samsung models that have msata version is 840/850 evo. i think you can find that at garage sales (ronaldjoe maybe?)
you can try out transcend ssd 370. there might be something worth while in garage sales also.

ssd's sata support usually are backward compatible. i checked the mobo specs, its sata ports support sata2 (3Gb/s). the sata3 ssd will run at half of their full speed in this case. it's totally fine for general use, still much faster than hdd.

i will say don't worry about the quality of these drives. they are adopted by more users than other retail brands due to the same pricing reasons. so far we heard no one is complaining about them.

of the three, i will pick intel because of its mlc nand flash and the longer 5-year warranty. it's not the fastest compared to samsung 840 evo with rapid mode turned on. (in your case, speed means nothing because there is a hardware limitation already) the balance point (between performance, pricing, warranty period, etc.) is really up to one's expectation and preference.

as for sata speed vs. boot time/software load time, imo it's not a big deal (sata2 is slightly slower than sata3. i can live with that). anyway 20 seconds is still better than 2 minutes (w7 on hdd) hehe

edit: you asked if there were feedback about transcend ssd's, yes we have users of transcend ssd here, and the ssd's work fine for them. tbh the terms 'good' and 'cheap' don't really associate well with each others in terms of ssd. 'you get what you pay for' is more appropriate.

i will say don't worry about the quality of these drives. they are adopted by more users than other retail brands due to the same pricing reasons. so far we heard no one is complaining about them.

of the three, i will pick intel because of its mlc nand flash and the longer 5-year warranty. it's not the fastest compared to samsung 840 evo with rapid mode turned on. (in your case, speed means nothing because there is a hardware limitation already) the balance point (between performance, pricing, warranty period, etc.) is really up to one's expectation and preference.

as for sata speed vs. boot time/software load time, imo it's not a big deal (sata2 is slightly slower than sata3. i can live with that). anyway 20 seconds is still better than 2 minutes (w7 on hdd) hehe

edit: you asked if there were feedback about transcend ssd's, yes we have users of transcend ssd here, and the ssd's work fine for them. tbh the terms 'good' and 'cheap' don't really associate well with each others in terms of ssd. 'you get what you pay for' is more appropriate.

ssd's sata support usually are backward compatible. i checked the mobo specs, its sata ports support sata2 (3Gb/s). the sata3 ssd will run at half of their full speed in this case. it's totally fine for general use, still much faster than hdd.

intel 530 is a ssd released in 2013, while transcend 370 is a new drive released in 2014. so on paper, transcend looks better because it should be based on newer technologies. however for general use, you will not feel significant differences.

both have appropriate disk management software for you to manage and monitor the ssd. the most significant advantage for intel 530 is its 2-year-longer warranty.

i will pick intel 530. i suggest you take 240gb if possible. that userbenchmark.com use incompressible data for testing, sandforce controller will look bad. however for general use, it doesn't matter. oi mai blame me if it doesn't work nicely for you ya.

are you looking for performance only or overall value? i pick overall value if for general use lol
wait patiently. i think it will come soon.

much higher iops than 120gb; and more space for you . if you are going to use it for more than 3 years, that is.

ok but i think you will upgrade within that period of time. a little bit of future proofing is nice don't you think?

lol cheap is one factor to consider but i think value for money is more practical. for now intel 530 has most of the values that you can get from a typical ssd.

er simply put it's about performance. the more the better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOPS

wow! remember to grab this also, https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Des...eng&ProdId=3792

hi guys, any recommendation on which 120GB SSD should i get?
samsung evo or kingston ?

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