Help me choose a 120gb SSD

conclave

Distinguished
Apr 19, 2011
56
0
18,630
I would like to buy a 120gb SSD, and it seems that OCZ has decent ones at low prices, however i dont know anything about them.

Specifically the OCZ Solid 3 , its really cheap on newegg right now and its fast. is it a reliable drive? or is it worth the extra $ to get the agility 3 or vertex 3 instead? Id kind of like to spend as little on a SSD as possible but wanted 120gb and fast, ocz's stuff seems to fit that.
 
Agility and vertex 3 had issues with firmware which is now fixed. I haven't seen any feedback of solid 3 yet. IMO, I would hesitate buying ssd with sf2000 control for now. Nothing against ocz, since corsair also have problems with its sf2000 ssd and I have a vertex 2. Just want the coast to clear before buying. But if you must get an ssd now, get the intel 320.
 

Branden

Distinguished
Jan 22, 2009
598
0
19,060
if low power consumption is important (for laptop battery life) then intel would be the way to go.
if performance is important then a sandforce based SSD is the way to go.
if space and/or price is important then SSD is not the way to go.

also keep in mind there's more to a SSD's performance than seq read/write speeds.
even though OCZ's vertex 3, agility 3 and solid 3 all have similar seq read/write, the vertex 3 will be noticably faster because it has the highest IOP performance of the three.

with that said, here's my experience on OCZ's reliability: i'm on my 3rd vertex 2 drive, 1st one was DOA the 2nd one failed after 3 weeks, the 3rd one has been fine thus far but i don't trust it with important data. that's a 67% failure rate for OCZ drives in my possession, whereas the failure rate for every other SSD i have/had (all non-OCZ and non-sandforce) is 0%.
 

michaelst

Distinguished
Mar 1, 2006
33
0
18,540
Over the last year, I've used 2 Kingstons(now and now+), and 1 Corsair (nova) and have had rock solid performance from each.

The difference in performance between SSD's is miniscule compared the difference in performance between SSD's and HHD'.

So, unless your a nut for running benchmarks, your best measure is cost per gb, and reliablility. Read Newegg customer reviews.
 
pyree - "Agility and vertex 3 had issues with firmware which is now fixed" latest ATTEMPT is FW 1.09 and I would NOT call that a Fix, Yes it fixed some, others not so lucky - still have problems to causing the SSD to run slower.

On Intel 320 - Tom's was a day late and a dollar short, Seems I mentioned this in previous posts referencing artical from cdrinfo.

Didn't catch if for desktop or laptop. IF laptop, do NOT buy a SF22xx controller based SSD untill you see some reviews showing that it works for the specific laptop!!

Currently only recommending SATA III SSDs using the Marvel controller and/or the Sata II SSDs using the SF1200 controller.

Bottom line: Wait a couple of months to see if the problems with the "newer SSds are solved. SSDs should be Plug-&-Play NOT Plug-&-PRAY. Problem is that they are not refunable so you are stuck if you find you have problems.

Don't pay all the attention to Benchmarks - Look at "real-world" test (or ones that try to mimic the real world - As branden stated not as big of a difference.

RANT: The only way a OCZ SSD will see the light inside my computer is if they send me a FREE replacement for my Agility III - THAT works with out jumping thru hoops!!!! Up untill I saw How the corporate mentality - Scre^@#$%^% the costumer I have recommended OCZ. How does that go - takes a while to build up a good reputation, but one a'*** to distroy it - and a Very long time to get it back. They should have recalled/refunded the ones that are defective be it firmware or hardware!!!
 


I didn't know how good the fix for ocz was, but now you told me about the fix not working, I will be careful. Thanks. And no, I didn't read your post, so I got my news from TH front page news.
 
In terms of reliability what's left to choose from? For SATA 6Gb/s ssd's that have been around for a while we still have the Crucial C300 and the Intel 510. For SATA 3Gb/s ssd's the Samsung 470 is looking very good.

I'm not even going to think about brand new ssd's until there is some sort of track record established.
 
Seems the Sata III SSDs using the new Marvel controller are less probmatic. The Intel 510 uses the marvel controller (a First intel SSD not using a Intel Controller). The main diff between it and the other brands is the FW.
Take a look at the reviews on the plextor 128 gig, looks better than several of the other SATA III marvel based SSds. Planning on going for the Intel 510, or the Plextor to for My Samsung RF711 (SB) notebook. (Agility III bombs out after Win 7 Install at first reboot).
 
The Crucial m4 is a newer version of the Crucial C300. I did not mention it because it is still new and doesn't have a well established track record. Same with the Patriot WildFire but it does look promising. The WildFire uses the same SandForce 2281 controller but it appears that the firmware has been improved. In fact the patriot firmware may have jumped ahead of the firmware used by OCZ. Time will tell.
 

Kralnor

Distinguished
Jun 13, 2009
122
0
18,690
The Crucial C300 also has stronger random 4K read performance than the Crucial m4, which is an important metric. That and the fact that it has a pretty good track record made me decide on it.
 

garage1217

Distinguished
Apr 25, 2011
151
0
18,690
<< Running a corsair 120gb force GT series. This drive is stellar! Viciously fast, installed with no issues and have had no issues since install, granted it has only been a few weeks. It installed just like any other hard drive which was a pleasure.

Some reviews on it...
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1210/pg1/corsair-force-gt-120gb-ssd-review-introduction.html

This one you have to use google translate..
http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/14204-ssd-sommaren-2011/1

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/SATA-III-SSD-RoundUp-OCZ-Corsair-Patriot-Crucial/?page=1
 

Karch_32

Distinguished
Mar 30, 2011
102
0
18,690
I just bought a Crucial M4 128GB with the cloning kit for $182 (plus tax, I'm in Cali).

I think it was a fantastic deal, but Newegg had sent me a 15% off coupon for Crucial SSD's about four days earlier (Score!).