[waldojim]

OK guys, I am now looking for my own SSD for the W520. I am looking for something around $150-$250. Preferably 240GB or larger. I do want to make sure there is extra room for ECC, and failed sectors of course. I am looking for something reliable, and fast.

I have not decided between mSata and a 2.5" replacement yet though...

Any one here have solid ideas?

[LiveBrianD]

To be honest, I've been thinking about getting a Samsung 830 (or two - one for each machine) myself. With SSDs, I don't think the cheap ones are a good idea - after all, those do hold all your data.

How much space are you using at the moment? I remember that you said you use the optical drive, so swapping that out with a 2.5" SSD isn't an option.

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 11 July 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

To be honest, I've been thinking about getting a Samsung 830 (or two - one for each machine) myself. With SSDs, I don't think the cheap ones are a good idea - after all, those do hold all your data.

How much space are you using at the moment? I remember that you said you use the optical drive, so swapping that out with a 2.5" SSD isn't an option.

I don't need to swap it out. I have one standard hard drive bay that I can use or my mSATA slot.

I have about 400GB used right now, most in a sort of backup while I try out Windows 8.

[LiveBrianD]

I'm assuming you want to keep a standard hard drive in there, since you have 400GB used, right?

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 11 July 2012 - 05:44 PM, said:

I'm assuming you want to keep a standard hard drive in there, since you have 400GB used, right?

Doesn't matter to me, I can move my backup to the media center.

[waldojim]

I have two that I am looking at right now, I was curious to see if anyone else came to the same thoughts I did...

First was the OCZ Agility 3 240GB drive - going for $180
Second was the OCZ Petrol 256GB drive - Going for $190.

The second is a tad slower, but doesn't run the Sandforce controller, which could be a good thing. The issue is, I don't know if the second includes any room for failure. I also wanted to see what others had in mind...

[compnovo]

I watch SSD prices and I've seen some nice drops lately --- I was just looking at some 256GB Crucial drives on Newegg that are around $219, a very good price point for that size.

It's really hard to recommend a favorite although I've mentioned before that I try to stay away from Sandforce controllers, they tend to get the worst reviews. I've got four brands running in this house: a Plextor in my box (VERY fast), an Intel in the netbook, a Kingston that was in the media center until I swiped it for my Win8 install ( ) and a Sandisk in the wife's PC (and my son is running a Kingston I gave him for Christmas last year). Every single one of them has been totally reliable, which is fortunate because I price shop -- no brand loyalty. What would I do? Watch the specials like this one: http://www.newegg.co...em-_-20-171-568
...that's a terrific price and it's getting good reviews.

[waldojim]

Ok, so after some research it would appear that some drives need to be avoided, others you just need to remember the limitations to, and still others work well OOTB.

Most drives based on Marvel Sata 3 controllers seem to be working fine.
Sandforce 2 drives have many different issues, requiring registry hacks, driver experimentation, and the golden rules to be followed. Rule 1: DO NOT SET A HARD DRIVE PASSWORD.
The Intel 510 works, but results in a very lengthy reboot process (about a 1 minute hang-up).

SO, after poking through several Marvel controller based reviews, I am somewhat torn between the Crucial M4 256GB @ $209, and the Plextor M3 256GB at $249.. Yes, Plextor wants more money, but they do have several advantages. 1: A slightly more capable firmware team (you guys should check the reviews!) 2: A longer warranty (5 years VS 3) 3: Much quicker performance, especially when "dirty" 4: Lower power consumption 5: Slimmer package (7mm vs 9.5)

For what it is worth, the Plextor is the only Marvel based drive to get close to Sandforce speeds. Interestingly, there is a "pro" version that is even quicker. The only down-side, is that there is no telling if it will work. There are plenty of people using the Crucial C4 flawlessly. Enough that it is easily the "safe" purchase.

Sadly, the Sandisk Extreme is off the table due to the Sandforce controller. The Samsung 830 is a non-starter for me, being more expensive than either the C4, or the M3 while performance remains somewhat erratic - performing quite well in some places, while being extremely slow in others.

