SSD reviews from around the web

Posted on 24. Jan, 2012 by Raymond Bratli Eri in SSD

This post will be updated weekly with SSD reviews from around the web.

Don’t forget to read my post on why a SSD should be your next upgrade.

You may also be interested in my SSD checklist for Windows 7 and my experience with my first SSD.

Also be sure to check out AnandTech’s benchmark, with every SSD they’ve tested!

Get help with your buying decision: Storage Review’s Leaderboard / Which SSD should I buy? (AnandTech Forums) / Tom’s Hardware Monthly Buying Guide

NEW: The SSD Review has a series called ‘An SSD Primer‘ worth reading.

NEW: OCZ releases its first SSD with inhouse controller after buying Indilinx. The OCZ Octane is powered by Indilinx Everest.

NAND: Reviewers rank NAND in the following order (good, better, best): Async, Sync, Toggle.

NEW: Be sure to read ‘A guide to SSD reviews and Real World vs. Synthetic tests‘ by SSDFreaks

Hybrid

Update November 2011: In November 2011 Seagate released an upgraded version of its Momentus XT hybrid drive. The upgraded version doubles the SSD portion of the drive to 8GB and the spinning platters can now store 750GB in total. The product number of this drive is ST750LX003. Check out the review on AnandTech (thorough as always).

Do you think SSDs are too expensive? Try Seagate’s Momentus XT, a hybrid drive combining the size of a HDD with the speed of a SSD. Comes in three flavours: 256GB, 320GB and 500GB in a 2.5-inch form factor spinning 7.200 RPM. The SSD part of the drive is 4GB. The drive will optimize over time, meaning it will place the most used files on the SSD part of the disk. This is done independent of file system and operating system.

Seagate Momentus XT

Big Bruin (500GB) (January 12 2010) *Dam Innovative Award*
Techgage (500GB) (November 1 2010)
The Tech Report (500GB) (June 1 2010)

Don’t feel like reading through all those reviews? Check out Seagate’s own summary of reviews.

Defrag this disk manually once in a while and not as automatic background task, as it will reset everything that ‘Adaptive Memory’ has learned.

Legit Reviews (180GB & 240GB) (January 2 2012)
Hot Hardware (240GB) (November 11 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Tweak Town (240GB) (October 4 2011) *Best Value Award*
Think Computers (120GB) (September 7 2011) *Editor’s Choice with 10 out of 10*
The SSD Review (240GB) (September 8 2011)
Hardware Secrets (120GB) (August 24 2011) *Gold Award*
Legit Reviews (120GB) (August 15 2011)
The Guru Of 3D (120GB) (July 28 2011) *Recommended*
Hardware Canucks (120GB) (July 26 2011) *Dam Good*
Hexus (120GB) (July 22 2011) * Performance Award with 4 out of 5*
Tweak Town (120GB) (July 22 2011) *Best Performance Award*
Neoseeker (120GB) (July 21 2011) *Recommended*
Overclockers Club (120GB) (July 20 2011) *Gold Award*
VR-Zone (120GB) (July 15 2011) *Editor’s Choice with 10 out of 10*
Storage Review (120GB) (July 14 2011)
The SSD Review (120GB) (July 9 2011)
Hardware Heaven (120GB) (July 7 2011) *Performance Award*

Force Series 3

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

NAND: 25nm Asynchronous

Hi Tech Legion (60GB) (October 20 2011) *Gold Award*
Hardware Heaven (240GB) (August 26 2011) *Gold Award*
Hardware Secrets (120GB) (August 24 2011)
Hardware Canucks (120GB) (July 30 2011) *Dam Good Value*
Pro Clockers (120GB) (July 28 2011) *Highly Recommended*
VR-Zone (120GB) (July 27 2011) *Stellar Performance with 10 out of 10*
Tweak Town (120GB) (July 6 2011) *Best Value Award*
The SSD Review (120GB) (July 3 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Hexus (120GB) (June 29 2011) * Performance Award with 4 out of 5*
The Guru Of 3D (120GB) (June 28 2011) *Recommended*
Kit Guru (120GB) (June 1 2011) *Must Have*

