INTEL 520 OR CRUCIAL M4

Farooq · 9 Feb 2012 at 18:10

Hi guys buying my first SSD.

I have a sata 2 motherboard currently asus rampage formula x48 and a massivly overclocked q6600 on water cooling. I am going to be gettimg my first SSD and I hope to carry it over to a ivybridge based machine in a few months for full sata 3 benefit.

I cant afford to go for a 240 gb drive so which 120GB drive would you buy?

It seams like it used to be the M4 that most would reccomend.

However according to the reviews I have seen it looks like the Intel 520 is the new king

should I go intel 520 with 25nm cherryville nand ( higher price but with install kit) or cruical (lower price with no kit and old nand)

both seam reliable with the intel going through some serious firmware testing.

is it worth the extra pounds for the intel if you were buying with your cash?

what are other pro n cons?

or should I be looking at OCZ/mushkin where I can afford a 180 gb drive?

cheers lads

discuss away I would rather make a informed choice

beejjacobs · 9 Feb 2012 at 18:13

Have you read this?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18368624

My understanding is that the M4 and Intel SSDs are the most reliable.

What will you do with it? For a gaming PC, you won't notice the difference in speed. That being said, the Intel has a 5 year warranty (vs 3 for the M4) so you've got to decide if that's worth the extra

Farooq · 9 Feb 2012 at 18:41

My machine is a workhorse used for everything and I mean it. average day its runs 24/7 with me or my partner using it.

daily tasks

daytime

1st moniotor 32 inch samsung tv/moniotor
used for AUTOCAD, Coral draw X5, adobe illustrator for making lasercutter vector files. thats primary monitor during day hours.

2nd monitor dell ultrasharp runs web browsers,Email, voip ,VLC video,BBC iplayer window, download client general stuff to keep busy while on long coral draw sessions etc

evening

its used for media on big screen movies and tv shows that have been downloaded spartacus,dexter,breaking bad etc

after 10 at night

its for gaming on primary moniotor and secondry running ventrillo, Football manager 2012
primary is usually current MMOs,driving or FPS games of my choice ( DIGITAL CRACK BTW! ) especially that mmo's star wars old republic at the moment its super good.

occsionaly me and some friends will get together on ventrillo for some Battlefield 3 action. I also play all the latest games currently out skyrim need for speed etc.

bedtime

It gets told to download a whole bunch of media files for the next day from newsgroups. and the lasercutter vector files get backed up to a external drive as well as the cloud and be ready to be emailed out to peeps.

my current drives are 250 gb samsung spinpoint as os drive and browsers basic windows stuff
and my storage drive as well as steam and gaming drive is a western digital caviar black 1 tb.

my plan was to replace the samsung with a 120 gb drive for os and browsers

Then get a crucial adrenaline cache drive or intel RST for my 1 tb caviar black. That seams like best bang for buck what do you reckon for my usuage?

beejjacobs · 9 Feb 2012 at 18:44

Well as it's such heavy usage, I'd probably say the Intel for the extra warranty?

shuffle · 9 Feb 2012 at 21:52

just for the record, i installed a Intel 520 120gb last night..
the difference in Battlefield 3 was very surprising. Everything seems to run smoother and feels more solid as a game. Very pleased with the SSD

Farooq · 11 Feb 2012 at 00:14

out of curiosity does the INTEL 520 come with a sata cable cant find my ones that came with motherboard?

VortexA1 · 12 Feb 2012 at 01:36

http://www.guru3d.com/article/intel-series-520-240gb-ssd-review/4 .

Yes it includes it. Have a look at the article

Subliminal Aura · 12 Feb 2012 at 01:46

" 5 Year Warranty "

Hadn't realised that they're now available..... Getting my wallet brb

Cyber-Mav · 12 Feb 2012 at 01:51

have a look at the plextor m3 ssd range too, they are like the intel equivalent of the marvel controller version drives.

so as intel is to sandforce, plextor is to marvel, both offering 5 year warranty and focused on reliability enhancements etc.

plextor drives being cheaper than intel ones, although being more expensive than crucial drives.

Atom · 12 Feb 2012 at 02:43

Dont think the 520 is worth the premium. Get a M4..

Subliminal Aura · 12 Feb 2012 at 15:50

Data = time and money

For that simple reason I never skimp on drives or SSDs

Randomface74 · 12 Feb 2012 at 15:54

If you can afford a 128 520 you can almost afford a 256 M4.

Levirginien · 12 Feb 2012 at 23:03

Subliminal Aura said:
Data = time and money

For that simple reason I never skimp on drives or SSDs

+1

Go with the 520...
M4: Very good + 3 year's warranty
520: Excellent + 5 year's warranty

Farooq · 13 Feb 2012 at 04:30

I had not looked at plextor SSD's altough I do have a plextor DVD drive

and its been very good at being quiet which my old samsng was not. ill take a look

So by the looks of it basically the Intel 520 is the better product and the better of the two SSD's at the moment no longer the cruicial M4.

AStaley · 13 Feb 2012 at 07:58

I'm going to do the same as the OP and get a new SSD now ready for my planned Ivy Bridge upgrade. As I value the extra validation the Intel have done on the drive i'm going to get the 120GB 520 as well. Paying a premium price for the extra piece of mind if worth it.

AStaley.

Broken Hope · 13 Feb 2012 at 08:16

Subliminal Aura said:
Data = time and money

For that simple reason I never skimp on drives or SSDs

In that case the M4 is a no brainer, it has a proven track record for reliability and any issues that have cropped up haven't affected data and were fixed within a week.

The 520 is still an unknown, whilst Intel claim it will be super reliable, until more users have them and use them for a substantial length of time we have no actual idea how reliable they are.

djxput · 13 Feb 2012 at 08:46

Broken Hope said:
In that case the M4 is a no brainer, it has a proven track record for reliability and any issues that have cropped up haven't affected data and were fixed within a week.

The 520 is still an unknown, whilst Intel claim it will be super reliable, until more users have them and use them for a substantial length of time we have no actual idea how reliable they are.

Im also a happy m4 user - I know when I read the 520 would use the sandforce I was a bit skeptical ...
IMO the m4 is one of the cheapest ssds price wise yet perfomes like one of the best and has a very good reliabilty rating. Was a good sell for me.

I acutlaly owned a 120 320 intel for just a week and thought heck might as well get double the space if I can afford it. So went for 256 m4.

Wucked · 14 Feb 2012 at 12:11

I have the 256GB M4 which I'm very happy with, its fast and it has a great track record for reliability and support from crucial. Its a known quantity.

But reading reviews of the 520 series, they look really nice. And Intel also has a great reputation for reliability with its SSD's. They're generally the favorite in data-centers for a reason.

Tough call, but if I was buying now I'd probably choose the Intel drive as it outperforms the M4. Reliability remains to be seen, but Intel have a great reputation so I doubt you'll have too many issues. Either way they're both great products.

IvanDobskey · 14 Feb 2012 at 12:13

Money no object, get the intel. Bang for buck go for the M4.

djxput · 14 Feb 2012 at 12:19

Wucked said:
Tough call, but if I was buying now I'd probably choose the Intel drive as it outperforms the M4. Reliability remains to be seen, but Intel have a great reputation so I doubt you'll have too many issues. Either way they're both great products.

ya true - but like you said have to see about reliability and then for example its current 100 more on ocuk for the 520 compared to a comperable m4~

a bit fast is it worth 100 pounds? and unknown reliability ... if it were me Id still choose a m4 but Im on a bit more of a budget.