Is it time to consider a Solid State Drive(SSD)?

[halsey02]

The entire thread question, is not answered!. We have lots of discussion on what is & what not to do with a SSD, but is it time, we consider one?

My question is, is it reliable, before I consider one. For example I have a thumb drive I carry with me in my pouch, I back certain working files on my notebook computer everyday, without fail. The same working files are backup to a portable HDD too, every day also. That means I have two backups.

The thumb drive is now few years old, some months back, I slotted it in to my USB port, & it tells me that it can't access the drive & I have to format it. Till now, I am unable to access the thumb drive & it is still with me. OK! I know, there are technicians at Sim Lim Square telling me, they can recover the thumb drive for a fee.( but I doubt so)

This comes back to the SSD, it is flash drive right, like the thunb drive. What if one is using it, in the course of wokr, it failed or crash & you can't boot into it. Can we recover what is in the disk contents like a normal HDD, by bringing it to the computer shop?

Is the SSD reliable, evern though not all HDD are, should we consider a SSD drive?

 

[laksaboy]

Theoretically, SSDs are more reliable than HDDs, because SSDs have no spinning mechanical parts.

It is also true that SSDs have a limited write shelf life, but it'll usually take so many years that by the time the SSD becomes unwritable you would have upgraded your system.

I do not know if data can be retrieved from a failed SSD. In any case, you should not store any important data on the SSD. The main purpose of a SSD is speed, so you can get that 'shiok' feeling (like smelling new car smell) when experiencing lightning speed bootups and during application launch.

SSD is still a new technology, so expect kinks to be worked out in due time. When SATA drives first came out, there were plenty of BSODs, failures etc. Subsequent generations of hardware will improve, and the drivers will become more mature.

 

[johnny333]

US price does not include sale tax yet, highest 11% average state 8%. Do you calculate that?

There are also other perks if you are a US customer: free delivery, mail-in rebates,... & can even return stuff. If you live outside the US you don't have to pay a state sales tax, you do however have to pay gst when it enters Spore. I order supplements & even with the shipping charges & gst I'm saving alot even if the same products are available locally.

The problem is that companies will not ship electronics outside the US. Only some sellers on ebay will ship overseas. The only large company willing to ship overseas is OWS which sell their own branded SSDs.
http://www.macsales.com/

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

 

[johnny333]

yup you cannot format an ssd the same way you format a normal hdd but ssd has their own special features to format them.

dun suka suka format SSD, you are killing it.....

Thanks for the info. Assumed that you only needed a bracket & cables. It makes the Intel kit more attractive for PC users.
Intel sells their units as a kit with a bracket, cables, & a utilities CD which includes a backup SW.

 

[singveld]

The entire thread question, is not answered!. We have lots of discussion on what is & what not to do with a SSD, but is it time, we consider one?

SSD right now is very complex situation.

No one answer, we need to know how much are you willing to spend, how much capacity do you need, what type of sata controller on your computer board, unless we know that, we cannot give you anything.

 

[singveld]

The only large company willing to ship overseas is OWS which sell their own branded SSDs.

never heard of OWS, but i know OWC.

 

[johnny333]

SSD right now is very complex situation.

No one answer, we need to know how much are you willing to spend, how much capacity do you need, what type of sata controller on your computer board, unless we know that, we cannot give you anything.

I've set a budget of $300. Should be enough for a 120GB unit. I probably need just a 60GB SSD but I read that if you have more spare space, the SSD drive is going to last longer

I've checked with the Crucial site & based on my motherboard their database at http://www.crucial.com/store/ssd.aspx got a recommendation of units that should work with my motherboard
http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule/SSD/~131072~/list.html

 

[singveld]

I've set a budget of $300. Should be enough for a 120GB unit. I probably need just a 60GB SSD but I read that if you have more spare space, the SSD drive is going to last longer

your motherboard have no intel sata 3, that means the fastest SSD are out for you.
meaning they will go no faster than what your sata controller can handle. your motherboard only have marvell sata 3 at most, meaning it will not go full speed for the fastest ssd and you may have the BSOD problem.

for 300 dollars

you should stick to intel 320 series 120 GB SSD.

They may not be the fastest SSD, but they have no BSOD problem and your motherboard cannot support the fastest SSD.


The SSD will last 5 or more years depend on your usage, the less you use your computer, the longer it lasts. The transistor that store data can only be written a limited number of time, after that they fail to work.


yes it is time to go SSD if you like fast OS boot time, fast startup of apps, fast loading for games.

I love SSD speed. you will too. I already being using SSD for two years. when i bought it , it was 1000 dollars, now you can buy one for less than 200 dollars, how much time did i save to warrent 800 dollars? economic wise, not value for money.

 

[johnny333]

never heard of OWS, but i know OWC.

