Ssd

[TeaLeaf]

My HDDs are getting a bit long in the tooth now and given that my raid controller card does not support Windows 7 I have decided to go for an SSD to replace my main raid array and then install 7.

So which SSD is best atm, needs to be decent size for OS & WoW (ideally Steam too), everything else will sit on the other drives.

[Snokio]

Kregs the best man to ask, he's done some testing I believe, from what i know, Intel are the market leaders, with the 'M' (mainstream aka MLC) and the more expensive 'E' (Extreme aka SLC) series,
 
However, around the corner is Oz vortex 2 which looks to be cheaper but as quick as Intels Extreme, and its only using MLC technology :blink: (compared to 'E's SLC).
 
The capacity's are due to increase soon, which might bring some of the other down, Might be worth holding out.
 
I know there are a few people on here who have made the move to SSD (delan + snooks I think?)

[T-Bag]

It's between Intel E and OCZ Vertex, I think OCZ has beaten the Extremes in some recent tests.

Link

OCZ look to be the way to go, and I think there's quite a jump to go up to an extreme.

I'm not tempted by SSDs at their current size, I can't fit my steam folder on any of them, would need 500GB and then more for windows. I can't see that being cheap to get at the moment.

[delanvital]

I've got a Vertex. Almost as fast as Intel MLC's. I am very pleased performance-wise.

[kregoron]

Both intels x-25m (e series are just to expensive to be worth the trouble) and OCZ vertex are both brilliant disks..
Intels x-25m are fastest but also more expensive.. and always buy Generation 2 (often labeled Gen2 or G2)

you might be able to grab some of the new OCZ vertex limited edition ssd's thats hitting the market now, as they are faster then intels.. but betting they will be more expensive too

on a side note, performance isnt everything you need to look at when choosing SSD's, always choose a drive that supports TRIM, as you use the SSD drive it will get fragmented (not in the same way as a HDD) and a disk without TRIM will get severely impacted on performance, dropping to below HDD speeds...
but also reliability.. SSD chips will last a few years, but not forever, as the blocks on the chips go bad they die, a feature all good ssd's utilise is block allocation... lets say the SSD is listed as a 128Gb drive, 128 is visible but the drive actually contains more, intels drives contain about 140-150gb, the extra gb is used for the allocation feature, when the bad block is shut down and a new is opened in the extra space... i think OCZ and Intel has about the same extra amount % wise.. cheap ones might have 1-2Gb extra, which severely decreases the lifespan of the disk..


feel free to poke me on msn if you need more advise TL btw why arent on you on MSN!

[delanvital]

And IIRC TRIM is only natively supported in Win 7. On my XP-machine I use an app made by OCZ, available on their site. The OCZ forum is rather good btw.

[kregoron]

Kregs the best man to ask, he's done some testing I believe, from what i know, Intel are the market leaders, with the 'M' (mainstream aka MLC) and the more expensive 'E' (Extreme aka SLC) series,
 
However, around the corner is Oz vortex 2 which looks to be cheaper but as quick as Intels Extreme, and its only using MLC technology :blink: (compared to 'E's SLC).
 
The capacity's are due to increase soon, which might bring some of the other down, Might be worth holding out.
 
I know there are a few people on here who have made the move to SSD (delan + snooks I think?)

just to clarify...

intels x-25m (MLC) are faster then OCZ vertex, and the intel x-25e Extreme is just silly awsome (e actually stands for enterprise and correct based on SLC)

ye the OCZ vertex 2 is around the corner previews popping up everywhere and yeah they look fast, but its not much they beat the x-25m with.. average transfers in teh 230 range, where typical x-25m gen2 is doing 220-225..
but the burst speeds of the Vertex 2's are insane, guessing its due to the new buffering features of the new sandforce controller (which looks to become the new big thing in ssd's
but those are from benchmark programs so remember take account that it doesnt always represent realworld performance

[kregoron]

And IIRC TRIM is only natively supported in Win 7. On my XP-machine I use an app made by OCZ, available on their site. The OCZ forum is rather good btw.

yup trim is only natively supported by win7, both intel and ocz has made tools to solve that...

I cant really what you should choose OCZ or Intels's SSD's, both are fantastic pieces of hardware, which really gives you something for the money

[TeaLeaf]

Looks like I can get:
100GB OCZ Vertex Limited Edition (if that's the one you meant Kreg)
160GB Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB
120GB OCZ Vertex

Not found any Vertex 2 yet, when are they due out?

[kregoron]

Looks like I can get:
100GB OCZ Vertex Limited Edition (if that's the one you meant Kreg)
160GB Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB
120GB OCZ Vertex

Not found any Vertex 2 yet, when are they due out?

should be out in in march afaik, and price estimates looks like 500-550$ for the 100Gb version..

there is also the kingston, but ive heard a large amount of people having em die after 4 months of use, and trim isnt working properly yet.. but then again i havent read anything on their latest models

[Tutonic]

The new Kingston V+ range are very good, plus they support TRIM which is an absolute must if you're on Windows 7.

[TeaLeaf]

Been continuing the search and came across a new SSD product, the Micron C300 256GB SSD during a discussion with Kreg.  More to the point:

- at 256GB it is way larger than most SSDs and therefore more 'normal size'
- is almost identical size to my current raid array so no messing about with multiple drives
- supports SATA3 so can move to my next machine
- is at a decent price point for the size
- performance is absolutely stunning

They get sold as Crucial and my finger is hovering on the pre-order button as they arrive with them next week.  I have a feeling Crucial can add +1 to the sales column.

Tech PDF

Average Transfer Speeds:


Random Access Time:


Big thanks to Kreg for spending the best part of an hour discussing various technical aspects of it (which I still do not understand) but putting my mind at rest that it was a decent buy.

[TeaLeaf]

Damnit.  I ordered one.  I should have it early next week to put a fresh copy of Win7 64-bit on it.  Performance piccies to follow.

[delanvital]

Damnit.  I ordered one.  I should have it early next week to put a fresh copy of Win7 64-bit on it.  Performance piccies to follow.

Once you've tried it, there is no turning back :norty:

[kregoron]

just to boost TL's ego those benches are the ssd running on a SATA2 controller
here is it running on a Sata 6gb/s controller