SSD Noob looking for advice.

DampDog · 2 Jan 2013 at 13:27

Hiya folks.

Just looking for a quick bit of advice re choosing an SSd drive to upgrade my current system.

At the moment I'm running an i5 760 in a Asus P55-USB (Pretty sure MoBo only supports SATA II) with 8gig Corsair XMS. I just have a single 1TB Samsung F3.

I was thinking of simply buying a 120Gig-ish SSD for OS(Windows7) and using current F3 for data.

Now, I built the system mayself but am certainly not computer Geek, so was looking for advice as to which SSD to choose. It doesn't have to be the fastest, but what I'm looking for an idiot proof install, I see many drives with "works great after firmware update" but what I'm after is something I can stick in and it will work hassle free. With a 5 year warranty if I can get it at the price.

I've been looking at the following around the £100 mark

Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic
Intel 520 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s
Corsair Neutron Series 120GB

Any advice greatly appreciated..
DD

zakblood · 2 Jan 2013 at 13:41

if m/b doesn't support 6gb/s then get the size you can afford with the best warranty.

h88p://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html

i use a adata one from OC 256gb and works a treat, samsung tend to be more liked here by most, but yes i still went for budget v speed and got the best per price v speed i could find.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-030-AD&groupid=1657&catid=2101&subcat=2393

i got 2 and when they was £130 odd

DampDog · 2 Jan 2013 at 18:58

Thanks for that but that's a little more than I wanted to spend. Looking to keep it around £100 of under. (120Gig ish)

I'm just a little bewildered as to which are best sorted and which have the best controller.. Marvell, Sandforce, not sure what the samsung uses but it appears to be OK. M4 V4 it's all a bit lost on me. I was hoping to avoid hours or reading up and get pointed towards a good choice for novice system builder as opposed to best of the best with all the whistles and bells on.

TALON1973 · 2 Jan 2013 at 19:09

NO COMPETITOR HINTING!!

DampDog · 2 Jan 2013 at 20:36

Not seen the 250gig for that money. 128 is on this weeks offers for £109

TALON1973 · 2 Jan 2013 at 22:43

DampDog said:
Not seen the 250gig for that money. 128 is on this weeks offers for £109

NO COMPETITOR HINTING!!

although that particular offer has gone .. it did come up twice inside a week ....and who knows we might see something like that from teh good chaps from ocuk

TALON1973 · 3 Jan 2013 at 12:02

how is a site that shows deals for EVERYTHING a competitor ? they even do ocuk for gods sake

passey89 · 3 Jan 2013 at 12:21

go for samsung, intel or crucial tbh

Luffy · 3 Jan 2013 at 12:25

passey89 said:
go for samsung, intel or crucial tbh

+1

DampDog · 3 Jan 2013 at 12:43

passey89 said:
go for samsung, intel or crucial tbh

Luffy said:
+1

Thanks peeps. I've sort of whittled my choice down to these 3. Advice?oppinions welcome..

1. Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series
Looks a good drive and price, appears to use the Marvell controller.

2.Samsung 128GB SSD 840 PRO
Appears to be a favourite for many. But would the std 840 be OK for me as I only have SATAII MoBo anyway?? Has NAND controller whatever that is??

3. Crucial M4, 128Gig
Again appears to be a popular drive, but firmware update still being ongoing.

passey89 · 3 Jan 2013 at 13:44

DampDog said:
Thanks peeps. I've sort of whittled my choice down to these 3. Advice?oppinions welcome..

1. Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series
Looks a good drive and price, appears to use the Marvell controller.

2.Samsung 128GB SSD 840 PRO
Appears to be a favourite for many. But would the std 840 be OK for me as I only have SATAII MoBo anyway?? Has NAND controller whatever that is??

3. Crucial M4, 128Gig
Again appears to be a popular drive, but firmware update still being ongoing.

Samsung or crucial which ever is cheaper is normally the rule.

Luffy · 3 Jan 2013 at 18:10

Either 2 or 3, both are great
Will you be upgrading your motherboard any time soon? (maybe in the next year?)
If so and you like to have the best it may be worth putting your money on the 840 Pro (or OCZ Vector) anyway.

DampDog · 3 Jan 2013 at 19:37

Luffy said:
Either 2 or 3, both are great
Will you be upgrading your motherboard any time soon? (maybe in the next year?)
If so and you like to have the best it may be worth putting your money on the 840 Pro (or OCZ Vector) anyway.

Cheers for the reply..

Can't see me doing a major upgrade anytime soon, so just going for an SSD as a stop gap..

What has caught my eye is this.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA&groupid=1657&catid=2101&subcat=

I know it's not the Pro version, but looks a good deal at that money for 256.. Might just raid the piggy bank for that (Will sleep on it) Other wise the M4, looks the wise buy.

I don't upgrade my system often enough to keep on top of what is the best kit. That's why I pop up here every now and again..

Luffy · 3 Jan 2013 at 20:14

On this week offer that is great value.
If you're not planning an update soon, another option could be a SATA III PCI Express card Example if you have a spare slot.
Even more cash but at least you will release more of the potential of your SSD

DampDog · 4 Jan 2013 at 09:17

Cheers, the thought of a adaptor card had never crossed my mind.

I'm starting to think it's time to start saving for an upgrade. Recon I could do a i5, Ivybridge, Mobo and SSD for around £300. If I stuck with my DDR31600 for a while... Arrrgh... see this is how it starts... LOL..