Need some SSD recommendation and tips

TriggerWolf · Jan 30, 2013

Hi guys.

I'm in need of some SSD recommendation and tips as I'm fairly close to jumping into the <1ms seek time bandwagon

I've been looking into a fair amount of SSD reviews. A few brands I checked were Corsair, Kingston, Intel and Samsung.

Intel seems to be a bit pricy and less Random 4K speeds.
Samsung with their lack of write performance troubles me and their Pro series are overpriced and not much better.
Kingston and Corsair seem to be the best of all 4, with huge linear and random R/W performance, of course at a bit of extra cost. But performance/cost ratio seems the best.

In the end for the theme I want to fit in my case (red, white and black) Corsair's Force GS series seem the most adequate but not a requirement of course, I'm open for suggestions!

Now, here's the question, I need a bit of space as my system drive, right now I'm using 200GB of 483GB. Surely I could be using less, I have a few games installed...

I'm in between buying 2 120GB or 1 240GB, will there be any noticeable performance with a RAID0 configuration and is the extra cost worth it?

:toast:

lemonadesoda · Jan 30, 2013

Buying a SSD is like buying a CPU. There is no right answer, and whatever you buy today, price/performance changes over the next 6 weeks mean that you would always get a better deal in 6 weeks time. So you need to bite the bullet and pony up a little extra today... or play the waiting game. It's also like going out to a nice restaurant. Are you going to penny-pinch the last dime, or are you going on a date and you are relaxed enough to pay a $ or 2 more?

Go to W1z/TPU most recent reviews. He says Samsung 840 Pro or OCZ Vector. If those are too expensive for you, then buy something cheaper but then be quiet about it.

TriggerWolf · Jan 30, 2013

Buying an SSD is hardly the same as buying a CPU. I look at more than just performance when buying a storage device.

If one 240GB SSD costs 200€ with 100% performance, if I saw another one costing 210€ but with 120% performance over the first I would gladly go for it. Costing a few € more is not the point. I have no experience in using SSDs at all. All I know is by just reading reviews, I'm here asking for advice, opinions and tips from other users.

You, like me and surely everyone else wants the best performance and reliability/price ratio.

:toast:

TRWOV · Jan 30, 2013

Samsung's controller is very solid. It does very well in TRIM-less environments as it has a very good garbage collection algorithm, that's why I choose it for my cache drive (RST doesn't support TRIM commands). If you're going RAID0 I suggest you to pickup a pair of Samsungs since TRIM is unavailable in RAID setups.

happita · Jan 30, 2013

TRWOV said:
Samsung's controller is very solid. It does very well in TRIM-less environments as it has a very good garbage collection algorithm, that's why I choose it for my cache drive (RST doesn't support TRIM commands). If you're going RAID0 I suggest you to pickup a pair of Samsungs since TRIM is unavailable in RAID setups.

+1 to this.

Samsung's SSDs have a very good reputation like Intel's. It just comes down to preference. I would prefer Samsung though just because their controller is a teeny bit faster than Intel's newer Sandforce-driven SSDs.

TriggerWolf · Jan 31, 2013

TRWOV said:
Samsung's controller is very solid. It does very well in TRIM-less environments as it has a very good garbage collection algorithm, that's why I choose it for my cache drive (RST doesn't support TRIM commands). If you're going RAID0 I suggest you to pickup a pair of Samsungs since TRIM is unavailable in RAID setups.

happita said:
+1 to this.

Samsung's SSDs have a very good reputation like Intel's. It just comes down to preference. I would prefer Samsung though just because their controller is a teeny bit faster than Intel's newer Sandforce-driven SSDs.

Thanks for the feedback!

While I was reading about TRIM, I found out that Intel has added support for RAID0 configurations in their 7 series chipsets, so it's a win-win situation here.

In a few more reviews I read about the Samsung SSDs, they all spoke well and recommended them but they also mentioned the downside of the TLC over the MLC.

:toast:

HammerON · Jan 31, 2013

Using two OCZ 256 GB Vertex 4's in Raid0. No issues and I am happy with the speed. I was told that you will not see many benefits to a Raid array with SSD's... could be true but I went ahead and did it anyways

I feel you will be happy with any of the SSD's mentioned thus far.

TriggerWolf · Jan 31, 2013

HammerON said:
Using two OCZ 256 GB Vertex 4's in Raid0. No issues and I am happy with the speed. I was told that you will not see many benefits to a Raid array with SSD's... could be true but I went ahead and did it anyways
I feel you will be happy with any of the SSD's mentioned thus far.

Ah, just what I wanted to hear.

Right now I'm lingering between a 250GB Samsung 840 (non Pro) and the 240GB Corsair Force GS. Both offer similar warranty terms of 3 years, which is great.

:toast:

xvi · Jan 31, 2013

What do you mean no benefit to SSDs in raid?

TriggerWolf · Feb 1, 2013

xvi said:
What do you mean no benefit to SSDs in raid?

