OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB

[Shahmatt]

Hi guys, I'm looking to purchase the OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB SSD for use with my Z68 board using Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching).

I have three questions which I would really appreciate some help with.

1. I have a Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HDD, which is supposed to be one of the faster HDDs available right now. Would the Vertex Plus be significantly faster than this HDD? If not then do you advise I choose a faster SSD to improve on the HDD?

2. The few benchmarks on the net review the 128GB version of this SSD. I understand that the 64GB may be slower. Would the drop in performance on the lower capacity be significant?

3. The Vertex Plus is going for $108 in Singapore (where I live). The other options, price wise, are the Agility 3 64GB ($159) and the Crucial M4 64GB ($169). These are about 50% more in price and are not desirable. However the OCZ is currently unavailable over here so I may be forced to choose one of the above instead. Which would be the better candidate for use with SRT do you think?

Many thanks in advance for your help! 🙂

 

[VirtualLarry]

Crucial M4 is way better. Vertex Plus has reliability issues.

 

[Shahmatt]

Crucial M4 is way better. Vertex Plus has reliability issues.

The Vertex Plus new 3.50 firmware update seems to solve many of these reliability issues.

 

[fffblackmage]

1. I have a Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HDD, which is supposed to be one of the faster HDDs available right now. Would the Vertex Plus be significantly faster than this HDD? If not then do you advise I choose a faster SSD to improve on the HDD?

Even if sustained transfer speeds are only roughly equal to a HDD, the SSD will be waaaaay faster everywhere else - like handling many small files, handling multiple operations at the same time, and response times/latency.

2. The few benchmarks on the net review the 128GB version of this SSD. I understand that the 64GB may be slower. Would the drop in performance on the lower capacity be significant?

Possible, though it'll still be faster than a conventional HDD in many areas.

3. The Vertex Plus is going for $108 in Singapore (where I live). The other options, price wise, are the Agility 3 64GB ($159) and the Crucial M4 64GB ($169). These are about 50% more in price and are not desirable. However the OCZ is currently unavailable over here so I may be forced to choose one of the above instead. Which would be the better candidate for use with SRT do you think?

The M4 probably. If you're not willing to pay that much, the Vertex Plus should be good too. Having just a simple OCZ Agility as my OS drive made a huge difference, so I wouldn't be surprised if it would do the same as an SRT cache.

 

[Shahmatt]

The M4 probably. If you're not willing to pay that much, the Vertex Plus should be good too. Having just a simple OCZ Agility as my OS drive made a huge difference, so I wouldn't be surprised if it would do the same as an SRT cache.

Thanks for your response. Do you recommend the M4 over the Agility 3 based on performance or is reliability more of a concern?

 

[nanaki333]

the huge increase in IO will be like night and day once RST starts caching things.

i would recommend the M4 for reliability. SF is sometimes hit or miss and you have to constantly stay up to date with firmware. the vertex plus seems ok with the latest firmware, but the newer SF based drives.... sometimes their new firmwares fix things for others, but some people are left with the same issues.

 

[Shahmatt]

the huge increase in IO will be like night and day once RST starts caching things.

i would recommend the M4 for reliability. SF is sometimes hit or miss and you have to constantly stay up to date with firmware. the vertex plus seems ok with the latest firmware, but the newer SF based drives.... sometimes their new firmwares fix things for others, but some people are left with the same issues.

Right. Thanks for this info.

I've just spotted a Vertex 2 60GB for $159 as well as an Intel 320 40GB for $144 - both within an acceptable price range I guess. Is the M4 still the better option do you think? (though admittedly the Intel 320 capacity looks kinda lowly to me and I may not want it).

You've mentioned Intel RST. I'm not sure about this but isn't this different from SRT? Though I seem to come across the abbreviations used interchangeably in many places.

 

[Shahmatt]

You've mentioned Intel RST. I'm not sure about this but isn't this different from SRT? Though I seem to come across the abbreviations used interchangeably in many places.

Sorry, my bad. I've just read that SRT (Smart Response Technology) is a type of Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology). Talk about confusing! :s

 

[Elcs]

Not had a reliability issue with my 120Gb Vertex Plus.

I did suffer from some of the 'when you shut down and reboot, Windows needs to run checkdisk' issues but flashing to 3.50 it feels a hair faster and I have no quibbles with it at all.

Cannot say anything about the long term reliability of this drive but not many drives can be commented on in that regard.

It gets a thumbs up from me.

 

[Shahmatt]

Not had a reliability issue with my 120Gb Vertex Plus.

I did suffer from some of the 'when you shut down and reboot, Windows needs to run checkdisk' issues but flashing to 3.50 it feels a hair faster and I have no quibbles with it at all.

Cannot say anything about the long term reliability of this drive but not many drives can be commented on in that regard.

It gets a thumbs up from me.

Thanks for the recommendation. You give me more confidence.

It's a pity that the Vertex Plus is unavailable at the moment where I am. I'm hoping that new stock comes in soon.

The Crucial M4, though within reach of my price range, sadly does not come with a 2.5" adapter. The adapter pushes it's price just out of range. :-/

The Agility 3 seems to have got a new firmware update just the other day, which solves the BSOD problem. Hmmm! Food for thought!

