What does it all mean?

[Tiger Feet]

Regarding a SSD, can somebody tell me what these specs mean? Does it mean that the higher the number, the faster the SSD loads?

Up to 500MB/sR 450MB/sW
Up to 550MB/sR 520MB/sW
Up to 555MB/sR 510MB/sW

In addition, what is the difference between the 330 Series SSD, the 520 Series SSD and the Kingston Hyperx 3K SSD?

Also, would it be overkill if I went for a primary drive of 240GB SSD as opposed to a 120GB? Although I have noticed that the quotation I acquired earlier has now gone up in price.

Cheers

 

[Marks]

Thats correct, it is the rated read speed and write speed. As it says it is upto that speed. It is worth looking on reviews and having a look to see if one appears faster than the others for what you want.

One thing that also makes SSD's faster is the decreased search time for the drive to find what it is after meaning it can serve files, especially small ones a lot faster that a traditional platter based HDD.

The reason the quote you have may have gone up is that the 17" Optimus 3 has been discontinued on PCS and they now have the Optimus 4.

 

[Tiger Feet]

Thats correct, it is the rated read speed and write speed. As it says it is upto that speed. It is worth looking on reviews and having a look to see if one appears faster than the others for what you want.

One thing that also makes SSD's faster is the decreased search time for the drive to find what it is after meaning it can serve files, especially small ones a lot faster that a traditional platter based HDD.

The reason the quote you have may have gone up is that the 17" Optimus 3 has been discontinued on PCS and they now have the Optimus 4.

Thanks for answering that. What about my other questions. Could somebody answer these for me please?

1. What is the difference between the 330 Series SSD, the 520 Series SSD and the Kingston Hyperx 3K SSD?

2. Would it be overkill if I went for a primary drive of 240GB SSD as opposed to a 120GB?

3. Can anyone recommend a place to look on reviews of these specs to see the difference in speeds so I can make a careful judgement on what I choose?

Cheers

 

[steaky360]

Some reviews of the 3 models you are looking at (might help with 1 and 3 )

330 Series:- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-330-review-benchmark,3190.html
520 Series:- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-520-sandforce-review-benchmark,3124.html
Hyperx 3K:- http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Kingston-HyperX-3K-Solid-State-Drives-ssd,15271.html

As for whether its overkill, I'm not really one to comment - If you think you'll have enough stuff to put on it and its within your budget then why not? If its a 'nice to have' might be worthwhile splashing out out more on the secondary hard drives as opposed to increasing the size of the SSD

 

[keynes]

1. Looking at benchmarks the 520 and kingston hyperx 3K are close in performance. The 330 SSD is rated for fewer write cycles than the intel 520 and comes with a 3 year warranty as opposed to 5 years with the 520. I think the warranty with kingston is 3 years.
2. It depends on your budget and what you are planning to store in the SSD.
3. Tom's hardware or Anandtech for reviews.
I have both the 520 and 330, when running day to day applications (windows,microsoft office, some games) I can't really notice the difference in speed.