Upgrade M11x - SSD

Hi there!

I am creating this post so we can make an updated list of the SSDs with the best capacity*Read&wirte speed/price relation, for the M11x (SATA II). I'll start with some:

>>Crucial real SSD 128 C300 - Amazon.de 359€ - crucial.com 399.99$
- Read up to 265MB/s ( Sata 2)
- Write up to 140MB/s

>>Intel X25M 160GB - Amazon.de 384,48€
-Read up to 250MB/s
-Write up to 100MB/s

>>G.Skill Falcon II 128GB - Amazon.de 349,27€
-Read up to 230MB/s
-Write up to 190MB/s

>> OCZ Agility 2 100GB - Amazon.de 355,95€ (add 30€ for 120GB)
-Read up to 285MB/s
-Write up to 275MB/s

>>Kingston SSD V+ Series - Amazon.de 326,20€
-Read up to 230MB/s
-Write up to 180MB/s

>>OCZ Vertex 120GB - Amazon.de 319,90€
- Read up to 230MB/s
-Write up to 135MB/s

>>Supertalent ultradrive GX 128GB - Amazon.de 295,90€
-Read up to 260MB/s
-Write up to 195MB/s

>>Kingston V-series 128GB - Amazon.de 246,52€
-Read up to 200MB/s
-Read up to 160MB/s


I am trying to keep it at +100GB. Hope it helps!

 

The OCZ Vertex 2 is by far better than the Agility 2 - 5 times as much IOPS speed - 50k as opposed to 10k.

 

At the moment none of these drives perform as well as the intel x-25m G2 unless you really need writes > than 100mb/s. That is what i'm getting with my R2.

 

what do you mean they don't perform as well. What does the x-25m Have these don't?

 

Yeah, I'm using an X25-M G2 80GB right now, and if I *needed* another SSD I'd get another G2 X25. All current-gen SSDs are "fast enough" and the choosing of one over another based on an extra 20-30MB/sec is sort of like spending an extra 50-200 bucks on "overclocker" RAM.

You have that "smugness" of knowing you've got good stuff, but you're never going to NOTICE a difference between the mainstream and your "Dominator" RAM unless you're wasting all your time benchmarking and uploading your results to Futuremark. If I have 40fps, and you have 45fps in a game, who cares?

If you're going to spend extra on a drive that's using a SandForce controller, do it because you actually have a NEED for the extra premium in price it commands. Also, a very public mark against the C300 drive: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2974/crucial-s-realssd-c300-an-update-on-my-drive

 

Mainly better small files handling (though most new SSDs will do a good enough job to avoid shuttering now) and lower power usage at idle and also when doing multimedia (thus great for mobility battery life).

From all the reviews it just comes out on top overall, it does not have any weaknesses. Somehow it seems all other drives fall short in one area or another.

Of course that is only my opinion.

You can check Tom's Hardware SSD roundup 2010, and see for yourself. Read/Write speeds is not all SSDs are about.

 

Also remember the 2xx/2xx MB/sec rates are always taken from where the drive performs fastest. The other reason I'd still take the X25 over newer drives is Intel is Johnny-on-the-spot with firmware and correction of drive issues, because they've got a massive back-end infrastructure. I also like the fact that their drives are entirely done in-house, and not a blending of different manufacturer's chipsets and NAND chips (i.e. everything is Intel-made and overseen instead of an SSD having a SandForce controller, a Samsung DRAM cache, and Micron NAND chips).

Having everything made by Intel gives me that possibly-naive feeling that I'm not going to get a DOA or "doomed to fail" drive because one of eight different factories who provided vital components for my drive had a bad day.

 

Well i choose this ones because i am trying to find a cheap 100GB+ SSD. I don't want to spend 400 bucks on it. So basically I am loking for a cheap SSD.

BTW how do I know if it is G2? In amazon.de/amazon.fr it does not say so.

 

The Product code should say G2R5 or G2XX at the end

 

Is this G2?
Intel X25-M Mainstream Solid State Drive - 34nm Product: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
I think so because its 32nm but I can't tell 100%

 

How fast is the Intel SSD drive compared to something like Seagate Momentus XT that many people are talking about? I mean not in term of benchmark, but something like OS/application load time and something like file transfer? Access time isn't very a big issue for me.

 

Yes, 32nm signifies G2. The silver casing also is a clear sign that it's G2.

It's hard to use the term "fast" when it comes to SSDs. The whole point of using SSDs over hard drives, even hybrid hard drives, is removing a bottleneck in the system's processing. The XT uses the NAND element to speed up access to heavily/often-used programs/data, but it's still a glorified ReadyBoost cache soldered onto a hard drive logic board. An XT isn't going to give you consistent 200MB/sec+ R/W performance, it's not going to be totally silent like an SSD is, and it's not going to consistently or even "often" give you that "holy crap" feeling the first time something pops up quicker than you're used to (except maybe system boot time).

You buy an SSD because you want something that will give you an enhanced computing "experience" at the cost of storage space (unless you're rich and can afford a high-capacity SSD).

I personally am looking into either a 64GB SSD *or* a 500GB XT for my upcoming M11xR2 buy. 64GB plus an SDHC card for miscellaneous data should be more than enough for my needs. If I needed more space for stuff, I've always got the lightweight USB 2.0 drive option.

