SSD Upgrade

Vision

Vision

Vision

Associate
Joined
10 Dec 2009
Posts
497
In the market for a new SSD, so was looking for some recommendations really. Ideally looking to spend no more than £150, but will stretch if the performance increase justifies it.

The new Samsung drives available for pre order caught my eye. Not had much to do with SSDs since I bought mine, so are Samsung seen as a reliable brand?

Currently using a sata2 speed drive but my mobo does support 3. Will I need to install any drivers to get this working at it's best?


Cheers
 
My experience of Samsung SSDs has been good so far, and I think the general opinion would be that they are reliable.

The new Evo range look promising. As they are new, it's impossible to say what their reliability will be like, but given Samsung's track record, I think it's fairly safe to assume that they'll be OK.

You shouldn't need to install any drivers to get your new SSD working on the Sata III port, but it would be a good idea to make sure you have the latest drivers for best performance, although new drivers aren't always a guarantee of the fastest performance. Having said that, there are not usually big differences in performance between versions of Sata drivers, not that you'd notice in everyday use anyway.
 
Dervious said:
My experience of Samsung SSDs has been good so far, and I think the general opinion would be that they are reliable.

The new Evo range look promising. As they are new, it's impossible to say what their reliability will be like, but given Samsung's track record, I think it's fairly safe to assume that they'll be OK.

You shouldn't need to install any drivers to get your new SSD working on the Sata III port, but it would be a good idea to make sure you have the latest drivers for best performance, although new drivers aren't always a guarantee of the fastest performance. Having said that, there are not usually big differences in performance between versions of Sata drivers, not that you'd notice in everyday use anyway.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks. I'll look up some reviews on the new drives later. Would anyone recommend I went for the 250GB for the additional write speed? Capacity isn't too much of an issue as I will still be able to use my current drive as well.
 
AT Orchard said:
Ok thanks. I'll look up some reviews on the new drives later. Would anyone recommend I went for the 250GB for the additional write speed? Capacity isn't too much of an issue as I will still be able to use my current drive as well.
Click to expand...

I discussed this in a thread the other day. I think that if you can afford it, and don't mind spending the extra, the 250GB version is the one to go for. Looking at value for money, the 250gb model is better in terms of £/gb. Having the spare capacity is always a good thing, unless you know for sure that you'll never need it. The extra write speed is a bonus, but isn't going to make a big difference in the overall performance of the SDD in the system (unless you are carrying out a lot of write-heavy tasks). And in the case of the new EVO drives, the difference in write speed between the 120 and 250gb versions is not that big anyway.
 
from what I read the 120gb evo performs well when compared to other 120gb drives but the 256gb+ evo's are supposed to be a fair bit better. I was going to get a 128gb 840 pro but now I'm thinking about going for the 250gb evo or just saving some cash and getting the 120gb evo.

It's hard to say how good they are though until they've been out a while. Kinda banking on samsung ssd's continuing to be reliable. In many ways reliability is the number one thing I want
 
The new 840 EVO drive improves the write speed for the 120GB drive so it's an issue anymore. Having said that, you will always need more space than you think you do.
 
I suppose extra space will be helpful in the long run. Are there any other drives out there (or coming out soon) that rival the EVO? The 250gb version is looking favourite at the min.

Why is it most are listed as basic btw, how are the pro versions different?
 
I think everyone is missing a trick here:
The 840 Pro line is top dog,better pedigree than the EVO, which albeit does have great hardware innovation also depends on its performance from cacheing, IE RAPID and Turbowrite. Nothing wrong with that but bear in mind that the next itteration of the firmware for the 840 Pro ( 4.2) will also include the RAPID feature, which brings the 840 Pro series into the same performance bracket as the EVO range.
The Pro range is for serious users /business market whilst the EVO is aimed at mass consumer market. There are doubts about the EVOs dependecy on caching which may or may not be justifiable.
My money is going on a 250GB 840 Pro with firmware 4.2, which will also be upgraded on to my other machine with a 128GB 840 Pro.
Also the EVO is not yet usable apart from as a single drive based machine, so no RAID setups for EVO yet.
Way ahead of anything else on the market for all round performance and warranty.
 
I see what you are saying Stree, but realistically will there be much real world difference between the two? Not looking to RAID, nor will I be doing massive amounts of writing to the drive.

From what I can see I'd just be paying for a slightly slower drive with a longer warranty?
 
AT Orchard said:
I see what you are saying Stree, but realistically will there be much real world difference between the two?
Click to expand...

Almost certainly not.

There's not a lot of real world performance difference between any of the recent "popular" SSDs. The specs can show quite large differences. Benchmarks can prove the specs to be correct. Booting up Windows, launching apps, loading games, saving files, exploring the internet, etc., they're all quick, and you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between them in normal use.

And even if one SSD boots windows 1.5 seconds faster than another, are you really going to be concerned about that ?

Any of the 840s or the new Evo range will perform well. The Crucial M4s, which are now a little "long in the tooth" and slower on paper, are still able to perform well when compared to these newer, faster SSDs.

Sure, you could spend time comparing SSDs to find the best performer, but even then the overall best performer may not be the best in all situations.

SSD technology is improving and drives are getting faster, but it seems the biggest benefit for most users is the decrease in price per gb, rather than increases in real world performance.
 
Dervious said:
Almost certainly not.

There's not a lot of real world performance difference between any of the recent "popular" SSDs. The specs can show quite large differences. Benchmarks can prove the specs to be correct. Booting up Windows, launching apps, loading games, saving files, exploring the internet, etc., they're all quick, and you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between them in normal use.

And even if one SSD boots windows 1.5 seconds faster than another, are you really going to be concerned about that ?

Any of the 840s or the new Evo range will perform well. The Crucial M4s, which are now a little "long in the tooth" and slower on paper, are still able to perform well when compared to these newer, faster SSDs.


Sure, you could spend time comparing SSDs to find the best performer, but even then the overall best performer may not be the best in all situations.

SSD technology is improving and drives are getting faster, but it seems the biggest benefit for most users is the decrease in price per gb, rather than increases in real world performance.
Click to expand...
+1 this, lower prices means more we can spend on other upgrades
 
Last edited:
Some good points, cheers. Guess it's just a case of going for the best value drive then. Which at the minute does seem to be one of the Evo's.

Does anyone have an opinion on the Corsair Force drives? The 180gb version looks like a good deal?
 
AT Orchard said:
Some good points, cheers. Guess it's just a case of going for the best value drive then. Which at the minute does seem to be one of the Evo's.

Does anyone have an opinion on the Corsair Force drives? The 180gb version looks like a good deal?
Click to expand...

The 180gb version here is over £140.

If you shop around, you can get the 840 250gb non pro for less than £130, which I reckon is very good value for money. However, I think I'd be waiting for the Evo 250gb (although it is unproven). Having said that, a Crucial M500 or a Kingston at the right price wouldn't be a bad bet.
 
AT Orchard said:
I'll have a shop around then :)
Click to expand...

Worth doing, but don't forget the free delivery and decent service offered by OcUK. Keep an eye on the daily and weekly offers too !

I'm not sure when the Evos will be available, but you may find that there's a few good deals on the "normal" (pro and non-pro) 840s when the Evos are launched.

I think I got a rather good deal back in January, an 840 250gb for £109, delivered. Was a bit of a special deal from elsewhere though !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom