SSD advice

[Kayden]

Hey guys, quick question I am looking for some SSD advice. My primary HDD is dieing, just trust me I know that it's dieing and isn't worth me going into....again. Anyways I am looking at a SSD to replace it and I was thinking the OCZ Vertex 3 range, I am confident I can commit around $350 to it's purchase but I wanted to know your guys thoughts on what would get me the best performance with in that budget.

Thanks in advance,
Kayden.

 

[Kougar]

Hey Kayden. Sorry to hear about your HDD, but at least you got plenty of warning it seems. Not everyone is that lucky!

The OCZ Vertex 3 is a hard one to argue against. I try not to be brand specific unless I feel it is warranted, but in this case the Vertex 3 is the cheapest SF-2281 SSD available on Newegg right now. Given the performance of the thing it basically recommends itself especially at just $200 (after $20 rebate) for the 120GB version.

The Max IOPS version still has an $80 premium on it, and while I personally don't feel it is justified, it is always an option if you just want the absolute best or if you want an SSD that will last longer than the regular V3. I'd estimate one or two years under typical desktop workloads, but again that is just a best guess. 5-8 years from now you might not even care as the V3 MI may be hopelessly obsolete. One thing is for sure, that same $80 would buy a whole lot more SSD in five years than it will today.

 

[Doomsday]

I bought the Intel 320 series SSD. It works really good and fast! Faster windows booting and game load times! But for $350 you can buy something really really good!

 

[Kayden]

Thanks guys for the input. I plan to grab a 120 GB Vertex 3 because like Kougar said best bang for the buck.

@Dooms - considering their track record with firmware problems I plan to stay away from intel until they get their house in order.

 

[marfig]

Hmm... I may be confused, but OCZ isn't exactly stellar concerning firmware either. Wasn't exactly the Vertex 3 that had quite a few problems on launch also? Many folks had to return theirs.

In any case, it's all solved from what I hear. But don't care that much about firmware issues. It's all but widespread. In fact, best purchases are never done during new releases. Waiting is a virtue. Winners wait, losers RMA.

 

[Kayden]

Your right marfig, but intel just recently got theirs fixed where OCZ was on top it very quickly. I would prefer to take my chances with a company that works quickly to resolve issues, not just having customers send them in and hope that they will make a fix for those who can't send them in.

 

[Kougar]

Hmm... I may be confused, but OCZ isn't exactly stellar concerning firmware either. Wasn't exactly the Vertex 3 that had quite a few problems on launch also? Many folks had to return theirs.

I'm not aware of any problems beyond the usual for Vertex 3 owners? It was actually Corsair that had to recall Force 3 120GB SSDs due to a PCB issue, but as OCZ modifies most of its PCB designs they didn't have the same problem nor any recalls.

In any case, it's all solved from what I hear. But don't care that much about firmware issues. It's all but widespread. In fact, best purchases are never done during new releases. Waiting is a virtue. Winners wait, losers RMA.

Pretty much true. When technology pushes the hardware performance to the limit new things are going to break or issues will be discovered. Intel has had firmware issues with every single SSD generation they have launched, which is still surprising for Intel. Indilinx's Barefoot controller had performance issues until a major firmware update resolved and vastly imrpoved random 4KB performance. First gen SandForce also had a few teething issues... All the issues with these second generation SandForce drives are pretty mild so far, to be honest. Especially given how much further they have pushed that performance envelope.

 

[marfig]

Ah! Thanks for the correction. I now distinctly remember it was the Force 3 Series indeed.