OCZ Vertex 4 SSD or kingston? SSD buying decision

[Artista]

Where is definitive evidence and/or reviews and hardware analysis showing that the OCZ SSD drives can now be trusted and is worth buying or not?

(Count down on this deal.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

Ok, so the performance may drop after 50% full. So what are those performance numbers and where does THAT place this SSD among it's peers?

If not this one, what is the budget ssd drive to get? (there are several that are ~120Gb and are ~$100.)

Kingston on sale:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

Another budget ssd: adata ssd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...7&AID=10440897

What say the people?:whiste:


Thank you

 

[Smoblikat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=ot9hHnUgPMU&NR=1

Id say its good, heres a brief look at the current lineup.

 

[Andle Riddum]

Where are the poor guinea pigs who bought the OCZ SSD drives and report if they're worth buying? (Count down on this deal.)

FTFY:whiste:

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

$85 128gb Plextor M5S solid SSD with budget price, so you don't need to go with second rate hardware.

 

[n0x1ous]

^^ Plextor is good choice. Or Samsung 830/Crucial M4/Intel 330/520

Stay away from OCZ

 

[PowerYoga]

based on previous track records, no OCZ = no headache.

 

[Emulex]

the kingston that i used sucked balls at any queue depth, great for 1 process at a time, the OCZ sucked balls always - avoid like the plague.

The Samsung 830 seems awesome in every respect other than power draw. It is quite the badass deal of the year.

Stick to Intel for sandforce (330 and 520 are the same drive essentially selling the same at two different price points, 330 doesn't have the broken aes-256 iirc).

Stick to Samsung 830 for all around awesome price deal.

Every time i have had an intel die, free advance swap next day air. I'm not sure if samsung has that policy. Anyone care to comment?

Crucial aka Micron is solid since they are the partner that makes the flash (with intel). They get first dibs along with intel on the best flash.

I suspect the B-companies like OCZ just buy the leftovers and put together whatever they can, then overclock their processors to eek out a little bit more performance at the expense of stability. I've never received a DOA ssd from anyone other than OCZ.

twice.

First time I should have known better than to buy again.

 

[MontyAC]

$85 128gb Plextor M5S solid SSD with budget price, so you don't need to go with second rate hardware.

:thumbsup:

 

[Arkaign]

I just installed 3 Vertex 4 256GB SSDs with zero issues so far (all Win7 Pro X64 on Z77 builds). Will update if I have any issues, but at least no DOA/errors of any sort so far.

 

[Scoobyboo]

Don't buy OCZ :s

 

[Artista]

Well, may the hardware gods help me, I had to make a choice and so bought the OCZ Vertex 4 before the shell shocker special was over. $80 bucks, free shipping. It shipped before I saw the above posts so I could not cancel the order. Replacement only from newegg? I wonder if I can send it back and get the Plextor as noted above?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

Major problem with the Vertex 4 is after filled to half capacity or more speeds drop like a rock without being able to resolve from trim. I'm sure they will try to fix it in firmware, but no idea how long that may take. Seems like a pretty big bug to pass Q&A.

You can refuse delivery and have it returned to newegg since you can't cancel it after it left the warehouse.

 

[jwilliams4200]

Major problem with the Vertex 4 is after filled to half capacity or more speeds drop like a rock without being able to resolve from trim. I'm sure they will try to fix it in firmware, but no idea how long that may take. Seems like a pretty big bug to pass Q&A.

It is not that simple, and it is not really a bug. More of a design flaw.

After 50%, the speed will drop a lot, but then it will recover. But then at random times after that it will slow down a lot, and then recover. The performance is usually high, but it intermittently slows down a lot. Apparently it is doing some extra housekeeping in order to get the extra speed.

I prefer to have consistent, reliable performance, even if the top speed (or empty SSD benchmark) is slightly lower. I don't like unpredictable performance.

 

[JonBlack]

Well, hopefully the OCZ will work great for you, since you ended up buying it. Unfortunately, for all of the reasons mentioned above between reliability issues and inconsistent housekeeping performance keeps me away from OCZ. I ended up buying 3 of the Kingston drives mentioned in your original post.

I wish the both of us luck!

 

[F1shF4t]

It is not that simple, and it is not really a bug. More of a design flaw.

After 50%, the speed will drop a lot, but then it will recover. But then at random times after that it will slow down a lot, and then recover. The performance is usually high, but it intermittently slows down a lot. Apparently it is doing some extra housekeeping in order to get the extra speed.

I prefer to have consistent, reliable performance, even if the top speed (or empty SSD benchmark) is slightly lower. I don't like unpredictable performance.

