Noticeable difference in speed between SATA2 (285MB/s) & SATA3 (550 MB/

By kiddingguy
in Hardware Hangout

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

kiddingguy

Posted
Posted

I currently have an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (read around 285MB/s; write 275MB/s)

Is an Intel 520 SSD (r: 550 MB/s; w: 500 MB/s) noticeable faster or doesn't it matter in day-to-day activities?

The SSD will be primary used for Windows booting, and starting of programs like Kaspersky IS, IE, OL2010, Photoshop Elements and a bit of Word and Excel etc.

Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

Copying files would be faster, its the access speeds (seek time) you would notice the most between drives for normal opening of programs I would imagine, although I doubt it would be massively noticable between SSDs really

Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

Posted
Posted

Keep tabs on the deals that occur and you can probably get a good deal on a recent SSD.

I bought a 120GB Vertex 3 for $100 after rebates a few months back.

I believe you can get a 128GB M4 for $120 currently. The OCZ drives seemed to have spiked in price lately.

Intel tends to be the most expensive of the bunch for whatever reason.

Veteran

Wakers

Posted
Posted

Depends what you do. If you spend a large amount of time copying files or if you play a lot of big games, you might notice the load and copy times increase from ssd to ssd.

General windows use? We're probably talking a fraction of a second increase.

Grand Master

MorganX

Posted
Posted

Tray SATA6. You will notice a difference, PhotoShop will open off an SSD as fast a Painbrush.

@kiddingguy, for games, USB 3.0 has made life an inexpensive joy for me. I actually have some games that just don't like running off an SSD.

Grand Master

djdanster

Posted
Posted

I have 2 OCZ Agility 3 SSD's in RAID 0, going at nearly 1.1GB/s read and write. I can boot into windows with a fully usable desktop after the bios screen in 12 seconds! I can open heavy programs such as Photoshop in 3 seconds! If you can afford it and the motherboard supports it, this is definitely the future!

Veteran

Wakers

Posted
Posted

Hmm..If it were me, I would say no.

I don't really care about boot times - my habit always was, and still is, turn on PC and make a drink. Boot time could be 3 minutes and I wouldn't notice.

Opening programs wise - office programs open instantly now, but they were only taking a second to open before.

Grand Master

+Mirumir Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted

I'm not going RAID and am not planning to use it as game-SSD.

Still worth it for booting into Windows and day-to-day usage like IE, Chrome, Outlook and other Office products?

Don't worry about SATA 2/3, just stick to your current SSD.

Or get a Vertex 4 if you have to satisfy your urge for an upgrade :)

Grand Master

djdanster

Posted
Posted

@djdanster - eh, that's slow for an SSD.

i5-2400 and a Corsair Force 3 SSD here and Win 7 starts in 5 seconds (from BIOS to usable desktop) and Photoshop launches in 1 second or less.

Haha, yea alright then 5 seconds.... I can't believe that :huh:. Video?

Grand Master

spikey_richie

Posted
Posted

Don't have a smartphone but otherwise I would. Timed it again to double check and it came in at 7 seconds.

Does your BIOS have instant on or something similar?

Do you have an UEFI BIOS? Or are you starting the clock after the POST has finished?

Mentor

psionicinversion

Posted
Posted

it should prolly only take about 12 seconds on an SSD cus windows wont be shifting 250MB' sec or 1GB a sec, its the seek time on SSD's that do it. windows loads lots of small files so the faster it finds em the faster you boot thats why its so much faster than mechanical drives. Dunno about photoshop but i think you could wait an extra few seconds, its not that big of a deal. The SSD will always be limited by the slowest drive you wont copy/write stuff to.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Google reportedly limited Meta's Gemini access over limited AI compute

