Any Vertex 4 owners?

[PCTC2]

PCTC2 - You said your X-25M is still your most reliable, which I'm guessing implies the Vertex 4 had at least some reliability issues? Can you elaborate?

I've had my X-25M for years now. It's been great. I haven't had any issues with the Vertex 4, but I have had issues with a plethora of drives (a Vertex 2, an Agility 3, a Crucial M4, and a MC G2). Mostly weren't issues with firmware or controller. The SF-based ones just up and died. The Crucial M4 had firmware issues that have since been resolved.

 

[jwilliams4200]

Ahh... is this out yet? And are there any reviews for it?

The Plextor M5P is only available in Japan at the moment (or Worldwide ebay vendors at high prices). It should be more widely available in late September. If you cannot wait for that, the Plextor M3P is also very good and available widely now.

Here is Plextor's own information on the M5P:

http://www.goplextor.com/asia/index.php/ssd/m5-pro

Here are some independent Plextor M5P reviews:

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/3028/plextor-m5-pro-128gb-review-fastest-ssd-currently-around

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/48...px_256m5p_solid_state_drive_review/index.html

http://www.expreview.com/20640-all.html

 

[TemjinGold]

Ahh thanks for the info. I can wait.

 

[B-Riz]

After putting the old SSD image on the new V4, Windows 7 had a sleep bug.

It would start to power down, but bounce right back into full power.

This came to head and killed my XFX 750 80+ Silver on Saturday night.

With that, I figured re-installing Win7 *should* fix it.

I followed this guide to make and run a USB key Win7 SP1; which is like the old repair install of XP. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

After the repair and mega windows update patching, I put it to sleep and it worked!

So the lesson here is repair Win7 after an image restore, so it does not kill your expensive PSU. (5 yr warranty though, thank goodness)

 

[VirtualLarry]

After putting the old SSD image on the new V4, Windows 7 had a sleep bug.

It would start to power down, but bounce right back into full power.

This came to head and killed my XFX 750 80+ Silver on Saturday night.

So the lesson here is repair Win7 after an image restore, so it does not kill your expensive PSU. (5 yr warranty though, thank goodness)

I don't see how that could kill your PSU. It must have already been slightly defective.

 

[B-Riz]

I don't see how that could kill your PSU. It must have already been slightly defective.

Eh, I dunno either, random chance; the fates decided the PSU should be no more. Was prolly a sketchy power strip or a power surge...

It worked great for 2 years!

 

[StarTech]

As the Vertex 4 is NOT Sandforce, I am curious if anyone has one and how their experience has been. If it's a great drive, I'd really like to give one a shot. Thanks!

I have noticed reading the whole thread that you are no longer so keen to get the Vertex 4 and now you are waiting for a PLEXTOR to become available. Did specific answers make you believe the VERTEX 4 is not a great drive? Just curious.

 

[TemjinGold]

I was actually waiting because I wanted to see if the Plextor would be better (since it's new.) From early reviews though, it seems disappointing because it loses to the V4 and is WAY more expensive...

 

[jwilliams4200]

The Vertex 4 also "loses to" the Plextor M5P in some benchmarks. They both win some and lose some. Overall, the performance in empty-drive best-case benchmarks is fairly close.

But once you fill the drives with data, the Plextor M5P will have much more consistent and predictable performance than the Vertex 4. The V4 performance will have huge drops at random times.

 

[hawtdawg]

I got a 256 gig one today. Far too early to know anything about it really. Had no issues putting Windows on it or anything, which is more than I can say for the Vertex + I got several months ago, though once they updated the firmware for it it was fine, so i figured I'd try a Vertex 4 since they seem to have done all of the firmware updating they're going to do. 190 bucks seems like a pretty good deal for one of the fastest ssd drives assuming i dont have any issues with it. Time will tell!

 

[TemjinGold]

The Vertex 4 also "loses to" the Plextor M5P in some benchmarks. They both win some and lose some. Overall, the performance in empty-drive best-case benchmarks is fairly close.

But once you fill the drives with data, the Plextor M5P will have much more consistent and predictable performance than the Vertex 4. The V4 performance will have huge drops at random times.

This is true. However, the M5P costs nearly double in some cases and for that kind of premium, I expected it to obliterate the Vertex 4, not trade blows. If they were the same price or even a similar price, I'd grab the M5P without a second thought. But it's not worth the premium.

 

[jwilliams4200]

The Plextor M5P is not selling anywhere in North America, so it is premature to comment on the street price at this time. When the M5P is widely available and the price has settled, I expect it will be more expensive than the Vertex 4, but certainly not double the price.

As for what it is worth, many people are more concerned about quality and dependability than about a few points of empty-drive benchmark performance. But for those who don't care about quality and dependability, well, those are the type of people who OCZ's marketing targets.

 

[Daedalus685]

ncix has the 128gb M5P in stock currently. @50CD more than the vertex 4 (109 compared to 159). I can't make up my mind that's for sure...

 

[jwilliams4200]

ncix has the 128gb M5P in stock currently. @50CD more than the vertex 4 (109 compared to 159). I can't make up my mind that's for sure...

Thanks for the heads up. I see that they don't have any stock on the 256GB or 512GB, only the 128GB. That is the only store I have seen outside of Japan that has any M5Ps in stock.

 

[Baasha]

I have 8x Vertex 4 in a RAID-0 array on the LSI 2308 adapter on my motherboard, the ASRock X79 Extreme11.

I'm happy:

 

[TemjinGold]

The Plextor M5P is not selling anywhere in North America, so it is premature to comment on the street price at this time. When the M5P is widely available and the price has settled, I expect it will be more expensive than the Vertex 4, but certainly not double the price.

