Best value SSD for under $200?

[mirumirai]

Hi all,
I am looking for the SSD with the best value under $200. I am rather new to this.
Right now I am having trouble deciding between the OCZ Agility 2 (50GB, $180) and the Intel X-25M (80GB, $195).
Would the increased performance of the Sandforce 1200 be worth the reduced capacity? Also, do I get to choose 13% vs 28% overprovisioning? I am thinking of going for speed over capacity, but I don't know how noticeable it would be.

Also, I've heard good things about the Kingston SSDNow series. How does that compare?

 

[src1425]

My vote would be for the X25-M. While the Agility 2 might be somewhat faster at sequential read/write, for opening and running your OS and apps the faster random read times of the X25-M will stand you in better stead AND you'll be able to fit more on it (74.4GB formatted vs. 46.5 GB formatted).

 

[mirumirai]

I was going to go with the X-25M, but now newegg is out of stock on the cheap ones. The price is now $225 In addition there is an Agility 2 with 60GB for only $10 more. Would this change your recommendation?

 

[src1425]

Both the 50GB and 60GB Agility 2 drives are listed for $189 on Newegg, but the 60GB versions are out of stock. I believe the 60GB version is the same drive, just with different firmware that uses 13% overprovisioning instead of 28%. According to the Anandtech article at http://www.anandtech.com/show/3690/the-impact-of-spare-area-on-sandforce-more-capacity-at-no-performance-loss/1 there isn't much, if any, performance loss, but no one knows over the long term if there's any effect on reliability.

I would still go with the X25-M. Even for an "older" SSD, it's random read scores are still faster, it's been around long enough to show that it's reliability is pretty good, and you have more space to work with.

 

[mirumirai]

Ok, Thanks, the x-25M it is