SSD Wanted!!

[Biz.Kid09]

Good afternoon,
I am looking for a ssd for my new laptop and i am a bit confused on what brands and speeds i should get e.t.c, I am looking at around the £100 budget more if i will see a big difference,
Cheers guys

 

[ChileanLlama]

What HD interface does your laptop have? Is it PATA or SATA? If SATA then is it 150 or 300 (SATA1 or SATA2)?

For the £100 mark there really isn't much choice, a Kingston SSDNow V 40gb would be my choice for £70-£80. £145 ish would get you a Samsung, £170ish a Crucial M225 and £190ish (or £159 today ) an Intel X25M.

But you need to answer the above questions first, as if you have PATA you're options are seriously limited, and if SATA150 then any of these drives will be bottlenecked.

 

[Tom B]

Is there anything wrong with the OCZ agility or OCZ vertex (which is better by the way??).

 

[ChileanLlama]

OCZ Agility and OCZ Vertex are almost the same drive, the OCZ Vertex has faster NAND cells - not that you'll notice.

They both use the same Indilinx controller as the Crucial M225, but in the main the Crucial is usually the cheapest - if you can get an Agility or Vertex cheaper then they're also good buys

 

[Tom B]

well there's 30gb ones here for £130 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=14&subid=910&sortby=priceAsc

 

[ChileanLlama]

That's a lot of cash for a 30GB drive though. I'd get the Kingston SSDNow V 40gb for £70-80 which is a bigger, faster and cheaper drive.

 

[Tom B]

I thought the kingston had the Jmicron controller which isn't as good?

 

[ChileanLlama]

No, though it is part of the same range (confusing) SSDNow V series, the 40GB drive using the Intel G2 Controller. So it's as fast as the Intel X25M 80gb for reads, and half the speed on writes.

You're right that the other SSDNow V Series drives have the JMicron controller.

 

[Tom B]

All the Kingston drives on OCUK are 64gb. The only V+ is this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-004-KS&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910

Is that one (out of stock ) the intel controller, and the others (cheaper ones..) the Jmicron controller?

 

[ChileanLlama]

OCUK haven't stocked the 40gb drive yet, I've not seen it listed anyway.

The one you've linked to is a V+ which is a different range again, without checking I think that drive has a Samsung controller.

 

[Tom B]

Hmm ok so what SSD would you recommend that OCUK has in stock? Budget £120 but more if it's really worth it

 

[ChileanLlama]

If you're buying from OCUK then £169 for the Crucial M225. Otherwise the Samsung or Corsair P (Samsung) drives are a bit cheaper, but don't have TRIM, a shorter warranty and no firmware updates.

I can't really recommend any of the cheaper drives in stock, either using the JMicron or too expensive for the OCZ drives when you look at the capacity of them.

If you're prepared to shop around the Intel X25MG2 at £159.99 is an absolute no-brainer.

 

[Tom B]

I can't find anywhere with the X25 MG2 at that price. Cheapest is £167 which is much more reasonable but nowhere with that price range has them in stock.

 

[ChileanLlama]

Sorry Tom - can't say - it's not their normal price if you're searching by price and there's still 7 in stock

 

[droyden]

Part number: SSDSA2MH080G2C1 ?