As for what it is worth, many people are more concerned about quality and dependability than about a few points of empty-drive benchmark performance. But for those who don't care about quality and dependability, well, those are the type of people who OCZ's marketing targets.

I am well-aware of this and am quite well-informed about SSDs in general. My point is that OCZ's bad rap may be from Vertex 1-3 and the like due to Sandforce. The Vertex 4 should not be unfairly lumped in because it is NOT a Sandforce drive just like the Intel Sandforce drives should not be lumped in with the G2 (which I have and love.)

 

[StarTech]

I am well-aware of this and am quite well-informed about SSDs in general. My point is that OCZ's bad rap may be from Vertex 1-3 and the like due to Sandforce. The Vertex 4 should not be unfairly lumped in because it is NOT a Sandforce drive just like the Intel Sandforce drives should not be lumped in with the G2 (which I have and love.)

Agreed, it is a different technology. On the other hand, what is your take on the comment above about random drops of performance as the drive gets full?
That is a warning flag for me.

 

[jwilliams4200]

My point is that OCZ's bad rap may be from Vertex 1-3 and the like due to Sandforce. The Vertex 4 should not be unfairly lumped in because it is NOT a Sandforce drive

But the Vertex 4 should be "lumped in" with OCZ drives, since it IS an OCZ drive, and OCZ has a long history of terrible quality and deceptive business practices. It is definitely not just a result of OCZ selling Sandforce SSDs.

 

[Coup27]

I have 8x Vertex 4 in a RAID-0 array on the LSI 2308 adapter on my motherboard, the ASRock X79 Extreme11.

I'm happy:

No offense, but I think this is pretty pointless. I just had 2 x 830's in RAID0 and like your benchmark there, my random 4k reads were no different than that of a single drive. With 4k reads being largely responsible for making an OS feel snappy, I don't see the point. If you take into account booting the RAID controller (I used my Z68 RAID) I actually thought my overall experience of 2x SSD in RAID0 was slower in real world usage than a single drive.

 

[Arachnotronic]

So the Vertex 4 seems to seriously top the charts in performance. I know a lot of people say you can't tell but I remember when I had my G2 side by side with a Vertex 2, I could definitely tell. Anyway, this post isn't about arguing whether you can or can't.

As the Vertex 4 is NOT Sandforce, I am curious if anyone has one and how their experience has been. If it's a great drive, I'd really like to give one a shot. Thanks!

I love my Vertex 4.

 

[TemjinGold]

But the Vertex 4 should be "lumped in" with OCZ drives, since it IS an OCZ drive, and OCZ has a long history of terrible quality and deceptive business practices. It is definitely not just a result of OCZ selling Sandforce SSDs.

We'll agree to disagree here. I am trying to be more fair with things and will give them a chance because it's different. If you want to condemn everything they ever produce based on a bad past, that's fine. What I'm saying is, I don't need you to tell me why you hate them because I am well aware of all of that. I am choosing to explore giving the V4s a chance despite this, so your hate doesn't help.

 

[jwilliams4200]

What I'm saying is, I don't need you to tell me why you hate them because I am well aware of all of that. I am choosing to explore giving the V4s a chance despite this, so your hate doesn't help.

You are mistaken. I never said that I hate OCZ. That would be irrational. OCZ is a corporation, not a personal friend or enemy.

It is too bad that you are incapable of following a logical argument without bringing emotions into it. But your posts are revealing. I can see that you fall perfectly into the target demographic for OCZ's marketing. My condolences.

 

[TemjinGold]

Whatever, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings because I choose to look past OCZ's past IF this drive is actually better.

Look, there's no reason to get upset. I started a thread because I suspect that the Vertex 4 is different because it's a different breed. My thread was solely interested in soliciting actual user experiences. When someone suggested I look at the M5P, I did genuinely consider it and acknowledge Plextor has a better rep than OCZ. But at their insane premiums street to street, they aren't worth it. If they end up like $10-$20 more for the same size, I will still consider them. At the listed premiums I doubt that will happen.

I'm trying to say the Vertex 4 might be a killer deal because their prices reflect OCZ's bad rap. I'm not convinced they are good, which is why I'm am exploring right now. You are pretty set on "because they had a bad history, anything they put out should be lumped together." I'm simply trying to be open minded.

I am well aware that most people on the net think OCZ = crap. That's why I said you coming in to reiterate that as if to educate me on something I didn't know isn't helping because it is common knowledge. I am interested in what is sadly NOT common knowledge--how have Vertex 4 owners ACTUALLY found their experience.

You apparently can't seem to understand that and your attempt at insulting me is wasted because I really couldn't care less. Once again, I only care about actual experiences people have had with the thing, NOT the "oh it must be crap because OCZ puts out crap and I wouldn't touch any of their stuff with a pole." I can get that "fact" anywhere I turn on the net. And so far, from the responses on this thread, I'm not as inclined to believe the Vertex 4 specifically is crap.

 

[TemjinGold]

Agreed, it is a different technology. On the other hand, what is your take on the comment above about random drops of performance as the drive gets full?
That is a warning flag for me.

It's concerning definitely. I've been trying to research that as well and the closest I found was that below 50% use, the drive behaves like SLC, while above it behaves like MLC. From what I can gather, the drive is tricked into thinking it's something else when usage is low. Definitely something I will factor in if I try these drives (would need to guarantee less than 50% usage for it to be worth it then.) But until I find out more, I won't pass judgment either way just yet.

 

[jwilliams4200]

You are mistaken. I did not insult you and I am not upset. I do think it is a weakness that you are apparently incapable of following a logical argument without bringing your emotions into it. That is not an insult, by the way. Just an observation. Constructive criticism, if you prefer.