SSD roundup: Vertex 3 vs M4 vs C300 vs 510 vs 320 vs x25-M vs F120 vs Falcon II

[d1c1ple]

64 for $104 and 256 for $444

Hoping the transformation is awesome :-)

[onethreehill]

English review is out
http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

[disruptfam]

Im new to ssd thing So excuse my ignorance. But would the crucial m4 - 3400 be a better choice over the ocz vertex 3? If so why?

[DooRules]

I would go for the M4 every time, stability being concern # 1 with the vertx 3.

[therat]

Im new to ssd thing So excuse my ignorance. But would the crucial m4 - 3400 be a better choice over the ocz vertex 3? If so why?

At the present moment the Vertex 3 is experiencing severe problems with stuttering and BSOD as an apparent result of a firmware upgrade. A new firmware to (hopefully) correct the problem was release yesterday so it's very early days to see if all the problems have been fixed. The crucial M4 on the other hand seems as solid as a rock so far.

If both drives were problem free then the vertex 3 is about the fastest SATA 3 drive available at the price.

Do some research before you buy. Reliability not only speed is very important.

[Ao1]

If both drives were problem free then the vertex 3 is about the fastest SATA 3 drive available at the price.

Fastest at writing zeros at QD32, whilst in an un-throttled state. At QD1, writing normal data, it is not the fastest by a margin and its more expensive than faster alternatives.

[CryptiK]

Picked up a Crucial M4 128GB today to replace my old 320GB WD OS drive that died, I really like it so far.

[johnw]

English review is out
http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

Has anyone managed to view the charts on the pages where they group the charts together and tell you to hover over the links to view them? I see nothing but a broken picture icon when I hover over the links or even click the links.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...l-510-320.html

[bluestang]

^ Same here.

[disruptfam]

At the present moment the Vertex 3 is experiencing severe problems with stuttering and BSOD as an apparent result of a firmware upgrade. A new firmware to (hopefully) correct the problem was release yesterday so it's very early days to see if all the problems have been fixed. The crucial M4 on the other hand seems as solid as a rock so far.

If both drives were problem free then the vertex 3 is about the fastest SATA 3 drive available at the price.

Do some research before you buy. Reliability not only speed is very important.

Ok thanks for the info

[RCG_Bex]

Few q's because although I've read loads , I think my brain is now fried with too much info...

- Is TRIM still a necessity? Or can we manager without?
- And if TRIM isn't needed, what can I expect from 2x SSD's in RAID 0 on my CHIV on board SATA ports?
- Looking at the Crucial M4 or the Corsair Force 3 but heard there were issues with the new Corsair's? (have these been resolved?)

Kinda wish I'd pre-ordered the M$ 512Gb since they were dirt cheap (~£500 as apposed to £600!) but still have the opportunity.

[Ao1]

Just got a 320 40GB for my sisters laptop, so I thought I'd run a couple of benches before handing it over

[Ian[Frozen]]

- Is TRIM still a necessity? Or can we manager without?

That would depend on the controller and the version of firmware. On the drives with GC built into their firmware the answer is definitely NO, trim is not a necessity. Whether we have seen the last of trim, who knows? But for now if you have GC as part of the firmware then you do not have to care if you have trim capability or not.

[bluewhale1]

Which ones have a gc and which ones only have trim? (between the M4,Intel 510 and the newer sandforce)

[RCG_Bex]

That would depend on the controller and the version of firmware. On the drives with GC built into their firmware the answer is definitely NO, trim is not a necessity. Whether we have seen the last of trim, who knows? But for now if you have GC as part of the firmware then you do not have to care if you have trim capability or not.

ah ok, I'll maybe look at RAID0 M4's then...

[disruptfam]

Which is the best choice?

Corsair Force Series 3 120GB
Crucial M4 - C400 128GB

?

[Dis07]

Which is the best choice?

Crucial M4 - C400 128GB!
Feedback > Customer Reviews of the Crucial CT128M4SSD2

***** 68% (27) **** 5% (2) *** 5% (2) ** 0% (0) * 23% (9)

Feedback > Customer Reviews of the Corsair CSSD-F120GB3-BK

***** 33% (16) **** 14% (7) *** 4% (2) ** 4% (2) * 45% (22)

My CT128M4SSD2 (jack SATA2)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 267.528 MB/s
Sequential Write : 169.865 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 249.661 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 178.199 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 23.792 MB/s [ 5808.5 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 56.690 MB/s [ 13840.3 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 184.899 MB/s [ 45141.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 153.375 MB/s [ 37445.1 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [S: 47.3% (56.4/119.2 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2011/07/02 12:04:48
OS : Windows 7 SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

[INFRNL]

Which is the best choice?

Corsair Force Series 3 120GB
Crucial M4 - C400 128GB ?

I'd like to know as well. could even add the Force GT in there too. C300's are supposedly still good drives too.

Crucial M4 - C400 128GB!
Feedback > Customer Reviews of the Crucial CT128M4SSD2

Feedback > Customer Reviews of the Corsair CSSD-F120GB3-BK

My CT128M4SSD2 (jack SATA2)

Newegg reviews do not tell us anything and we cannot base our decisions on them.

[johnw]

Newegg reviews do not tell us anything and we cannot base our decisions on them.

What is with the "us...we"? Are you royalty?

Newegg reviews definitely tell me something, and that information usually does factor into my decisions.

[therat]

I agree with johnw, the customer reviews are one of the few places where "we" (I assume you mean joe average) get to have our say, be it good or bad. I never buy anything hardware related without reading those reviews first.

[RCG_Bex]

Force 3 = OCZ Agility specs....

More interested in M4 vs. GT

[INFRNL]

What is with the "us...we"? Are you royalty?

Newegg reviews definitely tell me something, and that information usually does factor into my decisions.

I agree with johnw, the customer reviews are one of the few places where "we" (I assume you mean joe average) get to have our say, be it good or bad. I never buy anything hardware related without reading those reviews first.

I guess I should have just spoke for myself; a lot safer. However I do know that many people do not rely on newegg reviews as there are a lot of people that post reviews make a lot of them hard to rely on.
I have bought many items with many bad reviews without issue. I find them to be very inaccurate. There are times where they may come in handy ,but I buy based from more accurate resources

[johnw]

Certainly the newegg reviews should not be used without careful consideration. As you suggest, there are some clueless people posting reviews. The trick is to ignore such reviews, and give greater weight to the better reviews. Or to do straight A / B comparisons of products where the clueless reviews do not matter as much since they should have about the same effect on both products.

[Computurd]

yes you have to read them. you certainly cant glean any info from a star rating. but there ARE certain manufacturers and devices where there is just a HUGE amount of negative feedback about RMA/Support/Quality (we all know the major few) and those should be taken into consideration.
A big problem is that alot of the people are noobs who have no idea what the they are doing. you can usually tell these by the stuff they post. ignore those reviews. you can also tell who knows their stuff.

BUT, it doesnt take a computer genius to be able to tell us when they receive bad support and questionable customer service.

this same argument is always brought up so let me summarize the next few argumentative posts:

the argument from here will travel to the fact that you cannot ascertain any statistical information from the reviews, as the good experiences are almost never posted, or are at a rate of 1 to a 100. this is true.
same argument always.

and the same consensus will come down to : use them as one tool in a toolbox of methods to make an informed purchase.

[disruptfam]

Seems like the corsair force 3 drives were having issues?

Are they sorted now?