What's the most reliable 120gb ssd for the price?

[dpk33]

it's not going to be used as a boot drive. it will be used to store games and other applications and such. It has to be cheap and reliable. Speed is the lowest priority, since anything that writes/reads faster than HDDs are a major plus for me.

 

[corkyg]

By that criteria, I would look at a 500GB hybrid.

 

[thescreensavers]

^ +1

 

[dpk33]

What are some good hybrids? And this drive will solely be used for games and some apps, so I don't really need 500gb. I need something like 90-120gb. The faster, cheaper and more reliable it is, the better.

 

[Athadeus]

You don't save much money by going slower with SSDs. The slower ones are based on older process (40nm?), which is also more expensive to make. Either get a fast, reliable, and reasonably priced Crucial M4 128GB, or just get a HDD.

I thought the Seagate Momentus XT was the only good hybrid drive still. Anyways, hybrid is almost never the best solution except for single drive laptops.

What system is it going to be used in?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Crucial M4 128GB or Intel 320 120GB. As of now they seem to be just as reliable, but the M4 is much faster and has comparable pricing. The newest firmware for the M4 gives it 20% higher sequential read/write speeds than the launch ones, putting it in the same range as the fastest SATA 6Gbps SSDs. It's only $5 more, a lot quicker, and just as reliable. Why the heck not? 🙂

Another contender I'd look at is the Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB if you can find a deal for $100-120. It's also very reliable, and a bit slower than the 320 120GB. It also has lower capacity, but if you can get it at those prices it'd fit perfectly with your two most important needs: price and reliability.

 

[dpk33]

You don't save much money by going slower with SSDs. The slower ones are based on older process (40nm?), which is also more expensive to make. Either get a fast, reliable, and reasonably priced Crucial M4 128GB, or just get a HDD.

I thought the Seagate Momentus XT was the only good hybrid drive still. Anyways, hybrid is almost never the best solution except for single drive laptops.

What system is it going to be used in?

I don't know... I've seen some 120gb drives around $130-$140 (OCZ Vertex Plus, Adata S510, Corsair Force Series 3), while the Crucial M4 and Intel 320 are around $200. It will be used in a system with an Intel x25 ssd (or something like that) for a boot drive and a 500gb HDD for everything else.

Crucial M4 128GB or Intel 320 120GB. As of now they seem to be just as reliable, but the M4 is much faster and has comparable pricing. The newest firmware for the M4 gives it 20% higher sequential read/write speeds than the launch ones, putting it in the same range as the fastest SATA 6Gbps SSDs. It's only $5 more, a lot quicker, and just as reliable. Why the heck not? 🙂

Another contender I'd look at is the Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB if you can find a deal for $100-120. It's also very reliable, and a bit slower than the 320 120GB. It also has lower capacity, but if you can get it at those prices it'd fit perfectly with your two most important needs: price and reliability.

I can't really find that Kingston drive anywhere, besides Newegg. Buying it off the internet isn't really an option for me.

 

[Itchrelief]

I can't really find that Kingston drive anywhere, besides Newegg. Buying it off the internet isn't really an option for me.

Tends to be put up for semidecent prices at Fry's every now and then after rebate. Usually it's the non plus version but you might luck out.

 

[Athadeus]

OMG no internet shopping?!

The OCZ Vertex Plus does not meet your reliability requirement.

What is your MB?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I don't know... I've seen some 120gb drives around $130-$140 (OCZ Vertex Plus, Adata S510, Corsair Force Series 3), while the Crucial M4 and Intel 320 are around $200. It will be used in a system with an Intel x25 ssd (or something like that) for a boot drive and a 500gb HDD for everything else.



I can't really find that Kingston drive anywhere, besides Newegg. Buying it off the internet isn't really an option for me.

Those cheap drives you mention have a lot lower reliability. If you want reliability first and foremost you should've already forgotten about SandForce in general and OCZ in particular. For a reliable system with a 120GB SSD and a good price your only real choices are the Crucial M4 and the Intel 320. With the M4 you also have the benefit of very high performance.

Forget the SSDNow V+100, then. It's a great drive for your main criteria, but really only worth it for the 96GB version at $100-120.

 

[dpk33]

Those cheap drives you mention have a lot lower reliability. If you want reliability first and foremost you should've already forgotten about SandForce in general and OCZ in particular. For a reliable system with a 120GB SSD and a good price your only real choices are the Crucial M4 and the Intel 320. With the M4 you also have the benefit of very high performance.

Forget the SSDNow V+100, then. It's a great drive for your main criteria, but really only worth it for the 96GB version at $100-120.

