What SSD should I get? If I should even bother...

Cheesoidski

Honorable
Apr 1, 2013
11
0
10,510
I have had two SSDs fail from OCZ on my old machine but it was a pre-built machine so can't really know what made them fail as the computers was poorly built. Just done my own build and my PC now wont read my SSD (OCZ) ¬.¬ So I am going to get it tested and then if it is a faulty drive not my machine return it.

So my question is, is this normal? From my experiences 100% of SSDs fail but this is probably just bad look. I need my computer for work so want it to be reliable, should I just stick with my 2TB SATA 3 drive? or by a new SSD and if so which one? (I would like to to store 120GB)
 
Solution


OCZ drives pre- vertex 4 generally get fairly poor reviews. The Vertex 4 or the new Vector seem to be alright however.

Top ranked SSD at the...

corbeau

Honorable
Jan 24, 2013
153
0
10,710
I haven't used OCZ SSDs (I've heard some good things about them). But I have used SSDs from Samsung (1.5 years in my laptop), Crucial (2 years in my desktop), Intel (1.5 years in my mom's laptop), and GSkill (8 months in my brother's laptop). None of these have failed on me (yet). I have been most impressed with SSDs from Samsung, Intel, and GSkill. If I were in your shoes (based on my personal experience) and wanted a really reliable SSD I would go with either the Samsung 840 pro they seem to do well at a decent price point.
 

bluejayek

Honorable
Apr 3, 2013
281
0
10,860


OCZ drives pre- vertex 4 generally get fairly poor reviews. The Vertex 4 or the new Vector seem to be alright however.

Top ranked SSD at the moment would be the samsung 840 PRO, which is available in a 128GB size.
 
Solution
Have 14 SSD's - Not one has failed. 2 Are OCZ Agility III bought when they first came out.
Sata III SSDs - 3 Crucial M4s, 3 Samsung 830's, 2 Samsung 840 pros and the 2 Agility IIIs
Sata II SSDs date back to Intels G1 and G2, The G2 and a Pheonix pro have been runing in my older i5-750 for over two years.
Currently running: Laptop (i5-2410m) w/ 256 gig Samsung 840 Pro Plus a Crucial 256 gig M4. (they replaced two 128 gig M4's)
Desktop (i5-2500K) with a 256 gig Samung 830 and a Samsung 128 gig 830. The i5-750 has two sata II SSDs. Wife's desktop has a 128 gig Crucial M4.
Laptop Core2duo with a Sata II SSD.

Some of the reasons users (reviews at Newegg) are identifing problems are USER inflicted and they blame manuf.
1) They cloned the HDD->SSD and did NOT check that the Partition was properly aligned.
2) They Overfill the SSD Orginally it was stated that you MUST leave at least 10 % Free, they are now indicating that for SSDs freespace should be 20->25% Free.
3) ESD. Myth: you have to touch the pins - NO, You can damage them just picking them up if you have say a 300->500 Volt charge. Remember it takes >500 V too even notice it. We are just coming out of the winter months with Relative humidity (RH) of <30% (in some cases <20%) and RH below 30 is not good and 20% can really increase the ability to build up a charge. It is estimated that so 30% of returned electronics are due to ESD. JUST google "ESD and Walking wounded" to explain why a SSD fails after 3->6 months.

My Choices for SSDs are: Crucial M4, Samsung 830 or 840 Pro (not recommending the samsung 840 non-pro yet), Plextor M5's - NO preference persay. I do prefer the Samsung 840 pro for laptops because of the lower power consumption, Not an issue with Desktops.
IGNORE Benchmarks. Example My Crucial M4and Samsung 830 overall score using AS SSD is mid 700's while the Samsung 840 Pro scores 1100 - Whooping big increase, But bet you a dollar to a dounut you could not pick which system had which in.