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Should i Buy 64GB SSD right now w/ Live Cashback or Wait?

sukanas

sukanas

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 15, 2007
684
1
should i wait till 256gb comes out so that the 64gb/128gb prices will drop or should i just get the 64gb w/ live cashback for around 160?

yes.. i CAN wait but u guys know that i dont want to, lol
 
I have a 128GB SSD currently and unless you're going really high end, I personally might wait a little longer for prices for higher end models to come down. Cheap-O SSD isn't really good with write speed so anything that involves a lot of write speed will feel like your system is running slower then a 4200rpm hard drive.

I feel slow downs when I install programs but I don't involve a lot of write on my day to day stuff but I do, do a lot of read so SSD is extremely fast/efficient for that.
 
hrm but by 'read' do u mean load up programs, save/play, files??
 
Not all SSDs are the same. Many of them use slower MLC technology instead of faster SLC. If you can by with a smaller capacity, get the Intel X-25 80GB SSD. I need more so that was why I got the Apple one which is likely the Samsung 128GB (Samsung doesn't sell it in retail, only to OEMs).

For a comparison of SSDs, you should read this article on Tom's Hardware before buying one.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/flash-ssd-hard-drive,2000.html

The cheaper ones really aren't better than the current fast drives except for noise. The Intel and Samsung SLC ones are very fast though.
 
should i stick with the ocz 64gb instead then?
the view said oczs were samsung's drive labeled with ocz if i read the article correctly..
 
well my main concern is price too
im trying to keep my budget pretty low

as for SLC vs MLC should i worry too much?
i dont do anything too intensive so see myself finding that difference
 
The main issue with MLC seems to be slow write performance. There are also reports that MLC drives have problems with backgrounds processes getting "stuck" waiting for access. But it's not clear to me if this is a Windows thing only or if it affects Mac OS X also.

I will say the Apple SSD has been working flawlessly for me the past week. I would pick the drive you are interested in and see if there are any reviews of anyone using it in a MBP. If you can wait until Q1 2009, Intel is supposed to be releasing a 160GB SSD (but it won't be cheap).
 
sukanas said:
well im debating between these two:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Patriot-64G...yZ116254QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/OCZ-OCZSSD2-1C6...ryZ51071QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

should i just still stick with ocz?
and would this be a good investment to buy w/ the live cashback or do u think itll loose a lot of its value fast?
Click to expand...

This one:

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/flash_drives/ocz_sata_ii_2_5-ssd

is the rebadged Samsung drive. The other OCZ drives I believe are slower MLC drives. If you want quiet, go ahead with the cheaper drives. But if you want fast, the cheaper drives aren't going to deliver. You may find the 7200rpm drive faster in many cases than the MLC drive. The SLC drives though in take any 7200rpm in read performance and about match them in write performance.
 
bcaslis said:
This one:

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/flash_drives/ocz_sata_ii_2_5-ssd

is the rebadged Samsung drive. The other OCZ drives I believe are slower MLC drives. If you want quiet, go ahead with the cheaper drives. But if you want fast, the cheaper drives aren't going to deliver. You may find the 7200rpm drive faster in many cases than the MLC drive. The SLC drives though in take any 7200rpm in read performance and about match them in write performance.
Click to expand...

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=680212

ar eyou sure cause that review showed that the patriot had better read/write results
and im assuming he has the MLC ones cause of the price he mentioned
 
It looks like he compared the SSD to 80GB 7200rpm drives. Those are much older and slower than the current top of the line 320GB 7200rpm drives.

I'm not saying the low end SSDs are bad, just that they aren't the speed demons some think they are. I know in another thread you were disappointed by the speed of the 7200rpm driver versus the stock drive. If you are thinking the SSD will be faster, it's going to be a little faster on read and slower on write than the 7200rpm. The faster SSDs are noticeably faster than the 7200rpm and the slower SSDs. Depending on your expectations, you may or may not be happy with the slower SSDs in speed. If noise and vibration are the main factor, all the SSDs are silent and big improvements over the 7200rpm drive.
 
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