Maximum PC

Hey gang,
Just wanted some outside opinions.
Here is my dilemma -
Going from an AMD Phenom II 965 rig to an Ivy Bridge Z77, i5 3570K CPU on Windows 7 64bit and 16GB RAM.
I have an OCZ Agility 3 128GB drive currently for the OS on my old setup. THIS IS A GAMING RIG ONLY! I am not a bleeding edge, performance obsessed nut, but I don't want to screw myself either.

I want to buy another SSD for the OS or Games depending on which SSD I buy.

I could get a Vertex 4 128GB ($150 roughly), put the OS on that and the games on the Agility 3.
OR
should I compromise on the speed/new tech of the Vertex 4 and go for a bargain 256GB SSD. Some of the price breaks have some models going for around $200 (such as Crucial m4) then use the Agility 3 for the OS and the larger SSD for games.
OCZ techs advised me to use the Vertex 4 for the OS and the Agility 3 for game storage for best performance.

I can handle only having 128GB for game space and just uninstall/reinstall as needed.

My concerns and additional thoughts are as follows -
1 - Vertex 4 is new and 99% of the bugs have been solved with new firmware. A nice benefit to have now.
2 - Will I really benefit from that Vertex 4? (With my old rig, no...but with the new IB...probably?)
3 - If I go for more storage, the best deals are on older tech over a year or so old...like the Crucial m4 256GB. The speed lags now and by next year it will be really old.
4 - Windows 8 is coming. Maybe newer Vertex 4 would be smarter?
5 - I have a WD 2TB Black drive for additional storage and for games and been gaming off of that with no complaints.
6 - $$$$ do matter right now. I don't want to spend too much on SSD as I want to leave room for the higher priced mobos and maybe a newer video card mid summer.

Depending on which motherboard you're using with that Athlon, you're probably not really utilizing the Agility 3 either...

Another option: add a 2nd Agility 3 & put the pair in RAID-0. This gives you maximum read/write performance of around 900MB/sec (if you're currently on SATA II, as I suspect, you're topping out at less than 280MB/sec), & ~218GB usable space for OS, Games, etc...

Vertex 4 (128GB) VS Agility 3 (120GB) - assuming SATA III controller:
Indilinx controller(V4) Vs Sandforce 2281 controller(A3)
Seq Read: 550MB/sec(V4) Vs 525MB/sec(A3)
Seq Write:420MB/sec(V4) Vs 500MB/sec(A3)
4KB Random Read -- Up to 90,000 IOPS(V4) Vs Up to 20,000 IOPS(A3)
4KB Random Write -- Up to 85,000 IOPS(V4) Vs Up to 50,000 IOPS(A3)

IIRC... typically, while gaming you're hitting 2,000 - 4,000 IOPS.

EDIT: and are you sure you have an Agility 3 & not an Agility 2??? Agility 2 would be about right for the system described (Phenom II 965), Agility 3 came out just about 1 year ago...
Oh & thinking about Windows 8... check out this thread about the current Windows 8 BETA... viewtopic.php?f=6&t=138110

No, you misunderstood my post...or I was not clear. lol Either way, ignore the OLD RIG. My new rig is what I am buying for. Ivy Bridge i5 3570K, mobo most likely will be the GA-Z77X-UD5H, 8-16BG of ram, Win 7 64bit, and the current SSD drive is definitely an Agility 3. I just bought it 2 months ago for a song! lol

Understood post just fine. Just pointing out that if your old motherboard utilized an SATA II controller, you're only seeing half the performance out of the Agility 3 SSD, & yes, you will gain that performance with any new Z77 motherboard via SATA III controllers.

Also trying to point out that as far as gaming is concerned, the Vertex 4 & Agility 3 are roughly equals, it's just a matter of which one you feel more comfortable shelling out your money for, though I like that the Vertex 4 has a 5 year warranty Vs the 3 year of the Agility 3.

I would still recommend buying a second Agility 3 & put them in RAID-0. This will give you better OS AND Gaming performance (lvl load times) Vs. having one drive for OS & one drive for Games, it'll also combine the capacity of the two drives into one logical drive which will ensure more level wear across both drives.

OK. I just thought you were thinking in terms of old stuff. lol Yes, I knew the Agility 3 was stuck at SATA II speeds. Cannot wait to see/feel it under SATA III! lol

I have no desire to mess with RAID 0. As reliable as SSDs are, and as lovely as the performance would be, I just do not need the headaches if things go wrong. I am a 40 year old working man and I just want to turn it on and game and not have to worry about data loss (no parity) and the possible other myriad of unknown bugs that could occur due to the fact that a lot of this is so new - Z77/Ivy Bridge is in TICK mode, the motherboards are all version 1 with BIOS updates coming out fast to deal with the bugs, so on and so on. NO THANKS! lol As I said in my first post, I am not speed obsessed. At least, not any more. I ran Elder Scrolls IV at high settings on my old rig without the problems others had. This rig will be just fine with using the simple, preset BIOS OC tweaks built in for those of us that want KISS simple OCing.

Prices are so close in some aspects it is hard to not buy the newer V4 or p[ay a bit more to avoid old Sandforce technology. I am mostly leaning toward the Vertex 4 128GB. But right now this deal is floating around - 256GB Samsung 830 Series 2.5" for $225 with free shipping! Hard to not go for that right now!

Indilinx Everest 2, like the Z77 chipset, still has teething issues, while Sandforce is mature with all currently known issues & bugs fixed. If Everest 2 overall write speeds are improved, & delivers a solid track record over the next 6 - 12 months, I'll be thoroughly impressed, but right now I simply look at it as a different option.

