SSD Purchase Help

[Stovaotri]

I am looking to purchase a SSD (also CPU and HDD) for my build and i'm kind of stuck on which one to get I've been looking at the Crucial M4 256gb and the OCZ Agility 3 240gb but i'm still not convinced that i've found the right SSD yet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=%2D1&IsNodeId=1&Description=ocz%20Vertex%204&bop=And&CompareItemList=%2D1%7C20%2D148%2D526%5E20%2D148%2D526%2DTS%2C20%2D227%2D727%5E20%2D227%2D727%2DTS

My build currently is as follows-

Intel i5-2400 3.1GHz CPU
Asus P8Z68-V PRO
Corsair Vengence 16gb (4x4) RAM
Geforce 580 Graphics card
Coolermaster Silence Pro 800W
Samsung 1TB HDD
------------------------------------
My Build AFTER Purchases

Intel i7 3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz CPU
Asus""
Corsair ""
Geforce""
Coolermaster""
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm SATA 6
SDD- Pending

Im looking to stay right around the $250 mark for the SDD, if anyone could give me some advise on what they think of these two or anything else you suggest, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Have you read the SSD article?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-storage-value,3184-6.html

That is a link to the hierarchy chart but the whole article is worth reading.

If I was buying new today it would be a Samsung 830. Not only one of the best performing but also one of the most reliable.

$289 on Amazon but I have seen it lower.

Of the 2 you listed I would go with the M4 just due to how reliable they are. The Intel drives are also very good.

 

[MegaMan1]

I kind or waded in to ssd with a 120 gb HyperX. I could have gone with 60 gig just for operating system Win 7 64. You can do that for $60 or close or 110 for the Samsung 830. 120gigs is too big for os and not enough for all programs. Very nice and fast.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I kind or waded in to ssd with a 120 gb HyperX. I could have gone with 60 gig just for operating system Win 7 64. You can do that for $60 or close or 110 for the Samsung 830. 120gigs is too big for os and not enough for all programs. Very nice and fast.

I have had this 120GB Vertex 2 almost 2 years now and I find it's plenty big. I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Office 2007, various programs and about 10 Steam games and I have 30GB free. You do have to uninstall games you are not playing to install new ones but that's very easy with Steam. I paid over $200 for it when it was new though and since my budget will be the same when I replace it I will probably go with a 256GB model when I do get a new one. As is even with a 2 year old SSD my Windows boots in under 20 seconds and programs start almost instantly.

 

[Stovaotri]

Thanks for all the replies, they've all been helpful. I think I will go with that Samsung that was mentioned, kills me to have to spend so much just for 256 gigabytes but what are you going to do. Better to make this kind of purchase now rather then getting a cheap one thats not reliable and doesn't have the space or speed of this one.

 

[rdzona]

The M4 will be very comparable to the samsung 830. I bet you wouldn' even notice. They both use Synchronous NAND. And from what I've seen lately, the M4's have been having some ridiculous sale prices. You can get them for less than a dollar per gb.

I mean seriously look at this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443&Tpk=N82E16820148443

If I needed one I would be all over this liek white on rice. Don't get me wrong, the 830 is a spectacular drive, and I would probably choose that over any other drive if the prices were the same, but they just don't compare at current prices. Hope this helps.

 

[RetiredChief]

My recommendation has been, and still is: Intel 510/520, Samsung 830, and Crucial M4.
Of the three I let cost be the tie breaker, reason:
.. Performance – Real life day-to-day performance is to close, probably not a nickels worth of diff overall.
.. Reliability – Intel -> Samsung -> Crucial seems to be the order based on reviews. I would agree on Intel; However While it may be true I’m not totally convinced between M4s, and 830s. For true reliability figures not enough time has leased, ie a Minimum of three years needed. In the absence of true reliability Numbers, I tend to look at the “dissatisfaction percentages at Newegg ((only look at ones with over 30 reviewers).
Based on This link http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008120%20600038519%20600038487&IsNodeId=1&name=256GB

