Which SSD for Pc

THE Nemesis

THE Nemesis

THE Nemesis

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Joined
31 Dec 2009
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44
Hi,
Sorry, im a bit behind the times and wonder if you can help..
I have about £150 to spend on a new 120-250GB HD
Need for Gaming & browsing..

I have been looking at SSD's as the only thing letting my Pc down is the HD,
I have an old 250GB 7200 WD
I was wondering which ones were designed for Pc or whether it would be worth purchasing this one which is recommended for notebook. ????????
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-021-CS

Otherwise ill get a decent IDE

Thanks

STu
 
Firstly you need to make sure you have a SATA connection on your motherboard. Once you've confirmed that, you can start considering SSDs.

Nearly all SSDs currently are 2.5" and hence fit notebooks and desktops alike. There isn't a recommended notebook/desktop SSD unless someone has made a specific judgement about what is good for desktops and what is good for laptops. Manufacturers don't do this.

Thirdly, you need to see what SATA connection your motherboard has.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#Revisions

SATA1 = 1.5Gbps ~ 140MB/s
SATA2 = 3Gbps ~ 280MB/s
SATA3 = 6Gbps ~ 560MB/s

That is the cable you use to connect to the hard drive. As you know some drives are capable of 500MB/s speeds or more and as such perform best on SATA3 connections. However, that does not mean they are useless on SATA1/2 drives as you rarely utilise those maximum sequential read/write speeds but the more common random read/write speeds in daily use. At those speeds usually you stay within even the SATA1 limits.

With all that in mind, my recommendation is the 128GB Crucial M4 drive which is currently selling fairly cheap. Check the manufacturer site for more information on specifications.
 
horrorwood said:
The crucial M4 is the best drive around at the moment and is actually cheaper than the Agility.
Click to expand...

Yeh I'm aware that the M4 is a good drive, and I was considering it.
But after I spoke with someone at OcuK and I told him that I would like something
that is stable and will cause me little problems he suggested the Agility3.
 
Ohh, i forgot........
Do i specifically need to purhase Sata 3 cables?
or Sata 2? or will the normal Sata i use now be ok?

*edit*
Just seen this
1. Device and mobo support SATA 2 - use of a SATA 3 cable will not get you the 6GB/s due to physical limitations of device and mobo.
2.Device and mobo support SATA 3 - use of a SATA 2 cable will not get you the 6GB/s due to physical limitation of the cable.
3. Device supports SATA 3, but mobo supports SATA 2 - using either SATA 2 or 3 cable will result in 3GB/s.
4. Device supports SATA 2, but mobo supports SATA 3 - using either cable will result in 3GB/s.
5. Device and mobo support SATA 3 - use of SATA 2 cable will result in 3GB/s
6. Device and mobo support SATA 3 - using a SATA 3 cable will get you the 6GB/s
------------------------------
 
Last edited:
Shadz said:
Yeh I'm aware that the M4 is a good drive, and I was considering it.
But after I spoke with someone at OcuK and I told him that I would like something
that is stable and will cause me little problems he suggested the Agility3.
Click to expand...

Sorry but he was wrong, the M4 is better. I own both of them.

Benchmark of the M4 here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19930565&postcount=7

Benchmark of the Vertex 3 here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18346757

Its hard to find a benchmark of the Agility 3, but the vertex 3 is OCZ's higher end model and beats the agility 3. It still does not beat the M4 though.

The problem with the agility and vertex drives is they are only fast when transfering data that can be compressed, with incompressible data they are not that fast at all.

There is also another thread here which asks the same question: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18368453&highlight=agility

As for sata cables, you do not need a "sata 3" cable. Sata 1/2 cables are the same pinout. Its just that they were not tested to reach sata3 speeds, unless you have some really cheapo old cable it should not be a problem using your exisiting sata cable.
 
Hi all,
I received my M4 and Sata 3 cable today !..
I updated my bios and read somewhere that i needed to update the firmware or something for the SSD? Ill start trawling the net to try to suss it but
If anyone can help me out,
what file - where to get it & how to update plz LOL

Thanks
Stuart
(just found this link)
*http://www.crucial.com/support/firmware.aspx*
But there is an Option for M4 7mm or 9.5mm? is there a difference as i cant see anywhere on the HD or box thats says.
Am i going to have to get my ruler out? LOL
 
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