Intel series 320 160 GB or Patriot Pyro SE 120 GB?

[soarwitheagles]

Hi everyone!

Ok, I came across another SSD option [the Pyro SE] that is fairly new for us here in the States.

I am creating a poll, asking which SSD you would select.  Please feel free to share why you would select one SSD over the other.

Thanks!

Soar

Here's the different specs for each drive:

Patriot Pyro SE PPSE120GS25SSDR 2.5" 120GB SATA III

Controller: SandForce SF-2281

Performance

Max Sequential Read
Up to 550 MB/s

Max Sequential Write
Up to 520 MB/s

4KB Random Write
Up to 85,000 IOPS


Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW160G3K5 2.5" 160GB SATA II

Controller: Intel's SSD 320 Controller

Performance

Sustained Sequential Read
Up to 270 MB/s

Sustained Sequential Write
Up to 165 MB/s

39,000 IOPS random 4 KB reads; up to 21,000 IOPS random 4 KB writes

[Aussie Allan]

    "IS THIS A TRICK QUESTION".......... Soar! .... put down the moonshine!

   but if you're serious ......Big  IOPS numbers is essential for lots and lots of small reads .... great for OS ....and  SandForce now have a reputation of making excellent controllers

  And 550Mb/s read against 270 ...... Even Crog the caveman would get that one right

  Aussie Allan

[soarwitheagles]

AA,

You definitely have some of the best humor around!  And after reading your reply, I fell off the wagon, drank 14 pints of moonshine, and now must return to the AAA meetings after reading the reply from AA!

Ok, no, it was not a trick question.  I wanted to see how many people would vote either direction and give some good clues why!  

Yes, I can still compute basic math skills such as adding and subtracting and comparing reads/writes/IOPS, but in regards to real life scenarios such as basic computing, the very strange and oft times rapidly changing world of firmware aliens, updates, cowboys, shortcomings, and prices, I am truly not sure of the best deal.  

BTW, the Intel Series 320 160GB's were under $145, and I purchased a few of them.  The Pyro was $120, and I only purchased one, thinking it must be noticeably faster than the Intel.  Yet, some people in other forums clearly tell me I will not even see much of a difference between these two drives when it comes to basic computing....

So, if I am understanding things clearly [and I am still not sure about these things], a SSD that depicts more than double the speed on reads/writes/IOPS will not necessarily equate to double the speed in basic computing...in fact, one article revealed a few SSD SATA II are noticeably faster than SATA III's!

And then there is this huge topic and reality of problematic controllers...

I was totally set to purchase the M4 SSD by Crucial because my little C300 did such a great job.  And then I just read about myriads of people getting the BSOD slightly after 5,000 hours of use!  After reading stuff like that, I feel as if I know so very, very little about this realm of SSD.

And this brings me to the point of why I posted a poll here....

Wisdom is found in the multitude of counsel dear friend...

AA, I am simply looking for more wisdom, and I hope you will not subtract points from me for doing so...I am a learner and would like to make a somewhat educated guess [selection] when it comes to choosing a good SSD.

It's me, Soar, the guy who knows very, very little, but hopes to discover the truth about some of these SSD's and learn more about this strange new component world...

PS Crog the caveman is my older brother, and his math and logic skills are much better than mine, so, yes, I do need some extra help!

PSS BURP!  Just finished my 15th pint of that moonshine!

[Aussie Allan]

  AA, I am simply looking for more wisdom, and I hope you will not subtract points from me for doing so...I am a learner and would like to make a somewhat educated guess [selection] when it comes to choosing a good SSD.

  Haaaaa  Grasshopper Soar with Eagle ...... if it is wisdom you seek ..... I'm not to far behind/ahead of you matie! .... have not heard about the 5000hr fail syndrome as yet .... to be truthful ..... happenings across the pond in your fair country usually go down first before we get wind of it!

  Beside the two SSDs I've had a play with ....and my own Revox2 I have installed ( which I still lurvvvv) in my editing rig ..... you generally can only learn by reading reviews and comparison tests ..... unless you personally have the kit and time to test yourself.

  To grab a cheap cliché of ..."If You Build It, They Will Come" ... High IOPS at first look, you would think double the IOPS double the performance ....Unfortunately , until coffee coders write more multi-threaded Apps and programs .... high IOP counts will largely be underutilized ..... but in saying that .... if you run multi-thread, ..... and use more then one program concurrently .... you will see performance gains over lower IOPS SSDs

  It comes back to the age old saying  of ... " it depends what you're doing at the time" .... as a cache drive  (small writes and reads) IOPS help!

