Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for SSDs... I am currently looking to pick up two of them in the near future to Raid 0. I am just going to be putting my OS and a select list of programs on them. I would like for them to be about 120GB each and SATA III. My preferred price would be about $150 each, but my max is around $200 each. I currently have an OCZ RevoDrive which is 120GB which I haven't had an issue with at all, but I want to sell it because it's position constricts airflow. Also if you would like... tell me your opinion of this case I have been looking into purchasing it as well for more space. Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition (I know there is a cheaper version of it, but I want the ability to turn off the LEDs.) I currently have a Cooler Master HAF 912. Thanks...
Right now the Crucial M4 has a nice price at Tiger Direct: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365475&CatId=5300 The M4 hasn't had any of the Sandforce compatibility issues and has been one of the pack leaders thus far so you have good value in your dollar there. Another good alternative might be the Kingston HyperX, or a similarly well-rounded top of the line performer to mix and match with. Edit: I use the Corsair Force GT, which uses the Sandforce controller, with the Sandy Bridge Chipset and the whole nine yards which many folks have said doesn't work. It works perfectly fine so if you're looking to go Sandforce and aren't sure, it shouldn't be a problem unless you're stuck using Marvell SATA port controllers on your motherboard.
I have a question... is Sandforce still really unstable? I am asking because I had been looking up drives for a couple weeks and was thinking about getting these... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=744446&CatId=5300, but due to the issues I have seen people encountering with Sandforce I obviously didn't want to take a chance. Also my motherboard does use Marvell SATA Controllers for my SATA III ports. I noticed a lot of people seem to like Crucial, but I kind of didn't like how many of them that I looked at had low writing speeds compared to other SSDs that were around the same price. It may be the just the select ones I looked at though... That Samsung looks pretty good though even though it does have a lower writing than the Corsair. It is a bit more expensive at least from what I have seem rapidly googling it, but I am sure I can find it somewhere cheaper than my initial search. I take it Sandforce is still pretty unstable than?? (based on both your suggestions that don't use Sandforce) Thanks for the replys!
If you only have Marvell SATA3 ports then you are better off using the SATA2 ports for your SSD. You lose some sequential speeds but will gain in the small random's and IOps where it counts most Max speed of SATA2 is around 280MB/s, so all drives rated above that will top out at that point.
Okay now I am confused... Why not use the SATA III? Is it just because they use a Marvell Controller? I thought it was only with the Sandforce it had an issue? (Sorry for any possible stupid questions) If I don't use the SATA III I might as well just keep my current SSD? It isn't that much of an issue and I just wanted to free up space too. (Current SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227578) Here is a link to my motherboard if that helps? Motherboard: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1366/P6X58D_Premium/#overview
The Marvell controller has higher latency, thus the IO/s suffer and the small random reads and writes also suffer (as a direct result of the lower IO). I havent looked at the benchmarks in a while but if I remember right the Marvell chipset added something like 2ms of latency to the SSD. Which since the entire point of a SSD is having sub 1ms access times for files, you can see how that would be a problem. The same thing happens on older RAID card's, even really high end ones. Back when solid state drives started to get big only Areca had any RAID cards that worked with SSDs that didnt add unacceptable latency. Besides this, all x58 chipset boards that use a Marvell chipset of the 912x (besides the 9128) hit a wall at 400MB/s anyway (at most) so you dont even get full SATA3 speed. The controller limits the speed as it will max out at 500MB/s since it is connected through a PCI-E 2.0 x1 lane. You could even max out your chipset with older SSDs in RAID0 if you wanted to. A new SSD array would be significantly handicapped. The Intel ports connected via 4x lanes if I remember right, so you can use full bandwidth of all ports instead of being capped at 500MB/s shared between the two Marvell ports. lol. another thing I just thought of is that two Intel ports maxed out at 280MB/s = 560MB/s of speed in RAID0. Which is more bandwidth than the SATA3 ports have through the Marvell controller anyway. Your board uses a 9123 controller FYI. And I dont think it supports TRIM commands either does it? Which means you either need to get a Samsung drive as it can do fine without TRIM or get a Crucial M4 and be sure to leave your computer on at night every few days so garbage collection can take place. Or use the Intel SATA2 ports to get TRIM working.
wow how much of a broner does SSd's and chipest debates give you guys? No gay stuff, but seriously guys, its awe inspiring. Like Spartan warriors in battle, every post is a death blow of nerd-fact. I just wonder how far I can take this analogy...
