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dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
It's TLC. :(

I'd rather buy an 840 Pro or an M4.

True, it's TLC, but with the increased overprovisioning and the higher capacity, it should be roughly on par with the life cycles expected of a 256 MLC drive from the research I have been looking into online

At any rate, even TLC at this capacity should last much longer than I intend to keep the drive or my machine
 

Paratriplel

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2011
251
59
True, it's TLC, but with the increased overprovisioning and the higher capacity, it should be roughly on par with the life cycles expected of a 256 MLC drive from the research I have been looking into online

At any rate, even TLC at this capacity should last much longer than I intend to keep the drive or my machine

Can you and anyone else who reads this tell me why anyone should purchase the Pro over the standard?

I know you're telling me / us that we'll be just fine with the standard, but I would like to hear why anyone should buy the Pro.
So please, tell me the reason to put out an extra $200.. There must be at least some reason why people pay the extra $200 except for being uninformed/stupid and wanting to have the "best" (I know they get a very little extra speed and a little extra life for their SSD but to you it seems to be insignificant, and for me I guess it would be to, how much extra time would it last for 'normal' usage?).
I would love to hear some practical examples. Not xxx MB/s vs xxx MB/s... But real examples easy to relate to.

Thank you in advance :).
 

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
Can you and anyone else who reads this tell me why anyone should purchase the Pro over the standard?

I believe that the Pro version is slightly faster, but more importantly has more durable NAND and is intended for more consistent, heavy writing activities. Here is a good review article on the Pro version from Anandtech.com.
 

PinoyAko

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2012
272
1
I would like to apologize in advance if this is the wrong thread but I have a question.

If I RAID0 my Macbook with an SSD and HDD and I have a bootcamp. Am I going to experience significant performance increase on my Windows?
 

Paratriplel

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2011
251
59
I believe that the Pro version is slightly faster, but more importantly has more durable NAND and is intended for more consistent, heavy writing activities. Here is a good review article on the Pro version from Anandtech.com.


I've read it and it makes me want it very much :).

But let us play with the thought that the pro version was about $50 - $100 more expensive than the standard.
Would the decision be a lot easier?

I'm just trying to figure out which model I should buy if I don't look at the prices..
The biggest lesson I've learnt in life is that you get what you pay for..

Like right now, I feel so frustrated that I went for the 128 GB Samsung 830 SSD instead of the 256 GB... Everything would have been so much easier.
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
I've read it and it makes me want it very much :).

But let us play with the thought that the pro version was about $50 - $100 more expensive than the standard.
Would the decision be a lot easier?

I'm just trying to figure out which model I should buy if I don't look at the prices..
The biggest lesson I've learnt in life is that you get what you pay for..

Like right now, I feel so frustrated that I went for the 128 GB Samsung 830 SSD instead of the 256 GB... Everything would have been so much easier.

If prices didn't matter, of course get the pro.

However, it seems the non-pro for consumer uses is more than adequate and for me, is at a low enough price for me to take a risk (as prices are a concern for me)
 

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
I've read it and it makes me want it very much :).

But let us play with the thought that the pro version was about $50 - $100 more expensive than the standard.
Would the decision be a lot easier?

I'm just trying to figure out which model I should buy if I don't look at the prices..
The biggest lesson I've learnt in life is that you get what you pay for..

Like right now, I feel so frustrated that I went for the 128 GB Samsung 830 SSD instead of the 256 GB... Everything would have been so much easier.

I went with the 500GB 840 [non-Pro]. I did that because I do most of my heavy I/O writes to and external HDD. The speed, for me, is negligible because I have a 2010 iMac that only has SATA II, so I can never realize the 840's full potential in this machine.
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
I would like to apologize in advance if this is the wrong thread but I have a question.

If I RAID0 my Macbook with an SSD and HDD and I have a bootcamp. Am I going to experience significant performance increase on my Windows?

Why would you raid0? At least use the fusion drive implementation if you are looking to create a single volume. Without that SW logic, I feel you would largely be limited to hdd performance in that kind of set up (correct me if wrong)
 

slynger

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2010
153
12
I'll apologize ahead of time for what may be a silly question; while in the apple store today, I noticed they managed to slim down their entire macbook pro line. I'm going after a 13-inch model, but am curious if a SSD will fit in one of those being that I've never physically held one??

I imagine it would, just want to know for sure before I make the big purchase.
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
I'll apologize ahead of time for what may be a silly question; while in the apple store today, I noticed they managed to slim down their entire macbook pro line. I'm going after a 13-inch model, but am curious if a SSD will fit in one of those being that I've never physically held one??

I imagine it would, just want to know for sure before I make the big purchase.

It will fit in the classic mbp's (the ones with a dvd drive)

The retina ones you can not swap one in. However, all the retina ones come with a ssd
 

Paratriplel

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2011
251
59
Okay today is the day..

Samsung SSD 840 512 GB Pro - $575

Vs

Samsung SSD 840 500 GB - $390


I feel like going for the Pro.. Maybe I'm just crazy but I'm scared of buying something that might break.. I mean is years from now but all talk about it makes me scared!

Still would like if you convinced me with real life examples of what would be "different" with the Pro and the standard.
 

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
Okay today is the day..

