What SSD setup to get?

[Miles]

Hey guys,

I've been looking into getting an SSD lately.

The thing is, my motherboard only supports SATA2 (300 MB/s), so I'm not sure what setup would suit me best.

There three options I've considered so far are:

-Vertex 3 120gb running on SATA2
-Vertex 3 120gb running on SATA3 controller
-Vertex 2 2x60gb in raid 0 + SATA2

I've read that good SATA3 controllers are rather expensive(€100+) so that's not really an option. Cheaper controllers, such as the ASUS U3S6, turn out to actually reduce performance in some cases.

The downside of regular Vertex 3 would be being capped at 300MB/s, but I suppose that this is still rather nice, and it'll also be future proof for when I decide to upgrade my motherboard.

The Vertex 2 raid 0 unforunately doesn't support TRIM. I've read different things about TRIM - Some say its essential and some say you don't really need it. I usually reinstal Windows about once every 1-1.5 years.
Some also say raid 0 is kind of a hassle, and you should stay away from it if you can.


I play to use my PC for daily usage (Internet, Office), CS5 (Photoshop) and gaming.


What would you do in my situation? Thanks in advance!


PC specs:
CPU - i7 860
GPU - HD5850 toxic
Memory - 4gb, nothing special
Mobo - MSI P55M-GD41
HDD - 500gb 7200rpm
PSU - Corsair TX650

[Fuzzykins]

Vertex 3 Sata 2, imo.

[BicycleMafioso]

Vertex 3 Sata 2, imo.

The Vertex 3 is s-ATA 6,0Gbps, and even before the sandforce-troubles, I had a hard time recommending them to people (OCZ, that is) - So it's a waste of money.
The Vertex 2 is less horrible, less expensive, and is not made of fail.

In short, don't go OCZ. I don't get why they're so popular in the US when Corsair Force-series are similiar (and being Corsair, tonnes better quality and support, not to mention the way they do business). Not to mention that Corsair Force-series are faster and more reliable.

Corsair Force F120 would be my vote.

[Fuzzykins]

The Vertex 3 is s-ATA 6,0Gbps, and even before the sandforce-troubles, I had a hard time recommending them to people (OCZ, that is) - So it's a waste of money.
The Vertex 2 is less horrible, less expensive, and is not made of fail.

In short, don't go OCZ. I don't get why they're so popular in the US when Corsair Force-series are similiar (and being Corsair, tonnes better quality and support, not to mention the way they do business). Not to mention that Corsair Force-series are faster and more reliable.

Corsair Force F120 would be my vote.

F120 is pretty good too. .-.

[Deleted]

Sata 2 is fine for most applications, the reason we're moving onto sata 3 is because the lines are going to get saturated. But for the average user you rarely use all 300mbs that's available on a sata 2 connection. Also you can hook up sata 2 to sata 3 ports without any issue.

[Miles]

The Vertex 3 is s-ATA 6,0Gbps, and even before the sandforce-troubles, I had a hard time recommending them to people (OCZ, that is) - So it's a waste of money.
The Vertex 2 is less horrible, less expensive, and is not made of fail.

In short, don't go OCZ. I don't get why they're so popular in the US when Corsair Force-series are similiar (and being Corsair, tonnes better quality and support, not to mention the way they do business). Not to mention that Corsair Force-series are faster and more reliable.

Corsair Force F120 would be my vote.

The reason I looked into Vertex 3, is because they get rather good benchmarks (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/196?vs=351)

Though, I've indeed also read about a lot of troubles with them, and high failure rate.

The F120 is about 30 bucks cheaper then Vertex 3, so that's fine. Also, I guess UncleSilas is right - probably won't really notice the differences.

---------- Post added 2011-06-18 at 01:38 PM ----------

Do you mean

http://www.corsair.com/solid-state-drives/force-series-3/force-series-3-120gb-sata-3-6gbps-solid-state-hard-drive.html

Or

http://www.corsair.com/solid-state-d...0gb2-brkt.html

btw?

[Alienmonkey]

SSD RAID0 is the stuff of dreams, really. Honestly though, go with Corsair or Intel SSD's. Intel are mighty more expensive mind, while Corsair stand the middle ground between price, performance and reliability. OCZ are essentially the high speed high failure rate drives, which while unfortunate, won't change whilever people are sinking money into them.

