PATA SSD drive questions

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aluminumpork

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Hello all,

I've been hunting around for a good 2.5" PATA SSD 128GB drive for my Fujitsu laptop. I seem to have narrowed down my options to drives from Transcend, Kingspec and Super Talent. Pricing is generally about the same across all these drives, the only issue is that Kingspec drives seem nearly impossible to come by in a non-eBay setting. Transcend drives are available from Newegg however, which is where I would feel most comfortable buying.

My question is really between the Kingspec and Super Talent drives. The Super Talent EX2 drive is newer (2009) and "prettier" (not that it matters) but the official specs state max read/write speeds of 80MB/sec and 40MB/sec respectively. The Kingspec offering however states max read/write speeds of 76MB/sec and 67MB/sec respectively. The read speed differences are negligible, however the write speed is a difference of 27MB. The Kingspec's 67MB write speed seems to be backed up by this benchmark: http://www.ocia.net/reviews/kingspecssd/page6.shtml. I haven't found any benchmarks for the Super Talent, but my concern is that the Super Talent's max write speed is true to it's specifications. Or is Super Talent simply being conservative, and I'll likely get similar speeds to the Kingspec. Orrr... maybe I'm just worrying too much and they'll both perform just fine :).

Your thoughts on this? Or any other recommendations on drives, or upcoming drives that I should hold out for.

Thanks!

Super Talent EX2 data sheet: http://www.supertalent.com/products/ssd_category_detail.php?type=MasterDrive
Kingspec 2.5" PATA 128GB MLC data sheet: http://www.kingspec.com/solid-state-disk-products/ssd-25pata-mlcj.htm
 

RJR

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Not even close to being worth the cost of an SSD in your case. If you are in need of a HDD for the computer and your feeling nostalgic and want to keep it around a while:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264209&highlight=Samsung+SpinPoint+M5+HM160HC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152110

Besides that, the money you would spend on a SSD for your laptop, could be much better spent for a new (more current) laptop with much better all around performance, even without an SSD.


 

aluminumpork

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Thanks for the response. I guess I was basing the speed improvement I could gain from that ocia.net review of the Kingspec, since his base system has the same hard drive (Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm) and my benchmarks were also very similar. I'm already very happy with the performance of my laptop and plan on using it for another 4 years (if it lets me). The fact that the ocia review's SSD effectively doubled all read/write speeds over the Travelstar makes me think that an SSD could make a significant difference in my system (especially since I'm moving to Windows 7).

My question was more for guidance on a decision that I had already made than a "should I get one at all" question.

For someone who wants to get a PATA SSD, what are the best options? It seems like most of the drives that are heralded as the latest and greatest are only available in SATA. What are people's thoughts on the newest PATA offerings from Super Talent? Do the drives themselves have any potential problems? (as I read so much about faulty firmware or very young feature sets)

Thanks for your help. I realize I could get a faster laptop for a couple hundred more than the cost of an SSD, but for around $600 doesn't get me a laptop I'm truly happy with. The build quality, look and feel of my laptop is leaps and bounds better than the cheaper Dells and HPs. Besides upgrading my memory and the OS, I see a SSD as the best way to increase boot and waking times.
 

RJR

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I'm sorry I miss understood:

Samsung HM160HC HDD : 67/57
SuperTalent SSD (quickest one) Read/Write Seq speed 80/40

Yeh, I can see the mind blowing performance difference now for the expensive Pata SSD now, I would definitely go with the SuperTalent.

Or you can look at the 128GB Transcend at Newegg 68/46, oh wait that's slower for $399, sorry.

 

aluminumpork

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Minus the sarcasm, you do make a good point. I was not aware that modern 5400rpm drives had increased in speed so much, and it looks like I can I pick up the Samsung drive you mentioned for around $60. I'll definitely be doing that instead. Thanks!
 

RJR

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That's great, most people don't get it when I'm being sarcastic like that. SORRY about that!

The only BIG difference would be the access time, spinning drive (ms's) verses almost instant for the SSD, I really don't think you would see enough difference to warrant the $400 cost though.

 
Most people buy SSDs because of their much faster access time, typically 100x faster than a hard drive. That's the most important metric for tasks like booting your system or starting applications.

Transfer rates are only more important if you're copying large files or using a program that has to read large files quickly - examples would be video editing or editing large RAW files from a digital camera.
 

eboyhan

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io transfer is not very important in the ssd/ide equation -- let me explain why. most io in a laptop is os generated -- lots of smallish random reads and writes -- you can hear the heads moving all the time. hdd's have two movement components: access (when head has to move track to track) and latency (time to rotate to data position once head is on track) -- both of these are slow: latency for a 7200rpm drive is about 4ms, access is typically longer you add two together to get effective access (typically 10-15ms) all this before you even try to move data! also effective xfr of ide is going to top out at around 50mb/sec so xfr rates are not all that relevant in the ide scenario. it's access that matters when dealing with os mediated io. for ssd's access is effectively zero! (no moving parts) -- that's where the big win for ssd's in older laptops comes in. there are probs with ssd's having to do with how writes to flash are done. you need a controller that knows about this otherwise ssd perf drops off a cliff the more you use it. older controllers (especially jmicron) were really bad here. prob is finding ssd with ide interface AND a decent controller. most ide ssd's use the bad controllers. btw if anyone knows of a 64GB pata ssd with a decent controller (especially w TRIM support), I'd like to know about it.
 

MWHebert

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I, too, am looking for a good IDE PATA 64GB SSD drive. I found one that has been going down in price on eBay. At $180 it is a bit ridiculous but for my older Mac Mini may be what I need, especially the access time.

This one uses the Silicon Motion SM2235G Controller. Says it is the latest version of the controller.

Located here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170455814976&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Let me know what anyone thinks about it.
 

eboyhan

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i have since discovered that the RunCore Pro IV uses an Indilinx Barefoot controller with 64MB of DRAM cache, which is one of the better ones. it's a little pricey and hard to find, but is the best ide upgrade choice.
 

sub mesa

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A PATA SSD is only useful as tiny system disk for OS like FreeNAS that only needs a few gigabytes.

A PATA SSD would be terrible in performance as it lacks any advanced controller. Buying a 128GB PATA SSD is surely a waste of your money; its just a very expensive very slow drive.
 

theoldwizard1

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I too, am looking to "breathe new life" into an old HP laptop with a SSD. Speed and size are not my highest priority (It IS an old laptop and I will only need 32-64GB to run XP) Cost and reliability are important.

Has anyone found any place that has the Runcore 2.5" PATA/IDE in stock ?

Any other "reasonably priced" (under $100 for 32 GB would be good !) alternatives.

There is a Runcore vendor forum on Tweaktown, but I can find no mention of the 2.5" PATA/IDE
 

poordirtfarmer

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Did you ever “pull the trigger” on the PATA SSD drive? I have an old 2005 vintage HP laptop that came with 256 meg memory and 40 Gig 5400 rpm HDD. The machine still works fine but gets awfully hot if it runs a long time. And it is certainly very slow compared to an equally old desktop that I recently updated with more memory and an Intel 40Gig SSD .

I’ve replaced the memory card with a 1 Gig, but like you I’m looking for an SSD that I could slip into my old laptop’s HDD’s compartment. The current 40 Gig drive is labeled as “AT” and the connection most certainly is different from the SATA that I just installed in my desk machine. There is no room for any adapter, so I’m really limited. I’m assuming that a 2.5” notebook PATA drive would work? Did you find a SSD that worked on your old laptop??
 
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