Personally, I wouldn't touch Samsung's offerings, sure they have great read speeds, but their write speeds are nothing to brag about compared to Vertex 4 & Agility 3 drives, & they use the most power of any current SSD's durring read/write operations, reaching as much as 5.8 Watts Vs the 256GB & 512GB Vertex 4 only hitting 3.8 Watts.

RAID-0 is what I would do, but I know that there are a lot of people afraid to go that route, or think it's too much hastle. For me it was simple, setup raid install Windows, no need for extra drivers, of course with the Z77, that might not be the case... But honestly, whatever choice you make IMO, you can hardly go wrong. The overall perceived difference (start-up time, game loading times, etc...) between the RAID-0 & no raid setups would be small anyway.

Teething issues......oh you had to jinx me like that didn't you. lol I know, I have been thinking about it too but this time I am willing to take risks. I just cannot justify buying the Sandy Bridge, when the Ivy Bridge components I have been scouting are getting excellent reviews and reviewer awards. Even the Vertex 4 took its hits but since the new firmware has improved performance and killed off most bugs, I can take comfort that OCZ is 'on the case'.

Get the Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDs. They are more expensive but their speeds aren't that bad compared to others. The biggest plus to me (and sounds like you as well) is that you'll be paying a premium for piece of mind. My 60GB SSD from Intel cost $119 which i'm sure people would say is insane but Intel has the most reliable SSDs around and a 5 year warranty. I can rest comfortably knowing that no matter how many read/writes i throw at this and even 7 years down the line it will still work like day 1. Samsung is known as the second most reliable drives.

If you want piece of mind get either of those brands but also do your research to determine that they didn't accidentally put out "test" models that are iffy. If you want speed and top of the line performance, go with the Vertex and other drives.......just be aware that you have a higher chance of failure within 2-5 years. I like reliability and piece of mind and considering i came from a regular HDD, this Intel 520 seems top of line performance anyway (ignorance is bliss i guess).

Go to slickdeals.net... wait for any of the big name SSDs to go on sale by watching the forums. Problem solved. Samsung, Crucial, and Intel frequently go on sale and this site normally keeps pretty good track of it since the deals are user submitted.

LOL... Depending on which SSD you buy from Intel, you may be getting an Intel controller, a Marvell controller, or a Sandforce controller... the 520 series SSD's use Sandforce 2281 controllers which is why they are so fast. So not only are you suggesting a less-reliable Intel SSD (in terms of the 520's Vs other Intel SSD's with other controllers), you're suggesting overpaying for the same controller used in the Agility 3 series SSD's.

BTW... a quick check of the Intel SSD support forums shows me plenty of problems with Intel SSD's, and at newegg the 520 SSD's get the same 4 egg rating as SandForce 2281 based SSD's from other manufacturers...

5 year warranty is enough for me. Who would warranty something for 5 years that they know won't last longer than that. Its all about money and they'll warranty something for that long knowing full well that they won't have to replace every single one of them and lose money. Others just are confident to 3 years which tells me I'll be lucky if I even get 1-2 years out of them. Nuff said.

you're basically saying Intel's warranty is 5 years because they know their SSD will last that long... at the same time you're saying others warranty is 3 years because they think we will get 1-2 years out of them... doesn't make sense for any manufacturer to cover anything for longer than the product might last.

It's pretty easy to see how Intel can cover a 5 year warranty...
Intel 520 with Sandforce 2281 controller (1% failure rate per year)
120GB = $184.99 at newegg
5 year warranty

OCZ Agility 3 with Sandforce 2281 controller (1% failure rate per year)
120GB = $119.99 at newegg
3 year warranty + $25 2 year extended warranty = $144.99.

The vast majority of failed drives are refurbished & either re-sold, or used as warranty replacements, this coupled with the extra $40 per 120GB SSD more than covers the extra $$$ lost to warranty replacements for the 4th & 5th year for Intel.

OCZ Vertex 4 also comes with 5 year warranty, but at $149.99 for 128GB, it costs less & you get more capacity than an equivalent Intel 520 & still get a 5 year warranty. Bottom line Intel appears to be using their name recognition & a 5 year warranty to charge a super-premium for the exact same hardware.

If you're going to go with Intel for reliability go with the 510 series with the Marvell controller which supposedly beats Intel's goal of less than 0.75% failure rate per year.

I wouldn't just say that the controller is the only point of failure on an SSD but........I did some research on the Vertex 4 and that seems like a good drive. They bought out and are using the same controller that Intel used when it started out with getting its reliability reputation so if all you judge on is controller then the Vertex 4 seems like a good choice.

Yeah, my thinking exactly. I had a Patriot 60GB Inferno(3 year warranty) for 2 years as a boot drive and gamed heavily on it. No problems ever. Been using the Agility 3 for 2 solid months (3 yr. Warranty) and so far things have been fine. I know basically from researching gaming forums that I should be concerned about reliability and a 5 yr warranty on the Vertex 4 covers that ground. Access times are the next most important thing then random IOPS - from the gaming only perspective. At this point the Vertex 4 (with newest firmware) seems to cover this ground but still some unknowns. I want to see a couple more Ivy Bridge/Z77 test rigs with the 1.4 firmware or better. One thing is clear to me, until I see a major steal of a deal from SlickDeals (been using them for years now) I am going to remain patient and the SSD is probably going to be the very last item I purchase.

I am loving the discussions in this thread. Good fuel for the brain guys.