LOL that's ridiculous. Awesome though. Considering how old that video is, those SSDs were probably worth like 7000 bucks. :laugh:

You can now grab 5 current gen SSDs enough to wipe out those transfer rates. They should've shown random 4k performance though xD

Jetster · Feb 1, 2013

Keep in mind there is no trim support for SSD in RAID except for Intel 7000-series chipset. Not that you have to have it. Just saying it may shorten the life of the drive. unless somthing has changed resently

Peter1986C · Feb 1, 2013

My Kingston SSDNow V300 is working well. You may be able to find it for a lower price than the 840 (Pro), at a price level similar to the Crucial M4 but with slightly higher write speeds if I am not mistaken.

System Name	紅白 [Kōhaku]
Processor	i5 3570K @ 4.5GHz 1.290v
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus V Formula / Thunder FX
Cooling	EK Supremacy Nickel/Plexi + Alphacool 240 XT45 and EK FC670 Nickel/Plexi + Phobya 400
Memory	Kingston HyperX Beast 2x 4096MB DDR3 2133MHz
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX670 SLI Unlocked [GPU1 @ 1320MHz max, GPU2 @ 1220MHz max] [RAM @ 7.2 GHz]
Storage	2x Micron C400 256GB RAID0 [System] / 2x 250GB 7200RPM 2.5" [Data]
Display(s)	Dell u2913WM 2560x1080 21:9
Case	Corsair Graphite 600T SE White
Audio Device(s)	Supreme FX IV
Power Supply	Zalman ZM850HP
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro x64

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	紅白 [Kōhaku]
Processor	i5 3570K @ 4.5GHz 1.290v
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus V Formula / Thunder FX
Cooling	EK Supremacy Nickel/Plexi + Alphacool 240 XT45 and EK FC670 Nickel/Plexi + Phobya 400
Memory	Kingston HyperX Beast 2x 4096MB DDR3 2133MHz
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX670 SLI Unlocked [GPU1 @ 1320MHz max, GPU2 @ 1220MHz max] [RAM @ 7.2 GHz]
Storage	2x Micron C400 256GB RAID0 [System] / 2x 250GB 7200RPM 2.5" [Data]
Display(s)	Dell u2913WM 2560x1080 21:9
Case	Corsair Graphite 600T SE White
Audio Device(s)	Supreme FX IV
Power Supply	Zalman ZM850HP
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro x64

System Name	Dell-y Driver
Processor	Core i5-10400
Motherboard	Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling	Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory	2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	UHD 630
Storage	1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Dell 220w
Software	Windows 10 64bit

Processor	i5-7600k
Motherboard	ASRock Z170 Pro4
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO w/ AC MX-4
Memory	2x8GB DDR4 2400 Corsair LPX Vengeance 15-15-15-36
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr 1070ti
Storage	240GB Corsair Force GT
Display(s)	23' Dell AW2310
Case	Corsair 550D
Power Supply	Seasonic SS-760XP2 Platinum
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Threadripper
Processor	3960X
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix TRX40-XE
Cooling	XSPC Raystorm Neo (sTR4) Water Block
Memory	G. Skill Trident Z Neo 64 GB 3600
Video Card(s)	PNY RTX 4090
Storage	Samsung 960 Pro 512 GB + WD Black SN850 1TB
Display(s)	Dell 32" Curved Gaming Monitor (S3220DGF)
Case	Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	On-board
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G5
Mouse	Roccat Kone Pure
Keyboard	Corsair K70
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Always changing~

System Name	Rainbow
Processor	Intel Core i7 8700k
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z390M GAMING EDGE AC
Cooling	Corsair H115i, 2x Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
Memory	G. Skill TridentZ RGB 4x8GB (F4-3600C16Q-32GTZR)
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity
Storage	2x Samsung 950 Pro 256GB \| 2xHGST Deskstar 4TB 7.2K
Display(s)	Samsung C27HG70
Case	Xigmatek Aquila
Power Supply	Seasonic 760W SS-760XP
Mouse	Razer Deathadder 2013
Keyboard	Corsair Vengeance K95
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	4 trillion points in GmailMark, over 144 FPS 2K Facebook Scrolling (Extreme Quality preset)

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	desktop \| Odroid N2+ \|
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 \| Amlogic S922X \|
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550M DS3H \|Odroid N2+ \|
Cooling	Inter-Tech Argus SU-200, 3x Arctic P12 case fans \| stock heatsink + fan \|
Memory	Gskill Aegis DDR4 32GB \| 4 GB DDR4 \|
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 6600 (8GB) \| Arm Mali G52 \|
Storage	SK Hynix SSD 240GB, Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB, Toshiba DT01ACA100 1T \| Samsung 850 Evo 500GB \|
Display(s)	AOC G2260VWQ6 \| LG 24MT57D \|
Case	Asus Prime 201 \| Stock case (black version) \|
Audio Device(s)	integrated
Power Supply	BeQuiet! Pure Power 11 400W \| 12v barrel jack \|
Mouse	Logitech G500 \|Steelseries Rival 300
Keyboard	Qpad MK-50 (Cherry MX brown)\| Blaze Keyboard
Software	Windows 10, Various Linux distros \| Gentoo Linux

Need some SSD recommendation and tips

The Watchful Moderator