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first SSD purchase: 240 GB Vertex 3?

R

Rangoon

Member
With the price of HDDs expected to stay high for a while, I figure this is a good time to finally pick up a couple of HDDs.

I'd like to get a 120GB or 128GB for my secondary computer and a 240GB for my primary. Is there a major difference between the Vertex 2 and 3? I have keep coming across references to failures within the Vertex line of SSDs. Is that just a typical failure rate and I'm just seeing because I'm scrutinizing the Vertex line more? Or is this across the board for SDDs? I think I saw somewhere (maybe in the the SSD sticky in this forum?) that Intel SSDs are more reliable.

Can someone explain why there are the usual 64, 128, 256 size progressions, yet there is also a 120, 240 progression? Does this affect performance or utility in any way?

I would be using these SSDs both for Windows 7 64-bit (two different computers), basic computer programs like browsers, FRAPS, etc., and probably some choice games. Most of my games (Steam folder, for example) will be on a larger HDD.

Any other advice for my first SSD purchase?

Thanks!
 
If you are going to put all your large installs (games on a separate fast HDD then just get a 60-80Gb ssd. That will work fine.
 
I'll answer your direct questions but you really need to do some decent research into SSDs if you want to make sure you get the right one, setup and working optimally and without paying loads for a huge capacity one when you don't need it, as mentioned above. Although HDDs have massive capacities doesn't mean you'll need the same on an SSD.

The Vertex 2 is a SATA 3Gbps drive. The Vertex 3 is a SATA 6Gbps drive. Random reads and writes do not get anywhere near 300mb/sec (3Gbps) so this extra speed is only utilised by sequential reading or writing. You may notice the difference when you open large files, but in real life, the difference isn't much, maybe a few seconds.

OCZ and their Vertex line possibly have the worst reputation in the SSD world in terms of reliability and compatibility. They also have the highest (claimed by others) failure rates. The current Vertex 3 has been plauged by random BSOD's which have only recently been fixed. If you bought a new Vertex 3 and updated it to the latest firmware, you should have a stable drive, but their track record is awful.

SSDs have had alot of teething problems. Intel, Samsung and Crucial have the best reputation and their current drives are considered the most reliable on the market.

Some SSDs have 8 channels, some have 10. This results in SSDs with 8 channels working in 64, 128, 256 and 512, and SSDs with 10 channels work in 80, 120, 160 etc. It's a bit more complicated than that but ultimately its down to how they are designed. Just select a size you want. The bigger the SSD, the faster it is. 64GB/80GB are usually a fair amount slower than 128GB. The difference between 128GB and 256GB isn't that much.

I would recommend the Samsung 830 for both of your PCs. I've just ordered myself the 128GB for my new build.
 
You may not want to go with OCZ for your first SSD purchase. I've bought a couple, but for your gateway into SSD's you should probably go with something more reliable like Intel (great choice, even if they aren't #1 in benchmarks) or Crucial. The last thing you want is for your one and only SSD to lose your data a few months in and possibly get stuck in an RMA loop of two or three bad drives (as I had happen with a 60GB Vertex 1).
 
I think people need to start looking at these controllers instead of the drives. Yeah, I know there are tons of threads everywhere that would suggest otherwise, but I have four 120GB Vertex 3 SSDs in RAID 0 on an Areca 1880i and it's been flawless from install to several months of operation. No performace issues, no HW issues, no anything...just solid.

In some cases, you get what you get as in a laptop, but if I could avoid using any on board controller, I would. Add on card from here on out for any desktop for me.

I did buy a 5th as an upgrade to a laptop, but the laptop died during the initial install. No biggie...RMA and we're good.
 
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