One of the most affordable ways to speed up
your PC is to install a Solid State Drive, aka an SSD. These small bricks of
flash memory can load and save data exponentially faster than the magnetic platters
used in old-fashioned mechanical drives, but their injection of performance is
very specific. Game load times can be decreased with an SSD, but in-game
performance is generally identical regardless of whether you’re packing an SSD
or mechanical drives. This is because games generally fetch data from your
system’s speedy memory, or RAM, while they’re running, rather than from the
relatively sluggish hard drive. However, an SSD provide a massive shot in the
arm to desktop performance. They’re’ godly when it comes to loading multiple
applications at once, and can turn a slow load of Windows into a blazingly fast
boot-up. In fact, you’ll probably notice an SSD at the desktop more than you
would a CPU upgrade, provided your original CPU is half decent in the first
place.
When buying an SSD, there are a couple of
things to look for. Ensure it’s using the new SATA 3 standard, which runs at
6Gbit/ sec. most recent motherboards from the last couple of years support this
format, but if your board doesn’t you can save a bit of cash going for an older
SATA 2 drive, though stock in running out fast. Also check the warranty;
despite SSD technology maturing, we still get the feeling that they’re not as
reliable as mechanical drives, so a healthy warranty is a sign that the maker
thinks it’ll last eth long haul. Finally, unless you’ve been adopted by Daddy
Warbucks, you’re still going to need a mechanical drive for your media
collection and backups, as SSD is still a helluva lot more expensive than
mechanical drives. 256GB drives offer the best bang for buck for mainstream
gamers, which is why we’ve taken a look at six of the newest 256/240GB drives
on the market, to see which one is worthy of your data.
Intel SSD 335 240GB
Safety over speed
Price: $220
Powered by SandForce’s ubiquitous SF-2281,
Intel differentiates this SSD by the rigorous testing it performs on all of its
products. If you’re looking for something that is going to last well past the
Zombpocalypse, this is the drive for you. It’s also using Intel’s 20nm MLC
memory, a relatively new type of flash memory that promises decent performance
at more affordable price points. At just 92c per Gigabyte, this is one of the
most affordable drives in the roundup.
Intel
SSD 335 240GB
Unfortunately it’s also one of the slowest,
with its write speeds in particular less than admirable. Still, if you value
longevity over performance, the 335 is the drive to buy, especially as it also
comes with a healthy three year warranty.
Verdict: 7/10
OCZ Vector 256GB
The leader has fallen
Price: $270
OCZ have long been leaders in eth SSD
segment, though their reliability has been called into question more than once.
As the first maker to start using SandForce drive controllers, they were also
one of the first to abandon them. The Vector instead uses the Bareboot 3 drive
controller, which was built in-house by OCZ’s experienced SSD team. Can it live
up to the high standards set by the brand’s earlier years? The memory used
within is branded as OCZ modules, but is actually IMFT 25 nanometer MLC memory,
which is relatively high quality. As you can see from our benchmarks, this
gives the drive excellent write performance, while read performance was only
marginally behind the leaders. However, at $1.05 per Gigabyte we feel that this
drive is still a little but too expensive, with more affordable options
providing more compelling products.
OCZ
Vector 256GB
Verdict: 7/10
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB
The darling of the SSD World
Price: $244
If you’ve read our PC roundup in this
issue, you’ll probably have noticed that most of the machines use this drive
from Samsung. For good reason too, as it’s been making waves by offering top
tier performance at mid-range prices, all while being more reliable than a VW
Kombi.
Samsung
SSD 840 Pro 256GB
Samsung is one of the few companies that
make all of the components that go into its SSDs, from eth memory to the drive
controller to the chassis itself. By doing so, Samsung can ensure that every
piece works in perfect harmony with the rest, which explains why this drive is
the fastest of the pack. Yet with a cost per Gigabyte of just 96c, it’s right
in the middle of the pack for cost, making this an absolute steal. If you’re in
the market for a 256GB SSD, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Verdict: 9/10
