SSD - Samsung 830 vs Corsair Force GT

[Undead46]

So I've narrowed my choices down to a few SSD's to choose from, question is, which 1 to get?

Samsung 830 256GB - $269.99
Corsair Force Series GT 240GB - $259.99
SanDisk Extreme 240GB - $214.99

I'm leaner more toward the Samsung, since they really are reliable and that extra 16GB of space.

Another option would be the OCZ Vertex 4, but I don't think it's really worth it?
Really not a fan of OCZ anyways, lots of bad reviews about reliability.

I've also noticed the Crucial M4, but based on numbers, it's not even comparable to Samsung/Corsair, but real world performance, I don't know... :/

EDIT: Added the SanDisk to the list because it offers remarkable performance at a reasonable price.

[MasterInvader]

Easy Force GT


SAMSUNG 830
Max Sequential Read: 520 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 400 MB/s

Force GT
Max Sequential Read: 555MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 525MB/s

"Real world performance"
My ForceGT120: Read 515MB/s - Write:500MB/s

[TheDoug]

There is more to it than just Read/Write numbers.

I do not own either of these drives but I would go with Samsung because of the controller they employ in the 830. (After reading up on the Samsung vs other drives... it will be the next one I purchase)

Here is a review of the Samsung 830
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4863/t...ssd-830-review

[techguy31]

In reality, you would not notice the difference between both SSDs unless you are benchmarking. Personally, I would go for the Samsung 830 because I have it . In addition, the 830 looks quite magnificent.

[Cybrnook]

I tried a number of other SSD's before I settled on the Samsungs. I use two 64GB 830's and could not be happier. Speed is outstanding (Of course), BUT also I am not having any of the issues I was having with others (OCZ, Corsair, Patriot, basically any sandforce controller) when they would just drop out and go missing until I had to format and change SATA slots. Or the drive would hesitate for a second and then corrupt the cache (Used as Intel Cache drive).

The Samsungs have been perfect. So much to the point where I am no longer even doing a cache drive. I am using one for OS, and the other for games and swap.

[Aquinus]

In reality they will work just as well to any normal human user.

In theory the Force GT would be faster, but you hardly notice the difference between and 400 and 500mb/s read, even more so when most bottlenecks result from reading a lot of very small files, so IOPS is really the metric that will determine responsiveness. I have two Force GTs and I'm happy to say I'm satisfied with yet another Corsair product, but either will do well. The Force GT being cheaper might be an overall better buy though, but Samsung is known for having bomb volatile and non-volatile solid state storage, so either way you're going to love what you're going to get.

So in short, when I got my SSDs, my goal was speed, and only speed.

Oh, I just remembered that a co-worker just got a Samsung SSD, the one benefit is that the Samsung uses less power, about a watt, were the force gt uses 3. This really only matters in laptops though if you're trying to maximize battery life.

This is the latest benchmark. Keep in mind, no TRIM for me since I'm running RAID-0, but notice the writes vs reads on my Force GT raid. Write has absolutely no problem.

[Undead46]

Well, I was planning on using it in a laptop so maybe that less power usage from the Samsung would be more beneficial.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by Undead46

Well, I was planning on using it in a laptop so maybe that less power usage from the Samsung would be more beneficial.

If you want to save 2 watts, sure is.

[manofthem]

I like my 830 256gb, but I really liked the Force GT also.
I just ran a little AS-SSD on my almost 3 month old 830

[v12dock]

I think Samsung has better reliability. Although I have not had problems with anything Sandforce yet

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by v12dock

I think Samsung has better reliability. Although I have not had problems with anything Sandforce yet

It feels pretty solid to me. The Force GT will give better performance, but for a laptop, I think the sammy is a better option with the lower power consumption and a little more space.

@undead: Your laptop has a SATA 6gb controller, right?

[Undead46]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

It feels pretty solid to me. The Force GT will give better performance, but for a laptop, I think the sammy is a better option with the lower power consumption and a little more space.

@undead: Your laptop has a SATA 6gb controller, right?

I'm assuming it does, just bought it a few days ago.
I have the ASUS U46E-BAL7.
HM67 chipset

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by Undead46

I'm assuming it does, just bought it a few days ago.
I have the ASUS U46E-BAL7.
HM67 chipset

Do you have Sandra or AIDA? Either of those will tell you what it has. ASUS' site for your laptop is broken at the moment.

