the larger sizes have better performance. notably write performance. i really dont have much cash right now. so a small 64gb ssd is extremely appealing to me. i will be using it for the os, and programs. currently i have a 3 year old wd caviar black. I know even a 64gb with lower speeds than a 256gb would be a great improvement but do i even need write speeds for what i plan to use it for? the 256gb m4 has 260mbs write compared to the much slower (write) of 95mbs in the 64gb version. so yeah. would i actually need write speeds for the os and programs is what i am trying to ask, and are there other advantages (apart from obviously size) of going for the bigger drive. also, ssd's technology is moving along so rapidly. this is another reason why i dont want to spend a fortune on one
Larger capacities basically have more bandwidth between the controller and storage chips I believe allowing for higher write speed and in some cases slightly higher read too. If you are planning on installing the OS and some programs just to decrease loading times and general responsiveness, with most file storage on another drive, then write speed is not an issue. If it would also be used as something like an adobe scratch disk then write speed would be useful but this sort of use would impact the drive life too. There are many threads on ssd's here if you have a look around and want more detail on the workings balance of performance for uses based on read/write.
imho, too many people underestimate the importance of write speed... Well, even if you're not actively using it for large writing of data, using a SSD as an OS/apps drive (though as a games only drive there's no real need for write speeds), there's obviously both a large pagefile usage & x amount of temp file usage where, esp with multitasking, it comes into play. (plus, of course, esp if you install everything from fast HDDs &/or compressed download (though most installations use temp directories so there will usually be some increase even with CD/DVD installations), it makes the install/update process that much quicker. [Edit] i'm not suggesting that anyone's normally going to be installing & updating things daily, but it makes complete (re)installations vastly quicker & the dead time of installing/updating things much lower.) Also, some of the internal processes that GC automatically does (ie wear levelling) &, although it's normally done in advance by 3rd party software (ie Hyperfast in Diskeeper) or when there's no choice for the controller but to do it, block consolidation will be dependent to some extent on write speeds. Then, the speeds are down to SSDs working internally as a R0 array. Nand itself isn't that fast, & so the SSD controller has a number of channels which connect to nand - & the channels themselves have a far higher data rate than the nand so multiple nand devices (whether individual nand chips or having >1 die per nand chip) can be connected to each channel. Certainly for the 6Gb/s SFs, the optimum no of nand devices per channel (whilst using all channels) is 4 - which is what you get with the 240GB models. Otherwise, whatever sized SSD(s) you choose, ideally you want to be looking at ~25% free space & at least contemplate also underpartitioning - this latter point has the effect of increasing the OP which increases longevity & dramatically helps in maintaining speeds with heavier r-e-w cycles (however you prioritise the former). As to uses... Well you can stick more software onto a larger SSD - be that games or whatever... But only you know what you generally install.