Sandforce works now, 100%. Some variations apply. The Marvell SATA controller for instance does not detect Sandforce related firmware at all so you can't update your firmware to the latest non-buggy data on the SSD side. Also, as Enigma stated, the Marvell SATA III controller just sucks, so it's not even worth it.
You wont gain much speed over your current SSD with new ones. Your sequential speeds would be about the same, and your random writes would only be slightly higher. Random read would gain the most, but probably only 20%. However you would probably double your capacity as you should be going with 128GB drives. Your current SSD is really good because it uses dual controllers in an internal RAID0 already, and is not constrained by your SATA bus speeds since it connects directly to PCI-E. its actually a really good drive. I had one myself for a while.
Yeah its a pretty good drive I just hate how it constricts the airflow of both my second GPU and my PSU based on were I have to place it... I have had it since they originally came out and had some issues earlier on with it, but that was due to my own fault for being stupid and not switching its sleep mode.It has been great other than that, but I just wanted to switch over to SATA III since I thought it would be a better option, but I guess the Marvell Controller makes them pretty useless... Thanks for your response and insight!
Props for taking the high road with my previous comments... I really thought you'd take the troll bait. You may have won this battle....
Oh my plan was to go way into it about how Spartan warriors rage in the tent after ragin on the battlefield and so on and so forth....
Okay, well I guess I am just going to stick with the OCZ RevoDrives. I have another question though... I am also looking into replacing my HAF 912 to switch to a full tower for additional room. I have been looking at these three cases and would like to know what you all think of them... Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced (A main dislike that people have of this case it seems, is the lack of air filters, but I can make some.) Cooler Master HAF X Thermaltake Level 10 GT (I really like the ability to hot-swap the HDDs and the air filters they provide, but I was wondering if you could disable the LEDs rather than just changing their colors.)
Im not really a fan of any of them but I guess I like the 932 the best of those. The NZXT Phantom is a nice tower. Not great quality and a bit difficult to work with, but if you only plan to do the major install once and just change a drive or PCI-E here and there it would be fine. They make the Phantom in white, black, and black and orange (tron style). Comes with a built in fan controller too. My biggest reason to buy it other than the styling is the ports are on top for easy access to USB and eSATA
HAF-X is a highly regarded full tower in the air cooled department. Its got great build construction, tons of space, and good cable management. The style is either a love it or hate it look. It was at the top of my list, but then I went with a minimalist look of the Fractal Design Design XL. This case is a beast. Its quiet as hell, has excellent cooling, almost the same cable management as the HAF-X. I like that I don't have to worry about a fan on the top panel (the top fan exhausts out the back through a 2" vent at the back of the case) it has filters built in for dust (like real filters not that open mesh stuff people call a filter) and doesn't have LED lighted fans that looking cheesy. It was also $50 less. http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=69 (ive since moved the SSD's down to the bottom left cage, and removed that upper HDD cage. The front has 3x 140mm fans in it so there is great air flow coming across the GPU now)
Thats a very nice setup. And I really like that case you posted. I'll have to keep this in mind for my next build- coming soon. I just love everything about closed loop coolers. They look better than a massive fan, cool better than a fan, are far quieter, and are just about the most effective option short of a high flow custom job. I preach the word everywhere.
ya I have this one running at 10% and the cpu hits 32 degrees under load and its over clocked to 4.3Ghz. I think the biggest con of this case is the size. Its large and heavy. I have it sitting on a 'skateboard' I made out of a shelf and some wheels so that I can slide it around for working on lol.