Best 480/500GB SSD?

[HCSn]

I've been looking at SSD specs for a little while but I'm wondering if I can get some first-hand advice on the matter. I want a fast 2.5" 480/500GB SSD but I don't know what brand to get.

The ones I'm looking at are the 850 EVO 500GB (of course), the Corsair LS 480GB and the Mushkin Enhanced Striker.

I know the evo is pretty good, but both of the others are supposedly faster (and the mushkin is a bit cheaper).

If anyone has a suggestion about which of these, or any other, is a good choice, I'd be delighted to hear about it.

Thanks!

EDIT: Should probably mention I want it for the purposes of loading games and OS faster than my current 5400 RPM HDD (sad, right?).

 

[i7Baby]

Right now - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-recommendation-benchmark,3269.html best bang for the buck - Samsung 850evo or Sandisk Extreme pro.

Better performing - pcie SSDs eg http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100008120%20600521287 - but you need deep pockets.

 

[hamzahfelix]

The jump from hdd to ssd will be so significant you will never ever want to switch back to hdd. Like you said, games will load faster and boot time can decrease to one third. After that, the speed difference between ssd would not even be noticeable in real life, unless you benchmark and time everything. Those three that you have mentioned are decent ssds. I would go for the 850 evo if they're all the same price. If not, I would get whichever is the cheapest among those, and I'll be good.

You can also use your current hdd with the ssd Just put the OS and some regularly played games on the ssd, making the ssd the boot drive. That way you can have the added capacity of the hdd, and can save a little bit of money getting the 256gb ssd capacity instead. Or you can even use the $ saved to buy a new 1TB 7200rpm WD blue hdd. 256GB is plenty, but storage is more of a personal preference so it's up to you.

 

[HCSn]

The jump from hdd to ssd will be so significant you will never ever want to switch back to hdd. Like you said, games will load faster and boot time can decrease to one third. After that, the speed difference between ssd would not even be noticeable in real life, unless you benchmark and time everything. Those three that you have mentioned are decent ssds. I would go for the 850 evo if they're all the same price. If not, I would get whichever is the cheapest among those, and I'll be good.

You can also use your current hdd with the ssd Just put the OS and some regularly played games on the ssd, making the ssd the boot drive. That way you can have the added capacity of the hdd, and can save a little bit of money getting the 256gb ssd capacity instead. Or you can even use the $ saved to buy a new 1TB 7200rpm WD blue hdd. 256GB is plenty, but storage is more of a personal preference so it's up to you.

I planned on getting a 1TB WD Blue either way, for mass storage. I have been back and forth on 250GB vs 500GB, I'll decide that on payday 😉 thanks for the answer.

 

[photonboy]

Hi,
An SSD while faster loading, really isn't that big of a deal for MOST games.

I've done extensive testing. For example, I've got some games that start up in EIGHT seconds on the SSD and TWELVE seconds on the hard drive after which I rarely notice or care about level loading. On the other hand, SKYRIM has frequent load points (jumping around map etc).

There are a few games that have ridiculously long loads at times as well.

*You can MOVE GAMES between Steam folders. You can have one Steam folder per drive. How to MOVE:
a) Backup game in Steam
b) Delete local content
c) RESTORE game (but choose other Steam folder)
d) Delete backup (or keep for games you intend to mod so you can restore vanilla)

My advice:

1) 240GB SSD ($80 after rebate) for Windows/apps + handful games
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/ocz-internal-hard-drive-arc10025sat3240g

and

2) 2TB HDD:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001

*Some of these customer feedback averages don't make sense. For example, Newegg, Amazon, and NCIX often don't agree. I can tell you to AVOID THE 3TB SEAGATE.

After buying the 3TB Seagate HDD and having issues I did extensive research and discovered it has major reliability problems (despite the high average here). Mine failed 26 months or two months after the Warranty expired.

3) SSD (later).

How to setup:
a) Windows + apps + Steam on main SSD
b) Install Skyrim and other games that benefit the most due to frequent loading times on the SSD folder for Steam
c) Create an HDD folder for Steam and put other games there that don't benefit as much (as well as downloads, video, System backup etc)
d) LATER, if you decide you want more games on an SSD buy another one and put a Steam folder on it.

Prices are always dropping, so if you start with an $80, 240GB HDD + $70 2TB HDD that's a pretty great start.

Again, you can MOVE games between Steam folders so don't spend more than you might need initially. If you discover another 240GB SSD is all you need a YEAR from now then that might cost as little as $50.