Looking to upgrade to SSD

[Gaphiltfish]

I would like to upgrade to an SSD, but I am not sure on what I should get. I definitely want a 120/128gb SSD. Up to $130 (but hopefully less) is the budget. Some options I was considering-

Intel Cherryville 520
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167095
Samsung 830
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
And I think my favorite is the
Plextor M5p
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249026&Tpk=plextor%20m5p

but what is the difference between that and the m5s? Newegg says the IOPS are better and stuff, and it's the same price, so why not?

 

[geofelt]

You will love the SSD.
Of the three, I would pick the Intel 520 or the Samsung based on reliability.

But... I think I would look at the Intel 330 first.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167121

Do not be influenced by synthetic benchmarks. They bear little relation to how we actually use a ssd. In actual usage, you will be hard pressed to tell any difference in performance among all modern ssd's.

You should read this review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5817/the-intel-ssd-330-review-60gb-120gb-180gb

 

[RetiredChief]

Normally I'd agree with geofelt.
However the Samsung 830 has 8 gigs more space and is a few bucks cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
or for $109, a 128 gig M4.
Although Intel has a great rep, I prefer the Marvel based (or samsung) controller over the Sandforce controller.

Geofelt is correct that "Synthetic" benchmarks are over hyped, As generally only a small diff in real life day-2-day performance.

Saw a vertex 3 120 gig on sale (After MIR) for $57, but I think the sale ended today.

 

[geofelt]

Normally I'd agree with geofelt.
However the Samsung 830 has 8 gigs more space and is a few bucks cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
or for $109, a 128 gig M4.
Although Intel has a great rep, I prefer the Marvel based (or samsung) controller over the Sandforce controller.

Geofelt is correct that "Synthetic" benchmarks are over hyped, As generally only a small diff in real life day-2-day performance.

Saw a vertex 3 120 gig on sale (After MIR) for $57, but I think the sale ended today.

128gb from Samsung is perhaps a bit misleading. The user capacity is 119gb.
That is about the same as the user available space on the Intel 520 and 330 120gb ssd drives.

The 8gb missing is used for control and spares

 

[RetiredChief]

^ Correct on formated size for 128 gig SSDs = approx 119 Gigs
Reason is diff in way Manuf report Size (dec) vs Computer use of Binary. BOTH 120 gig and 128 gig lose about 9 gigs do to the "math" difference.
But That should also apply to the 120 gig drives, My Agility III 120 gig is really 111 gigs.

A 2nd factor is the over provisoning, If the 120 gig is coming up at about the same as one listed as 128 gigs then most likely they have decreased the over provisioning.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I like the Samsung from the group you posted.

 

[geofelt]

^ Correct on formated size for 128 gig SSDs = approx 119 Gigs
Reason is diff in way Manuf report Size (dec) vs Computer use of Binary. BOTH 120 gig and 128 gig lose about 9 gigs do to the "math" difference.
But That should also apply to the 120 gig drives, My Agility III 120 gig is really 111 gigs.

A 2nd factor is the over provisoning, If the 120 gig is coming up at about the same as one listed as 128 gigs then most likely they have decreased the over provisioning.

I think all the ssd makers will use a set of nand chips that total a multiple of 64gb.
There will be different philosophies on how much to reserve for spare.
The more spare, the better for longevity, but at the expense of useable space.

In the end, it probably does not matter much. We don't want our SSD's to fill up, so we should consider all 120/128gb ssd's to have the same capacity. Just plan on having less that the full spec available for use.

Looking at my ssd's,
My 180gb Intel 520 shows 167gb
A 80gb X25-M shows 74.5gb
A 120gb Intel 510 shows 111gb.

I think that is typical.

 

[game junky]

I have used both Intel 520s and Samsung 830s - both are phenomenal drives. I use the Samsung 830s in laptops - price is right and since most manufacturers don't have SATAIII ports on their laptop motherboards. I use the Intel 520s in my desktop builds - the speed is slight but noticeable at boot.

Both drives are right around that price range at the moment so I would say if you have the SATAIII ports on your motherboard, go with the Intel 520. If you don't, go with the Samsung 830

 

[klsdivan]

Both the Intel 520 and the Samsung support SATAIII and evan at "Synthetic" benchmarks they are pretty evenly matched.

The thing that Samsung does have in its favour though is that everything in it is made by samsung (controller chip, RAM, Nand) so they are quite reliable

 

[RetiredChief]

One of the main diff beween sandforce based SSD vs the Curcial & samsung controller is on compressed vs uncompressed data.
SF is outstanding when data is highly compressable, but drops off for data that is compressed. Real data for an OS + Program drive leans closer to compressed.This is primary reason I total ignore ATTO benchmark.


@ game junky, Myself I favor the Curcial M4 (Can add the Plextor M3) for latops and samsung 830 for Desktops. As already notted, their performance is VERY close in day-2-day usage. Reason I favor the M4 is power consumption, M4 is arround 1 Watt lower for reads/writes than the 830.
My systems:
2 M4s in SB Laptop, 2 Samsung 830's in i5-2500k Desktop.
Also have older SSD in older laptop, an Agility III in a Sata II desktop, and a pair of generation II SSDs in a i5-750 desktop.

 

[game junky]

Right there with you - the Crucials have been pretty reliable. We did a parts upgrade on our sales teams laptops and I bought about 50 of the 64GB drives.

Now that the prices of the Samsungs is close to $/GB, they've been my go-to for work projects. I try not to pay the Intel tax to have the privilege of that little blue label, but my 180GB Intel 520 has been smoking fast. Only way life will get better is when I upgrade from a single HDD setup to a RAID 5 of platter drives for all my media.