34nm Intel X25-M SSD

by **r3loaded** » 23 Jul 2009, 23:11

Intel's just gone and announced their new SSD line-up, which use 34nm chips instead of the previous 50nm ones in their first SSDs. This gives a slight performance boost, but more importantly a big drop in price - the new-generation 80GB model is going on Scan for just Â£171! http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/80GB-Int ... 70MB-s-OEM

At that price, I'm really tempted to buy one for my laptop (space isnt an issue as I already have a massive external HD). Anyone else currently have an SSD in their computers or planning to buy one?

by **Reines** » 24 Jul 2009, 08:29

If I was building a new computer I would definitely buy one, however I really don't have the money to start upgrading anything at the moment so wont be

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 24 Jul 2009, 08:53

Thanks for that reloaded, it's worth it me thinks. I'm seriously going to think about getting one now!

by **r3loaded** » 24 Jul 2009, 11:09

If nothing else, it's worth it for being able to load the next map quicker than anyone else in-game

I'm currently trying to see whether I can import them more cheaply from Hong Kong atm.

by **GTFO. Irritant** » 24 Jul 2009, 11:11

Hong Konk import, eh? Let me know if that works out.

I like loading maps faster than everyone else, I have 3 HDs in RAID0 in my lappie. If I go SSD, I really wanna get 3 of the same and also keep quite a high capacity (I have a lot of HD video of our son to edit eventually). I've considered Â£1,500 for 3 of the 256GB Corsair P drives, but that's a bit much really.

by **r3loaded** » 24 Jul 2009, 11:46

3 HDs in a laptop?!?!!?! Which laptop have you got?! :shock:

by **Malteserr** » 24 Jul 2009, 12:12

Currently running OS and Games off a 120GB OCZ Vertex and I gotta admit it's well bloody worth every penny. I tried to do some surfing etc on my laptop yesterday and it felt so unbelievably slow :lol:

by **GTFO. Irritant** » 24 Jul 2009, 12:39

r3loaded wrote:3 HDs in a laptop?!?!!?! Which laptop have you got?!

This one.
http://www.sagernotebook.com/product_cu ... pid=171297

by **GTFO. kk20** » 24 Jul 2009, 12:46

Its a beast too.

by **r3loaded** » 24 Jul 2009, 20:31

Ah, one of those "we shoved desktop components into a laptop" monsters, I should have known :lol:

by **GTFO. Irritant** » 25 Jul 2009, 08:40

r3loaded wrote:Ah, one of those "we shoved desktop components into a laptop" monsters, I should have known

Yeah, although I see it a bit more of a "we shove a screen on the side of a tower case" given the size, weight and number of fans on this thing. I've got a bad back now from taking it to work on me scooter each day and me MPG has gone right down.

At least my front room is always warm, though.

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 25 Jul 2009, 13:08

Ordered today

Though on pre-order, I'll let ye know how I get on with it.

by **r3loaded** » 27 Jul 2009, 08:19

Clymout, you're gonna be stuck on pre-order for a bit, Intel have halted all shipments until an updated firmware to fix a BIOS password issue is released: http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/27/bios ... nch-party/

by **GTFO. al** » 27 Jul 2009, 12:02

perhaps http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... ubcat=1427

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 27 Jul 2009, 12:36

Yeah read that dammit reloaded. Oh well.

Thanks Al I'll have two

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 04 Aug 2009, 17:14

ETA 14th August

by **r3loaded** » 04 Aug 2009, 18:44

Btw, there's one really big reason for buying an Intel drive rather than those by OCZ or other makers - random performance. AnandTech has a very in-depth discussion, but the basic matter is that the Intel drives outpace others when it comes to random reads and random writes, even though on paper its sequential write speed is pretty slow (70MB/s as opposed to 160MB/s). This is important since most activity on a typical desktop/laptop machine is random - such as booting the system (it reads lot of little files), writing a changed line to a log file etc. Sequential write speeds only come into play when you copy over a large file in one go to the drive - which doesn't happen often, and it's still faster than a traditional hard drive.

by **GTFO. kk20** » 05 Aug 2009, 09:29

random writes are paramount in servers too.

by **GTFO. fission_chips** » 06 Aug 2009, 12:30

Crucial M225 SSD

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2846/crucial_m225_256gb_solid_state_disk/index6.html

Cheaper than Intel and better performance

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-002-CR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910

Only Â£102.99 from OCUK, for the 64GB version. Sounds very reasonable.

by **r3loaded** » 06 Aug 2009, 14:31

Looks cool, must be very new since I've not heard anything about it. You got a link to a review + details on the controller it uses? (my guess is Indilinx)

by **GTFO. fission_chips** » 06 Aug 2009, 14:44

Only link I found was the tweaktown one in my post. Althought its on the Crucial website now too.

by **r3loaded** » 23 Aug 2009, 15:32

I've read up more on the Crucial drives, they appear to be extremely good, beaten only by the OCZ Vertex Turbo (which are much more expensive) and give the Intels a good run for their money. On top of that, like all Indilinx drives, they have TRIM support in a new firmware update.

