SSD Questions for the Newly Initiated (Me!)

[calviin]

I recently got an Intel 320 80 GB SSD. It's nice but it's not FAST. Not like the 300-400 MB/s speeds I've seen from others. Now, I'm looking at a 256 GB SSD Crucial M4 and the Samsung 830. Is there one that's "better" than the other? Based off what I'm reading, the M4 is running on the 2281 SF controller while the Samsung makes its own controller. I keep hearing that the SF controllers are not reliable. Is this still true? There's a $30-40 difference in price between the two and I want a drive that's reliable over speed.

 

[Spink10]

I recently got an Intel 320 80 GB SSD. It's nice but it's not FAST. Not like the 300-400 MB/s speeds I've seen from others. Now, I'm looking at a 256 GB SSD Crucial M4 and the Samsung 830. Is there one that's "better" than the other? Based off what I'm reading, the M4 is running on the 2281 SF controller while the Samsung makes its own controller. I keep hearing that the SF controllers are not reliable. Is this still true? There's a $30-40 difference in price between the two and I want a drive that's reliable over speed.

Give us the details of your MacBook Pro

Also what are you using to test you write/read speeds?

 

[calviin]

Early 2011 17" MBP 2.2 GHz 8GB RAM

Black Magic Disk Speed Test

Here's the image from the Intel 320.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Is the firmware up to date?
You can use the following applications to benchmark the speed of your HDD / SSD, to see, if it is the culprit:

• AJA System Test
• Xbench

SSD Buying Guide by Hellhammer​

 

[Bill Gates]

Just to correct your first post, the Crucial M4 uses a Marvell controller, not one by SandForce.

 

[Spink10]

You have the SDD in the HDD bay or Optical bay?

 

[Bill Gates]

You have the SDD in the HDD bay or Optical bay?

My optical bay adapter actually won't arrive until tomorrow, but my plan is to put the hard drive in the optical bay. Right now I'm running solely off of my SSD.

 

[calviin]

Just to correct your first post, the Crucial M4 uses a Marvell controller, not one by SandForce.

Ah~ Is there a large difference for the consumer between that and the one in the Samsung one? The SSD will go into the main hard drive slot. I keep my DVD for work.

 

[Bill Gates]

Ah~ Is there a large difference for the consumer between that and the one in the Samsung one? The SSD will go into the main hard drive slot. I keep my DVD for work.

For the average person, there is no difference between any of the SATA 3.0 controllers. Unless you have special needs, like a drive well-suited for handling large amounts of compressible data, etc. you can safely buy based on price and brand reputation. Samsung's new drive has received a lot of praise. The Plextor M3 series is another newcomer that comes with a 5-year warranty, a rarity for SSDs. The M3 was my second choice; the Kingston HyperX I bought was my first.

 

[Spink10]

Ah~ Is there a large difference for the consumer between that and the one in the Samsung one? The SSD will go into the main hard drive slot. I keep my DVD for work.

Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are both very popular - no SSD is guaranteed to be trouble free. However, those are two reliable drives.