120GB OCZ RevoDrive

[KapteinFruit]

So, guys, I recently bought my new RAM so that means it's time to start saving up for something new and that is an HAF X, but after that I will get a 120GB RevoDrive and I was wondering if you would recommend it? Note, I don't have SATA III so SATA III SSD's are otta the question. My plan was to have the RevoDrive for programs, a small SSD for my OS and my current 500GB Barracuda for media. But first I would get the RevoDrive then after a while get the small SSD. Would that be a good setup?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Why would you get a revo and an ssd?

I think normal SSD's are plenty fast enough tbh and they have better firmware support aswell.

My experience of OCZ rma has put me off for life aswell, Id look at Kingston Corsair or Crucial if I were you.

 

[KapteinFruit]

Well, I thought it would be faster and it would give me some extra speed. I mean, the OS takes up quite a few GB so that space would be free and wouldn't it be faster to have a dedicated SSD for the OS? By all means, if it's not worth getting an extra SSD I will not do it. I'm far from rich so I don't like to burn money. It was just a thought I had. Plus the small SSD's are really dropping in price these days so it wouldn't really burn my wallet that bad. As I said, it was just a thought I had which I thought would be a very nice setup.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Much better off with a single drive, the biggest one you can afford.

 

[KapteinFruit]

Oh I didn't know that. Well, the 120GB RevoDrive is the biggest one I can afford because the normal 120GB SSD's cost a little less so I'd rather pay a little more and get something much better. But will I lose performance by having a normal HDD for media? I can't see why I would, but since you're saying one is much better I guess it's worth asking.

 

[Diablo]

I reckon you just get the biggest drive you can (SSD) as that way you don't lose any PCIe slots, can easily upgrade and have better firmware/trim support. I run a 128GB for my OS and programs, a 128GB for Steam and my media is on a mechanical disk. Media doessn't need to be as fast as you are never going to need the same speed.

 

[alienware]

Corsair's customer service is just amazing.

When I got my H50 I wanted it for 775 (for my E4500). I ordered the 775 one as it was £20 cheaper than the AMD one. I paid £50 IIRC which was awesome.

A couple of months later I decided to go with a Phenom 2 as it and the board cost me less than a Q6600 and performance was much better for my money with the P2. I spoke to Ramguy on the forum and for £3.50 they overnight UPS'd me the retention mech for AM2. They didn't charge me anything for the mech either.

Then when I got my X32 I recieved so much help and advice from Ramguy that it was just unreal. Yellowbeard was fantastic too, and we ended up managing to actually beat the stated performance with my drive. TRIM was not supported on my drive when I got it, which was a big mistake. Instead of whining about it like everyone else (I mean, the drive specifically said it did not support TRIM, so I didn't even expect TRIM. It was my fault for not reading the specs or even knowing what TRIM was, not their fault).

So many people were quite frankly rude assholes to Corsair, and many got banned from the forum. Me? I got three PMs from Ramguy offering an RMA and swap out for a different drive. Sure the different one was slightly slower and cheaper, but it did have TRIM. Also, when I flashed over the firmware when it was released they held my hand step by step and said that should I kill the drive they would replace it at once.

And finally a few months back I asked on the forum for some case badges.. Within four days they arrived in the post from the USA at no cost.

My drive was expensive, and I did have some hiccups along the way but their support is other worldly. Their reps are always on the forum and ALWAYS deal with any problems or issues you may have. And that to me goes a bloody long way. So much so that I would even sacrifice so called performance for the quality of the service.

 

[KapteinFruit]

That sounds pretty smart. However, I can't afford two SSD's like you. And it could be a problem in the future if I chose the RevoDrive because as you said it will take a PCIe slot. But it's much better then the other SSD's in the same price range so that pulls me towards it. It's a hard choice. A friend of mine, David, got a Crucial RealSSD and he's very happy with it, but I don't have SATA III so I will lose out on some performance. And that's another fact that pulls me towards the PCIe SSD, I don't have SATA III.

So look at these facts and tell me if you still think what you first posted.

- I do not have SATA III.

- The RevoDrive is much better then the other SSD's in the same price range.

- It will take up one of my PCIe slots.

 

[tinytomlogan]

The Revo is internal Raid0 and there is no mention of TRIM support, so the easy answer is I wouldnt touch it matey.

