2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf)

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dhanson865
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Post by dhanson865 » Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:28 pm

The Kingston drive uses a Jmicron controller (relabled as Toshiba) and is definitely slower than an Indilinx or Intel G2 drive in typical end user scenarios.

It might look ok in some tests but it won't get my recommendation.

Word on the net is "It appears that JMicron tweaked the 616 for random performance while the 618 is (tweaked) for sequential performance."

And for those who haven't read or have forgotten what Anand wrote random performance is how you want your SSD tuned.

Don't let sequential read or sequential write tests decide your SSD purchase if you are using it for anything other than backups.

The Sandforce 40GB drives are impressive and so long as you don't use compressed or encrypted data on a regular basis they are worth considering.

Myself I'd seriously question why the Micron/Crucial C300 64GB drive wasn't in the roundup? That is the drive to beat in the under $150 price range.

I'd still say the 40GB Intel has an advantage simply because it's the only drive fast enough to recommend that I can buy for $100 including shipping without playing rebate games. And the new Intel SSD toolkit version 2.0 is icing on the cake.

If Micron/Marvell had a similar utility I'd have no hesitation buying it over the Intel. As is the Intel is the safe bet.

kater
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Post by kater » Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:27 pm

dhanson865 wrote:The Kingston ...
Basically +1 on that ;)

I wish Anand (IMO the best SSD reviews by far) tested moar 60 and 64 GB drives, including Kingston V+. See, for me SSDs will "always" be boot drives. And <60 Gb is plenty for Win 7 + all soft I need for daily work / fun. By "always" I mean the coming future, when we will still have disk drives for storing massive amounts of data.

dhanson865
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September 2010 SSD pricing update

Post by dhanson865 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:46 am

Current prices are viewable at http://silentpcreview.pricegrabber.com/ ... &viewmod=2

Please use the pricegrabber link above if you plan to purchase a drive as following the link all the way to a purchase helps to support SPCR.

September 2010 SSD pricing update:

The list sorted by Gross Price is:

Code: Select all

Intel X25-V 40GB       ~$100   ~$2.50/GB
Crucial M225 64GB      ~$130   ~$2.03/GB
Corsair Nova 64GB      ~$136   ~$2.13/GB
Crucial C300 64GB      ~$155   ~$2.42/GB
Intel X25-M 80GB       ~$200   ~$2.50/GB
Crucial M225 128GB     ~$250   ~$1.95/GB
Corsair Nova 128GB     ~$256   ~$2.00/GB
Crucial C300 128GB     ~$276   ~$2.15/GB
Intel X25-M 160GB      ~$420   ~$2.63/GB
Crucial C300 256GB     ~$570   ~$2.23/GB
Standouts from that based price per/GB are
Crucial M225 64GB ~$130 ~$2.03/GB
Crucial M225 128GB ~$250 ~$1.95/GB
Crucial C300 128GB ~$276 ~$2.15/GB

with the C300 being the value drive of choice for Win7 users and the M225 and Intel G2 being options for XP diehards. Though the Intel G2 drives are still the overall safe choice no matter what OS you run.

I still don't recommend sandforce drives due to their behavior with compressed data and the lack of a manual trim utility for XP use but for those that want to live on the edge the current pricing is similar to the price/GB of the 2nd Generation Intel drives.

Note however that the 40GB models have a substantial premium vs the 120GB models. The price/GB tells the tale.

Code: Select all

Corsair Force  40GB    ~$120   ~$3.00/GB
OCZ Vertex 2   40GB    ~$130   ~$3.25/GB
OCZ Agility 2 120GB    ~$265   ~$2.21/GB
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB     ~$285   ~$2.38/GB
Corsair Force 120GB    ~$290   ~$2.42/GB

kater
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Post by kater » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:21 pm

I can't fully agree on dhanson865's approach to Sandforce SSDs and their not being recommended because of lack manual trim for XP and handling compressed data. First, most ppl, and certainly most geeks understand that W7 is the system to have if you want an SSD. Buying an upgrade is no big deal, not to mention W7 really is a good, already mature OS. Compressed files - well SSDs are not really meant for storing massive amounts of data (pics, audio, video) - yet. So it's important how they handle small uncompressed OS files. Looking at how prices behave at my place, Vertex 2 is the optimal drive if you can live with 64 GB. X25-M 80 GB price/GB is almost the same if you're wishing to spend a little more and want to buy a drive widely considered as the most seasoned one.