Combining the top two M4s and the top two Samsung 830s (1/2 egg rating = DISSATISFACTION)
Crucial M4s .…. 191 Reviews …. 7.85 % 1/2 egg ratings
Samsung 830 …. 105 Reviews …. 8.57 % 1/2 egg ratings
That is too close to call a winner. If they where the same cost or within 10% I’d go with the Samsung 830; However, based on the cost differential at Newegg I’d have to go with the M4

added as rdzona 's post poped in while I was writing, Have to agree with rdzona

 

[cbrunnem]

Thanks for all the replies, they've all been helpful. I think I will go with that Samsung that was mentioned, kills me to have to spend so much just for 256 gigabytes but what are you going to do. Better to make this kind of purchase now rather then getting a cheap one thats not reliable and doesn't have the space or speed of this one.

In order to simplify the landscape, we're going to omit brand names for those vendors leveraging SandForce. There are simply too many to list. At a given capacity, performance breaks down based on memory type, and this is their order of performance, from highest to lowest.

1. SandForce controller with Toggle DDR NAND (Mushkin Chronos Deluxe, Patriot Wildfire, OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS, Kingston HyperX 3K, OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G)

toms has the samsung under these.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226226&Tpk=enhanced%20chronos%20deluxe
its always out of stock for a reason. its a great product, as fast as a sata ssd can be and for a great price.

 

[game junky]

My recommendation has been, and still is: Intel 510/520, Samsung 830, and Crucial M4.
Of the three I let cost be the tie breaker, reason:
.. Performance – Real life day-to-day performance is to close, probably not a nickels worth of diff overall.
.. Reliability – Intel -> Samsung -> Crucial seems to be the order based on reviews. I would agree on Intel; However While it may be true I’m not totally convinced between M4s, and 830s. For true reliability figures not enough time has leased, ie a Minimum of three years needed. In the absence of true reliability Numbers, I tend to look at the “dissatisfaction percentages at Newegg ((only look at ones with over 30 reviewers).
Based on This link http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008120%20600038519%20600038487&IsNodeId=1&name=256GB

Combining the top two M4s and the top two Samsung 830s (1/2 egg rating = DISSATISFACTION)
Crucial M4s .…. 191 Reviews …. 7.85 % 1/2 egg ratings
Samsung 830 …. 105 Reviews …. 8.57 % 1/2 egg ratings
That is too close to call a winner. If they where the same cost or within 10% I’d go with the Samsung 830; However, based on the cost differential at Newegg I’d have to go with the M4

added as rdzona 's post poped in while I was writing, Have to agree with rdzona

Those are my 3 I usually recommend - I have used all 3 in several builds and have been satisfied with the reliability in all 3 drives. I use the M4 in older laptop upgrades because they're reliable and the speed difference is distinctive enough compared to a 5400 RPM drive to make the user happy. I use the 830/520s depending on the project budget and which of the two is currently discounted at the size required.

For desktops, I usually select a 128GB drive for the OS and a 1TB secondary HDD for media - seems to be the best of both worlds, plenty of space to store the OS & program files on the fast SSD and plenty of space to store media and documents on the slower HDD.

 

[the great randini]

i second the mushkin chronos 240
out of stock on newegg atm

 

[MegaMan1]

Shell schocker today HyperX 120gb $99
Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

 

[RetiredChief]

Not sure what you are basing " I compared the m4 to the 830 it just looks to me that the 830 is faster in quite a few ways" as I have both and find the the difference between them is Not worth much difference in price.
For the cost differencial I'd go for the M4 personally.

 

[Stovaotri]

Not sure what you are basing " I compared the m4 to the 830 it just looks to me that the 830 is faster in quite a few ways" as I have both and find the the difference between them is Not worth much difference in price.
For the cost differencial I'd go for the M4 personally.

Your right, I withdrawl my last comment. I wasn't taking the time to read the details. Thank you for the help and the speedy responds.

All who responded here has helped me a great deal. Thank you!

(Lots of credit also goes out to rdzona for their help on this matter as well)

 

[Stovaotri]

Best answer selected by Stovaotri.

 

[n8dogg]

M4 all the way. I have the samsung, intel and m4's in 3 separate rigs. the price of the M4 makes it a no brainer. It's performance is withing a few % of the slightly faster samsung. But you can't go wrong with any of those 3 IMO