Performance 3 Series

Controller: Marvell 9174-BKK2 (2ndgen)

Legit Reviews (120GB) (October 13 2011) *Recommended*
Hardware Canucks (256GB) (August 7 2011) *Dam Good, Dam Good Value*
Storage Review (128GB) (April 26 2011)
Tweak Town (128GB) (March 26 2011) *Best Features Award*
Legit Reviews (2 x 128GB RAID) (March 21 2011)
Tweak Town (256GB) (February 23 2011) *Best Features Award*
AnandTech – CES 2011: Corsair Performance 3 Series SSD Benchmarks (January 10 2011)

Force Series

Controller: SandForce SF-1222

Hi Tech Legion (40GB) (June 5 2011) *Gold Award*
Techgage (90GB) (March 2 2011)
Tech ARP (90GB) (February 4 2011)
Hardware Canucks (90GB) (January 29 2011)
Tweak Town (90GB) (January 8 2011) *Best Value Award*
Storage Review (90GB) (January 3 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
The SSD Review (90GB) (December 10 2010)
OC Modshop (60GB) (December 10 2010) *4 out of 5*
Legion Hardware (60GB) (November 23 2010) *Supreme Value*
Legit Reviews (40GB) (November 4 2010)
Tweak PC (40GB) (October 4 2010)
Hardware Canucks (40GB) (September 15 2010) *Dam Good Value*
Technic 3D (40GB) (September 7 2010)
Tweak Town (40GB) (September 7 2010)
Vortez (40GB) (August 25 2010) *Gold Award*
Think Computers (120GB) (August 24 2010) *10 out of 10, Recommended*
Kit Guru (2 x40GB RAID) (August 11 2010) *Must Have*

Crucial

M4

Controller: Marvell 9174-BLD2 (3rdgen)

My Consumer Electronics (256GB) (September 19 2011) *Editor’s Choice with Outstanding*
Funky Kit (256GB) (December 29 2011) *Editor’s Choice with 9.5 out of 10*
Techgage (256GB) (December 5 2011)
Hot Hardware (Firmware 009 – 256GB) (November 11 2011) *Recommended*
eTeknix (128GB) (November 7 2011) *Bang for buck*
Tweak Town (Firmware 009 – 512GB) (October 10 2011) *Best Features Award*
Hardware Canucks (256GB) (August 25 2011) *Dam Good Value*
Pro Clockers (128GB and 2 x 128GB RAID) (August 9 2011) *Highly Recommended*
Tom’s Hardware (All capacities) (August 3 2011) *Recommended*
Pure OC (256GB) (July 14 2010) *Great Hardware*
Tweak Town (128GB) (June 27 2011) *Best Value Award*
Hexus (128GB) (June 7 2011) * Recommended with 4.5 out of 5*
Kit Guru (256GB) (June 6 2011)
Tech Spot (256GB) (May 27 2011)
The SSD Review (128GB) (May 27 2011)
The SSD Review (512GB) (May 22 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
bit-tech (256GB) (May 16 2011) *Premium Grade*
Storage Review (256GB) (May 12 2011)
Benchmark Reviews (256GB) (April 20 2011) *Silver Award with 8.75 out of 10*
Legit Reviews (256GB) (April 8 2011)
Hexus (256GB) (April 6 2011) *3.5 out of 5*
AnandTech (256GB) (March 31 2011)
Hardware Heaven (256GB) (March 28 2011) *Gold Award*
Tweak Town (256GB) (March 28 2011)
Tom’s Hardware (256GB) (March 28 2011)
The Tech Report (256GB) (March 24 2011)
The SSD Review (256GB) (March 23 2011)

RealSSD C300

Controller: Marvell 9174-BJP2 (1stgen)