It looks like I may have to wait a little longer and see how things develop. If the Vertex Plus comes into stock I will buy. If the Agility 3 gets good reviews in the OCZ forums after the new update I will buy. If my investments in the stock market do well then I shall go with the M4! 😎

 

[moriz]

i have the 60GB vertex plus in my HTPC. it does give you the benefits of fast bootup and instant access like all other SSDs, but its sequential write routinely gets beaten by my 2TB barracuda green. it's probably one of the slowest SSDs on the market right now, though its price makes it a very good choice for SFF and HTPC.

 

[fffblackmage]

The Crucial M4, though within reach of my price range, sadly does not come with a 2.5" adapter. The adapter pushes it's price just out of range. :-/

You can just install the SSD without an adapter. 😉

Seriously, I just have my SSD sitting at the bottom of my case. If you move your case around often, you can try taping it down.

 

[Shahmatt]

You can just install the SSD without an adapter. 😉

Seriously, I just have my SSD sitting at the bottom of my case. If you move your case around often, you can try taping it down.

Yes. This did cross my mind. Not the most elegant solution though. 😀

Alright, I'll place it in the running again. Make a decision by this week on this.

 

[Shahmatt]

i have the 60GB vertex plus in my HTPC. it does give you the benefits of fast bootup and instant access like all other SSDs, but its sequential write routinely gets beaten by my 2TB barracuda green. it's probably one of the slowest SSDs on the market right now, though its price makes it a very good choice for SFF and HTPC.

I read somewhere (trying to source again) that SRT caches the smaller files and tends to avoid larger files that require sequential access.

If this is true then wouldn't SRT bring out the best of both worlds between a SSD and HDD?

 

[groberts101]

it can be contorted or skewed in any way that fits the perspective of the end user.. but the fact is that SRT is only a bridge to span the gap between SSD and HDD performance.

The speed tier is always going to be..
SSD
HDD with SSD caching
HDD

Never will HDD with SSD caching have any performance gain above SSD only. Money saved and higher system drive capacity.. but never performance.

 

[Avalon]

Been using a 60GB Vertex Plus in my wife's laptop for the past month without any issue, although admittedly I don't know what firmware it's running. It was very cheap and it feels very fast.

If you can't get it, I'd probably go with the M4.

 

[Shahmatt]

it can be contorted or skewed in any way that fits the perspective of the end user.. but the fact is that SRT is only a bridge to span the gap between SSD and HDD performance.

The speed tier is always going to be..
SSD
HDD with SSD caching
HDD

Never will HDD with SSD caching have any performance gain above SSD only. Money saved and higher system drive capacity.. but never performance.

This is true. You can't get pure SSD speeds. However I think the benefit of SRT is that it gives the end user the illusion of almost SSD speeds for an entire HDD. The benefit will be most obvious to those users of regular habit, which most of us tend to be.

Consider the tasks the typical user may run through on switching on the computer. For example, this may look like: load windows, antivirus/spyware etc., load web browser, do some photo editing, watch funny downloaded video clip, play next level of game.

Of the above most are likely to be repeat tasks and will hence open at SSD speeds. The exceptions may be the *opening* component of the video clip and photos, since these would be first time accesses.

Even the game level loading will happen at SSD speeds since game rendering engines are the same throughout the game for most levels - only the level specific files will open at HDD speeds.

Also consider that the end user only manages the HDD since the SSD is invisible to the user. No data management between the SSD and HDD is required. This is a lot more convenient IMO.

SRT seems to be a little misinterpreted and looked at in the wrong way. I think this is not a matter of if you have enough SSD capacity just don't bother. SRT simply allows the average user to accelerate their HDD performance through the addition of a cache. It should not be compared heavily to SSD only solutions since the intended outcomes are different.

 

[Shahmatt]

Hi guys,

I've received an offer for a second hand Samsung MMCRE64G5MXP 64GB Sata II drive

The man has attached the following screenshots with his email. I'm not really sure what to look out for. Does the 96% health mean the drive is dying?

 

[Zap]

1. I have a Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HDD, which is supposed to be one of the faster HDDs available right now. Would the Vertex Plus be significantly faster than this HDD? If not then do you advise I choose a faster SSD to improve on the HDD?

2. The few benchmarks on the net review the 128GB version of this SSD. I understand that the 64GB may be slower. Would the drop in performance on the lower capacity be significant?

3. The Vertex Plus is going for $108 in Singapore (where I live). The other options, price wise, are the Agility 3 64GB ($159) and the Crucial M4 64GB ($169). These are about 50% more in price and are not desirable. However the OCZ is currently unavailable over here so I may be forced to choose one of the above instead. Which would be the better candidate for use with SRT do you think?

1. Yes, the SSD will be significantly faster than the HDD, when used as a normal drive.

2. It might be. What do the published numbers say?

3. I'd actually vote for any of the SandForce drives. The Agility 3 is a SandForce 2200. Are there any SandForce 1200 drives available to you? They might be cheaper. The Vertex Plus is an Indilinx drive. Just be aware that many people are not happy right now with SandForce and with OCZ.