Help choosing Solid State Drive!

[xerb]

I am currently looking for a solid state drive that is CHEAP (~$140 MAX after mail in rebate) and around 120gb for my PC. I am going to be using this solid state drive either for storing games, demanding softwares such as After Effects, etc or as my boot drive. I, also, plan to use this ssd for Fraps, recording videos, which requires high WRITE speeds. Currently I have 64GB Zalman sata 2 SSD as my boot and a 250GB HDD. Although I have a sata 2 motherboard, I'm still thinking about getting a sata 3 just in case in the future I get a sata 3 motherboard.

Currently I am looking at the Patriot Pyro 120GB $119.99 AFTER MAIL IN REBATE
http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-Memory-Solid-Drives-PP120GS25SSDR/dp/B005DSPIFG/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329681107&sr=1-1

Any Help is appreciated, thanks

Current System specs:
AMD Phenom ii X4 955 3.4 GHZ
MSI GF615m-p31
8GB DDR3 Ram
Radeon 4870 512mb
600w Power Supply
Zalman 64GB SSD
250GB Seagate HDD (showing signs of failing)

 

[LordConrad]

First, backup and replace your failing Seagate drive!

That Pyro looks like a good drive, but your write speeds will be reduced when recording videos. The Pyro uses a Sandforce controller which relies on data compression to achieve high write speeds, and recorded video is already compressed. Write speeds should be fairly high with most other data types.

 

[selayan]

The patriot is good. Check out the crucial m4, or samsung 830 series.

 

[xerb]

First, backup and replace your failing Seagate drive!

That Pyro looks like a good drive, but your write speeds will be reduced when recording videos. The Pyro uses a Sandforce controller which relies on data compression to achieve high write speeds, and recorded video is already compressed. Write speeds should be fairly high with most other data types.

Yeah, actually my Seagate doesn't have any important files...just random video files that I have recorded. Anyway the new SSD im getting is going to replace my old HDD.

Actually the part where you talk about compression and sandforce controller confused me. Fraps actually does NOT compress the video files when saving, according to some research that I have done. I have noticed that by looking at the size of a 1 min. video file which is around 4GB (that is why I need a drive with high write speeds).

Does this mean, if I select the option "compress files to save disk space" under drive options in Windows 7, make my SSD faster?

 

[xerb]

The patriot is good. Check out the crucial m4, or samsung 830 series.

Thanks for the advice, but...the Samsung 830 is expensive around $200 for 128GB, and the Crucial M4 has slow write speeds.

 

[LordConrad]

Yeah, actually my Seagate doesn't have any important files...just random video files that I have recorded. Anyway the new SSD im getting is going to replace my old HDD.

Actually the part where you talk about compression and sandforce controller confused me. Fraps actually does NOT compress the video files when saving, according to some research that I have done. I have noticed that by looking at the size of a 1 min. video file which is around 4GB (that is why I need a drive with high write speeds).

Does this mean, if I select the option "compress files to save disk space" under drive options in Windows 7, make my SSD faster?

DO NOT enable "compress files to save disk space" on a Sandforce SSD. The SSD does it's own compression (it's built into the hardware and you can't change it).

If Fraps truly is saving uncompressed video, than the Pyro will write Fraps video a very high speed.

 

[bigj231]

Since Amazon doesn't have those in stock at the moment, MicroCenter has 2 different drives that I was considering:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364780 for $130

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0381969 for $110

 

[bigj231]

or if you can swing an extra $20, they have :
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0360159

 

[selayan]

The OCZ drive from microcenter seems to have better write speeds. I listed the crucial because it has been known to be more reliable than OCZ models. On ebay I was able to catch a good deal as opposed to retail other sites selling it for 170 or so.

 

[xerb]

DO NOT enable "compress files to save disk space" on a Sandforce SSD. The SSD does it's own compression (it's built into the hardware and you can't change it).

If Fraps truly is saving uncompressed video, than the Pyro will write Fraps video a very high speed.

Got it, thanks. I have a JMicron SSD (Zalman 64GB) right now...so would it be a smart idea to enable compressing?

 

[xerb]

Since Amazon doesn't have those in stock at the moment, MicroCenter has 2 different drives that I was considering:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364780 for $130

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0381969 for $110

Thanks, I would be considering the first one, considering the high speeds.

 

[xerb]

The OCZ drive from microcenter seems to have better write speeds. I listed the crucial because it has been known to be more reliable than OCZ models. On ebay I was able to catch a good deal as opposed to retail other sites selling it for 170 or so.

Yeah, that was my first thought. I'm trying to avoid OCZ right now because of the reliability issues. Crucial seems to be the next option for reliability.

 

[dish_moose]

Ever think about a RAM DISK? Ram is pretty cheap - would not have to worry about write speeds.
-Bruce

 

[LordConrad]

Got it, thanks. I have a JMicron SSD (Zalman 64GB) right now...so would it be a smart idea to enable compressing?

Here is the information so you can decide what's best for you:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-ntfs-compression,3073.html

The last page sums it up pretty good if you don't want to read the whole article.

 

[b8453942]

Here's a good resource if you're planning to buy a SSD
www.ssdtracker.com

This website tracks the daily prices of SSDs to find the best value for money drives on the market.


Currently the #1 ranked is OCZ Synapse 128GB SSD priced at $95.78 or $0.75 per gigabyte.

Hope that helps.

 

[selayan]

Hmm wish I would have known about that site, I bought a new drive off ebay and seems to have been a hoax because the person is not responding after payment.