Is this a good time to buy a SSD

[HURRIC4NE]

hi
i was thinking about upgrading to an SSD... not sure if i should get one now or wait just incase something newer is comming up soon.....

 

[Coup27]

There will always be something newer at some stage. SATA 6Gbps is here for at least the next 12 months. Expect something newer from Crucial within the next 12 months but as far as Intel and Samsung go, I expect the 520 and the 830 to be their flagship for a while yet.

If you live in the US, there's some crazy deals on m4's right now so I would get one of them. The 830 is very well priced in the UK right now.

So in answer to your question, absolutely!

 

[ericloewe]

The 830 is very well priced in the UK right now.

Can't be as well priced as 180€ for the 256GB model. A few weeks ago, Amazon.de had this pretty awesome price up for two or three days.

Essentially, keep looking for good deals on a regular basis and it might pay off.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Prices are the lowest they've ever been. No better time to upgrade to one.

 

[tweakboy]

Yes Crucial M4 512GB = $400 dollars.

Sammy 830 512GB = $700 dollars.


Is Sammy 830 300 dollars more cuz its better ?

How much was the M4 512GB at highest price...

Take that money save it, no diff between 830 or M4..... thx

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

Compared to 6 months ago SSD prices have dropped a lot. I paid $430 for a 240GB Kingston HyperX SSD. Now a 240GB drive can be had for sub $200. Crucial M4 512 for $399 is a steal compared to what I paid half a year ago. Good time for consumers who were eyeing $1/GB.

 

[MustangSVT]

yes. get a 128gb or higher ! such a deal.

 

[randomrogue]

Keep in mind that a 1TB HDD for $49 was still $0.05 per GB and 2TB drives were as low as $0.04/GB.

A dozen years ago we were happy when prices dropped below $1/GB.

So it's all relative.

 

[MacGyverSG1]

There will be new SSDs coming out this July/August. The problem is I would wait 3-6 months after they are released before even thinking about buying one. Let the firmware mature. That's why I just bought a Plextor M3P 256GB.

OCZ's Neutron GTX looks interesting. I'm not a OCZ fan (has nothing to do with Sandforce 2281 problems). Only time will tell.

 

[tweakboy]

How much are these new SSDs coming july august what mbps will they have ?

Im going to be getting the M4 512GB for 400 dollars, how much was this when it first came out,,, like 700 or so I bet.

 

[HURRIC4NE]

i think i should just wait for them to release new stuff,, right now im running on mechanical drives and so far its okay but not that good... (sata 2)

i think around the time Haswell is released, they might make something good (sata 4 woot woot!)

or if i upgrade now, i might be stuck with sata 3..

 

[TemjinGold]

i think i should just wait for them to release new stuff,, right now im running on mechanical drives and so far its okay but not that good... (sata 2)

i think around the time Haswell is released, they might make something good (sata 4 woot woot!)

or if i upgrade now, i might be stuck with sata 3..

I hear there's something amazing coming in 2025 too...

 

[taltamir]

There will always be something newer at some stage.

Yea, but he asked if its coming SOON.
As in "did you hear? next gen is being released in a week".

So basically, his real question is "if I chose to wait, how long will the wait be?"

 

[Revolution 11]

OP, there is no sense in waiting for "new features" since all SSDs feel fast enough. You should pick a price level for a certain amount of storage (mine is 256 GB for $90) and jump on the best deal when you see your conditions met.

 

[billyb0b]

Buy now. Of course prices may fall more in the future but you'll never end up purchasing if you keep waiting for a better price. The speed of going SSD is worth it.

I have a corsair force gt 120gb that i purchased in Dec 2011 for $140. The same drive now goes for $110-120. oh well

 

[biostud]

beside from lower prices I can't really see what more you could want from a SSD, especially if you just use it for regular computing.

 

[Revolution 11]

Buy now. Of course prices may fall more in the future but you'll never end up purchasing if you keep waiting for a better price. The speed of going SSD is worth it.

I have a corsair force gt 120gb that i purchased in Dec 2011 for $140. The same drive now goes for $110-120. oh well

What kind of reasoning is this? According to your logic, we should just go ahead and buy a supercomputer because it's faster.