Here's a little Excel sheet for keeping track of you favorite SSDs. It's in PLN and includes my personal shortlist of drives, so feel free to mess with it as you please.

download me

Oh, and a little rant - I'm following prices of lots of 2nd hand PC stuff on the local auction service, and I'm amazed at how many owners of 1st gen 2nd hand super crappy stuttering low capacity drives start selling them as equivalents of modern, decently fast drives with TRIM support and (almost) mature technology. And what's even more perplexing is that there are ppl paying thru the nose just to get an SSD. 1st gen retarded Transcends and Adatas go for as much as 3/4 of the price of equally big Kingston V or similar. Oh humanity...

dhanson865
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Post by dhanson865 » Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:51 pm

kater wrote:I can't fully agree on dhanson865's approach to Sandforce SSDs and their not being recommended because of lack manual trim for XP and handling compressed data.

First, most ppl, and certainly most geeks understand that W7 is the system to have if you want an SSD.

Compressed files - well SSDs are not really meant for storing massive amounts of data (pics, audio, video) - yet. So it's important how they handle small uncompressed OS files.
1. Geeks are also fond of this OS I've been hearing about. The name sounds something like Linus with a X at the end of it. SSDs that handle XP well tend to work better on Linux as well.

2. System files in some cases are already compressed. In other cases we need to discuss what is part of an typical end user OS?

Do you consider any of these to be commonly installed on a typical end user PC?

* Adobe Reader (PDF)
* Flash Player
* Quicktime Player / iTunes
* Antivirus
* Firefox

You see these and other programs like them download updates/patches/installers that are compressed in the background on a quite frequent basis. That's even before you get into torrents, sound editing, movie editing or any user interaction required type situation.

Further there are those that are having major issues with sandforce drives right now such as this issue:
25 page thread on support forum wrote:With Windows 7 x64 on this SSD, the system would randomly reboot itself (running 24/7, the occurrence is about once every 6 hours to 2 days, so far only when I am NOT using the computer. When the computer is active, there's never a problem). Upon reboot, this drive (boot drive) would not be detected, while other non-SSD drives on other SATA ports are fine. I would need to power down then back on before it can be detected. But at this time, the boot order is messed up, and I need to re-select the SSD as the first to boot in BIOS. Event viewer records a Kernel-Power event 41, with bugcheckcode = 0. If I set automatic-restart to false, the BSOD is a code 0X000000F4 with no further details.
with this followup
we understand that people are getting impatient on this issue, and i’m sorry we have not been able to provide a solution yet. Let me give you a summary of what we currently know.

First of all, we have received enough drives back to perform some meaningful analysis, and we have, in fact, been able to re-create this failure mode. However, drives that fail on a problem system work fine on other systems. It appears to be some sort of compatibility issue that only appears on a very rare combination of hardware and software.

We have been spending lots of time in the lab trying to find out what causes the failure mode – i/o driver, motherboard manufacturer, cpu, psu, os version and settings, ssd firmware, etc. There are lots of variables, and we have not been able to determine yet what causes (or, what fixes) this issue.

We have been in close contact with sandforce, and they are working on this issue as well. We have sent entire platforms to motherboard vendors to get their assistance on the problem.
and finally this
Hi, just a quick update. We have been working closely with Sandforce to develop a firmware version that will address these issues. We believe we are on the right track, and are currently doing intensive validation testing. The goal of this testing, of course, is to make sure that we do not release a firmware version that does more harm than good.

We anticipate that we will have a completely tested firmware version around the end of September, and will make it available here as soon as we have it. If we expect this date to change significantly, we will let you know.
Now that issue was reported in July 2010 and maybe it will be fixed by October 2010.

I could go on and on detailing issues with sandforce drives. My point in not recommending them is to leave it open and let others dig into these issues.

If you buy a new SSD right now (newer than Intel G2) you have to risk compatibility and reliability issues still. You'll get a faster drive going Sandforce or Marvell (aka Crucial/Micron) but it's a new road so no one has long term reliability data or wide scale compatibility data.

Caveat Emptor

Eunos
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Post by Eunos » Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:28 pm

If this is the case, it seems the G2 will be the de facto recommended drive for many months to come. The G3 will surely have its share of early release dramas when it is finally launched, and there's nowhere else to turn. The G2's overall speed is quite outdated now so maybe it isn't the best time to invest in an SSD at all.

