120GB OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive SSD (VTX3-25SAT3-120G) $83.50 after $10 Rebate + Free shipping

Quote from kingwaffle : Sandforce is hit or miss, and with updated firmware its more often "hit". Everytime an OCZ drive comes on here the boo-birds come out to slam it even though I'm 90% sure none of them have ever owned an OCZ drive before.

Agree with you on that one. It's ridiculous. Sometimes I swear it's competing companies trying to damage OCZ's name. Most the time it's people recommending an M4 or whatever.

Quote from cheapofillipo : Do yourself a favor, get an intel or a samsung ssd, they are worth the additional dollars in my opinion. If your uptime is of value to you (an hour or two of work messing with one of these or a couple of days down for RMA time is just not worth it at all to me). (But I am the same guy who waits a few months to buy games so I wont waste my time on bugs). Oh and even intel uses sandforce in a great many of their drives now, sandforce on its own is not a reason to not get the drive.

And Intel has had BSOD issues to. Go ahead look them up. The problem was in the base firmware from Sandforce. It's since been fixed. Why do you think it took Intel so long to launch their SF drive?

Quote from josephjpeters : And Intel has had BSOD issues to. Go ahead look them up. The problem was in the base firmware from Sandforce. It's since been fixed. Why do you think it took Intel so long to launch their SF drive?

I agree.

Quote from beowulf7 : The 240 GB version of this Vertex 3 is the 2nd fastest SSD available (Samsung 830 is the fastest). Link [tomshardware.com].

I'm sure it runs nice and fast before it inevitably dies an early death a couple months later.

It's pretty straightforward: go to Newegg, search for OCZ SSDs, and look at the number of 1-star reviews saying that it died. Now compare that to other brands.

Quote from samsonn25 : Supposedly for just pure OS loading (Win 7 ++) and boot up, the Crucial m4 is the fastest, with the Samsung 830 1 sec slower.

Got a link? Anyway, in my case, I want an SSD not just for Windows but also my apps. For someone who wants an SSD for just Windows booting up, 120 GB is overkill, 60-64 GB will more than suffice.

Quote from aschbuca : I'm sure it runs nice and fast before it inevitably dies an early death a couple months later. It's pretty straightforward: go to Newegg, search for OCZ SSDs, and look at the number of 1-star reviews saying that it died. Now compare that to other brands.

Perhaps, but I wonder if they're the earlier firmware versions.

Quote from aschbuca : I'm sure it runs nice and fast before it inevitably dies an early death a couple months later. It's pretty straightforward: go to Newegg, search for OCZ SSDs, and look at the number of 1-star reviews saying that it died. Now compare that to other brands.

No one is denying the fact that OCZ had a lot of trouble with their firmware, but it's also true that for the most part the problems have been solved.

I've been using a 60GB Vertex 3 as my boot drive since last November. I've had absolutely no issues with the drive. Zero. Let me repeat: for the last 1/2 year I've had NO issues with my drive running the 2.15 firmware.

My custom built system boots up in about 15-20 seconds (Phenom II X6 / 8GB ram / Radeon 6850).

I plan on keeping the 60GB in my system when the 120GB arrives and will be installing Win 8 on the 60GB and use the 120GB as my new Win 7 boot drive.

I have to flash my BIOS on my OCZ yesterday. I didnt know I have to make a Linux boot using a USB drive, then I can flash it on my C: drive. I didnt have to this with my Patriot Pyro SE.

OCZ, why is that?

I purchased an original OCZ Vertex several years ago and it's still working fine. I have had this 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 for several months and it works great. Very fast (550 MB/s read with ATTO). I did not need to flash it to have it work on my motherboard (Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3).

Also, my company ships a network appliance with SSD for the OS. We have shipped hundreds of units using Vertex, Vertex 2, and Vertex 3 (and soon Vertex 4). We have had a very low failure rate (about 1 in 100) since switching to SSD and that is much lower than when we were using DOM.

So if you're looking to get a good SSD at a good price. I would not hesitate to get an OCZ. I don't think you can get a better SSD for the price.

Got Drive Yesterday,
Installed Win7 , works pretty good !!!

Oh yeh, i got Agility 3, not Vertex.

Quote from pyccki : Got Drive Yesterday, Installed Win7 , works pretty good !!! Oh yeh, i got Agility 3, not Vertex.

Vertex 3 > Agility 3. You might want to call NE.