Best SSD?

[LordFish]

I'm not a member of a computer forum so I've no choice but to ask here. My SSD is throwing out SMART errors so I'm getting a refund and able to buy one twice the size and still have money in pocket.

My question; is there a stand out best one at the moment? Last one I bought I based it on figures and benchmarks, but it degraded really quickly... I've heard crucial make very good ones lately, anyone care to second that?

 

[Giftfromme]

The people over at PCpowerplay recommended me this drive:

Intel SSD 520 series, 120GB, but you could go higher if you wanted. They only recommend the best, so Im sure it's a good HDD

 

[Private Custard]

I was advised to but one of the Crucial M4 series, so I went for the 512gb model. It's performed flawlessly so far and rates as a 7.9 in the Windows experience index. It started off as a 7.4 but I managed to speed it up using various windows tweaks, some stuff in the BIOS and a firmware upgrade.

 

[LordFish]

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Thanks guys, Intel pretty much always were the best, twice the price though, I think I'll go for an M4 though, they have a reputation of being best bang for buck, even though it doesn't show in the figures :s

Cheers anyway

EDIT:
Found This [http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/4945/120128ssd080512.jpg] online... apparantly M4 wipes the floor with my OCZ Agility3, I don't understand it, but I believe it

 

[Mafoobula]

MaximumPC recommends the Samsung 830 series. After that, there's the OCZ Vertex 3 series. Vertex 4 is out, but I haven't seen the benchmarks on it yet. I think after that is the Corsair GT, or possibly the Crucial M4. Honestly, after the Vertex and 830 series' of SSDs, I personally would only look at the rest in terms of getting SSD speeds on a budget.

Big, BIG thing to remember is the possibility of going into a RAID0 configuration. If you have the tech savvy, know someone who has done it themselves (not just a guy who "knows computers"), or have a computer specialist store nearby (NOT Geek Squad, those guys are feckin' morons), you can get two small SSDs into a RAID0 for maximum performance without breaking the bank.

Finally, if you have great stinking wads of cash to throw around, AND if you should have the motherboard space, consider OCZ's RevoDrive series. I won't pretend to know exactly what sorcery makes this so, but the PCI-E interface of the RevoDrive makes them absurdly fast. Even the most base model of RevoDrive is still faster than the best standard SSD.
Now, at this point I may or may not be talking out of my ass, but I think they can be put into RAID configurations as well, making them so ludicrously fast, well, there's absolutely nothing you can do to make full use of the speed.

 

[LordFish]

Big, BIG thing to remember is the possibility of going into a RAID0 configuration. If you have the tech savvy

Using the Raid controller on my motherboard would be a sinch, Me thinks that is ever so slightly overkill though Same with the revo-drives; I've not noticed a ounce of latency with this Agility 3 and it's meant to be half the overall performance of the M4.. I've been aware of the revo-drives for a while and as much as I do like the idea of PCIe Raid-0 (Even a single card has raid-0 nand chips) sadly its not within my budget.

If you use RAID0 then say goodbye to TRIM.

Didn't know that..


Thanks for the suggestions both of you regarding the Samsung, Corsair and OCZ vertex3/4 drives. Out of the 4 only the Vertex3 is under the price I'll be getting my old drive RMAed for and according to that benchmark .JPG only the 890 is faster

 

[NoPants2win]

I have a vertex 3, it got some bad reviews on NCIX but it was a smokin deal, and I haven't had a problem with mine. Maybe extended warranty?

I don't really see the point in RAIDing SSDs, other then E-PEEN. I guess you might save a few seconds here and there but it's not going to affect in game performance much.

 

[broadbandaddict]

MaximumPC recommends the Samsung 830 series. After that, there's the OCZ Vertex 3 series. Vertex 4 is out, but I haven't seen the benchmarks on it yet. I think after that is the Corsair GT, or possibly the Crucial M4. Honestly, after the Vertex and 830 series' of SSDs, I personally would only look at the rest in terms of getting SSD speeds on a budget.

Big, BIG thing to remember is the possibility of going into a RAID0 configuration. If you have the tech savvy, know someone who has done it themselves (not just a guy who "knows computers"), or have a computer specialist store nearby (NOT Geek Squad, those guys are feckin' morons), you can get two small SSDs into a RAID0 for maximum performance without breaking the bank.

Finally, if you have great stinking wads of cash to throw around, AND if you should have the motherboard space, consider OCZ's RevoDrive series. I won't pretend to know exactly what sorcery makes this so, but the PCI-E interface of the RevoDrive makes them absurdly fast. Even the most base model of RevoDrive is still faster than the best standard SSD.
Now, at this point I may or may not be talking out of my ass, but I think they can be put into RAID configurations as well, making them so ludicrously fast, well, there's absolutely nothing you can do to make full use of the speed.

RAID 0 on SSDs will provide almost no noticeable performance. Just in benchmarks. The RevoDrives run their own RAID systems on the card. You can configure them in RAID 0, 1 or separate. They come stock in RAID 0 I believe. Oh yeah, most SSDs in RAID still have internal garbage collection which allow them to be run in RAID.

OT: Crucial M4 (I've got 2 256GBs and they are great). Heard good things about Samsung 830. Had an Intel 320 and run a Sandisk SATA3 SSD in my server. The Sandisk is faster than the Intel and much cheaper. Only get Intel for the 5 year warranty.

Here is an M4 with the latest firmware.

[http://www.overclock.net/gallery/image/view/album/647978/id/870712/sort/display_order]

 

[JaceArveduin]

That's easy, the best SSD is the Eclipse.

Wait, solid state drives, not super star destroyers, not a clue, listen to people that have one.

 

[LordFish]

snip

Thanks for the screenshot, Nice to see real world results, Might bench mark my Agility 3 before I box it up and post it here.

I'm not saying the M4 is the fastest, but it seems very close to it and I can get it for £86 on Amazon (then a 10% discount) All the others mentioned are over £100 - unless anyone knows a place to get them cheaper? Have tried Ebuyer, Saverstore, Scan, eBay.