SSD: I just can't decide

[Skychan]

Considering the 25nm dilemma should I go with:

A) OCZ Vertex 2 120GB 16 Chip: NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce New 16 Chip Solution 120GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive - OCZ Technology - OCZSSD2-2VTX120G - in Canada
$225. Supposed to perform the same as the original 34nm Vertex 2.

B) OCZ Vertex 2 120GB: NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce 120GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD - OCZ Technology - OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G - in Canada
Either $155 or $165 (not sure if I'd get the $20 or $10 gift card). Worse performance but supposed to be fine for real world usage.

C) Something else not over $225?

[tabasko]

i would vote for B.. Extra performance not worth all that money

[rjbarker]

If you don't already have an SSD....any of em!!!!!!

[YukonTrooper]

You can go with B) and then find out what version it is via Windows and OCZ will replace it for free with one of the 16-chip versions if it's the 8-chip, 25nm version. At this point, it's almost guaranteed you'll get the 8-chip 25nm version, so it depends if you're willing to wait or not for the money you save by going with the 8-chip version.

However, I was in the same position as you just a couple of weeks ago. I had actually ordered the Vertex 2 because of the price at NCIX, the included gift card and rebate, but I then found out about the whole fiasco with the 25nm drives. I ended up doing some more research and I found out that the Crucial C300 is actually faster than the Vertex 2 and even the Vertex 3 in real-life read situations, especially if you're on Sata 3. The Vertex drives dominate in write performance, but how much time do you spend installing programs? Anyways, went with the 128GB C300 and I'm returning the unopened Vertex 2 next week.

Cheapest place in Canada to price-match at NCIX: Buy the Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5-inch SA at TigerDirect.ca

[boris_37]

Option C:

2 of these:
NCIX.com - Buy Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps - CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY - CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 - in Canada

and try to pricematch to the link below. They approved it last time i bought mine. I don't know why it's so expensive now...

Buy Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps

[Skychan]

Thanks for the input!

I already have an OCZ Agility 64GB so that's why I want to try to get something that will give me as good of performance as I can get on Sata 2 (I don't have Sata 3) cuz 100-120GB is far more than I'll ever need as a system drive and hope to use it for 2-4 years. The Agility is going in the laptop (this is the main point of buying a new SSD).

YukonTrooper, I didn't think OCZ was still honoring that deal since they changed the part # to include "...E120G" instead of just "...120G". I guess I could try.

I'm not considering Raid0 for SSD until they support Trim in Raid.

Write speed is important to me too, so I'll probably stick with OCZ Vertex 2, but I might look into the Crucial C300.

[dma0991]

I vote for B as well as I have heard that the 25nm SSD from OCZ seems to be rather problematic. Anyways I will go for the older 34nm chip SSD from OCZ as they are more durable in a SSD sense.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...-ssd,2867.html

[AkG]

+1 for "Option C"

The SF1200 with 25nm NAND is not an optimal solution. In fact I would go as far as saying that I have become very leery of that combination.
The C300 is faster is seqs and basically teh same speed on the low end - to faster on the low end (depending on the tests). I personally have swapped over from a V2 100GB (which was the FASTEST SF1200 SSD I have ever used...just pure cream of the crop) to a C300 and have noticed a real world bump in performance. :)

This is not the say the V2s are "bad", its just that they are no longer the "best".
IF you go the SF1200 route, get the 160GB model. RMA it for a 16 chip solution...and make ONLY a 120GB partition (leaving the rest as unused). This will increase the over-provisioning by 40GB and further mitigate any issue with short lived NAND (as the O-P will have a TON of nand blocks to swap out dead NAND for good NAND blocks). This will not help on the speed....BUT if you plan on keeping it 3-5 years will almost guarantee your drive will last AT LEAST that long (assuming you dont get a bad controller which can happen to ANY ssd)...and prolly more like 5-10 yrs!

When i redo the testbed I will include a C300 128GB model in the charts for ya guys :)

[Addictedtokaos]

+1 with the C300. I cant believe I got my 64GB for $115 at the time! :)

[Skychan]

Hmmm

ok, great input guys. I'll consider the C300. I'll try to do some research.

I'm actually considering the Raid0 idea now as I've heard that GC is good enough and Trim isn't necessary. I'd like to verify that and find out if two 50-64gb Sandforce SSDs will outperform a single 120gb Sandforce. Also, will the Raid controller on my mobo (Asus P5e-vm HDMI) be sufficient or will that limit my performance?