500GB SSD; Intel 520, or Vertex 4(M)?

[chrisk]

Looks like I will need a new SSD; the 200GB Crucial M4 I have is not enough space for my laptop, and I ain't going back to a HDD. The New Seagate XTs look OK (great for the money), but I think I will stick with a pure SSD.

Looking through the stock at my local shop, the Intel 520 500GB is about $500, and the Vertex 4 (micron edition) is about $400. I am leaning toward the Vertex 4 micon, but I am wondering if there is any reason to stay away from it and go for the Intel instead? Reliability is most important, but the geek in me wants speed as well (which both of these offer by the looks). Kinda wondering if OCZ is still beta testing this drive like they usually do, and the quality of that nand in the Vertex 4....

Thanks for any suggestions! I might pop Windows 8 on this thing as well....

[JD]

Haha, I just asked AkG this question last night, though my intention is to use it for VM's.

He said Intel 520, Samsung 830 or Samsung 840 PRO since the non-pro model uses cheap NAND.

Maybe his recommendations will differ for an OS drive, but I'm guessing it'll be similar.

[botat29]

Intel have a 5 years warantty.

[chrisk]

The Vertex 4 has a 5 year warranty too; I have heard of issues with OCZs warranty claims, but I had a great experience with them when I RMAd the original Vertex (IIRC, I got a brand new replacement the same week as I sent in my old one).

I never considered the Samsung drives JD (sorry I missed your thread...I took a scan through the latest storage threads here and didn't see it). I would think that the demands would be similar for a VM and an OS though correct? You would have lots of disk accesses and small file writes and such on the virtual hard disks for the VMs I would think (just guessing though).

[3.0charlie]

Probably discussed in the back room. Me personally, Intel. But 500Gb in a lappy, really? That's way too much pr0n for your students Sir...

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by 3.0charlie

Probably discussed in the back room. Me personally, Intel. But 500Gb in a lappy, really? That's way too much pr0n for your students Sir...

Ironically enough, its all the tutorial videos I am making for my courses taking up all the room right now. I'll be able to clear some room, but I am tired of clearing room. Right now I am at approx 10gb of free space (and my lappy is crashing from time to time, so a nuke and pave might be a good lazy-mans way of fixing the problem perhaps).

[Varroa]

500GB for $400? Where?

[chrisk]

Canada Computers has the vertex for $400:
Canada Computers | Solid State Drives | OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SATA3 6GB/s 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) w/Micron NAND, Read: 560MB/s, Write: 510MB/s (VTX4-25SAT3-512G.M)

[Squeetard]

Intell 520. OCZ's firmware is a mess, with the vertex 2 anyways. Things like, if you have firmware 1.2 you can flash to 1.4 but if you have 1.3 you have to flash back to 1.1 then 1.2 before you can flash 1.4 (made that up but you get the gist. Destructive too. I gave up flashing mine.

Intels custom sandforce firmware is the best in the industry.

[botat29]

Originally Posted by chrisk

The Vertex 4 has a 5 year warranty too; .

Is OCZ will still in business in 5 years ?