The speed of SSDs has a certain worth, subjectively determined by the individual purchaser. Everyone has their own acceptable capacity constraint at a price they are ok with. Which is what I said.

The OP may not be ok with current price/capacity ratio. Or he may be. We don't know but he does. The smart way to purchase anything ever is to set a price and get the best performance (capacity in this case) or to set a desired performance level (capacity) and get the lowest price for it.

 

[zCypher]

It has been a good time to buy an SSD for quite a while! When I got my 120GB Vertex3 for $179 I was very pleased with that. Then I bought my 240GB Chronos Deluxe for $269, just as awesome. Consider this:

- Even if you purchased an older, smaller, slower, previous generation SSD the performance would obliterate that of your spindle drives.

- Go for at least a 120GB drive so you don't run out of space too quickly. 60GB and less will allow you to install OS, a few programs, maybe a game or two if you're lucky and it will be completely full.

- There's always something better around the corner.

- Difference in speed between current SSD vs the next one that will come out is going to be negligible compared to the difference in speed between your current HDD and an SSD.

- You could always trade up to a bigger and better SSD later on if you feel the need.

 

[Revolution 11]

A good time for SSD buying is subjective. For the Anandtech forum community, it is a great time to buy. For others, not a absolute truth. For cheapskates like me who need storage above all, SSDs are still too expensive. Many non-tech saavy people don't even know what SSDs are.

All I am saying is to not confuse or mix your tolerable price/performance (capacity) curves with those of other people. What seems like a good deal to you may be another person's dealbreaker and vice versa.

I didn't say to just wait and wait and wait for the next big thing around the corner. But establish your own price and performance/capacity tolerances and buy when those are met. OP, I hope you are still paying attention as I have repeated this point many times now.

zCypher, I am using performance as a term to indicate capabilities of the SSD. Whether that is read/write speed, NAND lifespan, storage capacity is up to the consumer to decide and judge on. For every product in the world, there are two factors: Price and Performance.

 

[taltamir]

OP, there is no sense in waiting for "new features" since all SSDs feel fast enough. You should pick a price level for a certain amount of storage (mine is 256 GB for $90) and jump on the best deal when you see your conditions met.

if next gen comes out VERY SOON then you betcha there is a sense in waiting.
Not only is it going to be faster and with better features, but prices on existing generation drives will be pushed even lower.

 

[Revolution 11]

Of course, I forget something. Ok taltamir, your post is the disclaimer section to my rant.

 

[taltamir]

No problem revolution. But yea, with the disclaimer your post is spot on.

So the question is... is there a new release just around the corner.
AFAIK no.

 

[ttechf]

Well, maybe it's just me, but what seems to be going on with SSDs is "tier price drop". What I mean is first 64GB was a big deal, now it's dirt cheap. Then 128GB got very popular, and now 128GB can he had very reasonable. My sister just bought a 128GB for $90 I believe. The next tier is 256GB, and we're seeing them go down right now. Next up is 512GB. It will take a while but it will come down as well. It's still in the $400 range but sooner or later, it'll be $250. And so on.

this seems to happen with quite a few things out there I've noticed. Maybe it's just me. lol.

 

[Magic Carpet]

hi
i was thinking about upgrading to an SSD... not sure if i should get one now or wait just incase something newer is comming up soon.....

Then, you don't need it. Get it when you need to replace a failed component or build another machine

 

[taltamir]

Well, maybe it's just me, but what seems to be going on with SSDs is "tier price drop". What I mean is first 64GB was a big deal, now it's dirt cheap. Then 128GB got very popular, and now 128GB can he had very reasonable. My sister just bought a 128GB for $90 I believe. The next tier is 256GB, and we're seeing them go down right now. Next up is 512GB. It will take a while but it will come down as well. It's still in the $400 range but sooner or later, it'll be $250. And so on.

this seems to happen with quite a few things out there I've noticed. Maybe it's just me. lol.

SSDs? Ins't that how ALL computer technology worked.