I've ordered things directly from OWC in the past & have found them ok

There's a local Spore company which services Macs & they sell & install OWC memory & SSDs upgrades. You can find them them here http://www.simplymac.sg/home/ .
I've never tried them but obviously there's a market for after sales servicing

 

[singveld]

I've checked with the Crucial site & based on my motherboard their database at got a recommendation of units that should work with my motherboard
http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule/SSD/~131072~/list.html

CT128M4SSD2BAA crucial M4 SSD with controller from Jmicron (LOL), NO NO NO, do not buy this SSD.

 

[johnny333]

CT128M4SSD2BAA crucial M4 SSD with controller from Jmicron (LOL), NO NO NO, do not buy this SSD.

Read about the issues with the Sanforce controllers but nothing about Jmicron controller Do they have problems?

 

[singveld]

Read about the issues with the Sanforce controllers but nothing about Jmicron controller Do they have problems?

they have a problem call speed, they are slow. which is one of the most important things for ssd isn't it? but it is so slow, i guess you never going to see BSOD problem.

 

[johnny333]

Was going to get an Intel SSD until I read about a bug in Intels 320 SSD firmware. :(


http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-bug-ssd-320-series,13076.html


It may be solid state, but you should still make backups!


Intel's SSD 320 series offer some great storage solutions for enthusiasts. For those with the budget, getting 600GB in solid state is quite impressive – of course, that is until it fails and reports itself as a cry-worthy 8MB.

A bug that afflicts the entire 320 line can cause an SSD to revert to 8MB following a crash or power failure. The Register quotes a couple of users from the PC Review forum:

"Be wary of the new Intel SSD 320 series. Currently, there's a bug in the controller that can cause the device to revert to 8MB during a power failure," wrote one user. "AFAIK they have not yet publicly announced it, and won't have a firmware fix ready for release until the end of July."

Another posted, "I just had this happen to me. Had the 600G model for a month. Then the drive crashed and now DISKPART shows 8MB for that drive. SMART attributes are gone... The drive worked great for a month!"

Fortunately, Intel did eventually acknowledge that it is aware of these "customer sightings" on the 320 SSD series. Intel isn't yet revealing more about the nature of the bug, or when a fix is coming.

If you have a 320 SSD, we recommend that you backup all of your data ASAP.

 

[singveld]

already fixed, your articles in july and fixed in august last year - no problem

Intel confirms 8MB bug in 320 Series SSDs (fix available)
By Matthew DeCarlo

August 18, 2011, 2:28 AM EST


Update (8/18) -- Fix now available: Three weeks after replicating the so-called "8MB bug," Intel has published a firmware update (4PC10362) that solves the issue. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any way to recover data lost on glitched drives, so you'll have to cut your losses if you want to revive the unit. It's also worth noting that the update comes in the ISO format. If you need disc burning software, we recommend ImgBurn.

Our original story is below:

Shoppers beware: Intel's 320 Series solid-state drives reportedly ship with a glitch that could drastically reduce the drive's capacity. Flocking to Intel's official discussion board, many users have complained about their spanking new flash drives suddenly dropping from their full capacity to only 8MB, effectively blocking all stored data and making the drive useless. After accumulating numerous pages of user complaints, a member of Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group acknowledged the flaw earlier this week.

"Intel is aware of the customer sightings on Intel SSD 320 Series. If you experience any issue with your Intel SSD, please contact your Intel representative or Intel customer support (via web: www.intel.com or phone: www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contact/phone). We will provide an update when we have more information." The so called "8MB bug" appears after a power failure or system crash and it's unclear whether a hardware defect is to blame or if the problem can be solved with a firmware update.

Although users haven't discovered a way to recover data on a drive that experiences the 8MB bug, some people have been able to start from scratch by wiping the drive's contents with utilities such as HDDErase and Parted Magic. That's probably the last thing you want to hear if you just finished typing a 200-page thesis, so hang tight and Intel might offer some recovery options. This isn't the company's first time combating a serious SSD glitch, having shipped a bugged firmware update in 2009 that bricked many X25-Ms.

 

[johnny333]

Re: already fixed, your articles in july and fixed in august last year - no problem

I finally got tired of waiting & decided to get an Intel 330 SSD. It uses the Sandforce controller. It is a 120GB drive & it comes with the necessary cables, brackets & screws to mount in a PC. If you have a laptop be sure to get the version for laptops,

For Intel 330 SSD drives come with a 3 years warranty. While the 520 series comes with 5 years warranty but costs $50 more than the 330 series.

It's easy enough to install because I did a fresh install & not a migration. So far it's running fine. You have to download the "Intel SSD Toolbox" from the intel site. When run the software it will optimize some settings like turning off Win's caching feature etc since it's not required. Just need to turn on the ACHI option of the computers BIOS.

It's faster then my old WD Raptor HDD. The only question is the longevity of these SSDs over the traditionally HDD