It’s hard to find a fast, high-capacity SSD that fits in your pocket. For the discriminating enthusiast on the go, Mushkin's Ventura Ultra 240 GB packs the performance of SandForce’s 6 Gb/s controller and 240 GB of space in a product that isn’t held back by some of the USB interface’s older means of communicating. Mushkin Ventura Ultra USB 3.0 240 GB
The Fastest USB 3 SSD Around
The UASP-capable Mushkin drive is almost as quick as an SSD attached natively via SATA on compatible Windows 8 systems (and newer Linux kernels). As a bonus, its nifty aluminum structure is functional and pleasant to look at. Expect to pay about $1/GB, which really isn’t all that bad.
SanDisk Extreme 3.0 USB 64 GB
There are times when an SSD-only setup doesn't give you the flexibility you need. If you're trying to put some pep in an older machine, or just want a no-hassle upgrade, SanDisk's ReadyCache might be an appropriate upgrade. SanDisk ReadyCache 32 GB
Transparent Tiered Storage
ReadyCache employs a 32 GB SSD based on SanDisk's proprietary controller that works with Conduciv's ExpressCache software to accelerate hot data. For less than the price of a AAA game title, you can speed up your system's existing hard drive with flash memory. Of course, buying a dedicated SSD is more affordable now than ever, but caching is a smart way to make tiered storage transparent for more entry-level folks.
Transcend ESD200 128 GB
A 1.8" Portable Option at 128 GB
Transcend's ESD200-series SSDs marry solid-state speed with the portability of USB 3.0. If you're replacing an older drive, using it as an external repository ensures that it stays useful.
If you're not swimming in solid-state drives to build your own USB-connected solution, but still want snappy responsiveness, lightness, and durability, the ESD200 is particularly convenient.
- Capacity (GB) :
- 128
- Controller :
- Silicon Motion
- NAND :
- N/A
- Format :
- 1.8" USB 3.0
- DRAM Cache (MB) :
- NA
- Interface :
- USB 3.0
- Power consumption (Active Idle) :
- .50 W
- Other :
- AES-256 Encryption
- Warranty :
- 2 Years
- Average Data Rate (MB/s) :
- N/A
- Sequential Read/Write (MB/s) :
- 200/190
Is that why you don't mention Crucial's MX100 line? With the current pricing on the 256GB and 512GB MX100 drives, it's hard to justify buying anything else at those capacity points.
MX100 256GB is ~$115 and the 512GB is $215. Hard to beat those prices.
Going by the fact that you're still recommending that stick, I'll assume I'm not doing too badly, but an overview of the current state of USB 3.0 would be nice.
b/ the killer factor is access speed vs a HDD - who gives a rats about transfer speed? - huge is huge
given the above, despite the scoffers, i still think raid 1 w/ a ssd primary & a hdd secondary could work well in some apps. none seem to have tried it & benched it meaningfully i can see
most realtime work is done by primary (ssd) drive
fast & cheap always up redundancy
d/ i hear rumors than the sandisk cache thingo has weird firmware - flushes the cache a lot - defeats the purpose? Many say its great.
loved the idea when first heard it, now not so sure
flushes cache? is that bad?
As they say, lottsa ram wins, even if slow.
So what say a big swap file on an ssd?
My 2gb, soon to be replaced, 98xp PC has a 4gb HDD swap file (suggested by windows) & it crawls - u can hear it
swapping
at least the ssd can be re-used - ram upgrades cannot
An entire copy of your system disk on cheap/fast, but niggardly on space, storage - really?
that means being anal with what goes where for ever more - time & hassle & maybe risk?
why not make it their problem?
seagate etc. hybrid 1tb drive - 8 gb cache onboard - $~100
something like sandisk intellicache~? 32gb ~$45 - not a drive - just a cache
maybe a small ssd for known scratch files like win swap etc - $45 64gb - $85 128gb - kingston?
would make a great raid 1 rig
I am told win 8 installs on 128gb can be a struggle - absurd
In theory, only cache what needs caching, not clutter.
Dont quote me if i am wrong (tho i cant see where, if they work ok)
Very fast almost all the time
Time is money - this is KISS