SSD recommendations?

[technix]

It's still the same price. Not bad. I read about new SSDs coming out with Sandforce controllers. Should I wait for those or are those 60/64/80/100 GB drives going to be too expensive?

I think the Intel one at $230 is as high as I'll go so a limit of $250-ish if a better, faster Sandforce drive came along.... but, if they're all going for $300 and up, then is the Intel still my best bet?

[gingerbee]

wait for the sandforce ssd's becuase even if you don't buy one of them they will push the price down on the others series all ready out.

[technix]

Any idea when that might be?

[gingerbee]

over the next 4 months to 5 months all New products hit the market in spring.

[Delavan]

I' dont mean to hijack this (and I follow TECHNIX post as it could help me also), but nobody recommends the following:

Kingston SSDNow V Series Gen II 128GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive
$289.99 over at NCIX.com

Ok by the reviews, it's NOT a top-tier part. But it holds it's own, and has a sort of automatic "TRIM-like" function. It uses a newer Jmicron controller (JM618 I think), so no more stutters. Almost $1-less per GB compared to Intel 80GB.

I hesitate between this 128GB and the Intel 80GB. The reason behind this is the following. When faster and bigger SSDs will be the norm and drop in price (1-2 years down the road, let's say), I could still re-use the same 128GB SSD to put in my laptop (and use the bundled 2.5" HDD enclosure to recycle my lappy's 500GB 7200 Seagate drive into an external drive). Then I could buy a faster SSD for my Desktop (which will be close to retirement by then I assume...

Is my reasoning holds the road?
After all, my rig (see in sig) only has 1X WD250GB SE16 drive right now. So is that Kingston drive would make an incredible difference?

[technix]

Hey, don't worry: the more (posts), the merrier!

I was thinking along similar lines, too, but for a lower capacity cheaper drive.

Besides the Intel one at $234, Corsair, Kingston and OCZ have 60/64GB SSDs from $145 to $199. I know they aren't as good as the Intel but that isn't bad for a current SSD? I don't know how much cheaper they'll go for and although I prefer any with the Sandforce controller, I noticed some that got released are around $400 for 100GB.

I thought any of the SSDs I could get I can switch to a secondary computer if I want a better one later.

I plan on installing Windows7 on it and just having the OS installed so data would be stored on 1TB drives. When I can afford a better SSD, it would just be a matter of reinstalling Windows. I understand 60/64GB is enough space for Windows 7...Right?

However, it all depends on what the new SSDs will do to current prices, I guess.

[technix]

Btw, can anyone tell me the differences between these cheap SSDs?

Kingston has the SSDNow V (reg.), V Gen II and the V+.

Corsair has a new one, still Indilinx, Reactor R60.

OCZ, of course, has a bunch of Vertex varieties. Is the Vertex (cheapest, not Agility) better than the above ones?

Are any of them worth it? The reg. Kingston is pretty cheap right now.

I want to buy a new laptop eventually and hopefully, it will be as powerful or even moreso than my desktop so an Intel for that (or Sandforce controller SSD) would be ideal. I can't imagine leaving a laptop with a typical notebook drive, really. An SSD would make it even lighter and seems especially suited for a laptop since laptops are fragile in the first place.

[gingerbee]

out of the ssd you have mention i would only take the ocz and intel ssd. jmo

[technix]

Originally Posted by gingerbee

out of the ssd you have mention i would only take the ocz and intel ssd. jmo

Any reason why?

That's interesting. Hmmm... maybe a good idea. The HDD is pretty important and since it will be an OS drive and it's a signficant upgrade. The Intel is the current best and the OCZ has a good following, forums and decent performance 2nd to the Intel, I guess?

[AkG]

Originally Posted by technix

Btw, can anyone tell me the differences between these cheap SSDs?

Kingston has the SSDNow V (reg.), V Gen II and the V+.

Corsair has a new one, still Indilinx, Reactor R60.

OCZ, of course, has a bunch of Vertex varieties. Is the Vertex (cheapest, not Agility) better than the above ones?

Are any of them worth it? The reg. Kingston is pretty cheap right now.

I want to buy a new laptop eventually and hopefully, it will be as powerful or even moreso than my desktop so an Intel for that (or Sandforce controller SSD) would be ideal. I can't imagine leaving a laptop with a typical notebook drive, really. An SSD would make it even lighter and seems especially suited for a laptop since laptops are fragile in the first place.

If you can wait awhile for Sandforce....I would. They will be the new flagship model so all the older gen will be pushed down into a lower price bracket.

The Kingston SSDNow V+ gen 2 is a toshiba controller based SSD. Its decent kit, has ITGC and TRIM but its not marketed nor designed to be compition for the Indilinx or Intel SSD's. Its a good mid tier drive, but has immature firmware right now. GREAT potential but kinda doesnt live up to it...yet.

The SSDnow V gen 2 is a JMicron based SSD. Its also decent kit but once again is not exactly flagship levels of power. Very good for its price range and EONS better than the orignal V it replaces.

The SSDNow V gen 1 is an OLD now EOL'ed SSD that has a JM602 in it. Decent for its day....but that day is looooong gone.

No comment on the new Corsair SSDs (havent taken one apart yet). Its a Indi...so
its probably good.

OCZ line goes (from low end to high end) Solid < Agility < Vertex < Vertex EX. The Agility is a great value drive. Very decent for its price. In my personal experience it has a 10 - 15% hit in performance compared to the Vertex. Still a great way to get into SSDs. The Vertex is a great drive. Intel is faster overall but a 128GB drive is more comfortable size for many compared to 80GB the Intel offers. BUT the 128GB is a different performing beast from the 60GBs. The 60's are slower than the 128s (Indinlix's sweet spot is 128GB). So I'd get a 120GB Agility instead of a 60GB Vertex IF it came down to choosing between them. ;)

IF you have the coin do spend on a Intel X25M gen 2, AND dont want to wait for a few months get either an Intel or a Vertex. IF you want to save a few bucks drop back to an Agility or SSDNow V+ gen 2 SSD. ANY of these will simply blow away your existing HDD's in speed and system responsiveness. :)