[Undead46]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Do you have Sandra or AIDA? Either of those will tell you what it has. ASUS' site for your laptop is broken at the moment.

Nope, but the site seems to be working now.
Although the site states HM65 Express Chipset, it's HM67 because it's the higher level U46E that has a 2640M CPU.

[Maban]

What was wrong with the SanDisk I showed you? SanDisk Extreme SDSSDX-240G-G25 2.5" 240GB SATA II...

Think about what all you're going to be using the laptop for. Do you really need the best?

[Undead46]

I guess that's an option too, thoughts on the SanDisk Extreme?

[TheOne]

The Force GT is a standard SandForce SF-2281 drive with 25nm Synchronous NAND, so it will be nice and fast.

The SanDisk Extreme is a custom SandForce SF-2281 drive using SanDisk's own 24nm Toggle NAND, Toggle NAND can be as fast or faster than Synchronous NAND and usually uses less power.

The Samsung 830 uses Samsung's own 3-ARM Core controller with their own 2xnm Toggle NAND, it also comes with an application suite to help manage the drive.

Any of those drives would be an excellent SSD to have, but personally I would go with the Samsung 830.

[HighEndToys]

No, no no....

Toshiba Toggle actually don't have anything to do with the speed. The new firmware version 5 is why the SanDisk is so fast. That firmware also has a bug in it but it'll be fixed really soon. The bug has to do with TRIM. Every manufacture will have the same firmware when its ready. That said, both the Force GT and the Extreme will perform about the same in most things. For IOPS though, the Extreme will be a little faster.

When you look at the Samsung you need to look at how it performs when the drive is half full. TT made a test that does that.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/452...w/index10.html

The Vertex 3 in that test is a good example of the performance with the 'good working' firmware that you should run now. When the new fixed version 5 firmware is released the performance will be 10 to 15% faster than the V3 240GB numbers shown in that chart.

[nleksan]

I just was in the exact same situation: Force GT or Samsung 830... (also considered Corsair Performance Pro).

I ended up going with the Samsung, 256GB for $209 (it just doesn't have the "desktop upgrade kit, but it's for a brand new build so I didn't need any of it). At that price, as well as extraordinarily favorable reviews every place I looked, it was a no Brainer!

I do love the ForceGT, and had I not seen the deal on the samsung, I would have grabbed one... But now I have 256GB, not 120, and when I grab a 2nd one down the line, RAID0 will be pure awesomeness with 512GB storage and 1GB/sec read/write
The ForceGT is slightly faster with small files, but the Samsung is faster overall due to having one of (for a while, THE) fastest write speeds. Add to that the fact that it holds the record (at least everywhere I looked) for the most consistent performance regardless of capacity/wear/etc (+/-1MBs at most) which was the last thing I needed to see before I was sold on it!

I don't think you can go wrong with either, but do buy the biggest you can afford, as it will perform better AND last longer (peak performance). Then, save up and buy a 2nd one for RAID! I don't think ANYONE can tell a difference between various SSDs once you have two in RAID0... It's simply too fast!

Also, if you buy a Samsung 830 at Newegg they have a 'bundle' deal with Seagate Barracuda 2TB and 3TB drives where you get $50/off the top... I am not a fan of Seagate (WD RE4, Cav Black, or Velociraptor please!) but the 3TB model is extremely fast according to benchmarks... 2nd/3rd on many, only behind Velociraptor 1TB (although I would sacrifice the storage benefit for the reliability of the latter).

Good luck!

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by nleksan

I ended up going with the Samsung, 256GB for $209 (it just doesn't have the "desktop upgrade kit, but it's for a brand new build so I didn't need any of it). At that price, as well as extraordinarily favorable reviews every place I looked, it was a no Brainer!

Wow, that is a solid deal, $40 cheaper than the one I just got!

[nleksan]

I couldn't believe the price myself! I was planning on the Corsair ForceGT 120GB, but for the money, the 830 not only performed better, I was able to get a drive more than 2x larger and with a proprietary controller... Of course, now two days later, the 240GB Corsair ForceGT is on sale for $200!

[Maban]

OP went with the SanDisk if any of y'all are wondering.