Refunded Kingston v300 120gb due to speed issue, ordering new reliable SSD (£70-94/$110-150) in an hour, help!

curioususer123

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I'm looking for a reliable SSD to last a good time without slowing down speed like my old SSD did, its speed decreased by 50 mb/s in read and 30 mb/s in write, it also had rubbish write speeds to begin with. I'm looking at the Samsung 840 pro 128gb since it is MLC ( lasts 3 times as long as TLC) and is fast to boot, but it's on the expensive side. I'm willing to fork out a little more for a much better drive so I need suggestions.
 
Solution
The Samsung Pro is a good one to go for if you are looking for speed. However, also make sure that you are using the correct SATA 3 port on your mobo (the intel one), that AHCI is enabled in BIOS and that TRIM is also enabled, and your chipset drivers are up to date. All these will help speed issues.

EonW

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The Samsung Pro is a good one to go for if you are looking for speed. However, also make sure that you are using the correct SATA 3 port on your mobo (the intel one), that AHCI is enabled in BIOS and that TRIM is also enabled, and your chipset drivers are up to date. All these will help speed issues.
 
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curioususer123

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Correct SATA 3 port? Here is a picture of my motherboard http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/product/2/4489/8010_big.jpg, the one I put it in was SATA 3 [1], is this the right port? I first got speeds of 470mb/s read and 170 write but these dropped to 420mb/s and 140mb/s after 13 days.
 

EonW

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Looked at the board and looked up the specs on Gigabyte website - cannot see it clearly, but they all seem the same - on older Z77/H77 boards the intel port was a different colour.As for the drop in speed, it may be a poor drive, though one reason that can happen is if TRIM is not enabled, as deleted files are not deleted, and end up as garbage on the drive. As you are changing the drive anyway, see what happens with the new one. Also use the same benhmark tool that the SSD maker does (eg ATTO for Corsair drives) as you get a similar reading to their own tests.
 

gorskiegangsta

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Almost every SSD will slow down (from its peak advertised speeds) depending on how much spare area you leave on it, and how you use it. That's just the reality of it. In that respect, the 840 Pro isn't the best from the performance consistency standpoint. If you're looking for a drive that will reasonably retain its peak performance levels, go for Sandisk Extreme II or Corsair Neutron GTX. Those models prioritize performance consistency.
 

curioususer123

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I ended up going for the 840 Pro due to the better specs and the difference is only $20, yet it is better in many categories. The Sandisk drives are made in China and I don't want to risk getting a faulty drive. The 840 can't be that bad.
 

EonW

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I don't think you will be disappointed.