The Best Sub-$100 SSDs Tested, Reviewed

I have a system... And was thinking of going SSD 256 gig will I benifit if I switch to a SSD???
Gigabyte 1136 socket MB, i7-970 6-core, 32 gig ram. I am using a Antec case with a SSD mount on the very top of case..

FYI, The table with the SSD data gets cut off on my iPhone 4.

Works on my Galaxy 3 upgrade

Really like the graphs.

And this roundup's timing for me is excellent. Was looking to finally get an SSD this weekend, coming from a 1TB Barracuda. I've heard good things about the 830, mainly about its long-term reliability. I read you would do some benchmarks to simulate this very thing, but I didn't see the HD Tach benchmark. Did I miss something?

You cannot simulate long-term reliability. You can only determine long-term reliability by using at least one (preferably numerous) versions of a particular SSD for a year or more. That said yes the 830 is reliable based on our testing, I have had a pair of 830 SSDs in use for over a year now.

The HD Tach is used to test TRIM performance by filling the drives completely numerous times before benchmarking.

Ah, I see. I misinterpreted the wording. I thought all benchmarks were pre-HD Tach, and then we'd see post-HD Tach benchmarks.

I know most of the benchmarks are about raw performance, but I'm particularly interested in reliability and overall longevity of the drive. In your opinion, since you've owned the Samsung 830 would you recommned it on that basis over the OCZ Vertex 4?

Agree, I'm still on my rampage II extreme and I'm extremely limited with newer drives and speed test.

Why isnt sandisk in the test

If you want to know how a sub-$100 Sandisk SSD performs look at the Kingston HyperX 90GB which uses the SandForce SF-2281 controller just like the Sandisk Extreme. There is no point including every SandForce based SSD, it would just make the results confusing for the reader.

I can attest to the below par performance of the Kingston V200, got one of those with a deal with a new laptop and I've replaced it with an older Seagate Momentus XT 500GB hybrid disk and don't see much of a difference. Have to be careful with all these new 'affordable' SSDs on the market. Good article Techspot!

You realize you are comparing the write performance of a 120GB SSD to a 512GB SSD right?

Samsung's own spec says that the 840 120GB has a write speed of "up to" 130MB/s while the 840 Pro 512GB has a write speed of up to 520MB/s. So I don't think its strange.

"128GB KINGSTON V200 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (300MB/R, 190MB/W) (Special Offer)"

Thanks Per, guessing that the one I have is the original JMIcron version I have. It's stuck in my desktop as a scratch drive now for LightRoom. The mSata 256GB Crucial M4 I put into the laptop is worlds ahead of it.

I didn't want to complete my build until I at least got an SSD for my bootup. I did plenty of research and the one I leaned towards was the OCZ Vertex 4 128GB, but it never went to a sales price point that I could afford. Instead, I decided to go with the Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD. At the time I bought it Newegg had it on sale for $69.99 after $30 off and free shipping. Including the two year warranty my out the door cost was $79.98.

Buying the SSD was best decision I made for my build: Bootup times is under ten seconds and accessing Excel, Outlook and Word takes less than three seconds. The size of the drive is perfect for just these applications and it is never going to be used for games or saves.

I think over the next few months pricing on SSD in the 64GB-128GB range is going to drop considerably (at least I hope so). Anyone who hasn't gotten one yet should definitely look into making the investment along with a two-three year extended warranty.

SSD adoption has been slow not only because of price but because of storage capabilities. If consumers see a number bigger than another they instantly think that one is better the write speed is of absolutely no importance to them. Nice comparison btw!