Best performing/value SSD or duo, at 40-100GB?

[Anvil]

Sam,

You can always format the partition size to your liking
Using a smaller portion of the available space would only lead to better performance. (over-provisioning)

[jalyst]

I got used to my little Vertex 30GB and I'm afraid 128GB is going to get too much for me. , but you are right the new price is tempting.

I've been looking into Vertex 2 60GB too, maybe I should get one these after all. Because that c300 64GB can get delayed again. This is getting difficult now.

Why get the c300 64GB instead of the vertex 2 60GB anyway?
Isn't the latter a better performing SSD overall?
Of course neither are better than 2x X25-V's! (cept for some seq. metrics)

[jalyst]

I haven't used a scratch drive for years.

If you continually (on a daily basis) write a lot of data (>20GB) I'd consider using the HDD for that purpose, you'd wear out the SSD prematurely.
Most SSDs are "tuned" for let's say 10-20GB per day, giving the 5 year or more life expectancy.

So basically, if you write less than 10-20GB per day I'd use the SSD and forget about the scratch drive.
Having said that, if you do a lot of sequential writes you might as well use the HDD, it's just as fast or faster than most SSD's. (less wear, same speed)

I doubt I'd be writing sufficiently enough to degrade the SSD within 2yrs (I doubt id use it much longer than that!)
But I don't want my RAID-0 boot volume to be used for that purpose, I will see if a short-stroked F3 is sufficient.

I have also bought 1x WD20EARS-00MVWB0 (latest 667GB platter tech so only 3 platters) for Storage/BU purposes.
Depending how it compares to Samsung's 3-platter 2TB when it's out in a few weeks, I may order a 2nd one.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts/advice...
If anyone's interested in further numbers let me know & I'll see what I can do once I finally commence by entire HEPC/PVR build.
Not long off now, it's a "doozy", I may establish a dedicated build log

[Sam_oslo]

Sam,

You can always format the partition size to your liking
Using a smaller portion of the available space would only lead to better performance. (over-provisioning)

Yeah, you are right, but 128GB it going to be too much for my needs. Intel G3 is not far away, so a little and cheaper one would do for now.

Why get the c300 64GB instead of the vertex 2 60GB anyway?
Isn't the latter a better performing SSD overall?
Of course neither are better than 2x X25-V's! (cept for some seq. metrics)

I need just 1 drive, OS-disk for w7.
C300 on the on-board SATA3 should perform better, but Vertex 2 is good option too, I'm waiting for weekend-sale to start, if it shows up I'll hit on that, too.

[jalyst]

ah, so if the vertex2 had sata3 (& the mobo) it'd perform better right?

[Anvil]

jalyst,

It probably would perform better, how much is hard to tell.
Given the nature of the SF controller, ATTO would surely shine, CDM and/or AS SSD would probably show no difference at all.
So again, it's up to what kind of data you process. (the truth is somewhere in between ATTO and CDM, closer to CDM in most cases)

Sam,
Get a cheap drive and wait for the G3 specs, details could start to surface at the IDF in mid september.

[flamenko]

Just got a C300 64Gb and here is the first tests if it helps...

[Anvil]

The CDM benchmarks looks OK, theres something fishy with the AS SSD though (read: 4K-64 threads) , could be due to using the Marvell driver.

You should try uninstalling the Marvell driver and redo the benchmark using the default W7 driver. (msahci)

[jalyst]

It probably would perform better, how much is hard to tell.
Given the nature of the SF controller, ATTO would surely shine, CDM and/or AS SSD would probably show no difference at all.
So again, it's up to what kind of data you process. (the truth is somewhere in between ATTO and CDM, closer to CDM in most cases)

It's a shame vendors of sf1200/1500 controllers don't bother with the sata3 interface...
I guess they're not bothering till Intel makes it standard next yr, still others are doing it irrespective with other controllers, so it's kinda lame of them.

[Complete]

So I've scrolled and read through most of this forum. It would appear now that the vortex2 is the best bet. I'm not concerned about price. I just want 2 of the best performing ssds around 50gig apiece. Anyone?

[Anvil]

Complete,

Vertex 2 (SF) vs C300 is a close race, at least using 3Gb/s controllers.

You'd be happy whichever you choose to buy.

[jalyst]

From what I've read vertex 2 is slighty better in most areas that matter most...
But because the C300 uses a SATA6G (3.0) interface, & if you have SATA6G on your mobo, then you'll get slightly better performance in a few areas.

[Metroid]

jalyst, my personal view on the matter is to wait the Intel G3. I can't say when is coming due to NDA but I can guarantee that it will not be better than what the Crucial C300 64GB already offers. It will be a close call, in the end will be size / price / performance ratio which the Intel G3 will offer as much as 80% in that regard. The bottom line and my advice are, don't waste your time with these drives. The Intel G3 will be a must buy due to ........ . That is all I can say for now.