As an aside, you've got to give Sandforce credit for some interesting ideas.

dhanson865
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Post by dhanson865 » Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:38 pm

I wouldn't totally discount sandforce. I just don't recommend them for novice users.

If you are the type that doesn't mind making frequent backups and testing various configurations before you find the one that works the best and you have the money you would buy one Marvel and one Sandforce and decide which works best in your setup.

If you are a newbie or just don't want to bother then Intel G2 is a safe "go to" choice.

Sandforce / OCZ / Corsair have an interesting little triangle going. Differing firmware usage could mean that drives from OCZ might work in a system where drives from Corsair would blue screen. For all I know other problems may occur on OCZ sandforce drives.

When sandforce 1200 based drives are considered mid range instead of performance drives maybe the firmware will be mature enough to make them as reliable as other drives. Even if compatability/reliability isn't changed price will. Choices will only get better over time.

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Post by ilovejedd » Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:08 pm

OCZ Technology today unveiled the next generation of its consumer-class solid state drive (SSD), the 2.5-in Onyx 2 series, which it said is faster, more durable and more affordable that its predecessor.

The new Onyx 2 series uses multi-level cell NAND flash and a SandForce chip, indicating that OCZ is moving away from the Indilinx Amigos controller it used earlier Onyx SSDs. The SandForce chip helps the new drive deliver top read/write speeds of 270MB/sec and 265MB/sec, respectively.

The original Onyx SSD series had a maximum read/write speed of 150MB/sec and 120MB/sec, respectively.

"The new Onyx 2 Series SSDs give customers the very best of both worlds when it comes to performance and value, and they are an ideal solution for mobile and desktop users that want to take advantage of all the benefits that SSDs offer over traditional rotational based drives," Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group, said in a statement.

The SandForce-driven Onyx 2 delivers up to 10,000 random write I/O per second (IOPS) using 4k chunks of data. The new SSD series is being marketed as a hard drive replacement for netbooks, laptops and home desktops. The Onyx 2 offers TRIM support for Windows 7 upgrade.

OCZ Onyx 2 SSDs are available in 120GB and 240GB capacities.

The 120GB SSD will sell for around $185 retail and the 240GB model for about $410. The drives come with a 2-year warranty and technical support.
Glad I waited. That 120GB drive is perfect for me (even has a bit of leeway) and I find pricing to be very reasonable ($1.54/GB).

kater
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Post by kater » Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:28 pm

Any guess as to what - apart from the price - makes the drive different from Agility 2 / Vertex 2? I mean, is real life performance going to be noticeably worse/better?

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Post by ilovejedd » Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:54 am

OCZ Onyx 2
Max Performance
* Max Read: up to 275MB/s
* Max Write: up to 265MB/s
* Sustained Write: up to 240MB/s
* Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 10,000 IOPS

OCZ Agility 2
50-240GB Max Performance
* Max Read: up to 285MB/s
* Max Write: up to 275MB/s
* Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s
* Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 10,000 IOPS

OCZ Vertex 2
50-240GB Max Performance
* Max Read: up to 285MB/s
* Max Write: up to 275MB/s
* Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s
* Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 50,000 IOPS
The Onyx 2 seems similar to the Agility 2 in terms of performance (just a wee bit slower) but it has 1 year less warranty and it also sports a lower MTBF which is a bit of a concern as SandForce is essentially "unproven" reliability-wise.

I think there'll be some SSD price drops soon. We're already seeing current 120GB SSDs for $180~200 after rebate. The release of the Onyx 2 probably just coincides with expected price drops. Anyway, I'll see how retail pricing goes. By the time the Onyx actually hits retail shelves, it might be possible to get a Vertex 2 for around the same price. *sigh* The price of the Onyx 2 has raised my expectations now. Before, I was fine with getting just an 80GB SSD for OS and programs plus some leeway. Now, I want a bigger SSD to hold OS, programs and virtual machines.

dhanson865
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Onyx 2 part numbers

Post by dhanson865 » Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:13 pm

120GB (OCZSSD2-2ONX120G), 240GB (OCZSSD2-2ONX240G)

Gotta have part numbers to do a proper price search as Onyx 2 gets you junk results of the old Onyx drives.

dhanson865
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Post by dhanson865 » Mon Oct 04, 2010 5:33 pm

Have you seen how cheap the Vertex 2 40GB drive is now?

$113 for the Intel 40GB
$120 for the Vertex 2 40GB

They seem to be pushing it closer and closer to $100

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Post by Eunos » Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:05 pm

The X25-V is as cheap as $90 at Newegg after some $10 rebate, but Sandforce aren't holding back at all..