 

If you want a cheap Intel X25 G2 go to Ebay, I bought my first SSD from buy.com and it worked great but I paid $430 for it 6 months ago (Intel G2), that was for my desktop, they are still around $400 at online retailers, BUT after doing a quick search on ebay I found a rep. seller who had them for $335 free shipping and if you go through BCB you get 8% back immediatly, so it cost me $308 in total, got it this weekend, brand new, works great, no scam... Key is find a good seller, one that has sold high $ items in the past and has feedback to prove it (go for 40 or higher at the very least). $308 for this 160GB G2 and my laptop now powers on in 15 seconds (ready to run an app in 15 seconds) I love it, power down takes about 5 seconds. Make sure you optimize it.

 

I just found a Samsung 256g here local cheap and installed and tweaked it last night.
It is difficult to appreciate the difference until you have seen it for yourself.

The Samsung gets some harsh words here and maybe it is deserved but the difference between any SSD and any Hard Drive is so dramatic that I am afraid I may be ruined now for the spinning platters.

I recently got a 64g SSD and installed it into a Fujitsu machine running Vista Business that was such a dog I almost would not boot it up. It ran hot and churned along forever when performing almost any task. Even the screen saver would bog it down.

I thought it was just the Vista OS that was the culprit.

Now it is hard to accept that it is the same machine and the same OS load,really!
I cloned the drive so it an exact copy and even before optimizing the SSD the difference is dramatic.

Boot time went from 6-7 minutes to under 30 seconds and overall it just feels like a new fire breathing machine. Of course it also does not really breathe fire anymore as the heat seemed to just vanish also with the SSD.

I think it can not be overstressed how much improved any SSD System will be over a Hard Drive one and while there are certainly differences among the SSD out there they all will "Smoke" any hard drive I have tried.

 

are the R1 m11x's SATA3 compatible or no?

 

Nope.

/10char

 

The real benefit to an SSD is that it makes everything you do on your computer just FEEL faster - to the point where it is actually fun to just simply use your computer for everyday tasks. When you click on a program icon, that application just comes up instantly.

It's a hard thing to measure. If you were to actually try and measure that, you'd be comparing a 1 sec load time (on mechanical HD) to 0.3 seconds (on SSD). Maybe you could measure Windows boot times (BTW, my boot time on my laptop went 72 sec --> 17 sec after SSD). Maybe you could run PCMark, or Disk I/O, etc. When you look at those numbers, it doesn't seem impressive. But when you actually touch and use a system with a fast SSD in it, you will never ever be able to go back.

The best comparison I could come up with is this: Imagine using a cheap ball-mouse - the $10 kind that comes with every computer. That mouse will work most of the time, and get the job done. Sometimes it skips because it's dirty, but it doesn't really bother you because that's just how ball-mice are. Now, imagine you replace that dirty ball-mouse with a top-end mouse (laser, 5000dpi, 500Hz polling rate, adjustable weight, multiple thumb buttons, scroll wheel, etc). That top-end mouse is going to be super silky-smooth and provide ultra-precise mousing.

You can't really "measure" how awesome that top-end mouse is. It's just something that you need to touch and feel for yourself to understand. The level of improvement from going from mechanical ball mouse --> top-end optical/laser mouse is what owning an SSD is like.

And here's something to ask yourself: Have you ever heard of someone who bought an SSD and regrets it? Has anybody ever said "You know, this SSD is nice, but it wasn't worth the money"?

 

PC Perspective actually has a chart very similiar to the one you are trying to build. Contains read/write info on the drives, controller info, warranty, and links to reviews.
PC Perspective - SSD Decoder Ring - an SSD comparison guide (Rev 3.0)

 

Guys thinking of upg to SSD - just need to get the funds together - where's the cheapest (but reliable) place to get the intel X25-M G2 160GB as this looks to be the best for me

 

i would like a ssd too but i am going to wait until the next time i get a new laptop or desktop; i want the price to come down.

 

I'm getting the 256GB SSD that comes with the M11x R2. How does that perform?

 

like poop. do the research, the one they provide you is garbage, the read/write speed is subpar of all major brands.

It's usually a samsung ssd, one of the worst ones. The price per gigabyte is a amazing though, but if you want performance, do some research: the best ones are from intel x25-m, ocz agility/vertex, and my FAVORITE (it's in the mail being sent to me already) is the owc 100gb mercury extreme.

p.s. .poneh, i just called dell and from that 1000$ m11x im getting, i just got myself free nbd shipping. lolololol God loves me <3

 

tk, what configuration did you order and what did you tell them? I have my order on hold at the moment.

i7, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and BT. They didn't want to go down a penny from the $1744 I was quoted after EPP. I'm having a hard time finalizing the order when i hear about everyone getting extra discounts.

 

If you want an SSD, then buy an aftermarket SSD and install it yourself. Personally, I think that most people would be ok with a 120GB / 128GB drive. A good one should run you about $300.

But if you really want the extra space, you can definitely get a faster 240GB/256GB drive for about $500-$600. Same price as what you would get from Dell, but you get the tremendous advantage of picking your own make/model, which means you get to pick a top-end performance drive. The Samsung that comes with Dell systems isn't the best performer, and is way overpriced for what you get when you buy as part of a Dell system.

 

I always go with Newegg. They might not always be THE cheapest, but they are usually very close to the cheapest. Since they move such a high volume of product, manufacturers will often run different sales/rebates for their products.

And with Newegg, you know that you are getting genuine parts with a DOA guarantee, plus delivery assurances. No hassles, no headaches, and you know exactly what product and level of service you are getting when you buy through them.