2010 Value SSD (~$100) Roundup: Kingston and OCZ take on Intel
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 3, 2010 12:01 AM ESTFinal Words
If you can afford it, you're still better off spending $300 - $400 on an SSD than trying to get your feet wet with one of these value drives. The performance difference is significant enough to warrant it. Even the upgrade to Intel's 80GB X25-M G2 is a better idea given the drive's low cost per GB. If you are trying to get into an SSD as cheap as possible, perhaps for an older machine or netbook then these value drives are worth considering.
I'm going to assume that the workload for such a machine is going to be lighter than what most high end SSDs are exposed to, thus random read performance will probably matter more than peak sequential write speed for example. Intel's X25-V is very attractive, but its overall price would keep it out of systems on a tight budget.
While OCZ and Kingston trade blows below $100 I'd give the overall nod to Kingston's SSDNow V Series Boot Drive. The 30GB drive is limited in capacity but provides very consistent performance, even under completely unrealistic workloads. You don't get great random read/write performance but you do get good overall performance. If you're building a machine for light workloads like web browsing then the Kingston drive should be sufficient. If you're going to be doing a lot of multitasking and have a heavier workload, the OCZ Onyx is a better bet below $100.
I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't give you the disclaimer about waiting. Intel's X25-V will grow to 80GB in Q4, presumably at the same price point as the 40GB drive today (hooray for 25nm NAND). If you don't want to wait and can spend the money, the 40GB X25-V is a good solution. If you need a cheaper drive go for the Kingston for light use systems (e.g. web browsing netbooks) or the OCZ Onyx if you are running heavier, write intensive workloads. And if you're running an OS without TRIM support, Kingston's drive appears to be the most resilient of the bunch.
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R-Smith - Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - link
+1Then again, the best idea might be to avoid an SSD because then PC's without SSD's won't seem so slow.
MobiusStrip - Monday, June 7, 2010 - link
"They simply are way to small" TOO. TOO small. T, O, Oracerx_is_alive - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
Seems like the 30GB OCZ Vertex is another good option in this price range. If its performance is anywhere close to the 120GB version in your SSD Bench, I wonder if it isn't a better option than the Onyx and the Kingston?Taft12 - Friday, June 4, 2010 - link
Performance of the 30GB Vertex is not close to the 120GB version.Mugur - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
Does the non-Intel drives have a tool equivalent with the Intel SSD Toolbox? I mean, if I'm not sure if TRIM works, I just run that utility (it takes about 3 seconds :-) )...Chloiber - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
The drives with Indilinxcontrollers (the normale one and ECO, I don't know about "Amigos" though!) have a "TRIM"-tool. You can manually trim under windows. It is beta though and should be used with care. For me, it always worked.Under Linux, you can issue a manual TRIM command anytime you want (google for hdparm and/or wiper.sh linux ). Also here, there are still problems, but again it worked for my Ultradrive perfectly well.
teohhanhui - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
And yes, I'll wait until the new Intel drives come out at the end of this year (presumably).Phate- - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
What about ssd's with the JMicron JMF612/JMF618 controllers? These are the real budget-ssd's, the Kingston SNV425-S2 64GB is by far the cheapest ssd (with only the 128GB version offering more GB/euro). And what about the Corsair Reactor Series R60, Corsair Performance series P64 and Corsair Extreme series E64. These drives have cost about the same as the Intel Postville 80GB when you look at GB/euro.I am not interested in the 30-40GB ssd's, they are to small. Neither am I interested in the high-end ssd's. I'm interested in an ssd with more then 40GB (and less then 80GB) with a decent capacity/performance/euro ratio.
Well to be precise, I AM interested in the smaller and faster ssd's, because ssd's interest me, and it are mostly wonderful articles, but these reviews hardly help me in my search for the perfect ssd for me. Namely the midrange.
loimlo - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
Kingston uses the same controller across their SSD series. In other words, SSDNOW V series 30/64/128GB drives share identical controller. You can base 64/128GB performance on Anand's 30GB review. That said, 64/128GB should be faster given higher read/write speed compared to 30GB version.Phate- - Thursday, June 3, 2010 - link
If so, then explain the difference between de V+ second series and the newer V second series. If they are exactly the same, why would they bother with releasing 2 exactly the same, but different named series?http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1197/1/
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1237/7/
Too bad they didn't compare the ssd's with eachother though.