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Just bought a 2011 refurb mini - which SSD

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dancook99

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
34
0
Hello all,

I just bought a 2011 refurb mini 2.5 GHz i5 to complement my aTV 2 JB and Roku XD that will be hooked to an A/V Receiver via HDMI to run Handbrake and Plex.

Delivery is scheduled for next week and, in the meantime, I'd like to order an SSD to replace the original HD.

Posts regarding this are now outdated so, I was thinking about this one:

OCZ Technology 256GB Vertex 4 Series SATA 6.0 GB/s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) With Industry's Highest 120K IOPS And 5-Year Warranty - VTX4-25SAT3-256G

(edit) typo in the title: Just bought

Would you suggest something else?
 
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goy091

macrumors newbie
Dec 7, 2011
22
0
I have a Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB SSD. No complaints. Make sure if you get the Samsung you get the PRO version and not the regular 840.

Also have a Crucial M4 which seems pretty solid in another computer.
 
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eyepea

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2012
91
0
I am running the OCZ Agility 3 240GB (the Vertex's cheaper cousin). It is good. Very fast, but certainly not the fastest. If I was going to replace my Agility 3 I would be getting the Vertex 4 for sure.

You will get some 'OCZ haters' though :) Just wait...
 
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dancook99

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
34
0
there is a multitude of models, sizes, speed, etc. which made me compare and look for pros, cons and prices. I finally went for a OCZ Vertex 3 240 GB refurb at newegg.

Thanks all for your input.

Giuly: I like your location :D
 
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Aries326

macrumors 6502
Dec 28, 2007
315
0
Will the MacMini run warmer or cooler with an SSD? I have a mid-2011 Server Edition with the QuadCore i7 2.0ghz processor.
 
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mdgm

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2010
1,665
406
It should run cooler. SSDs don't spin, whereas hard drives have spinning components that give off heat.
 
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Aries326

macrumors 6502
Dec 28, 2007
315
0
That's what I thought. I read on some other website that a user claimed his Mini was actually hotter with 2 SSDs. It didn't make sense. Maybe it depends on what SSD. Definitely planning on getting an SSD for my mini. Most likely the Samsung 840 Pro that the other users have suggested.
 
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vandrv

macrumors 6502
Jan 27, 2008
265
28
I'm in the same boat as the original poster. I just received an I7 refurb and have ordered an SSD to replace the hard drive. I ordered the Samsung 840 but not the pro version. Was this a bad choice? Should I return it and get the pro version? Is there that much of a difference? I am mainly going to use this computer to edit photographs in Lightroom 4 and Photoshop. I am replacing an Imac that is choking on files from the Nikon D800. Thanks for any advice.
 
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blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
@vandrv Yes, the 840 non Pro is not very fast in Writing. And you will need that as scratch disk for huge photo files. You are better off with a OZC Vertex, Samsung 830 or 840 Pro, as they get close to max SATA-III throughput in writing too.
But you can also consider using 4Gb of RAM as first scratch disk, and use the SSD as backup for that if it runs full.
 
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mdgm

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2010
1,665
406
Aries326 said:
That's what I thought. I read on some other website that a user claimed his Mini was actually hotter with 2 SSDs. It didn't make sense. Maybe it depends on what SSD. Definitely planning on getting an SSD for my mini. Most likely the Samsung 840 Pro that the other users have suggested.
Click to expand...

I gues that depends on how fan control works. You can override the fan control to make the fan run faster and louder and cool the system more if you want to.
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,323
12,445
"Will the MacMini run warmer or cooler with an SSD?"

I boot my Mini with an IBM 520 series drive, laying in a plugable.com "lay-flat" USB3/SATA docking station (which sits in an out-of-the-way area on my desk).

Sitting "in the open", the SSD barely gets warm to the touch, even after hours of use.
By "barely warm", I don't even mean "warm", per se -- rather, when you place a finger on it, you can feel that it's not "cold", but it's not really "warm", either….a
 
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