Is buying a SSD used a good idea?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
achonez

achonez

Honorable
Mar 20, 2012
62
0
10,640
Is it a good idea?
I really need to upgrade my Primary drive its an IDE 120 GB. Its super slow to me and old. So i want to buy an SSD, but they come with a price. I noticed i can knock off $25-50 if I buy it used. Is it a good idea since SSD have a low fault percentage.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Yes, I think it probably is. Try to verify how old it is, though. If it's relatively new, you'll just be guaranteeing yourself a working model (make sure the SSD's working however you can, and make sure you've got a return policy). If it's old, though, skip it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Also what would be a good SSD to buy if i am just using it to run Windows 7 and some of my programs? I was thinking a 64GB would suffice but would rather have at least a 80GB at SATA III. My budget is less than $120
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A SSD will be a massive improvement in your performance. If the $50 price difference is important, then used is OK.

Most SSD's will be long obsolete before running out of nand update capability. At least when used in a desktop environment.
So used is probably ok. S.M.A.R.T. data can tell you how much of the update capacity remains. Intel SSD toolbox can tell you that, I don't know about how to read the data from different SSDS's.

If you buy from Amazon on an online retailer, you are buying new, and the price per gb will be similar everywhere.
Prices are coming down, and are close to $1 per gb.

Be on the lookout for some rebates on Intel 320 drives. I think they are trying to clear out older inventory.
For most users, performance for the os will be just as good as the newer 6gb capable drives.

If you buy from E-bay, look for a used drive from a seller with good feedback.
Just verify the sellers return policy in case the drive is defective, and pay with paypal.

Any Intel SSD will be good, even the older X25-M models.
Samsung 830 is also good.
I would avoid older generations of any other vendors, some of which had firmware issues.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Remember there is no factory warranty and no technical support when you purchase a used ssd.

In addition, there is no factory warranty and no technical support for brand new ssd's sold at auction sites like ebay. The reason for that is the vendors are not factory authorized resellers.

Best bet is to be patient and search retail sites on a regular basis. Last October I found Samsung 470 Series, SATA 2, 3Gb/s, 256GB, SSD's for $259.99. A regional chain of electronic stores in the Midwest was having a one day clearance sale. I spent a little time researching the company before making the purchase.

Good Luck.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i'd say no

reason being is that you can't know what was the previous user doing with it

you can abuse ssd pretty hard and burn through most of its p/e cycles within days if you do something like fraps (record game footage with relatively low compression video format) on it, and the smaller it is, the worse it gets

for example, let's say you're buying a 60gb mlc based ssd with 5000 p/e cycles...
frapsing at 1080p/30fps roughly takes 5gb/minute of captured video, so with some simple math you get 1 p/e cycle killed every 12 minutes of frapsing which translates to 5 p/e cycles every hour or 1000 hours of frapsing to virtually make the nand read-only; this is naturally one of the worse case scenarios of course, not a general rule of thumb or anything

so unless you're buying from someone you can trust, i wouldn't recommend it
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
So your saying buying a used SSD is a good idea, but it would be better to just buy one new. Since the difference is slim. Plus if it is new it has a better RMA/Warrenty? Also what would be a good SSD for my budget? $120 is my budget. I don't know how SSD line up in capacity, but my IDE is 120GB but I am looking to lower since I have a SATA drive that I am getting from my dad for my games.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
So would SATA III make the price jump alot? I have SATA III on my mobo and wanted to use it. I just like all those videos where Windows 7 is up and running in less than 20 seconds. That seems like something that would greatly boost my system. Plus something to boast about to my other pc friends that do not have a SSD. I saw the one from ismaeljrp. I think i might go with that one.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
1) No, I would not buy a used SSD unless i could return it - especially OCZ. SSD manuf may/may not honor warrenty and if by chance they did it would be based on the Date code. I wonder why it is being sold as when I buy a replacement SSD, the older one stays in the computer as a "storage" drive, Unless it is a problem SSD.

2) You did not specify MB. In general terms:
.. A sata III would be a good choice as it would be a little faster when on SATA III port. Bear in mind in real life there is not a big difference in performance between a good SATA II and a SATA III drive. Primary benifit of a SATA III drive, ON SATAIII port, is in high Sequencial performance (least Important for a OS +Program SSD). Small File random 4K read/writes do not exceed SATA II capability. Example a 128 gig Samsung 830 or Curcial M4 on a Sata III port = Load OS time around 15 Sec, A good Sata II SSD maybe 25->30 sec (both depend on individual user start up programs). When openiing a program (ie excell + spreed sheet) the diff is like 1 blink of the eye vs 2 blinks.
.. For older systems recommend staying away from Sanforce SF22xx based SSD (ie OCZ) and going with a marvel based controller, Samsung based, or Intel based SSD.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
No. Its not a good idea.
SSD technology is still fairly new, and being improved all the time. Only 12-18 months back, many SSD's were plagued with issues. It is more than likely you are going to get a returned unit that had problems. Some of these a firmware update would make work perfectly fine, or it may never work correctly. In my opinion, the chance of getting a piece of crap outweighs the savings. I would not, definitely not, at this time, buy a second hand SSD.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
There are clear advantages to buying new, as previous posters have stated.
On the used marketplace, you need a low enough price to compensate,
and a seller with a good feedback record and return policy.
You also need to have a tolerance for the possibility of a bad purchase.

When I upgrade parts, I will often sell the old ones on e-bay, and my buyers always get a good deal; usually half of what I paid for it.

From a reliability point of view, I think Intel and Samsung are currently the best bets.
Intel has a new 330 series, successor to the 320 series which looks attractive.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5723/details-on-intel-ssd-330-series

A while back they had a $50 rebate on the 80gb 320 ssd's kook for more if they are clearing out inventory.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167049

I think 80gb is a fine size for many users if 120gb is not possible.
One can always add a hard drive, or another ssd later.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom