The more interesting SSDs and SSD recommendations

SSD: why buy it and why not? Additional points to Consider when choosing an SSD The more interesting SSDs and recommendations

 

Summarized SSD Recommendations

Followed by the complete list below, with more explanations and info.

Also, remember that the SSD discount and coupon come and go rapidly, so a one-hour changes will not be seen here. You might find it in the SSD Deals list.

 

The major factors for my decisions:

• Overall performance per price. Write / Read performance in benchmarks and complex realistic tests. Coupons and discount frequency is taken into account even if currently the price is not the lower possible.
• Niche performance. Performance in specific interesting scenarios.
• Power consumption

Less significant factors in my decision:

• Warranty period.

 

Note that if a model didn’t enter this list it doesn’t mean that it’s not good or it won’t be recommend later. For example, the Corsair Neutrons are excellent, but the Samsung 840 Pro for the same price is more appealing. However, the use a new controller and as firmware matures and prices get lower, it will probably enter the list.

Model	Street Price (more or less) (12XGB / 25XGB)	Why is it recommended (summarized)	Buy when you want	Don’t buy especially when	Notes	Power Consumption (idle / random write)
Samsung 830	80-100$ / 160-180$	Very good performance per price with discounts.	Very good performance for the price and saving money		Prices gets as low as 60-70$ (120XGB) with discounts.	0.38W / 4W
OCZ Vertex 4	90$ / 170$	Excellent performance / price ratio. Extremely high write rates and random access rates. Very good TRIM performance				1.3W / 3.84W
Kingston HyperX 3K	80$-90$ / 170$-180$	Overall good performance Very good performance / price ratio Very good power consumption levels		You deal with a lot of incompressible data, like photos, videos, etc. Really heavy use. TRIM is not that efficient in this drive.
Plextor M3 Pro	113$ and Amazon	Excellent power consumption levels Very good and balanced overall performance. Excellent solution	Energy efficiency and better laptop battery performance Very good consistent performance for any kind of data. Reliablity	Trying to save money. The other options are more cost effective	The new M5P might get better and cheaper with time – uses a new controller and firmware might not be as mature as the M3P one yet.	0.37W / 2.34W
Intel SSD 330	90$-100$ / 170$-180$	Overall very good performance Intel quality verification	High Intel reliability combined with overall good performance Good power consumption under load	You deal with a lot of incompressible data, like photos, videos, etc. Really heavy use. TRIM is not that efficient in this drive.	Better take the 180GB / 240GB models – the performance is much better	0.85W / 2.41W
Intel SSD 335	/ 200$	Very good overall performance Intel quality Good improvement over the 330 series		Cheaper options (but there are deals sometimes)		0.5W / 2-4W

Complete list:

Many models are not here, but all the newest available and interesting models are. In time, more SSDs will be added.

 

Terms:

QD : queue depth. In out case, referring to the concurrent IO operations that are waiting to be executed. In the general SSD case, the higher the QD, the higher the performance (up to some level and then a plateau) because more NAND cells can be access in a given timeframe. Common use QD is mostly between 0 to 5 and higher QDs will be in systems like heavy duty servers and such.

Compressible / incompressible data : data that can be compressed efficiently or cannot be compressed efficiently. For example, text is highly compressible and an video / photos aren’t. More or less like in the common “zip” scenario. SSDs with Sand-Force controllers have lower performance when dealing with incompressible data (Intel SSDs, Kingston, Vertex 3).

First thing to say is that for the casual gamer / user, all of these models are at least good, because they all have high data read / write rates and good access times if you do not abuse them too much (like loading them almost fully) – OS will boot quickly, games will load quickly (if they are on the SSD) and same for software that does considerable amount of file manipulating, like photoshop, premiere and so on.

I decided to leave the random / sequential read / write rates details for those who it interests them – it’s all in the reviews. I’ve also inculded in the comments the Anandtech SSD benchmark suites as I believe they give a realistic perspective in most cases and summarize things pretty good. Remember, again, that for the casual user, all these SSDs are very fast.

Now, the performance comments are based on the 256GB models mostly. The 120GB/128GB and 60/64GB models have lower and even much lower performance in some cases and sometimes some other disadvantages, like lower lifetime and in the case of the Vertex 3, the 120GB model TRIM performance is not very good. Don’t worry too much – Anandtech review of their own SSDs used in their own heavy duty servers or year or two now and performance is still great - these servers are under a way high load than what expected in the usual user / gamer case. I do suggest going for 12XGB SSD and not 6XGB ones, though, because of the space and performance.

So, the 256GB (and up) models generally perform better, but I’m not saying you should buy only these models. I suggest keeping at least 20% free space to be on the safe side of performance, anyway.

 

Model	Street Price (more or less) (12XGB / 25XGB)	+	-	TRIM	Power Consumption (idle / random write)	Notes
Samsung 840 Pro	150$ / 270$	Best read rates Best writes rates 5-year warranty and theoretical reliability	Currently, price is high.	superb	0.31W / 3W
Samsung 840	110$ / 200$	Good read / write rates overall Very good read / write rates in light load Top sequential read rates for all transfer sizes.	For heavy duty machines, only an average performance, lower than the 830.	superb	0.31W / 4.4W
Samsung 830	80-100$ / 160-180$	Very good write rates Sequential read rates are excellent. Low idle power consumption	Lower than average read rates in light duty workloads.	excellent	0.38W / 4W
OCZ Vector	150$ / 280$	5 years warranty Very high performance, rivaling Samsung 840 Pro Performance is more consistent than many other SSDs	Price.	excellent	0.9W / ~3W
OCZ Vertex 4	90$ / 170$	Superb write rates. Excellent random read rates Very good sequential read rates	Lower than average read rates for small transfer sizes (but excellent write rates) compared to the other high end models. read	superb	1.3W / 3.84W
OCZ Vertex 3	80$ / 190$	Excellent read rates in both light and heavy workloads.	Write rates are good but not more than other models average.	240GB – excellent. 120GB – mediocre	1W / 4W
OCZ Agility 4	80$ / 170$	Very good write rates. One of the best, rivaling the Vertex 4. Sequential write rates are above average for and incompressible data Incompressible data performance is way ahead Agility 3	Low read rates, even compared to the Agility 3 (for compressible data).	excellent
Plextor M3 Pro	113$ and Amazon	Excellent power consumption levels Random read rates are very good very good overall performance - a very balanced solution	Lower peak performance compared to the new competitors  for the same price	superb	0.37W / 2.34W
Plextor M3	phasing out – not worth it	Excellent power consumption levels Random read rates are very good very good overall performance – a very balanced solution	Lower peak performance compared to the new compatitors for the same price	superb	0.35W / 2.87W
Plextor M5 Pro	140$, 140$(II) / 252$, 250$	Excellent sequential read rates Very good write rates Random read rates are excellent	Read rates for small transfer sizes is good but not great. Random writes only average Higher power consumption compared to the M3 Price per performance is not the best	superb	0.41W / 3.6W	New Marvell controller-firmware & performance might get better with time
Plextor M5S	120$ / 200$	Read rates are good Random read rates are very good too	Writes rates are only average compared to others (but good nontheless) Higher power consumption compared to the M3 Price per performance is not the best	superb	0.34W / 3.28W
Corsair Neutron	130$ / 210$	Excellent read rates – both sequential and random. Random writes rates are excellent for high QD.	Mediocre read / write performance for very small transfer sizes (below 4kb) Incompressible sequential write rates are average at best. performance in low QD (especially 1) is average at best	superb	1.12W / 4.91W	New controller. firmware might improve in the future
Corsair Neutron GTX	145$ / 250$	Excellent write / read rates – both sequential and random for high QD. Overall, very good performance in heavy and light workloads	Mediocre read / write performance for very small transfer sizes (below 4kb) performance in low QD (especially 1) is average at best	excellent	1.16W / 3.77W
Kingston HyperX 3K	80$-90$ / 170$-180$	Overall good performance, even compared to similarily priced SandForce SSDs Top sequential read rates Overall good read rates in heavy workloads	Random incompressible data writes rates are average Random read rates are average at best	good	0.5W / 2.6W
Kingston SSDNow v+200	80$-90$ / 160$-180$	Generally, read / write rates for compressible data are very good.	Below average read and writes rates for incompressible data. Below average random reads Low price/performance ratio	good	/
Intel SSD 520	120$-130$ / 220$-240$	5 year warranty Overall very good performance	Average at best read performance for small transfer sizes (below 32-64kb) Incompressible performance is not competitive compared to the other SSDs	mediocre	0.82W / 2.51W
Intel SSD 330	90$-100$ / 170$-180$	Overall very good performance Intel quality verification	Average at best read performance for small transfer sizes (below 32-64kb)	mediocre	0.85W / 2.41W	Same as the 520 with cheaper NANDs
Intel SSD 335	/ 150-160$ (240GB)	Overall very good performance Good improvement over the 330 for the same price	Average at best read performance for small transfer sizes (below 32-64kb)	mediocre	0.5W / 2-4W (incompressible)
Crucial m4	prices	Generally, overall good performance	Below average performance for price Write rates are below average Low price/performance ratio	excellent	0.66W / 3.32W

 

SSDs in comparison:

Some table of dry information and links for anyone who it interest her. Note that I’ve also added some links to reviews of each models, but if you want to get into the depths of each model and into the  performance differences between them, I suggest that you always try and find also the latest review of one of the other models so you can get a wider view that includes the latest models and benchmarks.

Also note there are more brands and models in this game, usually ones that offer lower performance for – theoretically – lower price, like the Kingston SSDNow V+200. But if you are taking into account the discounts and coupons, the price differences aren’t that big and sometimes the top models (the ones we are discussing) are even cheaper. Anyway, this post will discuss the top models.

Each model name linking to the 120GB / 128GB SSD product page on Amazon. Amazon is not always the cheapest place, but that way you can get an idea what is the cost of each model. The recommendations later will include also prices.

Model	Controller	NAND	Warranty	Reviews
Samsung 840 Pro	Samsung MDX	Samsung 21nm Toggle-Mode MLC	5	1, 2, 3
Samsung 840	Samsung MDX	Samsung 21nm Toggle-Mode 2.0 TLC	3	1, 2, 3, 4
Samsung 830	Samsung MCX	Samsung 27nm Toggle-Mode 1.1 MLC	3	1, 2, 3
OCZ Vector	Barefoot 3	OCZ 25nm NAND	5	1
OCZ Vertex 4	Indilinx Everest 2 (Marvell)	Intel/Micron MLC, 25 nm M2502128T048SX22	5	1, 2, 3, 4
OCZ Vertex 3	Sandforce SF-2281	Intel MLC, 25 nm 29F16B08CCME2	3	1, 2, 3
OCZ Agility 4	Indilinx Everest 2 (Marvell)	Intel/Micron MLC, 25 nm M2502128T048AX22	3	1, 2, 3
Plextor M3 Pro	Marvell 88SS9174 (9174)	Toshiba 24nm Toggle-Mode MLC	5	1, 2, 3
Plextor M3	Marvell 88SS9174 (9174)	Toshiba 24nm MLC NAND	5	1, 2
Plextor M5 Pro	Marvell 88SS9187 (9187)	Toshiba 19nm MLC	5	1, 2, 3
Plextor M5S	Marvell 88SS9174-BLD2 (9174)	Micron 25nm synchronous MLC NAND	3	1, 2, 3
Corsair Neutron	LAMD LM87800	Micron 25nm ONFi NAND	5	1, 2, 3
Corsair Neutron GTX	LAMD LM87800	Toshiba MLC, 24 nm, Toggle Mode TH58TEG8D2HBA8C	5	1, 2
Kingston HyperX 3K	SandForce SF-2281	3K 25nm Intel MLC NAND	3	1, 2, 3
Kingston SSDNow V+200	SandForce SF-2281	29F128G08CFAAA	3	1
Intel SSD 520	SandForce SF-2281	Intel MLC, 25 nm 29F16B08CCME2	5	1, 2, 3
Intel SSD 330	SandForce SF-2281	Intel MLC, 25 nm 29F16B08CCME2	3	1, 2, 3
Intel SSD 335	SandForce SF-2281	Intel 20nm MLC	3	1
Crucial m4	Marvell 88SS9174 (9174)	Micron MLC, 25 nm	3	1, 2