Vertex 2 or Agility 3 via SATA II interface?

[Kantastic]

I'm looking to slap an SSD into a Compaq CQ60-220US laptop. I upgraded it to a 7200 RPM Scorpio Black a year ago but it does get a little toastier than I'd like when I use it in bed. This is an older laptop restricted to the SATA II interface, so I definitely won't get all the benefits of the SATA III capable Agility 3, but will I see any benefits at all? I know that the Agility series is a tier below the Vertex series, but given the addition of the new controller into the equation, which drive will ultimately be better when limited to SATA II?

 

[Neuromancer]

It all depends on the Vertex2, if 34nm go with that. If 25nm then go with the agility 3 and the SF-2200 improvements despite teh weaker NAND.

 

[AsRock]

Agility 3 ( 60GB ) and grab the rebate on egg to make it cheaper than the other . And surly higher iops will help too.. Even with the 120 model you still better off with the Agility 3.

Edit: Agility 3 is cheaper too lol.

 

[Kantastic]

It all depends on the Vertex2, if 34nm go with that. If 25nm then go with the agility 3 and the SF-2200 improvements despite teh weaker NAND.

No clue which drive I have. Of the 3 models listed on Newegg (#1, #2, and #3), I bought the first one.

Agility 3 ( 60GB ) and grab the rebate on egg to make it cheaper than the other . And surly higher iops will help too..

Not looking to settle for anything under 120GB. Let's theoretically say that both drives cost the same, but I will NEVER be able to benefit from SATA III.

 

[Neuromancer]

No clue which drive I have. Of the 3 models listed on Newegg (#1, #2, and #3), I bought the first one.



Not looking to settle for anything under 120GB. Let's theoretically say that both drives cost the same, but I will NEVER be able to benefit from SATA III.

His point was the higher IOPS at small file sizes. Fior instance 4K performance. TBH I have not reviewed an SSD in a while and that did not even occur to me, would have to look at my benches to tell for sure if that is true, although I suspect it would be true. After all those limits are based on the architecture not hte BUS speed.

OF the 3 you listed, the second or 3rd would have been hte better choice. If you notice on the cheap one it says 250 MBps sustained writes.

Thats because it used the 25nm NAND which was not cpable of the performance the 34nm had nor does it have hte durability. But it is cheaper to produce.


Having said all that... you will still be happy with the drive at that price. Just over a $1 a GB. Almost ANY SSD is going to feel better than a large but almost empty mechanical drive. (Short stroking a HDD is a good way to get a perf improvement over it) 120GB is the minimum size I would recommend for PC as well. I just slapped 2 32GB SSDs on my H67 rig in RAID0 (its as snappy as my thuban with 500GB mechanical now) and every other day I am having to delete delete delete stuff because it fills up so quick.


EDIT: Quick look at 4K ATTO perf (compressible data highest possible througput...) Vertex 2 60GB 125/170 read write perf. Agility 3 130/225 read write. The Vertex 2 was a 60GB and the agility 3 a 240GB though (larger drives are faster due to RAISE)

 

[AsRock]

No clue which drive I have. Of the 3 models listed on Newegg (#1, #2, and #3), I bought the first one.



Not looking to settle for anything under 120GB. Let's theoretically say that both drives cost the same, but I will NEVER be able to benefit from SATA III.

No not the same price the Vertex 2 is $15 more. Sure it only ends up being some thing like $11 when ever you get the rebate.

I would still go for the Agility 3 1st. Newer tech and a believe better performance overall.

 

[Kantastic]

His point was the higher IOPS at small file sizes. Fior instance 4K performance. TBH I have not reviewed an SSD in a while and that did not even occur to me, would have to look at my benches to tell for sure if that is true, although I suspect it would be true. After all those limits are based on the architecture not hte BUS speed.

OF the 3 you listed, the second or 3rd would have been hte better choice. If you notice on the cheap one it says 250 MBps sustained writes.

Thats because it used the 25nm NAND which was not cpable of the performance the 34nm had nor does it have hte durability. But it is cheaper to produce.
EDIT: Quick look at 4K ATTO perf (compressible data highest possible througput...) Vertex 2 60GB 125/170 read write perf. Agility 3 130/225 read write. The Vertex 2 was a 60GB and the agility 3 a 240GB though (larger drives are faster due to RAISE)

I understand that higher IOPS equates to better random performance, but the question is, are the listed specs for the Agility 3 based on the assumption that the the drive will be run on the SATA III interface?

I checked out all 3 drives and they all have the same read/write speeds. If you look carefully, all 3 drives list that sustained writes are up to 250MB/s. The reviews all show hits and misses regarding the NAND process node, some being 25nm, others being 34nm. The exception is the third item which only has 4 reviews.

Anandtech did an article not too long ago where OCZ guaranteed that all drives, regardless of NAND size, will perform identically, otherwise they will RMA it. The durability however, could be an issue. Since performance is the same, lets once again assume that both the Vertex 2 and the Agility 3 are using 25nm NAND. So strictly limited to SATA II, does the Agility 3 outperform the Vertex 2? Better old tech or decent new tech?

Edit: I just noticed that drive #2 is a 3.5" drive, so that can be removed from the list.

No not the same price the Vertex 2 is $15 more. Sure it only ends up being some thing like $11 when ever you get the rebate.

I would still go for the Agility 3 1st. Newer tech and a believe better performance overall.

I know the prices are different, but like I said, lets theoretically (or hypothetically, never know when to use which), assume both drives cost the same and the drives will never be put into a system with the SATA III interface. Sure, the Agility 3 is newer tech and supposedly better, but is that solely because of SATA III?

 

[TheOne]

The Vertex 2 120GB 2.5" that is out of stock on Newegg should be the 34nm version, the way you tell them apart is the E in the model number, OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G which should be the 25nm version, the OCZSSD2-2VTX120G should be the 34nm version, the main difference between the 2 types being the projected life span, it should also be noted that all the SATAII SSD's that switched to 25nm NAND are now only 115GB, OCZ just labels it as 120GB.

If the drive is never going to be used in a SATAIII system then go with the Vertex 2, at SATAII speed according to ANAND's benchmark tool they will perform pretty much the same.

AnandTech Bench SSD
AnandTech Bench SSD - Vertex 2 100GB and Agility 3 120GB (Presumably SATAII Speed)
AnandTech Bench SSD - Vertex 2 100GB and Agility 3 120GB (SATAIII)


Both drives have a chance of having a certain problem.

The Agility 3 uses the SF-2281 controller, which did recently receive an updated FW to resolve a lot of problems, but even OCZ's SSD guy Tony says it probably won't fix everyone's problems, though so far in the first week a lot of users are finding it to be stable.

The Vertex 2 has a lot of users claiming the drive died on them in less than a year of use, you can see this in the reviews on Newegg.


I was actually debating the same thing this weekend for my current X58 system, I decided to take a chance on the Agility 3, I had actually tried a Force 3 this summer, but my system is or hopefully was one of the system's that had issues with the SF-2281 controller so I had to return it. I went with the Agility 3 because it performs close to a Vertex 2 at SATAII speed, it is 120GB, any problems should happen in the first week or two and not months down the line, only $5 more and I do plan to upgrade someday to a SATAIII system.

 

[taylor.]

What about Crucial M4? With the new firmware has a very good performance.

 

[Flibolito]

What about Crucial M4? With the new firmware has a very good performance.

+1 Love mine