SSD SLC or MLC

[brett1042002]

Hey guys,

I'm currently in the market for a good SSD. I would like something noticeably faster than my single 7200.12 Barracuda. I tried RAID 0 with two 7200.12 Barracudas with a 64k stripe, and was not impressed by the gains, plus the RAID config failed after 3 months. So, I wonder if a single SSD would be a better solution. I am not too familiar with SSDs. From what i've read, a SLC SSD may have greater peformance than a MLC SSD. I've also read about finding a drive supporting TRIM. Can anyone suggest a good SSD without killing my wallet? This drive will just be used as a boot drive, with maybe a couple games loaded onto it. 60gb or greater would be ideal I think. Thanks .

 

[pathasse]

Go Vertex OCZ or Intel x25. Only stable ones out there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227469

 

[cjl]

X25-M is one of the best choices. I own one (80GB) and love it.

 

[sminlal]

Last year's Intel drives included an SLC model, and it was very highly regarded and very expensive. I suspect that the high price meant they didn't sell very many, because this year Intel has only included MLC drives in their lineup.

The Intel X25M drives are widely regarded as the best, and a firmware update is supposed to be available to support TRIM. Be sure to get a drive with "G2" in it's model number - that indicates it's this years drive model and not last years.

 

[brett1042002]

Thank you for the quick replies, everyone. Intel X25M it is. As soon as Newegg gets more in stock lol.

 

[cjl]

Last year's Intel drives included an SLC model, and it was very highly regarded and very expensive. I suspect that the high price meant they didn't sell very many, because this year Intel has only included MLC drives in their lineup.

The Intel X25M drives are widely regarded as the best, and a firmware update is supposed to be available to support TRIM. Be sure to get a drive with "G2" in it's model number - that indicates it's this years drive model and not last years.

I'm pretty sure the X25-E is still in production - it's still the better choice for some applications.

 

[winner4455]

I'd go for the G2 80gb or 160gb Intel ssd.

I have one, it's awesome.

 

[blackhawk1928]

I can't recommend anything but the Intel MLC 80GB SSD X-25M.

-And about the SLC and MLC drives, SLC drives are better then MLC but they are a far higher and different level of solid state. A MLC (Multi-Level Cell) has multiple cells and therefore usually store more data hence the larger MLC drives currently available. However with this comes a higher access time latency and reduced life span based on other characteristics. And SLC (Single-Level Cell) is based on single blocks. It therefore usually is much smaller like the 32-64GB vs the 80-160GB drives and much more expensive, however because of this, its access latency is lower and its life span is far better than the MLC. However, for home users, the MLC will (I garentee) outlast all the other hardware in your computer if you don't play baseball with it or anything. If you don't do anything stupid like defragment it then it will last very long and be much much much faster then any HDD.

-As a side note, Corsair, OCZ, Kingston and the big guys in the SSD market also make very good drives and are sometimes cheaper so consider those.

 

[redwolfexr]

I have been using the Corsair P256 for a while now with no issues. Its a rebadge of the Samsung SSD, Corsair doesn't make them. It has been very painless. Cost is about $700 for the P series and $800 for the new X series. (the X series uses the Indilink controller)

I went with the Samsung/Corsair because I wanted the higher capacity.