I've gone and bought a 128GB Crucial M225 from YoYoTech for Â£208.73. They've promised next-day delivery, so I'll prolly have it by Tuesday. I'll let you guys know how it goes

by **GTFO. G** » 23 Aug 2009, 17:08

How does it compare to the P128 from corsair?

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 23 Aug 2009, 17:32

The write time is double the Intel ssd (80Gb). Seek time comparable so the extra 48Gb might be worth it as the prices are same etc.

by **r3loaded** » 23 Aug 2009, 18:17

The Crucial is definitely faster than the P128. Afaik (as stated before) only the Vertex Turbo can outgun it.

UPDATE: My Crucial has arrived, will now install it and load Windows 7 onto it.

by **r3loaded** » 26 Aug 2009, 11:50

Windows 7 now installed, the difference is simply astounding! Everything snaps on instantly, tasks that used to grind the disk now complete in a matter of seconds. On a powerful computer, the difference between a fast HDD and an SSD is the difference between a Bugatti Veyron and a Eurofighter!!

Here are some benchmarks:

: My Windows Experience Index score

: Simple ATTO benchmark

: CrystalDiskMark performance - this is without any tweaks or optimisations.

Next up, I'll be adding a couple of videos to show the speed of this thing (as soon as I find the camcorder...)

by **Malteserr** » 26 Aug 2009, 11:54

SSDs ftw

by **r3loaded** » 28 Aug 2009, 13:28

Can't find the camcorder anywhere, and I might as well not bother with my phone since video quality on it is so crap. So you'll have to take my word for it when I say my laptop boots from Starting Windows appearing to a fully working desktop in 20 seconds. And TF2 loads a map in under 10 seconds

Other benefits I've seen - Windows uses less RAM now that prefetching and SuperFetch have been disabled. It's also really weird working at a completely silent computer - no whirring, no clicking, nothing. The only noise comes from the fan when the laptop is under load, and from the external HD when it spins up (actually, the external HD is responsible for about 70% of the noise I can hear!!)

by **McGinge** » 28 Aug 2009, 13:40

I enjoyed your top gear reference r3loaded

by **r3loaded** » 28 Aug 2009, 14:43

McGinge wrote:I enjoyed your top gear reference r3loaded

I'm a massive fan of that show

by **Sepp** » 26 Oct 2009, 16:24

New firmware v1.4 02HA with TRIM support for Win7 available: http://www.intel.com/go/ssdfirmware

Edit: Also new toolbox released: http://www.intel.com/go/ssdtoolbox

by **GTFO. Irritant** » 27 Oct 2009, 21:21

The firmware update has been pulled due to bricking drives under Win 7...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/27/inte ... windows-7/

by **GTFO. G** » 27 Oct 2009, 22:56

GTFO. Irritant wrote:The firmware update has been pulled due to bricking drives under Win 7...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/27/inte ... windows-7/

Ouch! That's bad, almost Valve bad.

by **r3loaded** » 28 Oct 2009, 00:13

Wow, that's even worse than the Indilinx 1711 data corruption bug. Fortunately, it was pulled before I got my SSD

by **Malteserr** » 28 Oct 2009, 00:21

Damn... that's not good at all :S

Thankfully I've had my Vertex for a while and even though I have the firmware reloaded mentioned currently running, I still haven't suffered any data corruption. I think it's because that happens when you go into sleep only, which on my desktop is never...

Anyway, as soon as my copy of Windows 7 arrives from freaking slow ass Amazon I'll flash to the new firmware.

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 15 Nov 2009, 18:00

Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (SSDSA2MH080G2C1)

Just ordered it! I'll let ye know how I get on with it!

Edit: All loaded and up & running. Have to say boot time is quick. 2.5 scrolls on 'blue bar' on XP windows load screen. This was initially 1.5, but guess it has more to load now windows fully updated.

From login screen to 'ready' including steam load is 3 secs! Very happy

by **Sepp** » 02 Dec 2009, 11:55

New (fixed) firmware is available: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_ ... ldID=18363
They are still working on the new toolbox though.

by **GTFO. Clymout** » 03 Dec 2009, 07:23

Cheers Sepp, you are a gent!

by **Sepp** » 22 Dec 2009, 09:32

New toolbox v1.2 also released: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_ ... ldID=18455

by **Sepp** » 27 Mar 2010, 10:44

New Version 1.3 of the toolbox released: http://www.intel.com/go/ssdtoolbox

This release consists of continuous improvement changes.