Samsung SSD 840 512 GB Pro - $575

Vs

Samsung SSD 840 500 GB - $390


I feel like going for the Pro.. Maybe I'm just crazy but I'm scared of buying something that might break.. I mean is years from now but all talk about it makes me scared!

Still would like if you convinced me with real life examples of what would be "different" with the Pro and the standard.

You would only need to the Pro if you're going to do a lot of write actions to it, such as people in enterprise environments. Otherwise, for the average consumer, it's overkill and not a wise use of funds.
 

Paratriplel

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2011
251
59
You would only need to the Pro if you're going to do a lot of write actions to it, such as people in enterprise environments. Otherwise, for the average consumer, it's overkill and not a wise use of funds.

Well as I wrote before I produce and record a lot of music, also using my computer on stage when I perform.
Also doing some hobby video-editing and such..

Don't want to waste money, but it would be a big waste to buy something cheaper that breaks down than to buy something a little more expensive and reliable.
I mean it could mean a lot of problems for me if my disk crashed before one of my shows. I could get a new one and put my time machine backup on it. But that would take a lot of valuable time and my mood would probably not be too good..

Still trying to figure out what to do..

Got a cMacbook Pro 2012 (middle). I plan on keeping it for at least 2 more years.
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
i would do non pro. in a few years time, these drives will be much cheaper and availiable at higher capacities and you will be able to upgrade again for a lesser amt than the difference between these drives
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,138
15,606
California
Okay today is the day..

Samsung SSD 840 512 GB Pro - $575

Vs

Samsung SSD 840 500 GB - $390


I feel like going for the Pro.. Maybe I'm just crazy but I'm scared of buying something that might break.. I mean is years from now but all talk about it makes me scared!

Still would like if you convinced me with real life examples of what would be "different" with the Pro and the standard.

Maybe the chart below from this review at Anandtech will help you decide.

With the non-pro, even if you write 10GB a day, every single day... it will last you seven years. Remember, it is only write cycles you need to be concerned with. Reading from the drive does not wear it out. IMO, unless you are sure you will significantly exceed the 10GB daily writes mentioned in this article, the price premium for the Pro is not worth it.

screenshot20130303at936.png
 

2ms

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2002
444
71
I can't believe how inexpensive these drives are at the moment. Can anyone give me advice on a good way to utilize one for external storage through Thunderbolt? External Thunderbolt SSD drives seem overpriced and maybe swapping an SSD into a non-SSD Thunderbolt drive might be nice.
 

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
Maybe the chart below from this review at Anandtech will help you decide.

With the non-pro, even if you write 10GB a day, every single day... it will last you seven years. Remember, it is only write cycles you need to be concerned with. Reading from the drive does not wear it out. IMO, unless you are sure you will significantly exceed the 10GB daily writes mentioned in this article, the price premium for the Pro is not worth it.

Image

And those numbers are based on a very conservative write amplification factor of 10x. Consumer workloads rarely have WAs higher than 3-5x, which improves the endurance even more.

I did some more consumer relevant calculations here.

I can't believe how inexpensive these drives are at the moment. Can anyone give me advice on a good way to utilize one for external storage through Thunderbolt? External Thunderbolt SSD drives seem overpriced and maybe swapping an SSD into a non-SSD Thunderbolt drive might be nice.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-GoFle...362346055&sr=8-1&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt

And then add 2.5" SSD of your choice.
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
Maybe the chart below from this review at Anandtech will help you decide.

With the non-pro, even if you write 10GB a day, every single day... it will last you seven years. Remember, it is only write cycles you need to be concerned with. Reading from the drive does not wear it out. IMO, unless you are sure you will significantly exceed the 10GB daily writes mentioned in this article, the price premium for the Pro is not worth it.

Image

If you have 16gigs of ram and you want to keep a sleep image, does this mean that if you sleep your computer 2x a day, you will be greatly exceeding that 10GB a day estimate? By my math, two sleeps a day (common for me) writes out 32gigs to the hdd currently.

This is on top of whatever else I would be using/writing throughout the day
 

Paratriplel

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2011
251
59
If you have 16gigs of ram and you want to keep a sleep image, does this mean that if you sleep your computer 2x a day, you will be greatly exceeding that 10GB a day estimate? By my math, two sleeps a day (common for me) writes out 32gigs to the hdd currently.

This is on top of whatever else I would be using/writing throughout the day

I was convinced to go for the non-Pro and that I previously just tried to find a reason to buy the Pro without having the need for it.

But if this is the case I'm not sure anymore. Dammit. I was just about to order!
(I only have 8 GB Ram but still..)

And as I said I record music, not a lot but pretty much in periods.
And well.. a wav might usually not be that big, but when you record and do a lot of takes I guess it builds up to a pretty big amount of space.

Just checked one of my recent recordings (1 song) and it's over 800 MB and that's just the files that I've saved.

Maybe I should go for the Pro anyway?
This is my last doubt! I will go with whatever the next person in this thread says. Just want to order, relax and feel I've made a good decision!

I really appreciate all help I'm getting btw.
And even though I said that I probably want to keep my computer for 2 years, I might keep it longer if it suits my needs, otherwise I might sell it (with the SSD in it if I don't find another use for it)
 
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