OCZ keeps failing. Which drive has Reliability and Performance?

[Dougx1317]

I had two Vertex 2 SSD's that broke about every 3 months. The company finally just gave me Vertex 3's to see if those would work, but they broke after about two months. I tired of reloading my OS and data, but I want the speed of the SSD. I don't know if the reliability was so bad because of the Sandforce controllers or firmware or something else. I'm looking to buy a new drive now, and I would like it to be very reliable. Below are the drives I am looking at.

I would really appreciate input and thoughts regarding which of these have the best reliability and performance.


Cost Brand Model Form Size Interface Read Write IOPS MTBF Chip
$200 Samsung MZ-7PC128N/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III 520 MB/s 320 MB/s 80,000 1,500,000

$230 Samsung MZ-7PC128D/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III 520 MB/s 320 MB/s 80,000 1,500,000

$220 Patriot PW120GS25SSDR 2.5" 120GB SATA III 555 MB/s 520 MB/s 85,000 SF-2200

$210 Mushkin MKNSSDCR120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III 560 MB/s 515 MB/s 90,000 2,000,000 SF-2281

 

[kajabla]

Yeah, Vertexes have had reliability problems.
The ones that come to my mind immediately are ADATA and Crucial. The S510 and M4 are highly regarded.
I usually go by Egg reviews for SSD reliability; this work with drives that have many reviews. Pro reviews don't get their hands on hundreds of drives, so they can't draw conclusions about DOA units.
By this scale the Wildfire looks awful, and so do all the Vertexes.It's too early to tell with the Mushkin and the Samsungs, but the latter are too expensive anyway.
Go with the Mushkin ($209 120gb), the Crucial M4 ($196 128gb) or the ADATA S510 ($165 120gb!).

 

[Dougx1317]

Yeah, I went through 3 sets of Vertex 2's in a year and now the Vertex 3's stopped working... I've decided to stop trying to use RAID 0, since it messes them up and doesn't do much to performance.

The reason that I chose the four drives I listed, is that these are the highest rated 120GB SSD's on Tom's Hierarchy. They all cost similar and have similar specs. According to the chart, the Mushkin is the best drive for performance from the ones you listed. I've never bought Mushkin products, so I'm a little hesitant about their reliability and warranty. Do you have any personal experience with Mushkin's RMA process if it comes to that? (I will say that OCZ honors their warranty better than any company I've ever dealt with.)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-price-ssd,3070-6.html

 

[kajabla]

I doubt you'll see a subjective difference between these SSDs. They're all quite close to each other; a couple of rated mb/s on the Chronos won't change anything that you'll notice. Go ADATA; it's the cheapest.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

For stability and reliability Samsung can't be beat. There are no major issues or problems with their ssd's. Their record is absolutely stellar.

Here is a link to the ssd database:

http://www.johnnylucky.org/data-storage/ssd-database.html

You can scroll down to the Samsung section and then click on the links to the technical reviews.

 

[Dougx1317]

Thanks for the input. I've read a lot of reviews, and it looks like the Mushkin and Samsung are the two finalists. The Mushkin has great performance and high ratings on Newegg. The Samsung has good performance, but it is also allegedly super reliable. Since the Mushkin is cheaper, I'm tempted to go with that.

The only concern I have is that the Mushkin uses the same SF-2281 controller that the Vertex 3 uses. Do any of you know whether the issues with the Vertex 3's had to do with the controller or were they a seperate issue? I know OCZ supposedly made their own firmware for the controller. I just don't want to run into the same issues.

 

[kajabla]

...ADATA for $40 less?

 

[redeemer]

For SSD's stick with a marvell controller, I myself having been using ssd as a boot drive for 2 years. First one was an intel 40gb value drive, now I have been running a plextor M2P 128 for 3 months. Both drives have been rock solid, in everyday use. Crucial M4, Plextor, Intel

 

[Dougx1317]

I had some ADATA RAM that broke, and I never got the company to honor their warranty. That's why I won't buy from them.

Redeemer: Tom's Hierarchy shows those drives being slower than the one's I originally posted. Are you saying that they have good reliability with that controller? All I hear about is Sandforce.

 

[JdotH]

Im in the same boat:
My Vertex3 Max Iops 120gb is almost full and is BSOD with firmware 2.15 so im ready to switch it out.
SO im going to go with the choice suggested here also. Just a 240+gb version.
Im definately curious about how "Mushkin uses the same SF-2281 controller that the Vertex 3 uses. Do any of you know whether the issues with the Vertex 3's had to do with the controller or were they a seperate issue?"

Without reliability a ssd is useless as an OS drive.
I agree that the speed differences are very minor in real life so again I would stress reliability then speed.
So ADATA, Mushkin Chronos Deluxe, Samsung, Crucial M4, another Max IOPs (but 240gb) or ?
Its not about being cheapest its about having a drive that works solidly.
Sorry, I kinda high jacked this....though I share your concerns too.

 

[kajabla]

By the way, BACK UP. All of you. Get a backup drive right now, regardless of HDD prices, and back up all your data. I hope you've done this already; if you haven't, get on it.

 

[Dougx1317]

By the way, BACK UP. All of you. Get a backup drive right now, regardless of HDD prices, and back up all your data. I hope you've done this already; if you haven't, get on it.

Absolutely. As annoying as it is to reload the OS, I am so thankful I have never lost any data. I have two separate mechanical drives: one for data and one for backup. Regardless of SSD or mechanical, drives do fail. Backing up data is always a good point to bring up.


It sounds like JdotH is experiencing the same issues I was. Try giving OCZ a call. I will say that OCZ honors their warranty better than any electronic retailer I have ever dealt with. They make the return process easy, and they agreed to give me a refund almost immediately when I called today (although this was my 4th RMA with these drives). This doesn't make up for the poor reliability, but it certainly helps. Now I am free to buy my new SSD.

 

[kajabla]

SSDs and HDDS have roughly similar failure rates.

 

[Dougx1317]

SSDs and HDDS have roughly similar failure rates.

Not in my experience, but yes I know they allegedly do. My Vertex's can't last more than six months and my backup mechanical drive is in it's sixth year of service.

 

[kajabla]

SSDs not including Vertexes, which are sadly infamous for their unreliability.