I guess I'll try to find the SSDNow V+100 or the M4 drive then. The Intel one is kind of expensive. What's wrong with SandForce?

OMG no internet shopping?!

The OCZ Vertex Plus does not meet your reliability requirement.

What is your MB?

My mobo is the Gigabyte 790FXT-UD5P. It will be upraded soon to a Z68/P67 board.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I guess I'll try to find the SSDNow V+100 or the M4 drive then. The Intel one is kind of expensive. What's wrong with SandForce?



My mobo is the Gigabyte 790FXT-UD5P. It will be upraded soon to a Z68/P67 board.

If we're on the topic of reliability, the question is "What isn't wrong with SandForce?"

SandForce 3 in particular has many problems with BSODs and not being recognized by motherboards, even if AHCI mode is enabled. It also has problems with premature failure. Overall, for reliability, not a very good bet. The OCZ Vertex Plus series is the worst SSD to have been released in terms of reliability on the market. Don't even consider it; it's plagued with problems.

On the topic of reliability I also forgot to bring up Samsung. Their reliability has been extremely strong as of now, and their new drives are very fast. You can only find the older 470 series in most places, but it's overall a bit faster than the 320 and very reliable, too. Its price/performance isn't very good, though, so in the criteria of "cheap" it's not that great.

 

[dpk33]

If we're on the topic of reliability, the question is "What isn't wrong with SandForce?"

SandForce 3 in particular has many problems with BSODs and not being recognized by motherboards, even if AHCI mode is enabled. It also has problems with premature failure. Overall, for reliability, not a very good bet. The OCZ Vertex Plus series is the worst SSD to have been released in terms of reliability on the market. Don't even consider it; it's plagued with problems.

On the topic of reliability I also forgot to bring up Samsung. Their reliability has been extremely strong as of now, and their new drives are very fast. You can only find the older 470 series in most places, but it's overall a bit faster than the 320 and very reliable, too. Its price/performance isn't very good, though, so in the criteria of "cheap" it's not that great.

Even if it isn't used for a boot drive? Just for storing games.

 

[corkyg]

The smallest Momentus XT is 320GB. It is being discontued at Newegg. The 500 GB is $119+. There are still some 320s available - this is a good buy. I have two of them.

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19912...te_hybrid_drive_84_99_shipped_free/index.html

 

[Athadeus]

Even if it isn't used for a boot drive? Just for storing games.

I was going to suggest that you might consider Sandforce against the consensus of the forums if you had a non-OC Intel platform. In that scenario, your chance of having problems is quite low. However with AMD motherboard and SATA controller, you would have a high chance of problems.

I like the Samsung recommendation now, I totally forgot about those too. Or just get a HDD still and put only your most played games/ones that thrash hard while loading on the Intel SSD.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Even if it isn't used for a boot drive? Just for storing games.

It'll still have more problems than the others. I'd recommend you stick with those I mentioned earlier, with the Crucial M4 being hands down the best choice overall for what you want to do.

OCZ is cheaper, but there's a reason for it. It may have great speed, but its reliability is way under what you'd get with Crucial, Intel, Kingston, and Samsung. If you're looking for a reliable drive you should've had them off your list for a while now. It's not worth the risk, IMO.

 

[dpk33]

It'll still have more problems than the others. I'd recommend you stick with those I mentioned earlier, with the Crucial M4 being hands down the best choice overall for what you want to do.

OCZ is cheaper, but there's a reason for it. It may have great speed, but its reliability is way under what you'd get with Crucial, Intel, Kingston, and Samsung. If you're looking for a reliable drive you should've had them off your list for a while now. It's not worth the risk, IMO.

Alright. Does this mean ALL SSDs from Crucial, Intel, Samsung and Kingston are good, or just the few that were mentioned? If so, I will be going with the cheapest one that fits my capacity needs.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Alright. Does this mean ALL SSDs from Crucial, Intel, Samsung and Kingston are good, or just the few that were mentioned? If so, I will be going with the cheapest one that fits my capacity needs.

The Crucial RealSSD C300 was very reliable too, with only a few problems that were fixed with firmware updates. The Samsung 470 is the first retail consumer SSD Samsung has launched, and its had no problems. We don't know about the Samsung 830, but you can't buy one in any mayor store. Kingston has had the V100 and V+100 series out, and while they're not the fastest, they've also shown great reliability. Intel's X25 series was bulletproof, and their 320 series has been great aside from that 8MB bug that's been fixed with a firmware update. So yes, everything they have for consumers has shown great reliability. Take your pick. 🙂