Considering getting SSD(s)

[VulgarDisplay]

This is starting to become a personal attack. My point was only ever about improvement level. I never one made a point about access times or latency. I do question random reads when dealing with properly defragged discs. But again its not about whether it was an improvement but whether its an efficient and cost effective upgrade considering the limitation of the controller. But i guess SSDs are the new "IT" devise and people on a tech forum cant have intelligent conversations about technology if someone even suggests it might not be the best upgrade in this one use case.

As for the OP gratz on your decision. Hope you enjoy it.

SSD's are the best upgrade you can get though. Anyone who says otherwise either hasn't experienced one or did not install their correctly.

I just got the Samsumg 830 256gb, and the difference was night and day coming from my shortstroked WD black raid 0. My old raid 0 had 7ms seek times, and plenty of read write speed, but this 256gb SSD is still giving me much better performance. It's ridiculous how fast this drive is, and I can't go back now after using one.

Need to buy one for my laptop now.

 

[Cerb]

I'll probably spring for the 256 then! Thanks

If it's that or RAID 0, don't even consider RAID 0. 500+MB/s sequential reads won't help most application performance, and if the data state gets out of whack, the non-RAID volume can just use chkdsk and be done with it.

 

[kbp]

...A good bit of info on II vs III

So, here's the thing. Yes, there are clear cases, particularly if you're a power user, where owning a [COLOR=blue !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=blue !important][FONT=inherit !important]motherboard[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] with 6 Gb/s is going to allow your 6 Gb/s-capable SSD to shine. However, if a friend were to ask us if he should hold off on an SSD purchase until he could upgrade his old Core 2 machine to something newer with 6 Gb/s connectivity, we'd say no. For someone using a hard drive today, a fast SSD (even one artificially hobbled by a 3 Gb/s port) will yield massive and immediate gains in nearly every aspect of computing.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,3110-8.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,3110.html

 

[icanhascpu2]

This is starting to become a personal attack. My point was only ever about improvement level. I never one made a point about access times or latency. I do question random reads when dealing with properly defragged discs. But again its not about whether it was an improvement but whether its an efficient and cost effective upgrade considering the limitation of the controller. But i guess SSDs are the new "IT" devise and people on a tech forum cant have intelligent conversations about technology if someone even suggests it might not be the best upgrade in this one use case.

As for the OP gratz on your decision. Hope you enjoy it.

'It' is the new 'it' because 'it' is a better technology in almost every way, and in the few ways 'it' is not, 'it' is quickly overtaking the HDD market. The controller is fine you are reeaalllly reaching now, this isn't gen1 of SSDs anymore. Nothing you've said you really backed up with anything and the rest of us are going by what a little review website called Anandtech.com is telling us with years of detailed research and review. You talk a lot for someone who was 'done'. As for a 'personal attack', you are quite the dramatic one.

Not sure on that. My WD Blue 1TB has 512GB stored on it. Going on the assumption that it began life on the outer edge and worked generally inwards that would put it half way.

I'm not defending HDDs, I am in agreement with you. Topweasel has totally overlooked the access time and random reads and writes being the biggest benefit of an SSD and got lost somewhere in a game of top trumps on sequentials. Plus it would take an array of totally impractical proportions to match a single SSD on access time and randoms.

I think your drive is above average in terms of most. Most drives I've seen are averaging 90-110. http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=511&pgno=4

 

[Topweasel]

'It' is the new 'it' because 'it' is a better technology in almost every way, and in the few ways 'it' is not, 'it' is quickly overtaking the HDD market. The controller is fine you are reeaalllly reaching now, this isn't gen1 of SSDs anymore. Nothing you've said you really backed up with anything and the rest of us are going by what a little review website called Anandtech.com is telling us with years of detailed research and review. You talk a lot for someone who was 'done'. As for a 'personal attack', you are quite the dramatic one.




I think your drive is above average in terms of most. Most drives I've seen are averaging 90-110. http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=511&pgno=4

Catch me once saying an ssd wasn't a good option. I never did. I recognize that it is a good option for lots of people. For lots of reason. The only real question i raised is it worth it considering his current configuration. That is it. Now i am being told that i am disseminating innacurate information and called a "fuckin liar". For what it is worth, my only question was, was it worth it. From that point it became only retards would question the power of an ssd.

I was done helping the op. Not defending myself.

