Which SSD?

[Computer crazy]

Hi all,

After some opinions on which solid state drive to buy.

I am wondering what people's opinions on SSD's are at the moment. I know Crucial, Samsung, Intel etc are reliable drives. Such a choice at the moment, so thought I would ask you guys.

Below are some drives I have been looking at, which one would you choose and why.

• Corsair Force 120GB
  
• Corsair Force 120GB GT
  
• Crucial M4 128GB
  
• OCZ 128GB Vertex 4 SSD - Its OCZ and I know the old drives weren't very reliable, anybody know how the new one fairs?
  
• Mushkin Cronos 120GB
  
• Muskin Cronos 180GB
  
• Mushkin Cronos 256GB
  
• SanDisk SDSSDX-120G-G25
  
• Intel 520 120GB SSD
  
• Samsung 128GB 830
  
• Kingston SSDNow V+200 120GB
  
• Kingston HyperX 3K 120gb
  

Well nice long list, I tend to have a preference for the M4, Samsung, Intel drives due to there reliability and performance. However Corsair products have never let me down and there RMA service is good?

What's your feelings on this, which is a good buy at the moment?

Cheers

 

[killablade]

Well, I have in fact just chosen the Samsung 830 128GB SSD. I'd pick that one, or the M4. They are both among the fastest SSDs, and they use reliable controllers, unlike the Sandforce based SSDs. I got a sweet deal which made the Samsung drive cheaper than the M4, and so I went with the 830.

 

[Master&Puppet]

Aria have a deal on the 120gb cronos. Free shipping for oc3d members too if you are swayed by the price.

My personal favourite is the intel 520

 

[kilobravo]

I would choose the intel520,its reliable and fast.

 

[PetrolHead247]

I'd choose the Mushkin Chronos. It's reliable, fast and can be found much cheaper than its rivals

 

[AciD_RaiN]

Intel 520 120GB is the fastest one I have seen... I personally have a vertex3 max iops and I want to change it out for the intel 520 cus it's a lot faster...

 

[Nelly]

For be it's between the Intel 520, Samsung 830 and the Crucial M4, although the Corsair Performance Pro is getting good reviews too.

The Mushkin 240GB Chronos from Aria @ £169.99 would be tempting.

At the moment I can get the following with a voucher + free shipping, I am really struggling to make a choice - although the 5 year warranty with the Intel is so tempting me.

Intel 520 Series 240GB - £234 inc Vat

Crucial M4 256GB - £216.00 inc Vat

Samsung 830 256GB - £202 (Samsung Vat Back promotion)

As for RMA service, I did some research.

Looks like Kingston is UK >> http://www.kingston.com/en/company/warranty

In Europe, if you are unable to return the product to the authorised Kingston dealer or distributor from whom you purchased the product, you may return the product directly to the Kingston service centre at: Kingston Court, Brooklands Close, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW16 7EP, UK. Before returning the product, you must first obtain a Return Material Authorization ("RMA") number from Kingston. An RMA number is obtained by contacting European Technical Support via Kingston's website: www.kingston.com/en/support. Conditions and freight requirements are as with U.S. RMA returns as shown above.

Also Crucial is in the UK >> http://www.crucial.com/uk/support/returns.aspx

Returns Address: Lexar Media, 12 Redwood Crescent, Peel Park Campus, East Kilbride, G74 5PA

Intel RMA has a UK Contact Number: >> http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contact/phone

I have already spoke to Intel - UK about this - Within first 30 days the retailer will deal with this, after that you can ring 0870 607 2439, Intel UK will then raise an RMA and arrange pickup via DHL, the SSD then goes to Holland and a replacement is issued from there, all free of charge.

Samsung looks like it is Holland >> http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/warranty/Support_warranty_SSD.html

Address: 5751 PC, Florijn 8, Deurne, Netherlands Email: samsungmemory@hanaro.eu

OCZ is Holland >> http://www.ocztechnology.com/contact/

Europe Tech Support: Monday to Friday 8am-5pm GMT

Based in our NL office. Technical Support, RMA setup, troubleshooting, and pre-purchase product information for end-users based in Europe.

You can also visit our multi-lingual support forums for pre-RMA troubleshooting or product information. http://www.ocztechno.../NewTicket.html

Corsair is Holland >> http://www.corsair.com/support/technicalsupport/

 

[Grizzly]

Mushkin Chronos SSDs are deffinitely the best value SSDs at the moment.

 

[Polo]

i purchased the Corsair 120 Gb GT two weeks ago and installed on the marvel controller on the rapage III ext, im not interested in boot times or shut down times even though i see a big improvement, i like how snappy the system feels and how i can open MS word and Access, i haven't had an ounce of problems with the drive no freezes, i did a fresh install of windows and for my own experience im happy with the drive... but opinions are diverse when it comes to SSD's and bench marks, i just wanted it to work, and for me it was a bargain.

 

[Stevo]

[font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]Corsair Force 120GB GT they seem legit and fast ![/font]

 

[Computer crazy]

Cheers all, looks like its between the Crucial, Samsung, Intel and Corsair. Corsair less so as it is running the SandForce controller which seems to be less reliable. The Mushkin drives are good but I can't help thinking that I would be better paying a bit more for Samung, Intel, Crucial drives.

So out of the Intel 520, Crucial M4 and Samsung 830, which offers the best real life performance. My guess would be that the Crucial drive is the slowest, with the Intel and Samsung SSD's on a par. Would this be about right?

 

[PetrolHead247]

The Mushkin drives are good but I can't help thinking that I would be better paying a bit more for Samung, Intel, Crucial drives.

The Mushkin drives perform just as well (and in some tests have performed a little faster too), they're super reliable and are quite a bit cheaper. If it was my money i'd be forgetting the rest until their prices drop and buying the Mushkin Chronos without a doubt

 

[Stevo]

My vote gets Crucial, I have the 64GB one and I've had no problems

 

[sunnydurian]

Is there a huge performance difference between Intel 520 and Intel 330? Thinking of getting the cheaper Intel 330 128GB because there is about £30+ price difference.

 

[DB006]

The Vertex 4 with new firmware and 5 years warranty is the current SSD king. It uses the same controller/software as the Crucial M4, but has much better speed, it also comes with a 5yr warranty.

here's my 128gb V4 speeds in AS SSD, Crystal Disk Mark and Atto, disk is half full with 59.2gb free

 

[Cyanide89]

Samsung 830.

Best SSD I have ever owned and the best looking one I have ever seen.