Intel vs OCZ vs Crucial SATA III, Which to choose?

[iRage]

Whats up people?

I'm building a new gaming rig and I'm undecided on which SSD to choose, so I was hoping you guys could help me. I'll be building my system around the first of april, so by that time I should have the option of choosing between OCZ's Vertex 3, Intel's 510, and Crucial's RealSSD C300... I'm looking to use this as a boot drive so I'm going for somewhere around 120 - 160 GB, but seeing how the new SSDs only come in 120 GB and 250 GB, I only have 1 option, which makes things a lot easier. Between the three I would like to stay with Intel or OCZ because there both familiar with me, I've used OCZ Memory for a long time, and I've always been an Intel user. However, if Crucial has enough supporters with great testimonial, I may leave my comfort zone and try them out.

Intel 510: Now I'm a pretty big Intel fan, and I'd feel a lot more secure going for their product because they can back it up with reliability and more importantly customer support. If I buy an Intel 510, I can't really imagine the drive dieing on me in 4 months time. However, the lack of an Intel Controller and its lackluster performance in Anand's review really disappointed me. I was expecting the 510 to be a direct competitor for Vertex 3 and it fell short buy a significant margin.

OCZ Vertex 3: If the reviews are believed, this is FAST... Something I place a significant importance on, If I'm going to spend 2 - 3 Grand on a computer, I want it to be as fast as possible. Vertex 3 dominated all the benchmarks. Unfortunately OCZ's customer service is disgusting. They have horrible practices, and I was furious at the amount of people they ripped off with the whole 25nm 34nm debacle. Another issue is the reliability of the drive, I've seen a multitude of reviews about how someone's Vertex 2 died after a week or so, sometimes it took a month, sometimes 3, but most of them eventually died. What's my guarantee that my Vertex 3 won't die before the year is over? It wouldn't even be an issue if I knew I could rely on their RMA policies, but with the way their running things, that's nothing to fall back on.

Crucial RealSSD C300: Honestly, I don't know much about Crucial and how they stack up against OCZ and Intel. Performance wise they seem to be in the middle. I guess you could call Crucial an Underdog, while I've heard good things about them, there hasn't been enough consumer reviews to really make a decision.

At one point I wanted to with a Intel G2, but I really want to make use of my SATA 6GB/s ports. I can comfortably spend around $300, and while I know Newegg has marked up the Intel 510s, if there truly the best product to go with, I'll grit my teeth and pay the mark up. I know I'm asking for a lot, I mean its just selfish to want both Reliability and Speed! But I do want to get as close to Paradise as possible. Admittedly a lot of Anand's review went over my head, I'm not as big an enthusiast as others, I just want the best rig I can manage for gaming, so I had to make best with the graphs he posted. I'd honestly be so much happier if he said "Gamers go with ____".

So if anyone can clarify exactly where he stands between the three that'd be awesome. Other than that I'd really like to know what you all think! You're essentially deciding for me, since I place the Anandtech Community in High Regard (Got help from quite a few of you in building my first Gaming PC 7 years ago.)

Edit: By the way, the games I tend to play/will play are Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Call of Duty, and a few other Shooters. I'm also looking into other MMOs. But I've heard the SW: TOR will be a very intense instance loading MMO, so a faster SSD will be crucial for me.

 

[nanaki333]

choosing right now, the intel is the best value since vertex 3 isn't even out. the intel and plextor SSDs are the only newer sata3 drives that don't have a bloated markup either.

 

[iRage]

Isn't the Vertex 3 coming out Mid March? I'll be building my computer April 1st, so Vertex 3 is an option for me.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Word of advice: always backup your important data from you boot (gaming) SSD drive like any config files, maps, whatever - just back it up.

EDIT: this is with ANY ssd drive

 

[nanaki333]

Isn't the Vertex 3 coming out Mid March? I'll be building my computer April 1st, so Vertex 3 is an option for me.

and intel G3 was supposed to be out last year, and then feb. radeon 6990 was supposed to be out last year, then this month. my point is, i wouldn't wait until it comes out. if it's out when you're ready, then go for it. if it's not, don't hold out.

 

[Arcadio]

nevermind...

 

[Castiel]

510 is grossly overpriced. What about a Corsair Force? Its what i run and is great

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ir%20Force

 

[iRage]

and intel G3 was supposed to be out last year, and then feb. radeon 6990 was supposed to be out last year, then this month. my point is, i wouldn't wait until it comes out. if it's out when you're ready, then go for it. if it's not, don't hold out.

True, there is always the chance that it won't be released on time, and if that is true, I'll most likely go with the Intel 510. But on the High Probability that it will be released as promised, I'd rather know what I'm getting into now, so that when I want to order them I won't be held up.

510 is grossly overpriced. What about a Corsair Force? Its what i run and is great

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ir%20Force

Currently, I'm looking into SATA IIIs only, otherwise I probably would have gone with Intel's X-25 G2 SSD.

I probably shouldn't have put that poll up, I was hoping more people would give their suggestions and reasons why they choose Intel, OCZ, or Crucial. Not just vote putting in there votes, but its better than nothing! :hmm:

 

[taltamir]

isn't the C300 the older model? the C400 is the latest I think.
And aren't the intel 510 and vertex 3 both only paper lunched? I can't find them in any stores. Besides, buying a brand new SSD without even waiting a month to catch reliability issues is madness (pot, kettle, black 😛... I bought my G2 the within 30 minutes of it going live... but I did correctly predict a massive price hike. I got it for 220 and it was over 300$ within a day and stayed that expensive for months).
I say wait for a month and see how things are settling down and then take another look at things; I don't see any reason to expect a sudden price hike, in fact that opposite, I expect the currently hiked up prices to come down.

 

[sticks435]

510's are for sale on newegg. If I was going with a SF-2000 drive, It would be the Corsair GT, or Intel if the rumor is true.

 

[Old Hippie]

I probably shouldn't have put that poll up, I was hoping more people would give their suggestions and reasons why they choose Intel, OCZ, or Crucial.

I doubt the poll makes a difference.

All computer forums are full of the same questions you are asking and it's being discussed to death.

The time you spent making the poll would have been better spent reading some of what has been written. :biggrin:

 

[Emulex]

ocz will do a switcheroo on you too. they are sleezball now.

 

[Old Hippie]

Shall their name be OCSleeze? :biggrin:

 

[iRage]

Well, I recently found the Intel 510 at $290, which is pretty much only a $10 markup. I really really want to go with the Vertex 3, but I'm so concerned with the crap they just pulled that I may take the performance decrease and go Intel 510.

One of the concerns I have besides SSD Failure from a OCZ Vertex 3 is the fact that with all the shit they just put customers through they can actually go out of business. Do you guys think this is possible? That they've gotten such bad publicity that they're profits fall far enough that they sell? If so what would happen to the warranty their SSDs have? Is this even possible for them or would Sandforce keep them afloat for years to come?