Firmware Updates for SSDs

[nomagic]

Hello all,

I have been looking for the right SSD for myself. The following is the list of my final candidates.

Intel 510 250GB

Micron Crucial m4 SSD 256GB

OCZ Vertex 3 240GB (As you may already know, the price for this one is much higher...)

I have two concerns:

(1) I absolutely loathe firmware updating. I want an SSD that works correctly from the very beginning. The risk and hassle of firmware updating is too much for me.

(2) Also, I understand that the long term reliability of SSDs is still largely unknown. However, I do want to avoid corrupt file systems and storage-related BSODs in the long run if possible.

I almost bought OCZ Vertex 3 for its high performance in reviews, but then I read that OCZ release firmware regularly to resolve issues.

I'd like to ask the Vertex 3 users in the forum. Is it a good idea to use a Vertex 3 SSD without ever updating the firmware (except maybe at the very beginning) or is it impossible? How about Micron ones and Intel ones?

 

[tcsenter]

There is an update for a reason and as you note, there is some risk to updating the firmware. Why would you want to take that risk after you have put data on the drive rather than before??

 

[Blain]

Hello all,

I have been looking for the right SSD for myself.

I have two concerns:

(1) I absolutely loathe firmware updating. I want an SSD that works correctly from the very beginning. The risk and hassle of firmware updating is too much for me.

(2) Also, I understand that the long term reliability of SSDs is still largely unknown. However, I do want to avoid corrupt file systems and storage-related BSODs in the long run if possible.

I'd suggest you go with a VelociRaptor.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Updating firmware is nondestructive and your data should be backed up in the first place regardless of what kind of drive you use.

 

[Pomper05]

The Vertex 3 will be an awesome drive once they get all the bugs worked out. I'm not sure if the same problems are happening on the 240GB version, but on some of the 120GB versions it will crash quite often. Most people, including myself, seem to be experiencing a system crash daily. You might want to look into that on the 240GB Vertex drives.

 

[Engineer]

Updating firmware is nondestructive and your data should be backed up in the first place regardless of what kind of drive you use.

That is not always the case (or at least it used to be) especially when using OCZ firmwares.

 

[corkyg]

In many such cases, firmware updates are required because of accelerated release to market before the product was ready.

 

[Bauss]

Get the 510. I've had mine since they became available, and it's been rock solid, with no firmware updates even issued yet.

If there's any SSD that came to market completely stable and ready, it was this one.