Is Corsair Neutron series any good for gaming?

[grimsonfart]

Hey

Im building a new gaming rig so im wondering a lil about what ssd to choose. I have been looking at the Corsair Neutron series, possibly the GTX version but im not really sure if its any good.

thanks

 

[master_chen]

Corsair's SSDs are ones of the worst out there, I highly suggest that you stay away from them as far as possible.
If you want a quality SSD for gaming, get this or this, and you're pretty much good to go.

 

[ubercake]

Intel 520 Series drives are solid. Intel SSDs are known for their reliability. I also like the Crucial M4 drives.

 

[master_chen]

"520" series are solid.

No they are not. They have SandForce, man. Seriously...sigh...
If you need to recommend quality Intel SSD, "510" would be the best option, not "520".
Intel's "520" series are unreliable, because they use friggin' "SandForce" controller, which is GARBAGE.
If you want ultra-reliability and quality from Intel, get any of their "510" line, not "520".
I'm not saying that "520" line are bad SSDs, but they aren't really worth getting either, in my opinion (which is based on personal experience of usage).

OP, it's for you to decide in the end, but I personally highly recommend getting Intel's "510" (IF you can find it and afford it). It's THE best SSD on the market right now, reliability-wise.
Otherwise, get any of the ones that I've recommended you earlier, you won't regret it at all.

 

[mad-max79]

I can recommend Samsung 830, it is fast, sustained and reliable.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164

 

[aicom]

No they are not. They have SandForce, man. Seriously...sigh...
If you need to recommend quality Intel SSD, "510" would be the best option, not "520".
Intel's "520" series are unreliable, because they use friggin' "SandForce" controller, which is GARBAGE.
If you want ultra-reliability and quality from Intel, get any of their "510" line, not "520".
I'm not saying that "520" line are bad SSDs, but they aren't really worth getting either, in my opinion (which is based on personal experience of usage).

OP, it's for you to decide in the end, but I personally highly recommend getting Intel's "510" (IF you can find it and afford it). It's THE best SSD on the market right now, reliability-wise.
Otherwise, get any of the ones that I've recommended you earlier, you won't regret it at all.

There's nothing wrong with the SandForce controller. Intel writes custom firmware for it for the 520 drives and even in the rest, the firmware is fairly solid recently. I have used a total of 3 Crucial M4 drives, 1 Plextor M3, and an old ADATA SF-1222 drive. None of them had any issues at all.

The 510 is past its prime. It gets soundly crushed by many recent SSDs.

The 830: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/357?vs=532
The 520: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/357?vs=529
The M5 Pro: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/357?vs=646

 

[master_chen]

There's nothing wrong with the SandForce controller.

You are delusional. SandForce is the worst controller on the market right now, tons of SSDs die each day because of it failing suddenly (usually one day/week/month after the buy).
You can keep saying that SandForce's good as much as you want - you can't fool anyone, man.
SandForce already got very bad reputation throughout the entire world, and it totally deserved that treatment, because it really is highly unreliable trash.
Denying this fact would be like denying the existence of DNA helix inside ourselves.

Also

The "510" line is past its prime.

You don't know what you are talking about. "510" is the most reliable SSD that you can get on the market right now.
It's not high-speed/performance monster like OCZ or others, but it really doesn't need to be - the reliability is what matters most when anyone buys an SSD, not speed or capacity/size of cache, and in the "reliability" means there is no better SSD line than Intel's "510", so far. "510" line aren't even close to be "past it's prime", because people who really need reliability (not "MOAR SPEED!!!111 And I don't care if I have to buy a new SSD each month because previous one died! Just GIMME MOAR SPEED, M-M-MOAR!!!!" kids) buy them today, in stead of the most fresh ones, and there are quite many people out there who would prefer "510" to any other, simply putting: it's still very popular and highly sought.
It's in no way a "past it's prime" product, only a very inexperienced person could've said something like that (and you did).
Your benchmarks mean absolutely nothing, because, again, we're talking about reliability here, not speed/performance, but looks like, people like you would never understand it.
I would not argue on this matter with anyone in this thread anymore.

OP, I've said everything that should've been said to you, it's for you to decide now. Read the thread thoroughly before you make the final decision.
I just hope that you will make a truly wise choice in the end.
That's my last word on it. Have a nice day/night and I wish you the best of results.

 

[ubercake]

The 510 line was replaced by the 520 line for a reason. While reliable, the performance of the 510 relative to others in the segment was lame. Also, with the 520, we're not talking 2010 OCZ SSDs with sandforce controllers any longer.

Intel offers a 5-year warranty on the drives to boot while Samsung and Crucial offer 3-year warranties.

Not saying any of these drives are bad, but when a company backs its drive for 5 years, they aren't anticipating a loss on the deal.

Additionally, the 520 write speeds can't be matched by the M4 or the 830.

Some people seem pretty passionate about their arguments though.

Personally, I wouldn't trust a Samsung drive because I've had issues with their other products in the past. They have a tendency to make things last until the warranty is up.

 

[master_chen]

The 510 line was replaced by the 520 line for a reason.

"520" ain't a "replacement" of any kind. It didn't "replace" the "510" line and never intended to do so from the beginning. Both "510" and "520" coexist in parallel, they don't cross each other and they don't fight with each other, because each of them has their own consumer segment to take care of, they aren't meant to compete with each other.

I wouldn't trust a Samsung drive because I've had issues with their other products in the past. They have a tendency to make things last until the warranty is up.

I have a 200GB Samsung HDD (SP2004C) that I bought more than 5 years ago, and it still works perfectly even today.
Maybe they do have crappy products in other segments, but I can't say that about their storage devices (be that HDDs, SSDs, their USB flash dongles, or their SD/microSD cards).

 

[ubercake]

I'm glad your HDD lasted you. That's great, but it's not an SSD.

Also, the following article talks about the 510 series "being retired":

http://www.storagereview.com/intel_ssd_520_review

That same article also discusses how Intel went to great lengths to demonstrate the reliability of the 520 drives with the Intel implentation of the Sandforce controller.

And another article talks of the reliability and performance pairing the 520 series has to offer:

http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/intel-520-ssd-review-round-two-raid-testing-at-1-5gbs-with-highpoint-2720sgl-raid-controller/5/

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Lets' get back to the original question.

I do not recommend the Corsair Neutron GTX solid state drive for a valid reason that is almost never mentioned by anyone else. The ssd is brand new. It was released less than one month ago. It does not have an established track record yet. I recommend waiting 6 months to see if any problems develop.

The two solid state drives I normally recommend are the Samsung 830 and the Crucial m4. The Samsung 830 has a proven track record that is stellar. The Crucial m4 is very popular with gamers. At this point I would recommend purchasing whichever of the two has the lowest sale price. Intel ssd's are also good but unfortunately they command a premium price.

I maintain the ssd database located in the sticky at the very top of this forum section. Here is the link:

http://www.johnnylucky.org/data-storage/ssd-database.html

Scroll down to the brands and models you are interested in and follow the links to the technical reviews which should help you make an informed decision.

There is no best ssd for gaming. There have been numerous articles published about ssd's and gaming. The bottom line is do not expect miracles. Games, game levels, maps, and charts will load faster. That's about it. SSD's will not improve FPS.