There's a theory that the Vertex 4 uses SLC mode (MLC-1 or whatever the name for it is). http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vertex-4-firmware-benchmark,3245-8.html

There was also one Vertex 4 tested in this performance mode for a time at xtreme systems SSD endurance thread by doing 50% over-provisioning. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?271063-SSD-Write-Endurance-25nm-Vs-34nm/page199

Interesting idea, but it seems its just a marketing point or way to have great benchmarks. Why?, well:
1. I don't see anyone keeping this thing in under 50% filled for long. (I'm referring to 128GB drive) Also any deleted and un-trimmed data will add to the capacity filled.
2. Most reviews I've seen don't test SSD performance when filled with data. So the V4 would benchmark awesomely but be lots slower in real use.

 

[Artista]

Thanks all. Has anyone seen or know of a software program than can tell you the condition of the ssd plus if it is being "used hard". I saw a program while looking around on the Internet and thought I downloaded it but I guess I didnt and now I cannot find it after multiple Google searches.

 

[sequoia464]

After 50%, the speed will drop a lot, but then it will recover. But then at random times after that it will slow down a lot, and then recover. The performance is usually high, but it intermittently slows down a lot. Apparently it is doing some extra housekeeping in order to get the extra speed.

Did I misunderstand - I thought that before the 50% mark it runs in the "performance mode" - at 50% it does the housecleaning and slows dramatically until that is finished; and thereafter runs in the regular (non performance pre firmware 1.5) mode where the writes (for the 128GB drive in particular) take a hit??

I'm not sure that I really understand yet what is going on.

 

[jwilliams4200]

I'm not sure that I really understand yet what is going on.

I don't think anyone really knows what is going on, and OCZ is not talking.

What I have seen is many benchmarks and reviews posted where the speed varies, and not only when the data crosses 50%. The only good explanation for the widely varying speeds that have been measured is that the SSD is randomly doing housekeeping that slows the performance. The speed of the Vertex 4 is just unpredictable, and for me, that by itself is enough for me to avoid it (even if it were not from OCZ, who I already avoid completely).

 

[cytg111]

crucial or samsung .. I dont know what kind of prices you are looking at but the 512G M4 is very very price competetive atm.
(actually close to pressing the buy button on 3x of those babies)

 

[hawtdawg]

I have a 256g Vertex 4 on the way that should be on my doorstep any minute now. I own a Vertex +, and it did have issues at first, but a firmware update has had it running problem free for a year now so i figured id give the Vertex 4 a chance since theyve released a few firmware updates for it. If I don't have any problems with it then it will end up being a great deal. They're going for $190 right now on newegg.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'm actually thinking of the Kingston v200.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820139951

It's budget, uses a jmicron controller (not sandforce) and the reviews I've found are middling to decent. It's for an older sata2 system (laptop) so maximizing performance isn't critical - it'll still be better than the platter...

...right?

Or am I missing something important? The m4 and Samsung 830 everybody here tout are $40+ more for the same capacity, and while you seem to get what you pay for in terms of potential performance there, I can't utilize the extra speed. But if there's reliability issues with the jmicron controller, avoiding that might be worth a few extra bucks.

Thoughts?

 

[sm625]

It could be that the Vertex 4 is the most reliable SSD ever built. We jsut dont know. All we know is that the Vertex 2 & 3 anally violated quite a number of buyers.

 

[sequoia464]

All we know is that the Vertex 2 & 3 anally violated quite a number of buyers.

Worst part was I didn't even get any flowers after it was all over...

 

[bradley]

I don't think anyone really knows what is going on, and OCZ is not talking.

What I have seen is many benchmarks and reviews posted where the speed varies, and not only when the data crosses 50%. The only good explanation for the widely varying speeds that have been measured is that the SSD is randomly doing housekeeping that slows the performance. The speed of the Vertex 4 is just unpredictable, and for me, that by itself is enough for me to avoid it (even if it were not from OCZ, who I already avoid completely).

This is the most accurate post of the entire thread. Though it appears some here would rather learn the hard way.

My advice for prospective buyers, click your mouse over to Slickdeals or Fatwallet. You can usually find a more reliable SSD than OCZ sometimes for a much better price. As GNR would say, all you need is a little patience.

 

[wpcoe]

I'm actually thinking of the Kingston v200.

Kingston SSDNOW V200 Is Having Serious Performance Problems

It's budget, uses a jmicron controller (not sandforce) and the reviews I've found are middling to decent. It's for an older sata2 system (laptop) so maximizing performance isn't critical - it'll still be better than the platter...

...right?

Or am I missing something important? The m4 and Samsung 830 everybody here tout are $40+ more for the same capacity, and while you seem to get what you pay for in terms of potential performance there, I can't utilize the extra speed. But if there's reliability issues with the jmicron controller, avoiding that might be worth a few extra bucks.

Thoughts?

Read through this thread before you buy the Kingston V200:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...v200-having-serious-performance-problems.html

Not sure if the latest firmware fixed everything or not, but just thought you should be aware of the problems some folks had with that drive.

Keep in mind that a Kingston V+200 is a totally different drive.