SSD Thread (Benchmarks, Brands, News, and Advice)

[stamatisx]

I bought a second hand Vertex LE 50GB. Is there anything special I need to do with it?

I expect to receive it in 2 days.

I don't think you need to do something special. What I would do since it's a second hand is to check if it has the latest firmware, I would secure erase it, run a couple of benchmarks to see if it performs as advertised, check the SMART attributes for any errors and then secure erase it again so it will be ready for a clean Windows installation.

[Tomy B.]

yea I have. Not real impressive.

Not impressive at all, but it should be faster then any 2.5" HDD.

[Phil]

I don't think you need to do something special. What I would do since it's a second hand is to check if it has the latest firmware, I would secure erase it, run a couple of benchmarks to see if it performs as advertised, check the SMART attributes for any errors and then secure erase it again so it will be ready for a clean Windows installation.

Thanks. Will try. Can't wait to see if this drive will allow me to get back in the top 3

[nexentt]

Looking to buy my first SSD for my T410 as a boot drive (with my current HDD in the a secondary bay for my other files). Now I'm just trying to decide on which SSD to buy! I've got my eye one one of these two models from OCZ

OCZ Onyx - 64gb - Indilinx
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Onyx Series Indilinx 64GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD - OCZSSD2-1ONX64G In Canada.

OCZ Vertex 2 - 50gb - Sandforce
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Vertex LE Limited Edition 50GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD - OCZSSD2-1VTXLE50G In Canada.

Now I'm giving up a some storage and about $30 for the faster Vertex 2 model, which seems to be quite a bit faster. But I'm new to all of this - is the speed difference going to be noticable, or worth the cost? Also, it looks like it consumes more power than the Onyx, but is that going to be a big difference?

I'm overall just looking for a reliable, decent value SSD, but don't want to give up any big new fancy advancements in technology. Let me know what you think of these two, or if you have other suggestions.

Cheers!

[Phil]

OCZ Vertex 2 - 50gb - Sandforce
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Vertex LE Limited Edition 50GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD - OCZSSD2-1VTXLE50G In Canada.

I wouldn't recommend the Onyx based on the reviews I've seen. Better get something with a Sandforce controller, especially when your OS is on it.

The drive you linked to is good, it's not a Vertex 2 though but a Vertex LE. Vertex 2 Extended Edition 60GB is good too.

For detailed comparison see Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/152?vs=138

PS. I'm not aware of Canadian prices but that Vertex LE seems like a good deal after rebate.

[Kamin_Majere]

OK we have offically reached a flooding of the market in SSD's

Is it just me or are these the same drive minus one saying "pro" on the sticker
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-240GBP2 2.5" 240GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Phoenix Series FM-25S2S-240GBP1 2.5" 240GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

[Phil]

Only the PRO is advertised with "Up to 50,000 IOPS w/ 4KB random write". So it is probably the faster one.

Whether one would notice the difference is a different question though.

[TANWare]

Only the PRO is advertised with "Up to 50,000 IOPS w/ 4KB random write". So it is probably the faster one.

Whether one would notice the difference is a different question though.

The uncapped SF2's are supposed to be a bit snappier with their reads etc. I'd be wary of the write speeds. There are definate issues with the compression engine. If you do alot of MM file writing you are better of with a C300. I found out the hard way there may be other issues as well..........

[stamatisx]

Can someone give a good explanation about those three benchmarks?
This the pcmark vantage
Bench - SSD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

and this is the one from anandtech
Bench - SSD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Desktop IOmeter
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/SSD/78

what do you think is more reliable and more realistic?

[Phil]

I don't really like any of those benchmarks because none of them measure real time. If I would have to choose anyway I'd go for PCMark Vantage for normal usage and Anand's bench for heavy usage.

I prefer real life benchmarks measured in real time. Techreport, Xbitlabs and Hardwareheaven have excellent SSD benchmarks.

what do you think is more reliable and more realistic?

For your usage I assume? what is your usage?