As it is, when i return my failed Vertex 2 (240GB, almost £300 worth of drive there), i'll be trying to switch it for 2 smaller Corsair SSD's and going RAID0 with them. Perhaps use it as a thrash 'n' cache setup.

I hope you're not planning to put anything important on that raid0 setup :b

[Deleted]

Suggesting to wait a lill for an SSD when prices get cheaper.

[Xuvial]

I don't know why you're aiming for 500mb/s+ sequential reads/writes with Vertex 3's and Raid0-Vertex 2's, but those speeds are simply pointless in terms of practical performance.

Vertex 3 absolutely NEEDS a Sata6gbps interface, otherwise it's performance is more or less identical to a Vertex 2's...see here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/152?vs=351

Now when you step up that Vertex 3 to a 6gbps interface, you get this:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/152?vs=350

Notice how the almost DOUBLED sequential read/write speeds of a Vertex 3 result in a roughly 10% performance boost over a Vertex 2 in PCMark Overall, which is the closest test of real-world performance. Synthetic SSD benches mean nothing, resorting to Raid0-SSD's or 6gbps-capable SSD's is not worth how much you have to pay for them. Just grab a single Vertex 2 90gb/100gb and you'll be happy with it (make sure you go for the bigger 3.5" one). Or go for Crucial's RealSSD C300 128gb, it's another top contender and you won't be dissapointed.

[Asera]

I would opt for an Intel 510 series for the reliability factor.

I've completely lost faith in OCZ. I had a 2x512 DDR400 kit from them that needed to be overvolted to hell to stay stable on my Athlon system, and I gave them a second chance with a Vertex 2 and have been far less than impressed.

[Xuvial]

and I gave them a second chance with a Vertex 2 and have been far less than impressed.

What happened?

[BicycleMafioso]

What happened?

Asera maintains the superiority of her WDC:B.
Also, SSDs apparantly function sub-optimal in non-intel builds.

[Miles]

I don't know why you're aiming for 500mb/s+ sequential reads/writes with Vertex 3's and Raid0-Vertex 2's, but those speeds are simply pointless in terms of practical performance.

Vertex 3 absolutely NEEDS a Sata6gbps interface, otherwise it's performance is more or less identical to a Vertex 2's...see here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/152?vs=351

Now when you step up that Vertex 3 to a 6gbps interface, you get this:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/152?vs=350

Notice how the almost DOUBLED sequential read/write speeds of a Vertex 3 result in a roughly 10% performance boost over a Vertex 2 in PCMark Overall, which is the closest test of real-world performance. Synthetic SSD benches mean nothing, resorting to Raid0-SSD's or 6gbps-capable SSD's is not worth how much you have to pay for them. Just grab a single Vertex 2 90gb/100gb and you'll be happy with it (make sure you go for the bigger 3.5" one). Or go for Crucial's RealSSD C300 128gb, it's another top contender and you won't be dissapointed.

Thank you, I hadn't even looked at Vertex 2 benchmarks thoroughly, 'cos Vertex 3 stats were so much better, but the PCmark scores are indeed way to close for the Vertex 3 to be worth it. I thought I might aswell buy a good SSD, so I'd be more future proof, but I'd probably be better of saving the money for now

Why exactly do you advice the 3.5" one? I was going to take it anyway, since my case doesn't feature a 2.5" bay, and that'd save me from buying a bracket. But, are there any other advantages?

[Asmekiel]

Thank you, I hadn't even looked at Vertex 2 benchmarks thoroughly, 'cos Vertex 3 stats were so much better, but the PCmark scores are indeed way to close for the Vertex 3 to be worth it. I thought I might aswell buy a good SSD, so I'd be more future proof, but I'd probably be better of saving the money for now

Why exactly do you advice the 3.5" one? I was going to take it anyway, since my case doesn't feature a 2.5" bay, and that'd save me from buying a bracket. But, are there any other advantages?

The Vertex SSD's come with a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter. Only difference between the 2.5" and 3.5" versions is the size.

[Asera]

Asera maintains the superiority of her WDC:B.
Also, SSDs apparantly function sub-optimal in non-intel builds.

Even on an intel build it's not very impressive.

My Caviars are monsters. <3