I remember being so surprised at the 60 GB Vertex 2 being under A$200 at the local PC Case Gear, well now it's more like $169. Mind you, the G3 should be coming at any time?

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Post by twitch » Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:08 pm

In case someone is in the market for an intel x25m ssd 80gb. The egg is running a special (starting midnight tonight) @ $169 after rebate. I have this drive and is my fav ssd out of the three I have. The other two - 1 is a samsung slc, and a ocz vertex. intel ssd (for apps/boot) is far better.

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Post by Tzupy » Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:19 pm

Anandtech has posted the specs for the 3rd generation of Intel SSDs, link:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3965/inte ... s-revealed

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Post by Jay_S » Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:11 pm

I've owned a 120GB Agility 2 (SF 1200) for the past 2 months. It was Newegg's shell shocker @ $239 after rebate. The $1.99/GB at this capacity sold me. It's been rock solid so far, and what a difference over mechanical storage! This is in my general purpose/gaming PC. It replaced a dying Seagate 7200.12.

Using my other PC's with mechanical storage is tough - now they all need SSD's! Intel's gen 3 V-series update couldn't come fast enough. It's exactly what I want in a HTPC boot/OS drive.

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Post by Eunos » Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:15 pm

Interesting specs, though I think the most interesting one is yet to be revealed - pricing.

The G3 is not exactly blowing the competition out of the water as its predecessors did. Sandforce may still be ahead in both overall performance and energy efficiency. Reliability, who knows? I'll watch with interest.

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Post by dhanson865 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:01 pm

Intel still has the best overall package of reliability, price, and software support.

G3 gives us much higher capacities (G2 maxed at 160GB, G3 gives us 600GB) and faster performance.

Remember all we have on G3 performance now is advertised specs. Until Anand gets a retail ready sample in his hands you won't know how it really performs. Back when the G2 drives where still fresh Indilinx and Jmicron based drives blasted sequential read and sequential write speeds as the benchmark to crown by and people in the know knew this was just smoke and mirrors and random writes were the only benchmark that truly separated good SSDs from bad SSDs.

Image

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2865/6 is an example of how bad it was just a year ago and even then Intel drives were the best on the market.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/ocza ... /22721.png gives you a look at it with sandforce drives in the mix and even with the improvement anand wasn't ready to recommend them 6 months ago.

I'm not counting the G3 drives out just based on advertised specs.

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Post by Tzupy » Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:50 am

Sandforce announces the new SF-2000 controllers, with impressive specifications, link to Anandtech:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3971/sand ... d-60k-iops
I doubt I'll ever buy a 'stackered' drive, but I wish them best of luck. Those will bring the price of the 256 GB C300 down! :wink:

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Post by Eunos » Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:25 pm

Some interesting comments in response to the article though.

jwilliams4200:
In a battle of specs, I am going to trust Intel a lot, and Sandforce not at all.

The most careful SSD reviews these days are coming from bit-tech.net. They use AS-SSD to test sequential write speed for incompressible data, and also they fill the drive up with data, delete it, run TRIM, and then test the drive again.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storag ... ew-120gb/3

Check out the lighter-colored bars on the sequential write speeds. Those are the speeds after writing a lot to the drives and then TRIM. Note that the Intel X25-M 160GB gets 99 MB/s sequential write even after being heavily used. It is spec'ed at 100 MB/s sequential write. Just as Intel specified, so their SSD performs.

Next, look at the Sandforce drives lighter-bar sequential write, for example, the OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB. This is a drive that is spec'ed at 275 MB/s sequential write. But when someone actually measures the speed with realistic data, after the drive has been used, it only manages a pathetic 83 MB/s sequential write. That is only 30.2% of the spec'ed value, and is even lower than Intel's 99 MB/s !

Or look at the Revodrive, which is two SF drives in parallel with a RAID controller. It is spec'ed at 490 MB/s sequential write, which looks quite similar to what Sandforce is claiming for the SF2000 series. But what is the actual, real world sequential write for the Revodrive? bit-tech.net measured it, and it is a pathetic 139 MB/s. A single Crucial C300 256GB drive achieves 190 MB/s !

