(Storage) SSD Discussion Thread

[silencer13]

hey guys, need some recommendation here.

i am considering to get an SSD but dunno which to get.
look thru those specs but blur at some specs

i am looking at ocz vertex 2, crucuial and g.skill at about 60GB.

out of the 3 which is a better hoot?

If you can, just wait for the new Intel ones coming soon.

 

[qingtian]

Apologize that this questions are being asked over and over again!
I am seeking some clarification over here as the more I read, I feel that I'm getting dilema in which SSD to go for.

I am looking for a SSD for installation of OS/Program files and I had narrow down Corsair F120 or OCZ 120GB Vertex 2.

However at the same time I am seeing that the peeps seem to prefer to Intel X25m vs SandForce base SSD for realibilty and of cos the pricing.

This lead me to the thought on the above though Intel benchmark dun seem as good as compare to SandForce base but it seem to be more reliable?

Apart from that it look like Corsair SDD dun seem to be a prefer choice over OCZ.
Any kind soul can share futher on this over here while I try to read up more on this pls.

 

[2fast2drive]

it is not just the reliability, also the random read time. Intel has one of the lowest random read timing and this means quicker response time.

The sandforce controller marketing over emphasis on sequential read/write speed. But in real life, most of the operations are actually just random read

 

[qingtian]

it is not just the reliability, also the random read time. Intel has one of the lowest random read timing and this means quicker response time.

The sandforce controller marketing over emphasis on sequential read/write speed. But in real life, most of the operations are actually just random read

Thanks for sharing so I suppose this should be the key feature I should look at since my SSD is more for OS/Programs loading? Being quicker response time.

I also understand that Intel is coming out with a 510 series SSD which I suppose performance will be way better but of cos at higher price. Do you or anyone happen to know how much will this be selling at for 120GB (provided it have this capacity) pls? Any ideas when it will be out in SG?

Lastly will there be any cost saving in getting a SSD during the IT show?

 

[rAcEr]

hmm i dont really see the point to keep waiting for newer technology cos the fastest drives will certainly have a cost premium...unless we are predicting that the prices of existing slower drives will drop once the faster ones are released.

to be honest, the OS/program loading times will be so much faster than a regular HDD that u might not really be able to tell the difference if u get an Intel based SSD or Sandforce.

 

[guanyu158]

hmm i dont really see the point to keep waiting for newer technology cos the fastest drives will certainly have a cost premium...unless we are predicting that the prices of existing slower drives will drop once the faster ones are released.

to be honest, the OS/program loading times will be so much faster than a regular HDD that u might not really be able to tell the difference if u get an Intel based SSD or Sandforce.

intel gen 2 ssd was exception. when intel launched gen2, the price was halved. that's why so many people want to wait for gen 3

 

[Zephyrus]

march liao loh still hear no wind of intel gen3

 

[thepunkz]

If you can, just wait for the new Intel ones coming soon.

cos i thot of asking my fren to help mi get it in hk.
since it's cheaper in sg.
and i think gen 3 might gonna cost more

 

[Demon_Hunter]

cos i thot of asking my fren to help mi get it in hk.
since it's cheaper in sg.
and i think gen 3 might gonna cost more

Huh ? (10 chars)

 

[2fast2drive]

hmm i dont really see the point to keep waiting for newer technology cos the fastest drives will certainly have a cost premium...unless we are predicting that the prices of existing slower drives will drop once the faster ones are released.

to be honest, the OS/program loading times will be so much faster than a regular HDD that u might not really be able to tell the difference if u get an Intel based SSD or Sandforce.

yup you are probably right about the difference between Intel or SF SSDs. but for tech savy ppl who wats the most out of their bucks they do go into the detail numbers haha im personally waiting for g3 120gb... if the price is about g2 80gb level...

 

[qingtian]

hmm i dont really see the point to keep waiting for newer technology cos the fastest drives will certainly have a cost premium...unless we are predicting that the prices of existing slower drives will drop once the faster ones are released.

to be honest, the OS/program loading times will be so much faster than a regular HDD that u might not really be able to tell the difference if u get an Intel based SSD or Sandforce.

Thanks for sharing your input.
Yes u are right in the technology chasing and is never ending BUT at the end of the day who do not wish to get the best bang of buck for something that is of something newer and better since it just a short period of waiting?

After checking around, I guess I will also be waiting for the Intel Gen3 SSD since my system is still up and running without any issues.

Is not a life and death at the moment for me to have a SSD.

Just my 2 cents.

intel gen 2 ssd was exception. when intel launched gen2, the price was halved. that's why so many people want to wait for gen 3

 

[liangzai]

http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-solid-state-drive-320-series-to-launch-mid-april/11407.html

Intel Gen 3 coming in Mid april.Start to countdown lol

 

[xonix]

Watching this thread closely for price updates

 

[adrianlee]

Many Marvell 9174 and SandForce SF-2281 based SSDs will be released in the next few weeks. Intel SSD 510 is available now. Intel's “G3” are coming next month (hopefully)

Prices:

Intel X25-M 120GB US$230 (Street Price)
SandForce SF-1200 120GB US$230 (Street Price)
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB MSRP US$250
Intel SSD 510 120GB MSRP US$284

SandForce SF-1200 240GB US$450 (Street Price)
OCZ Vertex 3 240GB MSRP US$500
Intel SSD 510 250GB MSRP US$584

Compare the price and performance of the new SSDs against the current SSDs
Now is not a good time to buy SSD

 

[xonix]

Tom's Hardware: Intel SSD 510-Series 250 GB Review: Adopting 6 Gb/s SATA

Conclusion

Let’s start with OCZ’s Vertex 3, rather than Intel’s SSD 510. Although the Vertex 3 doesn’t clean house in every discipline, it is most consistently toward the top of each workload.