Overclocked Inside (256GB) (October 28 2010)
Tweak PC (128GB) (October 9 2010) *Editor’s Choice, Performance*
Legion Hardware (256GB) (October 5 2010) *Performance*
Xtreme Computing (128GB) (September 30 2010) *Platinum*
Pure OC (256GB) (August 9 2010) *Editor’s Choice*
IT Shoot Out (64GB) (August 4 2010) *Editor’s Choice*

Intel

320 Series

Kit Guru (300GB) (November 17 2011)
Tech Reaction (160GB) (July 8 2011) *Silver Award*
Hardware Secrets (160GB) (June 22 2011)
Benchmark Reviews (160GB) (June 15 2011) *Silver Award with 8.8 out of 10*
Funky Kit (300GB) (May 2 2011) *8 out of 10*
The Guru Of 3D (300GB) (April 27 2011) *Recommended*
Hardware Heaven (300GB) (April 15 2011) *Recommended with 9 out of 10*
Hexus (300GB) (April 11 2011) *3 out of 5*
Hot Hardware (300GB) (March 29 2011) *Approved*
Storage Review (300GB) (March 28 2011)
The Tech Report (300GB) (March 28 2011)
Legit Reviews (300GB) (March 28 2011)
PC Perspective (300GB) (March 28 2011)
AnandTech (300GB) (March 28 2011)
The SSD Review (300GB) (March 28 2011)
Tom’s Hardware (300GB) (March 28 2011)

510 Series

Controller: Marvell 9174-BKK2 (2ndgen)

My Consumer Electronics (120GB) (August 12 2011) *Excellent*
bit-tech (120GB) (May 18 2011)
Tech Spot (120GB) (April 20 2011)
Funky Kit (250GB) (April 1 2011) * Editor’s Choice with 9 out of 10*
Kit Guru (120GB) (March 27 2011)
Hexus (120GB) (March 23 2011) *3 out of 5*
The Guru Of 3D (250GB) (March 18 2011) *Recommended*
Hardware Heaven (250GB) (March 18 2011) *Gold Award*
The Tech Report (250GB) (March 17 2011)
The SSD Review (250GB) (March 5 2011)
Hot Hardware (250GB) (March 4 2011) *Approved*
Tom’s Hardware (250GB) (March 4 2011)
AnandTech (250GB) (March 2 2011)
PC Perspective (250GB) (March 1 2011)
Storage Review (250GB) (February 28 2011)

Kingston

HyperX

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

NAND: 25nm Synchronous

Think Computers (240GB) (November 29 2011) *Editor’s Choice with 10 out of 10*
Techgage (240GB) (September 19 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Tweak Town (120GB) (September 7 2011)
Tech Spot (240GB) (September 1 2011)
Pure OC (240GB) (August 29 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Hardware Canucks (240GB) (August 21 2011) *Dam Good, Dam Innovative*
Bjorn3D (240GB) (August 19 2010) *Gold Award*
Hard OCP(120GB & 240GB) (August 17 2011) *Editor’s Choice with a Silver Award*
Vortez (240GB) (August 15 2011) *Gold Award*
The SSD Review (240GB) (August 13 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Legit Reviews (240GB) (August 11 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Hexus (240GB) (August 8 2011) *Performance Award with 4.5 out of 5*
OCaholic (240GB) (August 4 2011) *5 out of 5*
Tweak Town (240GB) (August 3 2011) *Best Performance Award*
Overclock 3D (240GB) (August 3 2011) *Gold Award*
Kit Guru (240GB) (August 2 2011) *Must Have*

