240GB OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS SATA III 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive SSD (VTX3MI-25SAT3-240G) $139.99 After Rebate + S&H
 

240GB OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS SATA III 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive SSD (VTX3MI-25SAT3-240G) [tigerdirect.com]

$139.99 + Shipping After Rebate [highspeedbackbone.net] with promo code UDK83782

Great!! +1

Slick.

wish the 240GB agility 4 for $100 would return.... the agility 4 should be slightly better than the vertex 3 I suppose....

great price but it's TD. Repped for the post but i'll pass on tiger direct

The Vertex 3 didn't have reliability issues?

There is nothing wrong with Tiger Direct, they really have turned it around over the past 3-4 years and are a quality company.

I have the smaller Vertex 3 and have had nothing but happy times with it! I would pick this up if I was in the market again.

In 4 one... Buying this with the i7-3770k at $300... Sick of waiting for price drops on the 840 Pro, 3770k, and Radeon 7970s.... Crysis 3 is out people's, drop them prices!

Don't forget CB!

i just installed this same drive and i previously had a crucial m4 128gb ssd. i used paragon clone to ssd and it seems slower. any tips?

I agree with the TD comment. I purchased from them twice, both bad experiences, never again.

As far as reliability. I've had an OCZ vertex 2 installed in my 2006 macbook white for about 2 years now not a single problem... This particular drive (OCZ vertex 3 max IOPS) had a lot of firmware/BSOD issues when it was released (see amazon.com reviews), however the problems have apparently been fixed. If you sort reviews by date, far and wide most of them are 4/5 star ratings. Wouldn't rely on amazon reviews in general, but the trend does suggest any issues with this drive when released, have been resolved.

It's listed in the "Tier 1" section of the SSD hierarchy chart on toms hardware (two higher the the crucial M4 if such ratings matter to you).

http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...269-6.html

IMO, if you have no personal agenda against TD, and don't have to pay tax on their site, this is definitely a great purchase. If you DO have to pay tax, I would prefer to buy the M4 simply because of their proven reliability and the no MiR factor.

Wasn't the Vertex 3 the one they had all the trouble with? Or was it the Vertex 2 or firmware based?

Long ago before they finally nailed down the problems with the Sandforce controller firmware in late 2011, yes. (Everything based on the Sandforce 2200-series controller had the same early issues, regardless of the brand of the SSD.) I've owned several Vertex 3s for about a year or so with no issues at all. From what I've read, this is the norm.

There are many bitter people out there that will tell you that these are absolute junk...I think the recent SDer quote I read was something like "I wouldn't piss on one of these if it was on fire." I understand the angst...if you had an SSD causing BSODs, you'd be pissed off too. However, it's an old issue. I researched it before I bought mine, and I was satisfied that the issue was long since resolved. And as I said, I haven't had a single issue.

Good deal on a good drive, that said I went for the M4 listed around the same time as this deal. The drives I bought are for a home lab ESXi server and I needed to know that things wouldn't go sideways and having to deal with two rebates was more then I cared to put on the line. Regardless, nice find, perhaps another time

Great find. The deal works well for me.

Got the 120GB one for $50 on Black Friday, awesome SSD!
Be sure to update firmware when you receive it.

man im still waiting for more price drops to ~100

Was that intentional? :s


Shame people still think these drives have issues.

Tip: Firmware 2.15 or newer = safe.

No. I was doing three things at once and just went with my defective memory instead of looking it up. Fixed.

Actually, the current Vertex 3 firmware is at 2.25. 2.15 or later is safe (mine are all at 2.15). Of course, if you're installing a new OS, update the firmware to the newest version first. I haven't bothered updating mine, as they are all in use and have had no issues.

From what I've been reading, cloning an SSD is not good. They always suggest doing a new clean install on your brand new SSD. Apparently from your experience it is true.

SSD noob here. How does this compare to the Samsung 840 Pro? I have a 256GB pro that I received as a gift.

Your Samsung 840 pro is better than this.

Just to be fair, should add that the Vertex 3 Max IOPS is faster than the Samsung 840 (non-pro) and is MLC vs. "TLC", giving significantly longer NAND cell life. In this case being last generation is a good thing.
As others have said, OCZ worked out the firmware bugs long ago.
It's also faster than the Crucial m4.

------------------------------
Edit - I bought one -- thx Cali & Repp'd you -- after nearly two years on the market this is still one of the fastest SSDs available; I've had very good service from OCZ drives; and I'm in no hurry to buy a newer "TLC" drive with significantly shorter lifespan.

