Which SSD is most reliable?

[kuri]

Hey all! The time has come for me to finally buy a SSD to replace the 2.5" hdd in my notebook. This is my portable machine and there are times when I don't have the resources/time to back up the data for weeks at a time, so my key concern is reliability. So my question is what is the most reliable SSD if there is even one?

 

I've heard about dead Sandforce drives from OCZ, Corsair etc. but I'm not sure if that's just because there are more Sandforce users than others. I'm looking at the 120GB drives at this point and I'm leaning towards the Intel X-25M 120GB, but here's the shortlist:

- Intel X25-M 120GB

- OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (115GB with the new 25nm chips)

- Corsair F120 / F115

 

So it's basically Sandforce vs Intel. Note that my notebook only has a SATA2 interface so there is no point for me to pay extra to get a C300, Vertex 3 or Intel 510 series SSD.

 

Thoughts?

[Ronsanut]

Hey all! The time has come for me to finally buy a SSD to replace the 2.5" hdd in my notebook. This is my portable machine and there are times when I don't have the resources/time to back up the data for weeks at a time, so my key concern is reliability. So my question is what is the most reliable SSD if there is even one?

 

I've heard about dead Sandforce drives from OCZ, Corsair etc. but I'm not sure if that's just because there are more Sandforce users than others. I'm looking at the 120GB drives at this point and I'm leaning towards the Intel X-25M 120GB, but here's the shortlist:

- Intel X25-M 120GB

- OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (115GB with the new 25nm chips)

- Corsair F120 / F115

 

So it's basically Sandforce vs Intel. Note that my notebook only has a SATA2 interface so there is no point for me to pay extra to get a C300, Vertex 3 or Intel 510 series SSD.

 

Thoughts?

Here is a link that has helped me choose. I decided on a Crucial drive for its price and SATA III interface and reviews on NewEgg. We will see how it goes. But it is for my desktop. I have been thinking about one to replace my old Toshibas drive, but have not treied anything yet.

 

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/best-ssds-hdds-for-your-money-march-2011/

Edited March 13, 2011 by Ronsanut

[james91]

OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (115GB with the new 25nm chips).......... FTW

im using it in my desktop and the thing just flys and havent had any problems with it in the time i have been using it

[Shurman292]

OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (115GB with the new 25nm chips).......... FTW

im using it in my desktop and the thing just flys and havent had any problems with it in the time i have been using it

I have had no troubles with my Vertex 2 so far! Had it since November of last year.

[Alexandre]

Here is a link that has helped me choose. I decided on a Crucial drive for its price and SATA III interface and reviews on NewEgg. We will see how it goes. But it is for my desktop. I have been thinking about one to replace my old Toshibas drive, but have not treied anything yet.

 

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/best-ssds-hdds-for-your-money-march-2011/

Thats a nice read! Thanks mate!

[kuri]

Here is a link that has helped me choose. I decided on a Crucial drive for its price and SATA III interface and reviews on NewEgg. We will see how it goes. But it is for my desktop. I have been thinking about one to replace my old Toshibas drive, but have not treied anything yet.

 

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/best-ssds-hdds-for-your-money-march-2011/

Thanks Ronsanut for that article! The reported failure rates from the article list:

- Intel 0.59%

- Corsair 2.17%

- Crucial 2.25%

- Kingston 2.39%

- OCZ 2.93%

 

Intel's failure rate is lowest but it's not like the others' rates are high - as confirmed by all the happy Vertex 2 owners here. Nonetheless, per the article, I guess if reliability is the number 1 concern, Intel it is.

[Ronsanut]

Great. I am glad it helped.

[IVIYTH0S]

Thanks Ronsanut for that article! The reported failure rates from the article list:

- Intel 0.59%

- Corsair 2.17%

- Crucial 2.25%

- Kingston 2.39%

- OCZ 2.93%

 

Intel's failure rate is lowest but it's not like the others' rates are high - as confirmed by all the happy Vertex 2 owners here. Nonetheless, per the article, I guess if reliability is the number 1 concern, Intel it is.

not to mention Intel probably doesn't sell as much as the rest since they prices are often much higher for the same thing

[Equality4xy]

not to mention Intel probably doesn't sell as much as the rest since they prices are often much higher for the same thing

When you use percentages, it kinda doesn't matter how many. When you are talking the quantities that all these companies produce and deliver to the market, I think the statistics will hold true on your purchase.

 

You have to understand what is at the heart of manufacturing is the company's policies towards quality and reliability. Obviously Intel knows how to achieve excellence in it's pursuit better then the rest. One proof of this is their reluctance to produce bleeding edge speed increases at the cost of reliability.

 

If you consider the time it takes to get your RMA and the downtime that causes, do you really end up going faster because you went with the faster drive? Nope. The Intel 510 will be my first SSD.

[DanTheGamer11]

Which SSD is most reliable? - The one that doesn't fail

[sYstEmATiC]

Holy dead-thread revival! lol

[Tjj226_Angel]

This might be a stupid question, but is your processor intel or amd? If it is intel and if it is a sandy bridge processor, chances are it is SATA III. You can check the systems sata compatibility by googling you laptops chipset. Most likely its Sata II but the last thing you want is a sata 2 drive when you could have had a sata 3.

 

Something I have not seen a lot of people mention in the way of SSD brands is Mushkin.

 

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=62873&vpn=MKNSSDCR120GB&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced&promoid=1368

 

This might be the answer to all of the SSD questions out there. Mushkin is a fairly underground company but they are super dependable. I use their ram and if they use the same quality of memory chips in an SSD as they do in their ram, I would trust them with all of my data and probably my first born child.

 

Look at the page though. This is not too good to be true nonsense. NCIX is an absolutely legitimate vendor if you are not familiar with it then check out linus tech tips on youtube and NCIX tech tips made by the same guy. Mushkin has a special partnership with NCIX so you get their products at a great price. SO THIS TRULY IS AN AMAZING DEAL. SATA 3 at at premium sata 2 price. Heck its better than a lot of sata 3's out there mostly due to its high IOPS (input output per second).

 

Even if you only have sata 2 ability in your laptop you might want to think about this one. Your laptop may limit the specs to sata 2 speed, but even still it would smoke most of the competition.

 

 

HERE IS THE KICKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This SSD uses the sanforce 2281 controller which is much more stable, much more reliable, much more everything than the sanforce 2200 controller that normal sata 2 drives come with. You are welcome to read all the horror stories of the sanforce 2200 controller with the Win 7 SP 1 update mine being one of them. I am telling every one reading this. NO MATTER WHAT YOU BUY IN THE WAY OF SSD, GO WITH THE SANFORCE 2281!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you will all thank me when you don't have to go through an annoying firmware update because you invested in a much more stable sanforce controller.

 

Final thoughts. Go with this drive its just the smartest way to go. If you feel this is too good to be true, look up the same drive on newegg they have it priced at 220 dollars which is much more sensible than the insanely awesome price of the NCIX team which is 170 and 160 after rebate. So in the end even though you might be limiting the drive to sata 2 speed (worst case senario) you are still paying a little more (10 - 30 dollars depending on which sata 2 ssd your looking at) for sata 2 speed for a sata 3 drive. It is just a win win win win win win solution.