Without TRIM the drive will be slower than a mechanical in a couple months of regular use.

 

[KapteinFruit]

Is that was TRIM is? well if that's true then I won't get it. Can you recommend any SSD's? I don't know much about SSD's at all so I'm pretty much going with what people recommend. But keep in mind if you can recommend some that I don't have SATA III. That's the only think I don't like about my motherboard. :/

 

[alienware]

That sounds pretty smart. However, I can't afford two SSD's like you.

My 64gb Patriot was £70.49.

And with a bios three days old.

Bear in mind Patriot is on an American forum and so the date is done MM/DD/YY. 11th Aug 2010.

Any issues it did have are being sorted out as we speak. Here is the worst Crystal score I could find.

However when you consider that even at those speeds it has 48mb over an X25v on the read and 6 over the write then it's immensely cheap. The x25v is £90, 40gb and does 170/40 if you are lucky.

 

[KapteinFruit]

Nice. But I was thinking of getting a bigger SSD then that. I guess I can get the same type of SSD, but with more space.

I was looking at the 120GB OCZ Vertex 2. It seems pretty solid and it's SATA II. Do you know if that one is trust worthy?

And is it worth doing what Diablo have done? Having two 120GB SSD's plus one HDD. It'll take a goooood while before I can afford two, but if it's worth it I could get it.

SO AlienALX, would you recommend a Corsair SSD? Is that what you're saying?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Ive posted in another thread get corsair, kingston or crucial SSD's. We have tested them all and highly rated all of them too.

 

[alienware]

Nice. But I was thinking of getting a bigger SSD then that. I guess I can get the same type of SSD, but with more space.

I was looking at the 120GB OCZ Vertex 2. It seems pretty solid and it's SATA II. Do you know if that one is trust worthy?

And is it worth doing what Diablo have done? Having two 120GB SSD's plus one HDD. It'll take a goooood while before I can afford two, but if it's worth it I could get it.

SO AlienALX, would you recommend a Corsair SSD? Is that what you're saying?

The Vertex 2 is a serious dissapointment compared to the original, which was a world beater.

Take a look through the reviews section here and you'll find out why.

I wouldn't reccomend Corsair SSDs so much, but an SSD made by Corsair. Of course that doesn't make much sense but with some SSD you will get problems. Incompatibilties between storage controllers, Windows refusing to load the correct storage driver so it doesn't wind up in PIO mode (limited to 33m) and so on. If landed in one of these situations there isn't much you can do, but at least Corsair are on the ball and genuinely care about their customers, unlike some other companies.

Tom will see you right on the exact specifics because he is the one who gets to see them and puts them through the torture. The Kingston V won't set the world on fire in terms of performance is a fantastic all round drive for the price, and of course price talks and BS walks. I could point you to SSDs that offer disgusting (in a good way) levels of performance but at disgusting (in a bad way) prices.

Remember that no matter what hardware you buy at what price it's performance TO price that counts. I have a pair of Radeon 5770s which are cheap cards. Strapped together though? Well the £250 I paid for them means that on price to performance they are one of the best buys in graphics cards right now. I scored 2fps less on average than a pair of 460s that cost about £80 more over the pair.

 

[KapteinFruit]

I see. I'll take a look in the review section then. It's still quite a long time until I'll buy one because I'm first getting an HAF X then I'm getting a SSD.

 

[alienware]

Take your time. Honestly, never ever rush to buy a product no matter how fantastic it seems.

Yesterday I found a fast 64gb SSD for £70. Honestly my hands were shaking as I went to get my debit card from my wallet. Thankfully I had a moment of clarity and decided to do my homework. Those SSD are cheap for a reason (and believe me when I say, they are cheap, about 50% less than a comparitive drive). However, up until about a week ago they had been awful. It's only since the two latest bios releases that they have been fixed. Now had I not taken a bit of time to look into that? Well I would no doubt have a £70 brick coming on Monday.

 

[KapteinFruit]

I guess you're right. I could get a bleeding fast small SSD instead though. Like some very fast trust worthy SSD and have my OS on it. No matter how much care I give my HDD it still will not be fast. My PC uses ages to boot up and I got no junk starting at boot up at all. My HDD is as clean as it can be.