Vertex 2 vs C300

[torepia]

Hi

Im in the process of buying my first SSD.

MB: P7P55D-E PRO

The dilemma is basically if I should go for a drive that can use my motherboards Marvell SATA 6Gbits controller and buy C300, or stick with my integrated Intel controller and buy a Vertex 2 drive. Ive also thought about buying Vertex 3, as the price is not that much more than the Vertex 3, but Im afraid that my on-board marvell controller will not give full performance with this drive. I dont want to spend money on a Rocketraid card =)

Ive also been thinking about setting up a RAID 0 with 2x 60gb drives, but this means I will loose my TRIM. Vertex 2 however does have a good GC, but is it good enough? After what Ive read the C300 GC is not good at all, and will cause performance loss over time.

So, my alternatives:

1. C300 128gb, which will give good seq reads, and will let me use my onboard SATA III controller.
2. Vertex 2 120gb, overall good drive, but I've read alot about these drives dying.
3. 2x C300 64gb in RAID 0.
4. 2x Vertex 2 60gb in RAID 0.

Does the C300 still have firmware problems? Does the TRIM work on C300?

Thanks in advance =)

 

[groberts101]

while I can't say much more than I've read about the C300, I can speak from experience with the Vertex 2's. GC works well(although a bit slower than othrs) in raids. Many including myself use them without issue. Trim does not restore speeds on Sandforce as it does on other controllers and is more about lifespan. The drives cannot be degraded to the point of other controllers either as the on the fly performance is tops among them all. In fact a fully degraded Sandforce drive can still beat many other drives due to excellent on the fly performance even when fully throttled to what's called a "hammered state".

as for the "drives dying"?.. they rarely "die" but Sandforce has many previous compatibility issues(mostly on laptops) and sleep transition problems on some mobo's which result in panic locked drives which require RMA. Most that I've seen running your board have no issues.

If seriously looking at these drives it's best to go directly to the mfgrs support forums as that's where you'll be able to seperate fact from fiction with much troubleshooting and first hand experience. Good Luck however you decide to go.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

You can get the Crucial C300 120GB SATA III (6 Gb/s) on sale at newegg.com for $199.00 and free shipping. Here is a link to the Tom's Hardware web page with a special promo code:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Deals-Crucial-RealSSD-C300-ssd,12522.html

Be sure to use the coupon code to get the sale price: EMCKFKJ22

That's about as good as it gets. Every once in a while you might be able to find it at $179.99 but it is rare.

 

[torepia]

I cant order from newegg since Im from Norway!

The price for the C300 120gb is about 345 USD right now, and the Vertex is exactly the same.

I ended up ordering a Vertex 2 today, since this drive seemed to have better overall performance, and better 4k Random Read/Writes.

Ive also figured out that the Marvell onboard sata controller sucks anyway, so I was going for the intel chip eitherway. Vertex 2 FTW =)