What SSD should I get?

[adamsonm]

I've been planning on getting a Vertex 3 for a while now. But Vertex 4 is out now, so which one should i go for? I want the best read and write speeds the Vertex's can offer. Maybe a Sandisk might be an option or a Crucial. I'm open to ideas. The size I want is a 240GB.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[dave87]

The Sandisk did rather well in the recent HEXUS test - worth having a read:

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/storag...eme-ssd-240gb/

[adamsonm]

Very interesting article, great speeds indeed. What is the reliability of Sandisk SSD's in general? Also, how low can these prices go? Is it an option to wait a bit longer? Another question, are there any other SSD's coming out in the next month or so that could potentially offer better speeds than the current generation of SSD's?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Crucial M4 256GB could be had for around £155 last week,so hopefully it will hit that price again soon.

[adamsonm]

I'd prefer to get the Sandsisk because it offers better speeds. But £155 is not a bad price at all for a 256GB

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I'd prefer to get the Sandsisk because it offers better speeds. But £155 is not a bad price at all for a 256GB

The M4 is virtually the same speed in day to day usage anyway and does very well with reading incompressible data. If you look at the Hexus review the M4 128GB is faster than the Sandisk in many of the benchmarks too and the 256GB version should be no different. On top of this it is one of the most reliable drives out there - SandForce drives have had loads of issues in the last year or so,and it has taken them ages to get the drives working at a reliable level as most companies were using the SandForce firmware, and needed them to sort the issues out which took them a very long time. Intel,uses custom firmware on its SSDs which use SandForce controllers. SSD reliability is the most important factor followed by speed. The Sandisk has only been out around three to four months,so I would give it a few months more to see if it is entirely bug free.

Another drive worth watching is the Samsung 830 which hopefully will also drop in price some more. In the US it is priced similarly to the M4.

[FatalSaviour]

The Crucial M4 256GB could be had for around £155 last week,so hopefully it will hit that price again soon.

I'd second this recommendation. I've owned (and still do) quite a few different SSDs, and every time, it seems to be the Sandforce variants that have caused me issues. I've had 2 drives die completely, taking the data with them, and others that have required various firmware updates to prevent random BSODs from time to time. This may just be bad luck on my part, but the 20 Crucial M4s that I have in both my own machines, and in office workstations have been nothing but pleasant (so far! ).

HTH

[pardal51]

Cannot decided betweeen the Sammy 830 256Gb or SanDisk Extreme 240Gb

[iranu]

Cannot decided betweeen the Sammy 830 256Gb or SanDisk Extreme 240Gb

You won't be disappointed by either. I personally would go for the 830 because it's very fast, very reliable and has good software. Samsung had full control over the entire development of the drive. Sandisk is a great drive, but often over-looked due to the Sandforce controller.

Infact I'm going to bite the bullet this bank holiday weekend - it's looking like the 830 256Gb - I don't quite need that amount of space, but for the price it can't be beaten.

Crucial M4, Samsung 830, Sandisk Extreme and Plextor drives are the ones I've narrowed down to buy all things considered.