Not gonna happen on a Tier 1 drive like this.

Difference between this "MI" version and the regular drive?

The Max IOPS version used 32nm Toshiba Toggle NAND. The regular Vertex 3 used 25nm IMFT NAND.

Basically, the Toshiba NAND is better, longer lasting, faster in some instances due to having more dies for the same size drive, which works to have more NAND per channel. Really helps in random performance.

BTW, this deal is just refreshed from earlier this month. They seem to have a pretty good stock of them. I would have bought this drive, but tax/shipping bring it up to more than $155.

Thanks OP been waiting for an ssd deal like this to complete my build. Keep seeing 840 deals but still a bit weary about the TLC Nand.

MI is max iops version.

"These improvements are due entirely to the fact that OCZ is using a different set of NAND in the Max IOPS version of the Vertex 3. Where the original leverages 25nm NAND from the Intel/Micron partnership, the Max IOPS drive uses 32nm toggle mode NAND from Toshiba. Boiling it down to the basic points, the Toshiba NAND is up to three times faster and also consumes less power, something we'll dive into later in this review. "

from http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_...view_240gb

Thanks.

Also,

Warranty: 36 months for parts and months for labor.

I assume it's 3 years for parts AND labor.

Slick?

M4 256GB was $149 yesterday - no Sandforce - no OCZ and no rebate issues.

Hardly slick at all.

Vertex 3 was struck with all the Sandforce fun that gave OCZ the name it has today - there's a reason they didn't use it in the Vertex 4....

Buyer beware that's for sure.

Vertex 3 Max IOPs has toggle NAND. The SandForce controller is stable now with the latest firmware.

These two factors put this particular product two tiers above the Crucial M4 drive. Stop living in the past.

Eh - I'd rather spend $10 more and have a bullet proof drive than what we know from the track record of both OCZ firmwear and Sandforce issues.

There's always something new they find in regards to Sandforce issues....http://www.anandtech.com/show/597...rn-program though then they "patch" it, till the next issue comes along...

Best of luck if you want to try your luck with this drive.

If all you want to do is grow your e-peen by being able to bench a data transfer - by all means this will be a faster drive - but for day in, day out RELIABILITY and PERFORMANCE - I know I'd rather have my data on a drive that has a quality track record than roll the dice.

ooo i dont care about the tiers on ssd. its not like i am going to do anything that will make a big differences. i use my comp to play games, surf the net and watch movie. any type of ssd is a significant increase to mechanical hd. a couple seconds slower/faster doesnt matter to me.

And there's my mistake. 2.15+*

Mine is still at 2.15 as well; have no desire to update the firmware on my OS drive unless there is some tangible improvement, and even then I'm weary on risking it.

840 Pro is the best SSD you can buy at present time. Second in line is the OCZ Vector.

just got a dell xps 8500... will this fit in the desktop w/o an installation kit? thanks.

Agility uses asynchronous NAND. It is likely quite a bit slower in writes than this drive is.

Is MLC better than NAND?

SLC, MLC, and TLC are all types of NAND.

SLC (single layer) is the fastest, most reliable, and most expensive.
MLC (multi-layer) is in the middle.
TLC (triple layer) is the worst. Higher power consumption, worse reliability, worse speed.

MLC is a confusing acronym because it makes it sound like it's more complex than TLC, but it's not.

I would buy this... if it was not AR.

Have anyone tried this today? The 'UDK83782' coupon doesn't seem to be working. Comes back with an error: "Coupon Code Not Found."

Also, the delivery was:
Ground (2 to 6 days) -- Estimated Delivery Wed, Feb 27, 2013 [$7.32]
Second Day (2 days) -- Estimated Delivery Fri, Feb 22, 2013 [$10.42]
and some Inner Circle membership shipping

The deal is dead and I have already notified the mods. I'm just waiting for them to move the thread to Deal Talk. Sorry.

Cool. Thanks for getting back so quckly

No problem. Hope you find another deal soon that works for you. :)

This would have been perfect for a non-critical use ;-)

tiger directs phone ordering is terrible ! but thumbs up for the find on the drive

Darn, I'm too late for this deal.

My friend is looking for a reliable 240GB SSD for ~$150. Are there any deals available now? I do not have any SSD drives, so my experience is somewhat limited.

Thanks,
Tofu Vic