Kinsgston V+200 120gb vs Crucial M4

[rogigor]

Hi,

I'm about to buy an SSD and I have a tough decision. I have an opportunity to buy either Crucial M4 64Gb or Kingston V+200 120Gb in the same price.

Now I'm wondering which one should I choose. Kingston has good reviews but Crucial is usually recommended on forums. I don't really care about benchmarks - I'm changing my old HDD to SSD and I just want my System to boot faster, application to start faster and feel boost in overall performance. Which one would take in my place?

Here are some comparison charts and though there isn't a big difference in pcmark, there is in AS SSD test. But how do they present OS performance?

 

[Eeqmcsq]

Any current gen SSD will make your system feel "quicker" and more "responsive", because of their instantaneous access to data compared to an HDD. This also helps make your boot time faster and load apps faster.

Assuming these are your only 2 choices, the 1st question to consider: Is 64GB enough space for you? Are you close to using 64GB on your current HDD? If so, you should lean heavily towards the V+200.

The next thing to consider is reliability. I've heard a lot of recommendations about the Crucial M4, but I haven't heard anything (good or bad) about the V+200.

And as for speed, unless you use your HDD heavily such as doing a bunch of large file copies, I don't think you'll be able to subjectively tell the speed difference between any of the current gen SSDs. This is why I've started focusing more on checking the reviews and forums for reliability/horror stories instead of checking the speed charts. Any current gen SSD is "fast enough" for me. I want my SSD to not crash and disappear from the BIOS.

 

[rogigor]

Assuming these are your only 2 choices, the 1st question to consider: Is 64GB enough space for you? Are you close to using 64GB on your current HDD? If so, you should lean heavily towards the V+200.

Right now I have 50Gb for my OS partition and it's enough. With all the programs I need I still have 8Gbs free left.

The next thing to consider is reliability. I've heard a lot of recommendations about the Crucial M4, but I haven't heard anything (good or bad) about the V+200.

From what I've heard the SandForce Controller 2281 is actually very good and greatly improved when compared to the older versions.

And as for speed, unless you use your HDD heavily such as doing a bunch of large file copies, I don't think you'll be able to subjectively tell the speed difference between any of the current gen SSDs.

No I don't manage huge files or anything.

 

[zardthebuilder]

if you are considering Kingston, then you don't sound very picky about buying the best brands. can you deal with the hassle of returns and reinstalling? if yes, i would get the 120GB and not have to worry about reaching the 64GB limit. also, take a look at the rest of your computer. do you usually pay essentially double for a better brand for your other components?

are you aware of the hot deals forum? there are a lot of good deals out there.

http://forums.anandtech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

 

[rogigor]

if you are considering Kingston, then you don't sound very picky about buying the best brands. can you deal with the hassle of returns and reinstalling? if yes, i would get the 120GB and not have to worry about reaching the 64GB limit. also, take a look at the rest of your computer. do you usually pay essentially double for a better brand for your other components?

I'm buying the drive from where I work at so there won't be a problem with returning the drive. What is more I have 10 days to return it without any consequences so If the drive would turn out to be slow or anything I'll just get my money back. And I am not picky, but I do want to buy a good, reliable and fast drive that I'll be satified with. That's why I'm asking about real life performance and not benchmarks.

are you aware of the hot deals forum? there are a lot of good deals out there.http://forums.anandtech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Well I'm from Poland so I assume you don't have hot deals from my country

 

[MontyAC]

Can you get your hands on the higher end Kingston, the Hyper-X 3K? That should have much better performance.

 

[rogigor]

Can you get your hands on the higher end Kingston, the Hyper-X 3K? That should have much better performance.

Unfortunatelly no. If I had more money I would buy Crucial M4 128Gb. The thing is that I have specific amount of money to spend (this is max) and both drives are in the exact same price.

 

[MontyAC]

If you can hold off, wait until the M4 128gb goes on sale in your country.

 

[GoStumpy]

The V200 is a very reliable drive... I have not heard anything bad about them.. at all.

I currently run one, and my friend runs one in his, neither of us have had any problems in the year we've owned it.

Kingston is a pretty good brand IMHO.

 

[sequoia464]

I agree with Stumpy, get the Kingston.

I have a couple of M4's that I am very happy with, and a couple of 1st gen sandforces that I retired because of issues, but in choosing between a 64 GB M4 or the 120 GB V+200, I would take the 120 for the additional storage.

 

[bryanW1995]

I love my m4's, but if you can get double the storage on the kingston for the same price then I would absolutely buy that.

edit: or to put it another way, I agree with sequoia464!

 

[kbp]

Get the Kingston simply for the space. You do not want to fill an SSD much over 70-75%.

 

[Zap]

The V200 is a very reliable drive... I have not heard anything bad about them.. at all.

V200 and V+200 are very different drives. V200 actually had write issues, which can be predicted by the super low IOPS they published in the specs. V200 uses a Jmicron controller, while V+200 uses the Sandforce 2281. V+200 is superior in every way, which is probably why the V200 is discontinued and being sold off at fire sale prices. Still, V200 is better than a HDD.

in choosing between a 64 GB M4 or the 120 GB V+200, I would take the 120 for the additional storage.

:thumbsup: No brainer. Get the bigger drive.

 

[rogigor]

Thanks guys,

I'll go for the Kignston then. I'll probably buy the M4 (but 128Gb) too anyway, but later to have the kingston just for games, programs, etc.