 

[stuckinasquare3]

I have a bestbuy gift card so I was looking at some of there drives:
Patriot pyro 240gb
Corsair force gt 240gb
Corsair force 3 240gb
Intel 520 240gb

I've read some reviews on the 520 so I know this one is good but what should I look for to separate these? Also 240 seems like a strange size. Why not 256?

 

[Cerb]

I have a bestbuy gift card so I was looking at some of there drives:
Patriot pyro 240gb
Corsair force gt 240gb
Corsair force 3 240gb
Intel 520 240gb

Any reason you're not considering Crucial or Samsung? I'd be surprised if you can't use a gift card online.

I've read some reviews on the 520 so I know this one is good but what should I look for to separate these? Also 240 seems like a strange size. Why not 256?

Wear-leveling in black box hardware requires additional space on the flash than what you can use. Some drives and firmwares need more reserved space than others, to keep good wear and performance over time.

 

[F1shF4t]

Also 240 seems like a strange size. Why not 256?

SSDs of that capacity do have 256GiB (binary) NAND.

Drives like the Crucial M4 have 256GB (decimal) usable capacity, which ends up being around 238GiB formatted. The difference (256GiB - 238GiB) is used for overprovisioning.

Sandforce SSDs on the other hand (at 240GB capacities, 223 GiB formatted) use some NAND for RAISE and/or extra for overprovisioning leaving only 240GiB. They have 240GB usable capacity and you have the normal GB to GiB conversion giving you more overprovisioning space (240GiB - 223GiB). Same applies for 120GB models but for them you have to choose either RAISE or extra overprovisioning.

I'm not sure if RAISE is enabled on any Intel 520 SSDs. Tom's Hardware review mentions that the 240GB model has it enabled but I haven't been able to find any other source to confirm this.

 

[stuckinasquare3]

Any reason you're not considering Crucial or Samsung? I'd be surprised if you can't use a gift card online.
Wear-leveling in black box hardware requires additional space on the flash than what you can use. Some drives and firmwares need more reserved space than others, to keep good wear and performance over time.

Best buy doesn't sell crucial or Samsung in their stores unfortunately. Would you recommend any of the other drives? I've seen that the intel one has out scored the crucial m4 in some benchmarks that I've looked at

 

[Topweasel]

Best buy doesn't sell crucial or Samsung in their stores unfortunately. Would you recommend any of the other drives? I've seen that the intel one has out scored the crucial m4 in some benchmarks that I've looked at

The problem with the 520 is that while Intel unlike SF drives uses their own firmware. There are just to many bugs and so long between fixes for SF drives. Most people that deal with support in their lives will tell you its not worth the headaches for that last bit of performance.

But best buy does sell the M4, just not in store. You can still use any gift cards.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Crucial+...&skuId=3766503

 

[stuckinasquare3]

Best buy does sell the M4, just not in store. You can still use any gift cards.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Crucial+...&skuId=3766503

Best Buy "sells" the M4 as a "market place item". It's actually sold by Buy.com and won't let me use Best Buy gift cards.

From the Best Buy website:

Marketplace Sellers have been approved to participate in Best Buy Marketplace. Sellers offer hundreds of additional product choices to meet your online shopping needs.

Marketplace items are only available online and shipped directly from the Seller to you.
Sellers take care of the shipping, returns and customer service questions regarding your order.
Marketplace items can be purchased using most forms of payment, excluding PayPal, promotional codes, Best Buy gift cards and Pitch In™Cards.

 

[stuckinasquare3]

I'm sure I can find other uses for my best buy gift card though if I really should be springing for an M4.

 

[Topweasel]

I'm sure I can find other uses for my best buy gift card though if I really should be springing for an M4.

It's really up to you. The M4 is recommended because it uses a controller that has been hyper reliable. That even though there were two bugs, they were ironed out early. Because while it isn't always the fastest, it is up there. It's also generally one of the cheapest and it seems like its always on sale somewhere.

It seems like the best bang for the buck and reliable drive for those seeking a performance SSD.

But having to spend real money vs. GG could change that considering one of these drives could have the difference covered and then some. My biggest issue is that BB seems to only be offering SF based drives. The Intel 520 would be the only one I would touch, but honestly it is so much more you might as well just buy the M4 elsewhere. If someone held a gun to my head and said you had to buy one of the others, I would get the Corsair drive.