What matters when purchasing an SSD?

[Vantricular]

Hey all! So, I think I am going to finally break down and buy an SSD. I mainly just PvP in WoW and play D3, so I'm all about having a fast and responsive setup with a high frame rate. Kid I work with only plays DOTA and is rippin me for not having an SSD.

Just curious what I need to look for when buying one?
-max read and write speeds?
-sata3 v sata2(read about sata3 being problematic?)
-how much GB I get to just run windows/wow/d3/web?
-active power consumption?(even matter?)

any recommendations n models? Samsung vs Intel vs Kingston

If it helps, my current build is:
--phenom 965BE X4 cpu
--ASUS M5A97 mboard
--16gb ripjaw
--Radeon HD 5750
--H60 cooler
--750W corsair
--some crap 1TB hdd

Thanks!

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Why would a DOTA player rip you for not having an SSD, your map loading time is restricted by the toasters that most people play games on.

Samsung 830/840 Pro
Crucial M4

One of those two.

[n0cturnal]

Samsung 840 Pro 128GB is your best choice.

[Deleted]

Having an SSD will not improve your FPS, it only reduces loading times a lot. I'd go with the Samsung suggested.

[DeltrusDisc]

1. Max read and write speeds should not matter as much as they do, especially write speeds. People always complain that the Crucial m4 has these low write speeds, which sure, yes, it does, but it's not like you'll be writing tons of stuff all the time to the SSD. SSDs are about a one-time mass-write of OS/programs and then for the most part it is all reads. Frankly the difference between a 475MB/s and 550MB/s read SSD is so small, you'd barely notice it.
2. SATA III 6Gb/s is what you want to make sure you aim for.
3. I suggest a 120/128GB MINIMUM, if you can afford larger, go for it!
4. Power consumption is extremely minute. Don't worry about it.

Best ones you could go for are the Crucial m4 128GB or Samsung 830 128GB (if you can find it). I'd even be so inclined to say wait for Crucial to launch the m500 series, as those are supposed to be a sort of new-gen type, and are supposed to even have a 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s SSD for $600. O_O Which is shockingly cheap.

Some others you can consider, but I would not put above the above ones:

Samsung 840 Pro
OCZ Vertex 4
Corsair Neutron
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos
Kingston HyperX

[vesseblah]

-active power consumption?(even matter?)

Less than one case fan.

[the_dynamite]

RAID 0. They are not that expensive. You will be amazed how quickly things run. But yes FPS is more influenced by the video card.

[DeltrusDisc]

I just noticed... Vantricular, do you not have a graphics card at all and are using onboard?!

[Vantricular]

1. Max read and write speeds should not matter as much as they do, especially write speeds. People always complain that the Crucial m4 has these low write speeds, which sure, yes, it does, but it's not like you'll be writing tons of stuff all the time to the SSD. SSDs are about a one-time mass-write of OS/programs and then for the most part it is all reads. Frankly the difference between a 475MB/s and 550MB/s read SSD is so small, you'd barely notice it.
2. SATA III 6Gb/s is what you want to make sure you aim for.
3. I suggest a 120/128GB MINIMUM, if you can afford larger, go for it!
4. Power consumption is extremely minute. Don't worry about it.

Best ones you could go for are the Crucial m4 128GB or Samsung 830 128GB (if you can find it). I'd even be so inclined to say wait for Crucial to launch the m500 series, as those are supposed to be a sort of new-gen type, and are supposed to even have a 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s SSD for $600. O_O Which is shockingly cheap.

Some others you can consider, but I would not put above the above ones:

Samsung 840 Pro
OCZ Vertex 4
Corsair Neutron
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos
Kingston HyperX

great post. thanks a lot for your info

---------- Post added 2013-03-05 at 02:06 PM ----------

I just noticed... Vantricular, do you not have a graphics card at all and are using onboard?!

whoops! Radeon HD 5750

---------- Post added 2013-03-05 at 02:07 PM ----------

Why would a DOTA player rip you for not having an SSD, your map loading time is restricted by the toasters that most people play games on.

Samsung 830/840 Pro
Crucial M4

One of those two.

lol he rips on me b/c he is Korean and super hardcore lol. elitist, but the non-douchey kind

[DeltrusDisc]

I'd invest in a new graphics card before SSD, if I were you. 5750 is extremely low and is not even touching your 750 watt PSU one bit, good lord.

[Moinaldo]

Nand type and controllers are very important... we could list a lot of things here, but just go with the recommendations already given: Samsung 830/840, best options hands down.

[BicycleMafioso]

Sandforce apparently work poop with AMD motherboards, so anything Sandforce is out the window.

[DeltrusDisc]

Sandforce apparently work poop with AMD motherboards, so anything Sandforce is out the window.

I've been swearing by this ever since the SF-2281 fiasco.

All speed and no reliability! HEY!

[MickoLis]

Im still running the 5770. Since i only play wow, im really not that worried about graphics.