Some SSD advice please.

[Shagga]

Looking through a few reviews and the like I see that the consensus regarding SSD drives generally is that reliability is more important than speed and if I understand correctly as the SSD generally runs the OS and program files this makes complete sense.

I'm holding off until the end of the month to upgrade to an IB/Z77 combination probably the i7 3770K and one of the ASUS offerings, P8Z77-V, P8Z77-V Pro or the P8Z77-V Deluxe so a drive that takes advantage of the new chipset technology would be advantageous I suppose.

It would appear that a couple of SATA III SSD's keep coming up and they are the one's from Intel and Crucial, namely the Intel 520 or the Crucial RealSSD M4. Is the consensus within AT that these are the two to look at seriously or are there others I should consider?

I've seen a few horror stories about the OCZ ones IIRC, but what about Corsair for instance?

Any guidance as to what to look out for would be appreciated considering I will be using a IB/Z77 platform. Thanks as always.

 

[mkmitch]

I have a Corsair Force GT 90mb and couldn't be more pleased. Read and writes hover around 500 MBs, as advertised. Reviews convinced me to buy it over the Crucial series. Intel was way more expensive and Samsung either 830 series either hadn't been released or reviewed. And of course bought the Force or sale at newegg.

 

[Blain]

It would appear that a couple of SATA III SSD's keep coming up and they are the one's from Intel and Crucial, namely the Intel 520 or the Crucial RealSSD M4.
Is the consensus within AT that these are the two to look at seriously or are there others I should consider?

Intel 320 series

 

[kbp]

Intel 320's are sata II.
I run three of then in RAID 0 and have a Samsung 830 and a Vertex 3.
Any of the above mentioned (from everyone) I think would suit you well. Best bet would be to catch a good sale and buy. What size are you comfortable with?

 

[Charlie98]

The big issues with the OCZ drives are the SandForce-based controllers, they have pretty much ironed out the problems with them (I've not had one issue with mine in 4 months, with current firmware) but there is still that reputation for unreliability that will probably plague them till they die. Some manufacturers have different models with different controllers, do your research, but, as everyone mentioned, the Crucial, Intel and Samsung are solid, and I would add Plextor M3 (which is about equal to the others.)

 

[Coup27]

Firstly there is no logic in not getting a SATA 6Gbps drive. Your IB motherboard will have SATA 6Gbps.

The Intel 520, Samsung 830 and Crucial m4 will all provide you with a reliable solid performing drive with good support from the vendor and a sensible firmware upgrade method. Unfortunately I rule out OCZ's Octane due to the lack of sensible upgrade method (unless their Linux updater has finally been released).

Due to the rather small price difference, I would get an 830 or 520. The m4 shows its age a little bit now against these two and both of these come with polished toolbox programs.

 

[Shagga]

Wow, great feedback once again. Thanks to you all for taking the time. I wasn't aware of the Samsung so will take a look at those shortly.

I had seen a number of recommendations for the Plextor also, but I thought I had read their read/write speeds were not great. I might have been looking at the wrong models perhaps so will have a look again.

It's great to see AT remains one of the foremost authorities on all things technology wise.

 

[Coup27]

I hope you'll be getting rid of Vista when you upgrade. Are you doing a complete new setup?

 

[Shagga]

I hope you'll be getting rid of Vista when you upgrade. Are you doing a complete new setup?

lol, oh yes, Vista will be history. Probably Win7 Pro.

I'll be updating most of the system which include, CPU, MB, RAM, SSD, Graphics Card and case.

I'll be keeping stuff like hard drives, DVD Writers, monitors (albeit the Hanns.G is possibly my worst technical purchase ever, so at the first opportunity it's off) and Speakers.

I'm pretty clear on the CPU, Mobo, SSD so far so just need to get my head round which DD3, GPU and Case so no doubt will be calling on the expertise on this forum once again.

 

[Stayfr0sty]

Revodrive
nuff said, need pci express slot for that though
near GB read/write speeds no SATA drive even comes close.

 

[Obsoleet]

Firstly there is no logic in not getting a SATA 6Gbps drive. Your IB motherboard will have SATA 6Gbps.

The Intel 520, Samsung 830 and Crucial m4 will all provide you with a reliable solid performing drive with good support from the vendor and a sensible firmware upgrade method. Unfortunately I rule out OCZ's Octane due to the lack of sensible upgrade method (unless their Linux updater has finally been released).

Due to the rather small price difference, I would get an 830 or 520. The m4 shows its age a little bit now against these two and both of these come with polished toolbox programs.

+1
With the price on the Intel 520 going to $800 or so for the 480GB, personally I'd have to give that one a whirl.

 

[Shagga]

I've gone with the 240GB 520 which will arrive on Saturday. Although I can't start building until I see what the IB price is before I commit to a CPU!...

 

[Charlie98]

I've gone with the 240GB 520 which will arrive on Saturday. Although I can't start building until I see what the IB price is before I commit to a CPU!...

Be patient... you've waited this long, what's a few more weeks.

I see in your sig you are using a Sony SDM TFT monitor, I'm still using my 10-year old SDM-X52 (15") TFT... it's nothing super-duper, but it sure has been reliable! I'll probably wind up getting a new monitor (to go with my new GPU!) before I can upgrade to a 256GB SSD... :'(

 

[Shagga]

Be patient... you've waited this long, what's a few more weeks.

I see in your sig you are using a Sony SDM TFT monitor, I'm still using my 10-year old SDM-X52 (15") TFT... it's nothing super-duper, but it sure has been reliable! I'll probably wind up getting a new monitor (to go with my new GPU!) before I can upgrade to a 256GB SSD... :'(

The Sony monitor has been perfect, pin sharp and good colour reproduction. However, it's getting a bit long in the tooth and the colour has taken a bit of a dive. It seems to screen burn very easily now for some reason. I'm considering getting it repaired as it's such a great monitor so I hope Sony still have parts for this one. It would be sad to retire it.