V+100 Series

Controller: Toshiba T6UG1XBG

Hardware Secrets (256GB) (May 3 2011)
Hexus (96GB) (May 10 2011) *Recommended with 4 out of 5*
Hi Tech Legion (96GB) (April 28 2011) *Gold Award*
Hardware Bistro (128GB) (April 28 2011) *Gold Award*
Real World Labs (96GB) (April 1 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Tweak Town (256GB) (March 11 2011)
Storage Review (96GB) (February 26 2011)
eTeknix (64GB) (January 17 2011) *Gold Award*
Legion Hardware (256GB) (January 11 2011) *Supreme Value*
XS Reviews (96GB) (January 6 2011) *4 out of 5*
Legit Reviews (128GB) (November 22 2010)
AnandTech (128GB) (November 11 2010)

V100 Series

Controller: JMicron JMF618

Hardware Secrets (128GB) (June 10 2011)
Tweak Town (256GB) (March 16 2011)
Legit Reviews (128GB) (February 26 2011)
Techware Labs (128GB) (February 13 2011) *Approved*
Tweak Now (128GB) (January 23 2011) *Top Rank*
Legion Hardware (256GB) (January 11 2011) *Supreme Value*
Bjorn3D (128GB) (December 23 2010)
My Consumer Electronics (128GB) (December 22 2010) *Good, 3.5 out of 5*
Kit Guru (128GB) (November 18 2010) *Must Have*

OCZ

Octane

Controller: Indilinx Everest

NAND: 25nm Synchronous

Tom’s Hardware (512GB) (December 28 2011)
Kit Guru (512GB) ( December 20 2011)
Legit Reviews (512GB) (December 7 2011)
The Tech Report (512GB) (November 30 2011)
AnandTech (512GB) (November 23 2011)
Hot Hardware (512GB) (November 23 2011)
PC Perspective (512GB) (November 23 2011) *Gold Award*
Hardware Heaven (512GB) (November 23 2011) *Recommended*
The SSD Review (512GB) (November 23 2011) *Top Value*
Tweak Town (512GB) (November 23 2011) *Best Features Award*
Storage Review (512GB) (November 22 2011) *Editor’s Choice*

Vertex 3 Max IOPS

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

NAND: 32nm Toggle Mode

eTeknix (120GB) (December 21 2011) *Extreme Performance Award*
Vortez (240GB) (November 8 2011) *Silver Award*
Bjorn3D (240GB) (September 28 2010) *Silver Award*
Tech Reaction (240GB) (August 1 2011) *Gold Award*
Techgage (240GB) (July 13 2011)
Hardware Canucks (240GB) (July 6 2011) *Dam Good Award*
AnandTech (240GB) (June 23 2011)
Pure OC (240GB) (June 21 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Legit Reviews (240GB) (June 20 2011)
Benchmark Reviews (240GB) (May 24 2011) *Gold Award with 9.1 out of 10*
Tweak Town (240GB) (May 24 2011) *Best Performance Award*
Hardware Heaven (240GB) (May 24 2011) *Gold and Performance Award*
Kit Guru (240GB) (May 18 2011) *Must Have*
Storage Review (240GB) (May 16 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
The SSD Review (240GB) (May 15 2011) *Editor’s Choice*

Vertex 3

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

NAND: 25nm Synchronous

My Consumer Electronics (240GB) (July 2 2011) *Outstanding*
eTeknix (240GB) (October 13 2011) *Platinum Award*
Bjorn3D (240GB) (July 11 2010) *Gold Award*
Hardware Canucks (240GB) (June 28 2011) (Update: Retail vs Review Sample)
Hard OCP(120GB & 240GB) (June 27 2011) *Editor’s Choice with a Silver Award*
Techgage (240GB) (June 22 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Overclockers Club (240GB) (June 20 2011) *Gold Award*
bit-tech (240GB) (June 7 2011) *Premium Grade*
Legit Reviews (120GB) (June 1 2011)
IT Shoot Out (240GB) (May 27 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Tweak Town (240GB) (May 24 2011) *Best Performance Award*
TechRadar (240GB) (May 19 2011)
Tweak Town (120GB) (May 8 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
AnandTech (240GB) (May 6 2011)
Hardware Canucks (240GB) (May 2 2011) *Dam Good*
Kit Guru (240GB) (April 20 2011) *Must Have*
Tech Spot (240GB) (April 14 2011) *Outstanding*
AnandTech (120GB) (April 6 2011)
Benchmark Reviews (240GB) (April 5 2011) *Gold Award with 9 out of 10*