Intel’s SSD 510 is almost bipolar in comparison. Rather than focus on a well-rounded drive, Intel seems to have deliberately optimized for sequential transfers, moving large files around. Perhaps this was done to purposely demonstrate the benefits of a 6 Gb/s interface.

As coincidence might have it (or probably not), the P67 and H67 Express chipsets are Intel's first to feature this functionality natively. And even OCZ concedes that your best storage experience with its drives come from Intel’s PCH-based controller. There’s no better way to showcase what your next-gen platform can do than build a desktop storage device capable of demonstrating peak throughput numbers previously unheard of. So, whereas the X25-M’s mission in life was to let Nehalem-based processors achieve their potential, it increasingly looks like the SSD 510’s directive is to show what Intel’s brand new 6 Gb/s chipset-based SATA interface can do. A means to an end, if you will.

What does that mean for end-users? Well, let’s take a quick look at pricing. OCZ hasn’t responded to me yet on availability of its Vertex 3 drives, but unless the company was completely blowing smoke up our collective rear-ends ahead of Intel’s SSD 510 hard-launch, we should be seeing 240 GB Vertex 3s selling for $500, or $2.08 per gigabyte. In comparison, Intel’s 250 GB SSD 510 has a $584 MSRP. That’s $2.33 per gigabyte.

Assuming we see Vertex 3s mid-March at OCZ’s stated price points, that’s the drive for which you should be waiting—a recommendation based exclusively on well-rounded performance. Remember that the Vertex 3s employ 25 nm NAND, and the jury is still out on how reliable it’ll be long-term. This will have to come from us installing these SSDs in our daily drivers and hitting them as hard as we would any other product. As soon as they pop up on Newegg, you can bet I’ll do just that, too.

Intel’s SSD 510 costs more and it can serve up better sequential numbers than Vertex 3. However, it’s actually slower than its predecessor in situations where you’re working with lots of small files. The applications where this 250 GB drive makes sense are fairly clear cut. But again, it looks like you’d get a better all-around experience from OCZ’s Vertex 3 when it becomes available.

Don’t take that as the last word, though. We’re still expecting a new 6 Gb/s drive from Crucial in the days to come, and Intel’s X25-M refresh isn’t far off, either. That drive will employ Intel’s own controller. It’ll also see the company introduce higher capacity points enabled by higher-density 25 nm flash. Although it’ll be dubbed a mainstream solution, we’re looking forward to seeing what the cost reduction of smaller lithography does to prices!

 

[henryscy]

guys i wonder if this old MSI neo2-fr motherboard got AHCI controller supported? It seems that I couldn't find the option...

 

[watzup_ken]

Currently, SF2 drives certainly look like a better buy, after all they have the advantage of using cheaper 25nm NAND. Looking forward to see what competitors' 25nm will cost and perform as well before getting another SSD. Intel may not have the fastest, but may surprise end users with price, which may drive competitors' price down.

 

[Alpha0]

only worry is reliability for SF based drives.

i don't wish to see the drive fails after several months or 6 months down the road.

 

[cscs3]

This information may be good for those who want to buy. It all end up with price vs performance and useful life spam of disk.

From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive#SLC_versus_MLC:

Flash-memory drives have limited lifetimes and will often wear out after 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 write cycles (1,000 to 10,000 per cell) for MLC, and up to 5,000,000 write cycles (100,000 per cell) for SLC.[27][28][29][30] Special file systems or firmware designs can mitigate this problem by spreading writes over the entire device, called wear leveling.[31]

It gets complicated comparing write cycles per cell, to write cycles per 512 byte block, or 4 KB block, as many bits aren't changed when we do a write. But it's reasonable to assume that 50% of the time when writing, a specific bit will be changed. So we'd have to do about 200,000 writes to a 4 KB block before it fails since we use SLC technology (based on the 100,000 number from Wikipedia). So to cause 128-69=59 GB of cells to fail (which will then cause the SSD to fail), and assuming a 4 KB IO, we'd have to do 59 GB/4KB x 200,000 = 209,715,200,000 writes. Assuming an IOPS rate of 1000, this would take 209,715,200,000/1000 = 24 years. Of course this assumes we evenly do the IOs across all the cells so is somewhat optimistic in that sense, but the wear leveling technology spreads the writes and so assures the write IOs are relatively evenly spread across the blocks.

 

[ralliart12]

Hi fellows. May I know if I'm deploying Windows 7 (64-bit, but I dun tink it matters) on a SSD (Intel X25-M) on a new system with relatively new components, i.e. "modern" mobo with 1 of the newer BIOS, is it a fuss-free install (install like a normal drive), i.e. will I have to adjust all those AHCI, find SATA drivers, etc?

Cos I came across a sticky, "Fix: How to resolve Intel X25M G2 SSD AHCI Bios Non-Detection Issues and Windows 7", in the main Storage Clinic page; & was quite confused?

Or is that sticky just for folks who are restoring from an image of Windows 7 that WAS installed onto an IDE drive and hence the tweaking required?