SSD

Author	All Replies
sk1939 Premium join:2010-10-23 Washington, DC kudos:9 Reviews: ·T-Mobile US	SSD Intel 520 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB This is for a laptop (Vaio VPSC), main uses will be virtual machines, Office, Visio, and CS6 Designer. My main concerns are reliability, which I know Intel leads in, but there is a large (huge) price difference ($50) between the two. The question is, is it worth it?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 20:08:59 ·
JoelC707 Premium join:2002-07-09 West Point, GA kudos:5	With everything I've heard in other threads here about Intel SSDs I would say yes, it's worth it. Intel builds their own everything, nothing is outsourced to my knowledge and they pick the best of the best of their flash chips for their own SSDs before letting anyone else buy them. If your main concern is reliability I'd go for Intel.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 20:36:20 ·
FizzyMyNizzy join:2004-05-29 New York, NY kudos:1 Reviews: ·Verizon Online DSL 2 edits	reply to sk1939 I will also pick Intel 520 over the Crucial M4. Intel 520 has faster Sustained Sequential Write. And Intel 520 has more IOPS. Intel 520 is using SandForce controller: Crucial M4 should be using a Marvell controller:
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 21:02:17 ·
Camelot One Premium,MVM join:2001-11-21 Greenwood, IN kudos:1	reply to sk1939 I have 250Gb Intel 510s in my main rig, one of which is devoted to VMware. I also have a few M4s I use in other machines. If performance and reliability are your concern, the Intel is definitely worth an extra $50.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 21:22:46 ·
JoelC707 Premium join:2002-07-09 West Point, GA kudos:5	reply to FizzyMyNizzy Ahhh so they do outsource something, cool, good to know.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 22:55:50 ·

n_w95482 Premium join:2005-08-03 Ukiah, CA	reply to sk1939 Both of those drives are good ones. I'd also add the Samsung 830 to that list. They're reliable, fast, and very cheap right now. -- KI6RIT
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 23:15:42 ·
sk1939 Premium join:2010-10-23 Washington, DC kudos:9	The 830 is the same price as the M4, but I think I'm going to go with Intel for the reliability. This is the laptop I use for work while traveling, so the last thing I need is for something critical on it to fail.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-28 23:21:50 ·
koitsu Premium,MVM join:2002-07-16 Mountain View, CA kudos:20	reply to FizzyMyNizzy Marvell, not Micron. At least it doesn't have a retarded crab on it...
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-29 04:00:52 ·
sk1939 Premium join:2010-10-23 Washington, DC kudos:9	Intel>Broadcom>Marvell>Realtek but I digress. I have a Samsung SSD already so I'm familiar with the 830 series. I put an order in for the Intel though, mostly due to the longer warranty (same reason I used to buy WD Black drives).
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-29 04:28:02 ·
sprockets @sbcglobal.net	reply to sk1939 As has already been mentioned, Intel has thus far made (generally) reliable SSDs. However, that reputation came from those drives that they designed and built entirely in-house. The 520 uses a Sandforce controller which has an absolutely atrocious history of failures and bugs. Intel seems to have ironed out the bugs associated with the Sandforce controller, but if reliability is paramount, I would still steer clear. The Crucial M4 has a good reputation for reliablity, but it is a bit slower, although you won't notice it in most general use scenarios. The Samsung 830 has been every bit as reliable as the best Intel drives, while delivering superior performance to both the Intel 520 and the Crucial M4. It also has the benefit of being entirely designed and manufactured in-house. Since reliability is your chief concern, I suggest you go with either the Crucial or Samsung, whichever you can find cheaper.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-29 06:51:11 ·
koitsu Premium,MVM join:2002-07-16 Mountain View, CA kudos:20 1 edit	said by sprockets : The Crucial M4 has a good reputation for reliablity ... Very funny. A drive going catatonic after 5184 power-on hours due to a firmware bug isn't what I would classify, even remotely, as "reliable". And before someone slams me for being discriminatory, note that I do own many Intel 320-series SSDs which had this lovely issue which seemed to be brought on by power-on/power-off situations (think laptop environments) so I was never affected (mine were used as OS drives in servers and 24x7 workstations). QA departments are, sadly, one of the first to suffer from downsizing when it comes to economic decisions within a company. But then again, my own experience at fortune 500 companies showed me that most QA departments are just robots who don't think for themselves -- they only test/look at what they're told to. -- Making life hard for others since 1977. I speak for myself and not my employer/affiliates of my employer.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-29 07:29:18 ·
weaseled386 join:2008-04-13 Port Orange, FL Reviews: ·Bright House ·AT&T U-Verse	reply to sk1939 I have 5 Intel and one Samsung SSD. I started buying Intel because it was a name I trusted. I had an issue with my X25-M failing SMART, and they had the smoothest RMA process I've been through. I currently use: Intel X25-M (80GB) Intel 320 (80GB) Intel 320 (120GB) Intel 520 (120GB) Intel 520 (180GB) Samsung PM800 (256GB) The top four are in my desktop, and it is on nearly 24/7. The 180GB is in my laptop, and is used daily for work. The Samsung is in my dad's desktop, and on 15 hours per day. If I needed another one I'd pickup another 520-series without hesitation.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-30 20:47:12 ·
xrobertcmx Premium join:2001-06-18 Sterling, VA	reply to sk1939 I have three crucial drives, 2 M4's and some older 64GB one. All have been flawless for the past year. My 128GB Samsung is working well. I'd not heard about the 5000 hour bug, but it never affected me. They are good drives. -- So in 2012 we have a choice. You may select someone who can't keep his promises or someone who will compromise his every position if it will get him elected. I'm voting for Snoopy!
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-31 05:18:51 ·
Octavean Premium,MVM join:2001-03-31 New York, NY kudos:1	I believe such issues were fixed in firmware at some point. My Crucial M4 256GB SSD came with firmware revision 000F. I believe this issue was already addressed by the 000F revision and it seems the 010G revision has been released.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-31 10:27:03 ·
Jet Premium join:2002-01-03	reply to sk1939 I have an 830 in my MacBook Pro. It works flawlessly and is very fast. The fact that Samsung makes all of the components in-house and that they are a supplier of SSD's to Apple are what led me to the 830. Their proprietary controller is very fast and stable in my experience. Jet
	to forum · permalink · 2012-10-31 23:10:46 ·
Morris0 join:2011-05-14 kudos:1	I'm a big fan of the M4. Very fast reads which is 80% of the typical mix and reliable without the Sanforce bugs which I still see causing lockups and blue screens on the latest OCZ firmware. All I have to do is swap out OCZ drive for M4 and computer is stable.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-11-01 21:22:25 ·

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