EDIT: It appears Fry's has a $50MIR on the Plextor... that may just be the ticket then.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 12 July 2012 - 12:46 AM

[compnovo]

waldojim, on 12 July 2012 - 12:45 AM, said:

Yes, Plextor wants more money, but they do have several advantages. 1: A slightly more capable firmware team (you guys should check the reviews!) 2: A longer warranty (5 years VS 3) 3: Much quicker performance, especially when "dirty" 4: Lower power consumption 5: Slimmer package (7mm vs 9.5)

That's what drew me to the Plextor for my computer. And they have a really solid reputation.

[waldojim]

compnovo, on 12 July 2012 - 04:51 AM, said:

waldojim, on 12 July 2012 - 12:45 AM, said:

Yes, Plextor wants more money, but they do have several advantages. 1: A slightly more capable firmware team (you guys should check the reviews!) 2: A longer warranty (5 years VS 3) 3: Much quicker performance, especially when "dirty" 4: Lower power consumption 5: Slimmer package (7mm vs 9.5)

That's what drew me to the Plextor for my computer. And they have a really solid reputation.

Having owned several of thier drives without any failures certainly doesnt hurt either!

[waldojim]

Picked up the drive an hour ago. Updating firmware then installing Windows 8... crossing my fingers.

[compnovo]

waldojim, on 13 July 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

Picked up the drive an hour ago. Updating firmware then installing Windows 8... crossing my fingers.

butbutbutbutbut...
You didn't say which drive you picked up!

[waldojim]

compnovo, on 13 July 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

waldojim, on 13 July 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

Picked up the drive an hour ago. Updating firmware then installing Windows 8... crossing my fingers.

butbutbutbutbut...
You didn't say which drive you picked up!

I guess I didn't!

I picked up the Plextor M3 256GB drive. Updated to 1.05 firmware, which took less time than burning the disc... and I have installed Windows 8. Still too early to judge speed though, and I am out of time. Work calls.

[LiveBrianD]

I'm curious to see how general desktop performance has changed with it - after all, Windows 8 already seems to boot pretty fast, even on my secondary, slower hard drive. (my XP VM seems like a dog in comparison - same drive)

[compnovo]

waldojim, on 13 July 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

compnovo, on 13 July 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

waldojim, on 13 July 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

Picked up the drive an hour ago. Updating firmware then installing Windows 8... crossing my fingers.

butbutbutbutbut...
You didn't say which drive you picked up!

I guess I didn't!

I picked up the Plextor M3 256GB drive. Updated to 1.05 firmware, which took less time than burning the disc... and I have installed Windows 8. Still too early to judge speed though, and I am out of time. Work calls.

SMOKIN'

[waldojim]

compnovo, on 13 July 2012 - 11:55 AM, said:

SMOKIN'

So far it seems to be. I haven't finished installing drivers yet, but current boot time is less than 10 seconds after the Lenovo logo. Tonight I want to install Fallout 3, Rage, and Diablo III to see how games react. I am hoping to kill load times.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 13 July 2012 - 12:48 PM

[waldojim]

Holy mother of liberty this sucker is FAST.

I ended up with Windows 7 installed as I didn't want to deal with going through the process of finding the exact order I needed Windows 8 drivers right now...

Though I must say - seeing a desktop in just a few seconds is nice. Even better though, is never waiting on anything. Games need ZERO load time. Diablo III farking ROCKS now. I will be trying Fallout later to see what those loads are like, but I suspect they will also be instant loads.

HD Tune came back with a sustained read average of 296.5MB/sec with a low of 288.1 and a seek time of .073ms.
Random reads are showing 47MB/sec @ 4K .082ms access time 12,117 IOPS. I don't think that number is very accurate though...
64KB reads showed 4815IOPS, .207ms access time and 300MB/sec. The drive seems to peak out at 460MB/sec with 1MB reads. I will try to time the restart and give you guys an update there.

EDIT:
I paused the startup at the Lenovo internal boot menu so I could control the count - the boot from that point is 11 seconds to the login screen. Upon login, I am greeted instantly by a usable desktop. No waiting. This is how computing was meant to be.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 13 July 2012 - 11:43 PM

[Rommel]

I my search for a SSD, plaxtor was in serious concideration.
They have good reviews.

Nice choice.

Glad it has met or exceeded your expectations.