  Big read and write speeds ...... the bigger the files you work with ...... the bigger the performance gains.

   Warranty is a factor people don't pay too much attention too as well ..... it's proving to be critical with SSDs because of there current cost and tech age..... this should also be a big factor in your final choice.....Hope this limited view helps.

  Aussie Allan 

[soarwitheagles]

AA,

Ok, thanks for sharing your insights.  I appreciate how you guys help us here at Gigabyte Forum.  That Revo drive sounds like it breaks the speed of sound and light, all in one!

Well, my post was a failure...no one voted.  I suppose I will have to think of a better way of doing it next time!

The Intel has a 5 year warranty whereas the Pyro SE only has 3.

I must make a final decision today.  I suppose I will go with the Intel.  Another factor is that these Pyro SE's are fairly new to the market and I have only been able to find 4 reviews [all positive so far] on it.

I will wait until more people use it and review it.

Have a great day everyone!

Soar

[Aussie Allan]

  Don't ask me why Soar......polls just fail on the forum no matter what the contend,... bar sex ....that would work

  I don't know about your tech usage but the only thing that stays in one of my PCs for three years would be a crusty cockroach ...... back in OZ that is.

  Three years is plenty long enough for warranty, and near on double the performance ..... you'll kick yourself if you don't .... Good thing about new start-ups is the attention to Quality control , and after sales service.

  It's your money , but given the choice ..... I'd be supporting the new guy to get a leg up ...... Intel needs competitor's ...... otherwise we all will be paying double for a processor

  Aussie Allan

 

[Ben]

Excuse meeeee,

But I voted for Intel, just because I am at the bottom of the pile-----, any how the reason I voted for Intel is I have never had any problems with them, plus they remind me of Micky Soft, destroy all competitors, or something along that line.

Hey Soar I am going out crabbing, my wife loves them hates catching them, if you want I will email you some.

Ben.

PS, next time you do a poll try putting sex as Allan says or maybe beer in there.

[Aussie Allan]

  "Blue Swimmer Crabs" ..... you really know how to lay the boot in in Ben ..... 

  Aussie Allan 

[soarwitheagles]

LOL!  You guys are the best!  Thanks for sharing and Ben, years ago we would go crabbing in off the coast here and it was so exciting and we would catch crab every time...now things are different...not many crabs left!  Now we simply get our crab at the local restaurant!  Yummy!

Ben, what part of Australia do you reside and are you near the great reef?

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Hi soar,

I have asked Patriot to send me some samples for review but am still waiting on their response. They make some very fine products now and are pushing the boundaries so I would go for their drive. They have even increased the speed of their USB drives by making them multi channel so that they operate on more than one channel at once unlike the normal drives. Their USB drives are approaching the speed capabilities of slower standard drives.

[Ben]

Hi soar,

I wish, no, I am a deep south man (South Australia) ha,ha.

We normally go to a place called "Port Parham".

Last time we went out we caught 100 Bluey's.

Ben.

[Aussie Allan]

 
  Some say .... fiddly but probably the best eating crab on the planet ..... we use to pull those sort of number when I was a boy on the Hawkesbury river (Scotland island, Sydney) .....Ben, you don't know how lucky you are brother

  England has the brown crab ....... as tasty as potty mullet...

[soarwitheagles]

Ben, 

That is one beautiful place to go crabbing [I took the liberty to google "Port Parham" and there were lots of nice pics and tons of great info too].

So sorry AA that the brown crab is not so delicious.  Here, most people like the Alaskan King Crab [it is my wife's favorite], but the blue crab and dungeness crab are well liked by many too.

Oh my, you two are making my mouth water!  And now I forgot all about SSD's!

Soar

[Aussie Allan]

  You know, one of the carrots my wife used to get me here (UK) was the availability of fresh king crab .... after not seeing hide nor hair of any for two years .... I asked the local traveling fish munger with his unrefrigerated van ...... he said sure but frozen......I said Dam but OK , ...how much ?

    LITTLE SCOTTISH BUGGER WANTS $235US per kilo ...

  Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Allan

We have our own "King Crab" and that is the Spider Crab. It is found in the English Channel mainly and isn't as big as the King Crab but I understand it is good eating.