Need SSD Advice on Intel 320 vs 510

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JWatson

Junior Member
Apr 18, 2011
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I've been following anandtech reviews on SSD for over a year now and still haven't bitten on any of drives due to prices mostly.

So far I've narrowed my choices down to 2 drives:

Intel 320 120gb - $230 amazon
Intel 510 120gb - $285 amazon

I'm going for reliability at the moment, and intel seems to have the best. The big question I have is, will there be a real noticeable difference between the intel 320 vs 510. I haven't ever used a SSD, so i'm not exactly sure it's worth spending another $55. Is the real world performance big enough to justify the difference? $285 bucks just seems a little pricey if there is only meager increase of performance

I plan on getting an Intel i5-2500k ($200) with a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 ($175) which will support SATA III 6 GB/s. So I will have SATA III support should I get the 510.

Thanks for any input and advice! :D



PS:
I've also looked into OCZ Vertex 2 and 3 series and decided to avoid them like the plague, considering their high failure rate and/or buggy firmware with various sata controllers causing BSOD up the wazoo.

The m4 and C300 while attractive with the performance on paper they both seem to suffer from similar issues with firmware and compatibility leading to lots of freezing/stuttering and BSOD, as well as the significant slow down after a few weeks/month of usage, again related to firmware version. It wasn't for these cases, I probably would have gone with them already. If someone can convince me otherwise, I'm all ears
 
A

Anonemous

Diamond Member
May 19, 2003
7,361
1
71
I got the 510 as my first SSD drive. It's pretty fast for me. It's the performance drive but the 320 is also a good choice since it's plenty fast at SATA II. At those prices I would choose the $230 Intel 320. Or you can wait for a sale (got the 510 on Amazon for 224 after rebate which was cheaper than the 320).
 
Z

zuffy

Senior member
Feb 28, 2000
684
0
71
Not the same SSD but similar to your question. I went from an Intel X25-M 160GB G2 to a Crucial C300 256GB. Base on benchmark you see from Anandtech, it's much faster especially with a SATA III port. Translate it to the real world, I did not noticed. Even though seq write and read are much faster, it's not noticeable when I hibernate the laptop or resume from hibernation. It took just as long if not longer.
 
I

imaheadcase

Diamond Member
May 9, 2005
3,850
7
76
Get the most space you can afford. Does not matter what intel drive that is.

You won't notice a difference in real world use of the SSD anyways.
 
M

MrWheezy

Junior Member
Jun 6, 2011
13
0
0
Also it's worth noting that the Intel 320 carries a 5 year warranty vs the 510's three year warranty.

With such new technology that's prone to performance degradation/failing, I'd always look at the company/warranty.
 
R

reb0rn

Senior member
Dec 31, 2009
311
116
116
intel 320 is intel build controller, so if reliability is main reason go for it...
 
J

JWatson

Junior Member
Apr 18, 2011
11
0
66
@Anonemous
That was a great deal! I missed the 510 rebate date by a few days otherwise, it would have been a great buy.

@zuffy
That's what I thought. I just wanted to get something that's faster than a typical hard drive, but didn't know if the leap from one SSD to another was all that big. Thanks for your input!

@imaheadcase
Thanks for the advice! I was planning on just getting the 80GB Intel 320, but I figured I might as well get a bigger size if i want to play a few games and store more info.

@MrWheezy
I thought both carried the 5 year warrant. Good to know that they aren't the same!

@reb0rn
Yeah, that's another reason I wanted to go with the 320.


So I guess the answer is.....Intel 320 120gb!

Thanks for all the suggestions. You've all been very helpful :D
 
K

keyed

Senior member
Feb 21, 2001
478
0
71
Amazon has a $30 rebate on the 510 and a $25 rebate on the X25-M.

Intel 320 120gb - $225 - brown box
Intel 510 120gb - $253 AR - retail
Intel X25 120gb - $205 AR - retail

The 320 would also be a bit more expensive if you have to throw in a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket.
 
J

JWatson

Junior Member
Apr 18, 2011
11
0
66
keyed said:
Amazon has a $30 rebate on the 510 and a $25 rebate on the X25-M.

Intel 320 120gb - $225 - brown box
Intel 510 120gb - $253 AR - retail
Intel X25 120gb - $205 AR - retail

The 320 would also be a bit more expensive if you have to throw in a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket.
Click to expand...

Good eye!

Now that makes the decision even harder. Do I just want to get the X25 120gb for $205 AR, the 320 120gb for $225, or the Intel 510 for $253 AR..

Intel controller vs Marvell controller... and Better write speeds on 320 vs slower write speeds on X25...Darn you deals for making it difficult!

sequoia464 said:
Not certain, but the rebate I'm looking at for the 510 shows expired (order by 6/5). Am I missing something?

Amazon ...http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Click to expand...
Check again, it's up there now
 
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