How to choose an SSD?

So, the prices for decent sized SSD's are becoming more reasonable for me to entertain purchasing one.

Now, I know from reviews and stats that say an intel 730 is probably one of the best; and from stats and reviews here that the v300 is pretty horrible.

I don't understand what I should be reading to figure out whats important on an SSD. Why is the v300 bad, why is the I 730 so good?

thanks for any help!

Here is a good read that encompasses, at a high level, the entire process.
http://lifehacker.com/5932009/the-complete-guide-to-solid-state-drives

The V300 is bad because they switched to a slower NAND without notifying customers.

4k reads and writes are the important part, but more specifically the controllers used in the drives. Intel has great (low) failure rates, but their speed usually isn't up to par for example. I haven't read anything about the 730 though.

Thanks dude, ill give that read. @ 730, linus raves about them all the time, and all his fanboys seem to agree.

Lemmings.

Other good drives are the Samsung 850 and 850 Pro.

Here is a good SSD review repository as well: http://www.thessdreview.com/

Damn I love me some google.

Does it have to be an Intel SSD? Samsung is definitely worth considering. Do you plan on just keeping Windows on your ssd, and having your programs go on a spinner? Or, are you going only to use an ssd? also, what is your budget?

You hit the nail on the head on the first post ED, I want to know what makes an SSD good, not read that one is better than the other. I can clearly see the v300 isn't good and the 840 evo is a pretty "cost effective" solution... I just wanna know why for when Im looking at various things. edit: Im "googling" as well, just figured someone here would know of a great reference that I would be interested in.


No budget or size constraints at this moment. I'd prefer a larger one, but I wont spend 500$ on a hard drive either. Mostly window shopping at this point.

Anything from Samsung 840/850 series or based on the latest Marvell ( ADATA 920, Crucial M550 or MX100 ) is good. Kingston has mainly SandForce SSD, some not that bad but for the price there are better options. The same with Mushkin and some other manufacturers. Corsair has some good series but all cost more than Samsung or Crucial.

I would pick something from Samsung, Crucial or Intel and decide mainly basing on warranty length and price. All of SSD from these 3 brands have 3 or 5 years warranty. Performance is similar and differences like 5-10% read or write are barely visible in daily work.

I don't know what capacity you need but Crucial MX100 512GB cost about $215 -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148821 I don't think you can find any better offer with so good support in similar price.

Also watch the prices for a while once you settle on a specific candidate or candidates. I just ordered a 256GB Crucial MX100 for $101 (with shipping) a couple days ago from Newegg. Today they list it at nearly $126. Also check prices at Amazon (and others) as they will price under Newegg at times.