Agility 3

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

NAND: 25nm Asynchronous

Hardware Canucks (240GB) (September 13 2011)
eTeknix (240GB) (September 5 2011) *Silver Award*
VR-Zone (240GB) (August 8 2011) *8.5 out of 10*
Pure OC (240GB) (August 4 2010) *Great Hardware*
Pro Clockers (120GB) (July 22 2011) *Highly Recommended*
Vortez (240GB) (July 22 2011) *Gold Award*
Think Computers (240GB) (June 28 2011) *Recommended with 10 out of 10*
Tech Reaction (240GB) (June 24 2011) *Gold Award*
Hardware Heaven (240GB) (June 22 2011) *Gold and Value Award*
Benchmark Reviews (240GB) (June 21 2011) *Silver Award with 8.9 out of 10*
Legit Reviews (240GB) (June 16 2011)
OverClock Intelligence Agency (240GB) (June 14 2011) *Approved, Silver*
Tweak Town (240GB) (June 8 2011) *Not Recommended*
Neoseeker (240GB) (June 2 2011) *Recommended*
PC Perspective (240GB) (May 30 2011)
The SSD Review (240GB) (May 28 2011)
The Guru Of 3D (240GB) (May 27 2011) *Top Pick*
Kit Guru (240GB) (May 26 2011) *Must Have*
Storage Review (240GB) (May 25 2011)
AnandTech (240GB) (May 24 2011)

Vertex 2

Controller: SandForce SF-1222

Hardware Bistro (120GB) (May 25 2011) *Gold Award*
XS Reviews (120GB) (May 17 2011)
Tech ARP (120GB) (April 22 2011) *Reviewer’s Choice*
eTeknix (60GB) (March 31 2011) *Gold Award*
Tweak Town (120GB) (December 28 2010) *Best Features Award*
Slash Gear (120GB) (December 24 2010)
OverClock Intelligence Agency (120GB) (December 21 2010) *Gold Award*
Ninja Lane (60GB) (October 5 2010) * Furious with 5 out of 5*
Funky Kit (60GB) (October 4 2010) *7.5 out of 10*
Funky Kit (3.5″ – 120GB) (September 20 2010) * Recommended with 8.5 out of 10*

Patriot

Wildfire

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

NAND: 32nm Toggle Mode

Kit Guru (240GB) (November 23 2011) *Must Have*
eTeknix (120GB) (November 10 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Hardware Heaven (120GB) (September 27 2011) *Gold Award*
Think Computers (120GB) (September 21 2011) *Editor’s Choice with 10 out of 10*
Hardware Secrets (120GB) (September 13 2011)
Pro Clockers (120GB) (September 1 2011) *Must Have, Highly Recommended*
Kit Guru (120GB) (August 20 2011)
The Guru Of 3D (120GB) (August 12 2011) *Recommended*
Hardware Canucks (120GB) (August 11 2011) *Dam Good, Dam Good Value, Dam Innovative*
Hi Tech Legion (120GB) (August 1 2011) *Performance Award*
Legion Hardware (240GB) (July 25 2011) *Supreme Value*
Storage Review (120GB) (July 19 2011)
Neoseeker (120GB) (July 13 2011) *Recommended*
Benchmark Reviews (120GB) (July 11 2011) *Silver Award with 8.9 out of 10*
Overclockers Club (120GB) (July 11 2011) *Gold Award*
Hexus (120GB) (July 7 2011) * Performance Award with 4 out of 5*
The SSD Review (120GB) (July 1 2011) *Editor’s Choice*
Tweak Town (120GB) (June 28 2011) *Best Performance Award*
AnandTech (240GB) (June 23 2011)