quick help with chosing ssd(need to buy today)

[Patramix]

howdy everyone.

ive looked on the forums for a about an hour (the boss dint like it too much lol)

my SSD an old OCZ agility series 60gig, when caput last night, trying to rma it, anyways

i need to buy a new one to replace it (installed windows on a raid 0 array and cant believe how slow it is...)

unfortunaly my budget is tighter then a ... well wont mention it lol.

I got about 150-180$ was hoping to find a good 120gig if possible.

ncix as a couple drives on sale atm :

Corsair Force Series 115GB 169$
OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce 120GB 189$

know there not new models but being poor atm(apparently even new car will suck up cash! i really cant push the 200$ limite without some collateral damage!

any advice or other suggestion? after 1h of messing with windows on the hdd`s i said hell no i need a new ssd now! lol

Thanks
Pat

[Nodscene]

I'm by no means an expert but from reading all the threads around here I believe the Corsair Force series will be your best bet. If you can wait a bit for AKG to respond he is the SSD guru

[Patramix]

yeah after more reading, i might jump on the corsair Force Series F115 unless there some new info that come in. its better then my old ssd and doesnt seem to share the OCZ vertex 2 problem with the 64Gbit die problems i keep reading!

plus newegg.ca as the drive for the same price as ncix, with cheaper and faster shipping!

[AkG]

Ok, here is the thing with the 115gb'ers. They are going to be 25nm and going to be slower than the older 32nm gen. Same with OCZ. IF I was buying a SF12xx controller based SSD...it would HAVE to be a 16 chip solution. The 115GB will not be. The 120gb...could be BUT only if it state 16 chips solution. BUT you can RMA it (or could been awhile since I looked at the state of the older gens) for a 16chip SSD. The lowered lifespan is a non-issue BUT the loss of performance IS an issue. THat is why you are seeing these underwhelming SSDs get so cheap...as they are dumping older stock.

Personally, thats a lot of screwing around. Either buy a 16 chip solution chip upfront...or go for a dif controller (such as the C300...or C400).

That being said for a first time SSD...the those 8chip solution SF12xx'ers are still damn fast and its not like they are a bad option or anything...its just that they are not necessarily the best option.

[Patramix]

darn, so what drive under 200$ would be good atm? if getting a better 64/80gig drive would be better then an older 120 drive i might go that way.

from what i can find, the c300 120g are all over 240 mark

[AkG]

The 16 chip solutions 120gb'ers go for about 230. Same with the C300 128gb. M4/C400 128s go for about 240'ish. Intel 510s (custom firmware C400) goes for about 255'ish. All decent choices.

In the UNDER 2 bill range I kinda like the Intel 320 80gb for 160 or less. Its not a killer SSD compared to the Vertex 3 or M4...but it is still a very decent SSD, and a decent price.

[Galcobar]

If it's a drive produced since March, the "Extended" tag on the OCZ indicates it's a 64 Gbit, 8-chip solution, which means lower speed and less usable capacity (IDEMA capacity is 118 Gb, usable capacity 109.7 GiB). You'll note that NCIX carries another Vertex 2 Extended 120Gb which states it is a 16-chip solution, and it's priced notably higher.

[Patramix]

man i feel like i need to redo all my research i did on ssd from scratch so much as changed in a few months lol

since work got in the way today and i couldn't impulse buy, i guess ill wait 2 weeks and get a good 128 drive upfront. this gona be a long wait.

i take it the crucial c3/400 would be the first choice ? or a Vortex 3? or something else?

thanks for the help and info AKG, (i try to keep up to date, but i haven't worked in the pc industry for a couple years. and things move fast)

[AkG]

If its bang for your buck...the older Crucial's are hard to beat same with the Intel 320.
If its perceived reliability the Intel's are hard to beat (510 is 34nm, 320 is 25nm...510 is a custom Intel firmware C400, 320 is their "X25-M" controller'ish refresh). I've seen all brands fail, so thats why I say perceived. BUT Intel and OCZ are the best as CS and RMA's.
If its shear performance the Vertex 3 MAX IOPS edition is hard to beat (a 32nm Toggle Mode NAND, SF gen 2 SDD....pure "win"). ASSUMING you have SATA 6GB/s system with TRIM support (ie a AMD 8x or later or Intel SB rig)...if not I'd prolly opt for the Intel 320.
Hope that helps :)

And as with all things SSD...this is YMMV and my recommendations may change tomorrow...the industry is that fast paced. ;)

[Patramix]

my specs are what i have listed, p7p55d-e board with usb/sata3

so if i understand that, i could go with the Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW120G310 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC or Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC

the intel 320 120gb OEM is going for about 215$
the intel 510 120gb is going for 280$

my current rma with ocz toke less then 24h to receive the shipping info, although i need to pay for the shipping...