[MarcusarilliuS]

Hey guys,

Am trying to decide between..

Intel 520 240gb
Mushkin chronos deluxe 240gb
Corsair force gt 240gb

Was going to use that for my gaming drive and get another 120gb version of the same drive for OS + Progs

Was initially going to go with 2 x 120gb in raid0 but heard that trim would be lost and also the chance of 1 drive failing.
Also in real world performance 1 ssd would prob be fast enough for gaming etc. without having to raid0 them.

The other issue is the whole sandforce bsod thing and if that has been resolved?


The mushkin drive is 100 quid cheaper than the intel one, but is the intel one more reliable? I have not owned an SSD before so am new to all this.

Any help of suggestions welcomed.

Thanks,

Mark.

[Atomichearse]

I would personally recommend the Intel 520 Series. Intel's SSDs are notoriously more reliable in addition to having higher performance. If money is not an issue, then I would definitely say get the Intel 520. I won't comment on the Sandforce BSOD problem because I don't know much about it.

Also, depending on your OS and apps, I would see if a single 120gb drive would suit your needs. You don't have to store ALL of your games on the SSD, just the ones you use. You can use a neat utility called Steam Mover that can move your game files back and forth from your SSD and HDD.

Finally, the SSD will not improve gaming performance significantly in terms of FPS; however, your load times will be much improved. Wanted to clear up any confusion there.

[MarcusarilliuS]

Thanks for the reply.

Yea I know that fps won't improve but I would welcome faster load times.
Dunno about moving data back and forth between ssd and non ssd as writes shorten the drives lifespan so would rather just get a 240gb for games and be done with it.

I was looking on a site with some good prices on the intel drives but they had different descriptions, one was bulk, one was reseller box and one was retail box.

Do you know if lets say bulk=oem, is there software and items that would appear in the full retail version that is not in the oem version that would be needed?

[Atomichearse]

I'm not sure that writing and re-writing will hurt the lifespan signifiantly, especially for an Intel SSD, unless you're doing excessive reads and writes for benching or whatever. If your heart is set on the 240gb then I won't stop you

As for which box to get, I would recommend the full retail box, as it will usually come with a neat case badge, a SATA III cable, a drive bay converter, and a CD with the firmware and Intel Toolbox software. As with all hardware, I recommend you buy from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167086

[johan851]

Why not put everything on one? Unless you have 240GB of games.

Was initially going to go with 2 x 120gb in raid0 but heard that trim would be lost and also the chance of 1 drive failing.
Also in real world performance 1 ssd would prob be fast enough for gaming etc. without having to raid0 them.

Totally agree.

The other issue is the whole sandforce bsod thing and if that has been resolved?

Seems like it.

The mushkin drive is 100 quid cheaper than the intel one, but is the intel one more reliable? I have not owned an SSD before so am new to all this.

The Intel drive is a good one, but it's not leaps and bounds better than the others and probably not worth the $100 extra.

Your list is good, but I'd also recommend checking out a few other popular recommendations, namely the Crucial M4, Plextor M3, and Samsung 830. You can't go wrong with any of those or the options you listed in your post.

Dunno about moving data back and forth between ssd and non ssd as writes shorten the drives lifespan

As Atomichearse pointed out, this problem isn't worth worrying about.

[MarcusarilliuS]

Thanks for the suggestions guys

Don't use newegg as am in Ireland.

Is there any advantages to having raid0 for your boot drive? Heard that trim was supposed to be possible now or soon with raid0 on intel boards?

The intel drive is EUR100 more than the mushkin so that's around $130 but I don't mind paying if it is more reliable.

could keep the 240gb for games and either a 120 or 2x60 in raid0 for OS and progs?

[Atomichearse]

You won't see a massive boost in performance with RAID 0 SSDs. SSDs already so fast, and putting them in a RAID 0 configuration will only improve large file read/write, not the small random files that will make your system seem more responsive. You already stated that you don't like moving things around a lot, so I recommend you just keep things simple and use as few drives as possible.

[MarcusarilliuS]

ok thanks