Which 240/250/256GB SSD at $200?

Hardware HDD's & SSD's
1

I plan on picking up a SSD in two weeks.  My budget is $200, preferably less.  I have been looking at these particular drives...

Samsung 840 Pro - http://goo.gl/06yHm6

Adata Premiere Pro SP900 - http://goo.gl/04yStn

Samsung 840 Evo - http://goo.gl/HJ06JD

Samsung 840 - http://goo.gl/7A3MV3

Kingston HyperX 3K - http://goo.gl/m97KA9

Adata XPG SX900 - http://goo.gl/fetkzd

Which one would you guys recommend?  And why?  Your recommendation doesn't necessarily have to be tied to the drives I listed above.  If there's another drive out there that I overlooked, feel free to link me to it.  I picked these drives because I hear good things about them, and they were the cheapest in their price range and capacity.  I have been looking at these drives for a few weeks now, and I'm having trouble deciding.  I want speed, capacity, and reliability at the lowest price possible.

2

I would have thought the 256gb 840 pro would be the clear winner? Best reliability and performance, I believe.

I own that drive, and it is brilliant.

I don't know much about the Evo

3

Ya I would get a samsung ssd the 840 or the 840 pro are probably the best options.  My samsung 830 is still going strong after a year of use with no problems.

4

From what I hear, the EVO performs really well

5

Yeah, the 840 pro would be my first pick, but I'm not fond of the price tag.  However, if it's worth the $50-60 extra, then I may consider it.  I was wondering how it compared to the other drives I listed.  If real world performance between them were similar, then I was just going to get one of the cheaper ones.

6

Yeah, I was actually considering the Samsung 830 as well, but no one has them in stock.

7

The 840 Evo performs basically identical to the 840 Pro. The only real world difference is price (Evo is cheaper) and warranty (Pro has 5 years compared to the Evo's 3 years).

8

I think I have at least narrowed it down to the Evo and Pro. Thanks for the help guys.

9

You could also get the normal 840 unless you are reading and writing a lot of data to the drive I dont think you would notice much of a difference in like windows load times or any thing

10

This is also true.  We'll see what happens when it comes time to make a decision.  I mostly want the SSD for faster boot times, overall snappiness in Windows, and faster load times in games.

11

I would go with the Adata sx900. It has better write and read compared to all of them except the hyperx.

The hyperx has 555MB/s Read and 510MB/s write.

Sx900 has 550MB/s read and 530MB/s write.

12

Also good points.  I completely forgot about that SSD.  It's also $20-50 cheaper than the other drives I was considering. I could use that cash to buy a game or two.

13

Between the Pro and Evo, I would get the Pro. The Pro has a higher quality NAND flash which lasts longer, and has better reliability. I read last night that the Evo used the newer TLC, the only reason for people to include TLC in their drives is because it is cheaper to make. Sounds like a massive compromise, and I know it isn't supposed to have the longevity of MLC.

The 256gb 840 pro is supposed to be the fastest, I thought? The Hyper 3K beats the non-pro and possibly the 128gb model, which actually has a lower speeds than the larger models.

I see your predicament. These are all good drives. The 840 pro might not be worth the additional cost, in all honesty.

14

I believe the 840 Pro is faster.  I've been reading and there's more that dictates speed other than the sequential read and write speeds.  There is also IOPS to consider, which the 840 Pro whoops ass in.  Although, I think at a certain point, these numbers become irrelevant.  I'm not sure I would notice a big difference between these SSDs, at least in read times.  Write times may prove to be a different story.

I'm thinking about getting the Adata SX900.  From what I can tell, it's plenty fast for what I want it for, and its usable capacity is generally better than other drives.  I'm not exactly sure how it does this, but Logan explains it fairly well in his review.  If the price is right come the 26th of this month, this baby shall be mine (or possibly the 840 Pro; a lot could change between now and then).  xD

15

Oh shit i forgot about the IOPS.

16

It has less to do with speed, and more to do with reliability and longevity. Read up on the types of NAND flash used in drives. I don't think the Adata is a bad drive, I just think that when you dropping $$$s on an SSD, you want it to last a long time. I hear MLC drives are good for up to seven years. The speed will be reduced in that time, however.

I only know about the 840 pro, in that sense. I haven't read about the other drives, what type of NAND flash they use. I find myself recommending Kingston more times than not, just because it is more appropriate for most people. but if you got the money, I think buying into longevity is key. You get more years for your dollar.

Edit: I decided to check, and the ADATA uses MLC ;D

They use different controllers, and I know even less about that. I've heard Sandforce had problems.

And the 840 pro has a 5 year warranty. The ADATA has 3. Just sayiiiiiin! ;D