Bottom line is that none of Sandforce's specifications can be believed.


theagentsmith:
As a Sandforce SSD owner (60GB Corsair Force) I hope they won't forget SF-1200 customers and release a firmware that fixes random disappearing drives. while the computer is working as well as in idle. There is a 30-page topic on Corsair forums about this.
My drive so far stuck three times since the end of July, so you can live with it even if it's a bit annoying, but there are reports of suddenly erased drives. The firmware here is the key, and as Anand has already shown they aren't flawless.

About SF-2000 drives, it would be interesting to see if there is a benefit switching from an "old" SF-1200 drive from the consumer perspective. Half a gigabyte in a second is pretty astounding, but if it translates into less than a second faster at loading a software, I suppose Intel 25nm's drives could be better because of their cost per gigabyte.

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Re: Onyx 2 part numbers

Post by ilovejedd » Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:55 am

dhanson865 wrote:120GB (OCZSSD2-2ONX120G), 240GB (OCZSSD2-2ONX240G)

Gotta have part numbers to do a proper price search as Onyx 2 gets you junk results of the old Onyx drives.
These seem to have popped recently on Amazon.com
OCZ Technology 120 GB Onyx 2 Series SATA II 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSD2-2ONX120G, $196
OCZ Technology 240 GB Onyx 2 Series SATA II 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSD2-2ONX240G, $448

The 120GB isn't quite $185 but $196 for 120GB isn't bad at all considering shipping's free and no tax. Ordered one. Just hoping it ships soon...

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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Mon Nov 08, 2010 7:09 pm

apparently while I was in a funk I missed Samsung releasing a new SSD controller (or maybe just because the sites I read didn't mention it).

Samsung SSD 470 is what you have to search for.

It appears to be about the speed of the pack no record breaker but functional and worth watching the price on.

http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_47 ... 5pa256hmdr is one review of it. Nothing on Anandtech yet.

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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:28 am

November 2010 SSD pricing update

Current prices were viewable at http:spcr.pricegrabber/ulists.php?thelist=391261&sort=priceA&viewmod=2 (link modified per my message below dated Nov-10-2010)

Please use the pricegrabber link above if you plan to purchase a drive as following the link all the way to a purchase helps to support SPCR.

November 2010 SSD pricing update:

The list sorted by Gross Price is:

Code: Select all

Intel X25-V 40GB       ~$117   ~$2.92/GB (should be ~$104  ~$2.60/GB per discussion below)
Crucial M225 64GB      ~$115    at Macconnection, EOL item.
Corsair Nova 64GB      ~$118   ~$1.84/GB
Crucial C300 64GB      ~$146   ~$2.28/GB
Samsung 470 64GB       ~$150   ~$2.34/GB
Intel X25-M 80GB       ~$222   ~$2.78/GB
Corsair Nova 128GB     ~$220   ~$1.72/GB
Crucial M225 128GB     ~$229   ~$1.79/GB
Crucial C300 128GB     ~$270   ~$2.11/GB
Samsung 470 128GB      ~$306   ~$2.39/GB
Intel X25-M 160GB      ~$438   ~$2.74/GB
Crucial C300 256GB     ~$526   ~$2.05/GB
Standouts from that based price per/GB are

Crucial M225 64GB ~$115 at Macconnection, EOL item.
Corsair Nova 64GB ~$118 ~$1.84/GB (still available at multiple retailers)
Corsair Nova 128GB ~$220 ~$1.72/GB
Crucial M225 128GB ~$229 ~$1.79/GB

Crucial C300 128GB ~$270 ~$2.11/GB
Crucial C300 256GB ~$526 ~$2.05/GB

Most likely the Nova and M225 are on clearance and won't be around after Christmas but they are still usable drives that support trim on Win 7and have a wiper/garbage collection tool for Vista, XP, and even Win2K. Only the Intel drives rival this support for older OSes.

I still don't recommend sandforce drives due to their behavior with compressed data and the lack of a manual trim utility for XP use (not to mention the compatability issues) but for those that want to live on the edge the current pricing is similar to the price/GB of the 2nd Generation Intel drives.

Ironically I'm tossing Samsung in the mix with a new model based on how reliable their previous SSDs were. It remains to be seen if I'm right making that call.