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Google reportedly limited Meta's Gemini access over limited AI compute by Karthik Mudaliar Google is reportedly limiting Meta's use of its Gemini AI models after Meta tried buying more computing capacity than even Google could supply. According to the Financial Times, Google told Meta in March that it could not provide the full Gemini capacity that Meta had requested. This shortfall even disrupted and delayed some of Meta's internal projects. Due to this, Meta even told its employees internally to use AI tokens more efficiently. Meta wasn't the only one to get hit by this sudden refusal by Google; even other customers were affected. But Meta was hit harder because of its unusually high demand for Google's models. The move from Google makes it evident that companies all over are in limited supply of both infrastructure and compute. Alphabet said in April that Google Cloud revenue grew 63% year-over-year to $20 billion in the first quarter, helped by enterprise AI infrastructure and AI solutions. In pursuit of more compute, Meta had earlier signed a multi-billion-dollar AWS agreement as well as a large AMD GPU deal for AI data centers. But the crunch would be short-lived as both Meta and Google have also ramped up infrastructure investments heavily. Meta said in November that it was committing more than $600 billion in the U.S. by 2028 for AI technology, infrastructure, and workforce expansion. In the first quarter of this year, Meta also raised its expected capital expenditure for 2026 to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, citing higher component pricing and additional data center costs for future capacity. However, this doesn't make the company immune to the current dependence on outside suppliers. Meta has also spent many years promoting Llama as an open-weight alternative to closed models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. But if the reported reliance on Google's Gemini models is severe enough for internal work to get impacted, then it looks like even frontier labs and Big Tech aren't fully self-sufficient. Source: Financial Times
    • Samsung, Amazon extend 990 PRO 2TB NVMe SSD deal beyond Prime Day 2026

      By seeprime · Posted

      I like to reminisce about the good old days, way back in autumn 2025 when building a gaming machine was fun and the drives were about $150 when you caught a deal. Yes duh, back in the day we had it gone. Then baby Skynet came along, hiding in AI datacenters demanding more processing power until it reached singularity. End of a not totally fictional story.
    • Bypassed Windows 11 shows surprising stability on ancient, completely unsupported hardware

      By +Spark99 · Posted

      My experience in the past with older Windows 11 builds was not great on unsupported machines but I recently used Rufus to put the latest build on a older 5th Gen Core Thinkpad T that we upgraded with a SATA SSD and 8GB of RAM four years ago when hardware was reasonable and it seemed pretty fast and solid. Customer is very happy with the performance and will probably get four more years out of that venerable laptop that he loves so much. Another customer just retired his Dell Studio laptop from 2009 running Windows 10. It got an SSD over 10 years ago and did everything he needed it to for 17 years but he also retired last year and is happy doing everything on his iPad now.
    • Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount by Taras Buria In late January 2026, Apple introduced its second-generation AirTag trackers, bringing a refresh to the old model that has been on the market for half a decade. Now, you can get these new trackers at an all-time low price, thanks to the first big discount that brought the price down by 17% on Amazon. While the second-generation AirTag looks identical to its predecessor, it packs meaningful upgrades inside. The second-gen ultrawideband chip works 50% farther than the original AirTag, allowing you to detect lost items in a wider range. In addition, the second-generation AirTag features an upgraded Bluetooth chip for extended range and a significantly louder speaker (up to 50%) so that you can hear it better when locating a lost item. Note that the second-gen AirTag only works with iPhones and iPads that run iOS/iPadOS 26 and newer, so you need a compatible device to use the tracker. Like the original AirTag, the AirTag 2 is available in two packs: one and four pieces. Both are now available at a notable discount on Amazon, and you can purchase them using the links below. Apple AirTag 2 tracker - $24 | 17% off on Amazon Apple AirTag 2 tracker (four-pack) - $89 | 10% off on Amazon Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S.- specific and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Tidal won't monetize AI slop music, company says

      By monterxz · Posted

      I've been on Deezer for over a decade, but glad that Tidal joined them in fighting AI slop. Can't stand such takes as Spotify's: "Spotify's CEO recently pushed back against listeners who call AI music "slop," urging people to stop using the term and instead embrace the creative potential of AI music."

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      536
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      265
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!