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Banan911

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2011
161
154
Aarhus, Denmark
I have a MacBook Pro 15" late 2008. It is still a nice machine and it works flawlessly. It is a bit slow compared to newer Mac's so I'm about to buy a SSD.

I've been looking at OWC drives, but I can understand that they are overpriced and not as fast as SSD's from other vendors.

Is it possible to make a top 3 of the best 2013 SSD drives?
 

designs216

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2009
1,046
21
Down the rabbit hole
The Samsung 830 seems to be tops according to reviews and the fact that Apple OEMs this drive speaks volumes. I'd say the Crucial M4 would be a good contender for second place and was at a lower price point when I bought mine. Intel would probably be a good bet also as they are widely considered to be one of the most reliable.
 

Banan911

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2011
161
154
Aarhus, Denmark
This maybe sound a bit stupid and very fanboy'ish but I try to avoid Samsung products because of their shameless copies of iPhones and iPads

So if I want to avoid Samsung SSDs?
 

cfs112

macrumors member
Oct 26, 2012
87
0
I use the OWC Mercury SSD from macsales.com works great and good price too. Also has installation and compatibility guide.
 

cr2

macrumors 6502
Feb 19, 2011
340
112
1tb ssd

Hello,

I use MBP as my primary machine to store photos / videos. I am just over 500gb. How long it will be before we will see $500 for 1TB SSD? I use BR to keep off-site copies but will love to get SSD for speed.
 

technopimp

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2009
645
219
This maybe sound a bit stupid and very fanboy'ish but I try to avoid Samsung products because of their shameless copies of iPhones and iPads

So if I want to avoid Samsung SSDs?

The LCD in your MBP is possibly a Samsung.

Just sayin'.
 

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
Samsung 830 or Samsung 840 Pro. Those are the only two I would want personally.
 

screensaver400

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2005
858
46
Samsung 830. I get how you feel on the copying of iOS devices, but remember, Apple still uses Samsung SSDs in their current laptops.
 

araje

macrumors regular
Apr 15, 2012
121
0
Well the OCZ Vertex 4 all the way.
If you look at their speeds at any tech review sites they come highly recommended. Their write speeds are has high as the max read speeds of most of the other SSDs. And yes their read speeds blow others out of water.

I had Samsung 830 series because they come highly recommended. But then I swapped them for vertex 4 and I can see the copying had noticeably improved.
 

MuckSavage70

macrumors member
Jan 10, 2013
60
99
Denver, CO
My first build had a Vertex 4 and it has been rock solid since I got it. Great drive.

I have also made builds with the Samsung 830 and 840 pro, and they are both excellent drives.

If you are anti-samsung I would look at the vertex 4, you can usually get them for a good deal if you watch Newegg.

I havent used intel drives, but they have a great reputation.

Just remember to enable TRIM support for any non-sandforce based controller (OWC is one of them).

----------

But truthfully, any SSD you put in there will make it feel like a new machine. :)
 

Acorn

macrumors 68030
Jan 2, 2009
2,642
349
macrumors
I would choose the Samsung 840 pro over others especially the crucial m4. if you look at the iops its almost double for the samsung for a much longer lasting drive. so you pay a little more biut it lasts longer.
 

Dominus Mortem

macrumors regular
Aug 3, 2011
233
62
I am very much liking the Sandisk SSD I bought. VERY fast. I had an Intel SSD that died after 6 months. The prices on the Sandisk are pretty reasonable. I've used their SD memory chips with great success as well. I would have bought a Samsung but the store I went to was out of stock, but I'm very happy with what I got instead.
 

Banan911

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2011
161
154
Aarhus, Denmark
Thank you for all your replies. I've been searching and reading a lot online since I posted my question. I have narrowed my search to Plextor M5 Pro, Corsair Neutron GTX, OCZ Vector and the OCZ Vertex 4.

I have read a lot about serious problems with Intel SSDs and especially the 520. Apparently there are huge problems with these disk and my MacBook Pro Late 2008 since the Mac runs with a Nvidia MCP79 controller.

Which SSD from my list would you buy and is there anyone out there using the Plextor M5 pro? It's the SSD I'm most keen on ;)
 
Last edited:

jjolaney

macrumors newbie
Jan 8, 2013
5
0
ssd

I have the one year older macbook pro 3,1. I recently replaced my harddrive because my hdd was failing, I used a 128gb Ocz Vertex 4. The only problem with using a ssd in these computers is that the drivers cant actuly go as fast as the hard drive. If your computer is going to be staying still and you are prety carfull with it I would sugest saving some money and geting a new hdd. The drivers in the computer can only handel 1.5 Gb/s but the ssd can do 6.0 Gb/s. Most hdds can do 3.0 or 1.5 Gb/s.

Hope this helps ,

John Laney
 

Banan911

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2011
161
154
Aarhus, Denmark
My MacBook Pro is a unibody, so it has SATA 2 and is able to handle 3.0 Gb/s. One reason for exchanging my drive with a SSD is also because it is much quiter ;)
 
Last edited:

kohlson

macrumors 68020
Apr 23, 2010
2,425
736
I put a Samsung 830 in my MBP15 2008. OWC in my MBP13 2010. And OCZ Vertex 4 in my Mac Pro. All work well, and best money I ever spent on improving performance. I wouldn't overthink this. OWC has great customer support. If you want more details, anandtech and tomshardware can make your eyes glaze over.
 

stonyc

macrumors 65816
Feb 15, 2005
1,259
1
Michigan
Samsung.

If not Samsung, then Intel.

If not Intel, then Crucial.

But seriously, since you asked for "best"... go with the Samsung.
 

Banan911

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2011
161
154
Aarhus, Denmark
It really bothers me that Samsung are the best drives. I want to avoid them because they are the worst copycats ever.

What are your opinions on Plextor drives? I'm thinking about the M5 pro and M5S ;)
 

js81

macrumors 65816
Dec 31, 2008
1,199
16
KY
Unless you plan on moving the drive to a newer Mac in the future, save some coin and get yourself an older SSD on the cheap - you can't use SATA III in a 2008 model anyway. Myself, I'm running a 120GB OCZ Agility 3 in my Macbook Pro and two 60GB OCZ Vertex R2s in my Mini.
 

Banan911

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2011
161
154
Aarhus, Denmark
I'm fully aware that my Mac does not take advantage of the full potential of the new SSDs, but the problem is that there are not that many old SSDs in the above 240 GB category :/
 
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