Code: Select all

Corsair Force  40GB    ~$110   ~$2.75/GB (high overprovisioning)
OCZ Vertex 2   40GB    ~$118   ~$2.95/GB (high overprovisioning)

OCZ Agility 2  60GB    ~$145   ~$2.27/GB (low overprovisioning)
OCZ Vertex 2   60GB    ~$135   ~$2.25/GB (low overprovisioning)

OCZ Vertex 2   90GB    ~$185   ~$2.05/GB (low overprovisioning)

OCZ Onyx 2 120GB       ~$196   ~$1.63/GB (low overprovisioning)
OCZ Agility 2 120GB    ~$230   ~$1.92/GB (low overprovisioning)
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB     ~$250   ~$2.08/GB (low overprovisioning)
Corsair Force 120GB    ~$247   ~$2.06/GB (low overprovisioning)
Last edited by dhanson865 on Wed Nov 10, 2010 4:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Eunos
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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by Eunos » Tue Nov 09, 2010 3:06 pm

Based on the current Newegg price, my calculations put the X25-V at closer to $2.375/GB. Still, not the last word in value any more.

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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:37 pm

Eunos wrote:Based on the current Newegg price, my calculations put the X25-V at closer to $2.375/GB. Still, not the last word in value any more.
Ah, I normally use the SPCR pricegrabber to look up the prices and newegg didn't show for the 40GB Intel. It is $104 shipped to me from Newegg which puts it at $2.6/GB. Keep in mind I include S&H and tax when doing that calculation.

Glad you pointed that out to me, after looking back at it the 2nd Gen Intel drives have steadily crept up in price while the C300 and Indilinx drives have mostly dropped in price.

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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Wed Nov 10, 2010 4:07 pm

I just found out that pricegrabber has changed their product lists such that they've taken my SSD list and hard drive list and a random list I had and combined them into one list that is no longer sortable by price. Unless they fix it I'll no longer be recommending the pricegrabber list in my monthly updates.

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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by Eunos » Thu Nov 11, 2010 3:50 pm

I'm surprised to learn that the WD SiliconEdge Blue is now the king of GB/$, as I recall it was once infamous for being overpriced. Considering it is potentially a very reliable drive and competitive performance-wise, I am going to keep an eye on it. I already have a certain brand loyalty to WD as I've had a great run with many Scorpios over the years. :mrgreen:

dhanson865
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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:31 pm

Yah, the price has dropped but it still has a Jmicron controller in it. I suppose in the 2011 thread I may have to start adding newer Jmicron drives back in the mix but I'm not ready to do it now.

And the URL I'd point to for is it fast enough is http://www.anandtech.com/show/3690/the- ... nce-loss/4

The random write chart is the one I look at to decide if it's worth considering.

Image

If it does more than 10 MB/s on that test it's good enough (that bar might be raised when Intel G3 drives are released), I'd never expected to have to include the WD as the price was insanely high back when it was released.

Anand has been bad about dropping older drives off the charts when he reviews newer drives so you have to hit multiple articles to find all the drives I price check

I think these 3 cover it but I'm not sure.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4010/king ... 0-review/3
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3812/the- ... ssd-c300/2
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3690/the- ... nce-loss/4

dhanson865
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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Fri Nov 12, 2010 7:27 am

http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... 01&lang=en is the biggest reason I still wouldn't recommend the WD SiliconEdge Blue

"There is currently no download (software, firmware, or driver) available for this product."

Which is fine if you have Win 7 but not so good if you have Vista, XP, etcetera.

dhanson865
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Re: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf

Post by dhanson865 » Sat Nov 13, 2010 7:36 am

Woohoo, Intel finally did something new! (edit, and Eunos beat me to the punch in another thread)

120GB model added to the Gen 2 lineup, pricing should trickle out closer to normal by mid week but drives are available now. Should change prices on 80GB and 160GB models but 40GB is expected to stay near $100.

Code: Select all

Intel X25-V 40GB       ~$104   ~$2.60/GB
Crucial M225 64GB      ~$115    at Macconnection, EOL item.
Corsair Nova 64GB      ~$118   ~$1.84/GB
Crucial C300 64GB      ~$146   ~$2.28/GB
Samsung 470 64GB       ~$150   ~$2.34/GB
Intel X25-M 80GB       ~$179   ~$2.23/GB (reduced)
Corsair Nova 128GB     ~$220   ~$1.72/GB
Crucial M225 128GB     ~$229   ~$1.79/GB
Intel X25-M 120GB      ~$248   ~$2.07/GB (NEW!)
Crucial C300 128GB     ~$270   ~$2.11/GB
Samsung 470 128GB      ~$306   ~$2.39/GB
Intel X25-M 160GB      ~$438   ~$2.74/GB (small reduction coming)
Crucial C300 256GB     ~$526   ~$2.05/GB

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