So which one is faster? More reliable? Intel 520, OCZ Vertex 3 IOPS, Mushkin-DX, Patriot Wildfire, Samsung 830?

[Runeknight95]

Which of the following options are the faster vs. most reliable?
Amazon.com: Intel 520 Series 240 GB SATA 6 Gb/s 2.5-Inch Solid-State Drive - SSDSC2CW240A3K5 (Reseller Kit): Computers & Accessories
Amazon.com: Patriot Memory 240 GB Solid State Drives PW240GS25SSDR: Electronics
Amazon.com: OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB SATA 6Gb/s VTX3MI-25SAT3-240G 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) with up to 550MB/s read and 65k IOPS write: Electronics
Amazon.com: Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (MKNSSDCR240GB-DX): Electronics
Amazon.com: Samsung 830 - Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 256 GB 2.5 Inch SATA III MLC Internal SSD Laptop Kit with Norton Ghost 15: Electronics

Looking at options for a 240GB SSD built for speed. After reading a lot of the reviews, price+Performance goes to Mushkin. OCZ has remained the fastest but accoding to a few reviews(Intel SSD 520 RAID Review | StorageReview.com - Storage Reviews) the Intel 520 beats it? Opinions please.
Id buy the Mushkin in a heart beat if all the retailers werent sold out.

Is raid 0 w/ SSDworth it for my new sager NP 9170?

[madmattd]

You won't notice a speed difference between those unless you are benchmarking. Me, I'd be going with the Samsung 830, it's got the best track record for reliability.

[Runeknight95]

Thanks man, I also just read samsung is a boss at RMAing stuff 3 day turn around via return labels?

Would I notice better performance with 120GBx2 in raid 0?

[madmattd]

Thanks man, I also just read samsung is a boss at RMAing stuff 3 day turn around via return labels?

So I've heard too. I've yet to get a Samsung drive, and am not in the market atm. But I've heard little but good about them, both performance and customer support should it come to that.

[Runeknight95]

Any one know what the "laptop kit" vs the regular comes with?
I assumed the desktop kit comes w/ the proper sata cables
Amazon.com: Samsung 830 - Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 256 GB 2.5 Inch SATA III MLC Internal SSD Laptop Kit with Norton Ghost 15: Electronics
Amazon.com: Samsung 830-Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 256GB SATA III MLC Internal SSD 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch MZ-7PC256B: Computers & Accessories
Amazon.com: Samsung 830 - Series MZ-7PC256D/AM 256 GB 2.5 Inch SATA III MLC Internal SSD Desktop Kit with Norton Ghost 15: Electronics

[imglidinhere]

The Samsung 830 seems to have this in the bag for best price/performance.

However, I've got the Vertex 2 in my machine and I honestly couldn't imagine something booting faster than this beast.

The thing my drive lacks is a high rating for it's 4K IOPs thingy or whatever. Supposedly it's not as good at dealing with smaller files. :P Not a big deal. Reading speeds matter more. Tis why the Crucial M4 is so popular.

Example: My Vertex 2 has a rated Write speed of 275MB/s. I've seen it do that with large files. But for small files and benchmarks, It rarely peaks above standard HDD areas... around ~100MB/s.

Go with the Samsung drive. Best deal. Also yes, it's rather reliable too. That's one thing my Vertex 2 is iffy about.

[Runeknight95]

Thanks for the comparison. I noticed youre over in Tally, Im up there also for med school.

[madmattd]

Laptop kit just adds a sata-to-usb cable to aid in transferring over the drive IIRC. Note the cable thingy in the pictures (white). Desktop kit comes with a SATA cable and a molex-to-sata-power adapter.

btw, don't be sucked into the whole SATA 6GBps cable vs. 3GBps cable dealio. They're the same...

[s2odin]

Thanks man, I also just read samsung is a boss at RMAing stuff 3 day turn around via return labels?

Indeed they are.
They email you a next day label, you ship it out, the day they receive it they send you a replacement sent next day.

btw, don't be sucked into the whole SATA 6GBps cable vs. 3GBps cable dealio. They're the same...

This is very false.


Samsung 830 on a SATA 2 port with SATA 2 cable, on an X58 Sabertooth board.


Samsung 830 on a Marvell controlled SATA 3 port, SATA 3 cable on an X58 Sabertooth board.


Samsung 830 on an Intel controlled SATA 3 port, SATA 3 cable on a Z68 board.

It goes up to 502/305 on occasion after a few tweaks.

[troyguitar]

This is very false.

You didn't compare the cables directly, you changed entire systems. To refute his statement you'd have to put the SATA 2 cable into one of your SATA 3 systems and re-test.