I think you know this but I will say in case you don't. A new motherboard is not needed if the problem is the SATA 3.0. There are many cheap PCI-E 2.0 x 2/4 adapters for example the Asus U3S6 "True Support" USB 3.0 & SATA 6GB Combo add on card for Asus P55 and X58 is being sold for just £24.

[Ao1]

I tried the U3S6 and the performance using a G2 is mediocre and certainly less than ICH.

I see an expensive upgrade coming soon but only when ICH support for sata 6, LGA2011 and the G3 are all available. The best rumor I have on the G3 is Jan btw, but it sounds like you might know something different

[IanB]

jalyst, my personal view on the matter is to wait the Intel G3. I can't say when is coming due to NDA but I can guarantee that it will not be better than what the Crucial C300 64GB already offers. It will be a close call, in the end will be size / price / performance ratio which the Intel G3 will offer as much as 80% in that regard. The bottom line and my advice are, don't waste your time with these drives. The Intel G3 will be a must buy due to ........ . That is all I can say for now.

Damn your NDA. Some of us really need to know when these drives are going to be available. With UK VAT going up to 20% in January, the difference in price/performance you are talking about gets muddied comparing buying now to waiting, if there's no performance gain likely. I don't want to be buying large numbers of components after January if I can get before then.

I'd prefer G3s for replacing a bunch of drives here, but thanks to the VAT change it may be cheaper in the long term to get some x25-V love now rather than wait and speculate on G3 pricing. Not knowing anything about pricing/availability is killing me.

[Ao1]

I can guarantee that it will not be better than what the Crucial C300 64GB already offers.

Are you saying that G3 and C300 performance will be ~ the same?

The Intel G3 will be a must buy due to ........price?

[nysulli]

I'm curious on this as well, I'm in a position where I need to get a new boot disc ASAP (like tonight), torn between an x25-v for 120 at bestbuy, or the m for 220, I could deal with only 40gigs for a month or 2 if I knew the G3 was coming that quickly, otherwise I think I'm better off grabbing the m

any thoughts?

[flamenko]

The only word on the G3 anywhere is strictly rumour; it fuels itself. Its similar to all technology advancements in that the day the Intel comes out will be the day after you break down and decide on another drive eheh.

[Computurd]

my thoughts exactly. i am so antsy..these barefoots are getting tired....

[Johnny87au]

1500 wqas supposed to be for enterprise use and 1200 for home?

Yes thats right, if i remember correctly the 1500 has higher iops cant remember to be exact but costs way more and the performance is exactly the same as the 1200..

1500 for servers etc
1200 more enthusiast home use

[nysulli]

The only word on the G3 anywhere is strictly rumour; it fuels itself. Its similar to all technology advancements in that the day the Intel comes out will be the day after you break down and decide on another drive eheh.

yeah, I bought my 860 maybe a month before the 875 was released, felt kinda burned there

but I jumped on the x25-m 80gig last night, after going through the install and getting a chance to play with it a bit, I'm so glad I did, so much more responsive than the 150gig raptor it replaced

[Sam_oslo]

My local dealer has just listed OCZ RevoDrive 50GB. It is more expensive than other 50-60GBs, but the price is not too bad for such a speed.

What do you guys think about using this 540/450MBs baby as a OS disk?

[Anvil]

Sam

I feel more comfortable using single drives in raid, for 2-4 drives the ICH is great.
If the RevoDrive sported performance beyond the ICH, I would probably have bought it instantly.

Pros
Great performance at a low cost.
Performance wise, none that I can think of compared to 2R0 Vertex 2 on the ICH.

Cons
The firmware is not user upgradable, I for one couldn't live with such a limitation.

There are compatibility issues, visit the OCZ forum.
EVGA looks to be one of the MBs having issues with the RevoDrive. (as a boot drive)

[Sam_oslo]

Sam

I feel more comfortable using single drives in raid, for 2-4 drives the ICH is great.
If the RevoDrive sported performance beyond the ICH, I would probably have bought it instantly.

Pros
Great performance at a low cost.
Performance wise, none that I can think of compared to 2R0 Vertex 2 on the ICH.

Cons
The firmware is not user upgradable, I for one couldn't live with such a limitation.

There are compatibility issues, visit the OCZ forum.
EVGA looks to be one of the MBs having issues with the RevoDrive. (as a boot drive)

I see. Good to have you around Anvil

I knew this was too good to be true, but I didn't know how. I don't want to deal with it on my EVGA SR-2, and FW update is important to me too. I'll keep waiting for c300 64GB to get in stock, or a good sale-price on Vertex 2 60GB.

[jalyst]

Sam

I feel more comfortable using single drives in raid, for 2-4 drives the ICH is great.
<SNIP> ...

Interesting, thanks for the insights!
2R0 X25-V will have to suffice for me instead of 1x C300 64, 1x Vertex 2 50+, or the mythical G3!
Perhaps in the new year I'll buy 1-2 of these contenders.