of OCZ's list of priorities.

I mean, unless the customer is completely UNinformed, why would anybody look at Intel, Samsung, Crucial, and Corsair's product lines, see nothing but good things.. and then see OCZ's product line, with absurdly high dissatisfaction rates left and right, and then BUY an ocz drive? Do they just not care or not know?? .. I mean you MIGHT get a working SSD drive from OCZ, but why assume such a risk when you don't have to with any given competitor out there?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I mean, unless the customer is completely UNinformed, why would anybody look at Intel, Samsung, Crucial, and Corsair's product lines, see nothing but good things.. and then see OCZ's product line, with absurdly high dissatisfaction rates left and right, and then BUY an ocz drive? Do they just not care or not know?? .. I mean you MIGHT get a working SSD drive from OCZ, but why assume such a risk when you don't have to with any given competitor out there?

This. I bought some OCZ 30GB Agility drives (Indilinx Barefoot controller), primarily because they were CHEAP, just to get my feet wet with SSDs. They perform alright, although WEI gives them a 5.9 or even a 5.8, like a mechanical drive.

I kind of knew what I was getting into though. They have have a user-accessable destructive flash which resets the drive if it's locked. I don't anticipate having to use it, the Barefoot controllers, while pedestrian in performance, are pretty stable, lacking all of the bugs of the SF Gen1 or Gen2 controllers.

 

[Shmee]

Please remember to stay away from personal attacks, and try to stay on topic helping OP. Don't need this to turn into an anti OCZ flame war, that doesn't help anyone.

I would say you cant go wrong with either the samsung or crucial M4. The Vertex 4 is also a good choice, so I hear. Also consider the plextor M3. All of them are good drives, I would argue it depends on how they cost comparatively where you are (somewhere in Europe I presume) but you cant go wrong with any of these mentioned.

Oh, and nice name btw Jim Raynor