So my current SSD is a Intel 320 series and is approaching 3 years old. It still runs fine, however its only 120GB and is basically filled up with Windows and 2 games - Planetside 2 and Archeage Beta. I'm thinking of getting another 128GB or 256Gb one to add in. Also looking at getting another 128Gb for my sister's PC and then reinstalling windows and a couple of games onto that for her. Having done a quick search, it seems Samsung and Sandisk are pretty good right now, specifically the Samsung 850? Is this a good one to go with since its the most recent to come out? Or are there other suggestions for the criteria above? I will most likely be buying from http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Storage/cat/Hard-Drive---SSD Cheers folks
The 850 kinda sucks in my opinion. For the performance and size it is expensive, like the 840 Pro. The 3D NAND was supposed to greatly increase densities, while the smaller process node was supposed to lower cost. Neither happened. Stick with a Samsung 840 Evo if you want to get one of their drives, I personally like Samsung the best for reliability. http://www.ebuyer.com/539158-samsung-500gb-ssd-840-evo-ssd-only-mz-7te500bw http://www.ebuyer.com/539153-samsung-250gb-ssd-840-evo-ssd-only-mz-7te250bw Intel is also a favorite for reliability, though their drives are much more expensive unless on a big sale. Actually the Intel 520 and 530 series in 240GB capacities are fairly good prices right now. This would be the best drive to get. http://www.ebuyer.com/523678-intel-530-series-240gb-2-5inch-sata-6gbs-ssd-ssdsc2bw240a401 Another drive of interest is the Crucial MX100 series, which has probably the best price/size ratio of all drives. You can get a 512GB drive for $220 these days. The only thing is it is a new drive and is not yet proven in reliability. Crucials track record is not the greatest in that department either, but for the size and price it may be worth taking the risk. http://www.ebuyer.com/644025-crucia...nch-7mm-with-9-5mm-adapter-ssd-ct512mx100ssd1 http://www.ebuyer.com/644023-crucia...nch-7mm-with-9-5mm-adapter-ssd-ct256mx100ssd1 Newegg.com now ships to the UK. Check their prices and see if they are better than other stores you have access to.
Okay, well looks like 2x Samsung 840s are on the cards then. Looking at this for my sisters PC as It would need windows + some games transfering over: http://www.ebuyer.com/539155-samsung-250gb-ssd-840-evo-desktop-upgrade-kit-mz-7te250kw Would this kit allow her to do that? Or would it require a complete install of everything from scratch? Since I already have a 120Gb Intel, I'm just going to get the SSD and a seperate bracket: http://www.ebuyer.com/483483-extra-value-2-5-hdd-ssd-bracket-bracket250eby Which should be fine for what I want
Yes the software in that should let you clone the old OS drive to the new SSD properly, without running into corrupt formatting issues due to how HDDs work vs SSDs. I have never used it myself, but it should work. From what I remember, you need to be running on a different computer, with the OS drive you want to clone plugged in as a secondary drive, and the new Samsung SSD plugged in as a secondary drive too. Maybe that is fixed now, but I remember a friend of mine saying it wouldnt access a currently locked and in use primary drive for the clone.
If you're talking about the Samsung cloning software, I've done it while the source drive is running Windows. And it works. Just don't erase the source drive until the ssd is proven to be stable.
Sorry to piggyback on your thread there eska. Was wondering whether to get the Samsung 840 EVO 120GB OR the Crucial MX100 128GB
Well I like the Samsung's better because they are more proven. Many people (here included) have disliked their Crucial drives. But they are the cheapest way to move into SSDs.
I can back Enigma on that one from experiance. I work for an electronics recycling company, Samsung ssds are more reliable. Crucially tend to not survive to be remarketable. (in other words, I've had far fewer Samsung SSDs fail going through the wiping process than Crucial drives)
256GB drives are not that expensive anymore, and will offer 2x faster write speeds for daily general usage. If you can afford it then that is the way to go instead of the 128GB sizes.
Very nice Eskara, you'll be happy with that drive I'm sure. I've been pretty satisfied with my 840 Pro personally. I want to get an EVO one day but when I built this desktop the EVO line wasn't around.
Well the Pro line is actually still a bit faster. The EVO's just have cheaper price per GB because of the use of TLC NAND
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E391OX6/ref=pe_208621_53402231_em_1p_0_ti That is the same as the one you recommended to me earlier in the thread right? The 840 pro is also on sale (45% off) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009LI7CTY/ref=pe_208621_53402231_em_1p_2_ti Worth switching to that one?
Well, from owning a PRO they are quick. It handles loading in Aion like it's nothing, and in Aion an SSD helps a lot. Also, they updated the firmware and software to enable RAPID mode on the PRO series not to long ago. Before that only the EVO series could run in RAPID mode. After some testing I saw a noticeable decrease in load times in RAPID mode. But I've never owned an EVO personally, so I can't compare directly between the two, but the PRO is very solid from my experiance. And if Enigma is saying it's faster, well. I'm going to bet it is. Lol
Either way, the EVO is going to be better than my current SATA. I already have a 3 year old Intel 320 series SSD as my main drive but its only 120Gb so this drive will be for games basically.