Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MBP SSD question

A

ArmouredGuitar

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2004
94
0
Canada
Hi Guys,

Just picked up a 15" MBP to replace my 2006 macpro (this machine feels faster then my first gen pro, Possible right? lol), but it not BTO and I want to toss in a SSD over the stock 5400 hdd. I have been browsing and trying to read about trim support and etc.

I couldn't find a definitive answer else where in a post, so could someone inform me the correct things I need to do to install a proper SSD. I read in another post that mac os only offers trim support for the apple sdds, is this still the case?
If it is, what brand would people recommended that offers trim support? Also on a side note, would i be able to toss new sdd in my mac pro to format it to the correct format?
 
Last edited:
TRIM support is natively supported in Lion (10.7). This means, as far as I know, all SSDs that support TRIM will work with it enabled in Lion.

For installing the drive itself, look here, or anywhere online really, there are plenty of guides :)
 
TheAppleSource said:
TRIM support is natively supported in Lion (10.7). This means, as far as I know, all SSDs that support TRIM will work with it enabled in Lion.
Click to expand...

I read this from another websites forum post, it was posted last week. So I was wondering if this is still the case.


"Apple by default only enables the TRIM support for their own supplied drives, and you need to run an enabler to get it working on other drives."
 
That is still true. Apple only natively enables the TRIM function for their OEM SSDs. Almost all other SSD support it currently, but it must be enabled through running the TRIM enabler or enabling through terminal commands (this is my preferred method as early on the TRIM enabler caused issues for some). If you do enable it on a third party SSD when the OS is updated (i.e. from 10.7.2 to 10.7.3, etc) then you will need to reenable it through your preferred method after the update (as it will disabled once again).
 
By going with a Sandforce controlled drive like a Vertex 3, which has very effective built in "garbage collection" you don't really need trim.

I've had my Vertex 3 for a year now, and DiskSpeedTest verifies that the SSD reads and writes just as fast as the day I installed it.
 
You can enable TRIM with TRIM Enabler.

TRIM works for all SSDs, however it is only officially supported and automatically functional with Apple installed drives.

As for whether you need TRIM or not, the likelihood is you won't. TRIM was designed for early drives that had terrible garbage collection, this is now not a huge issue with any of the current drives on the market. You may need it if you are doing many writes and rewrites every day (and large ones, at that).

I'd disable the sudden motion sensor for the SSD by entering the following into Terminal:
Code: 
sudo pmset -a sms 0
then:
Code: 
sudo pmset -g
to ensure that the setting has been applied.

I'd also disable safe sleep mode, which is largely unnecessary in Lion, whether or not you have "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps":
Code: 
sudo pmset hibernatemode 0

This stops the contents of your memory being written to the disk when putting the system to sleep, which will also speed up sleep times.

Also, while Sandforce drives do have the best garbage collection out of all the drives out there, other drives still don't require TRIM.
 
Thanks for the helpful information Lamboman!

Another question, do I need to do anything special if I was to partition a section for bootcamp?

Also on a side note, I was looking between the OCZ Agility and Vertex lines, is there much of a difference?

Cheers!
 
ArmouredGuitar said:
Thanks for the helpful information Lamboman!

Another question, do I need to do anything special if I was to partition a section for bootcamp?
Click to expand...
Nope, just partition away!

ArmouredGuitar said:
Also on a side note, I was looking between the OCZ Agility and Vertex lines, is there much of a difference?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

There is. While both use the same controller, one uses asynchronous NAND flash (Agility), while the other uses synchronous NAND (Vertex). Pretty much all of the SSD manufacturers are selling two different Sandforce drives like this.

In short, the Vertex, as with all synchronous NAND drives, does not see a large drop in performance when it comes to incompressible data. The Agility does. With synchronous NAND SSDs costing only a little more than their asynchronous counterparts now, you really ought to spend the few extra dollars to get them.

As for Sandforce drives as a whole, they did have their reliability problems, and they were big. Now the situation has improved, however I'd still be wary just in case.

On a related note, the Crucial m4 gives high 4K randoms, which make up the majority day-to-day usage. Aside from this, even though its rated speeds don't suggest it, it is one of the fastest SSDs out there, has a fantastic reputation for reliability, and is fully Mac compatible for firmware updates. I'd strongly suggest it over the Vertex 3.

The Samsung 830 is another great choice, only issue is the lack of Mac firmware update compatibility.

And all SSDs are so fast that reliability should be the priority, not speed. SSD prices have come down recently making purchases tempting, but IMO that doesn't change the fact that the m4 is a strong contender.

If you have money to burn the Intel 520 is a Sandforce-based drive that offers improved reliability, however it's expensive, and I don't believe it's worth the money at all.
 
Well I took your advice and installed a Crucial M4 256GB Drive and tossed in 16Gig's of Ram.
She now screams......I timed the very second I clicked restart (used a stopwatch) to a restarted desktop. It took 16.49seconds!!!!!!!!!!

This is gonna be fun!.....makes my macpro 1.1 feel like it drives with square wheels up hill both ways in the winter!

Cheers,
Ag
 
Good choice! :D I have the M4 in my MBP too. At this point in time, I would not enable TRIM on the M4, as it seems more than capable of cleaning up garbage on its own. The Crucial does its own garbage cleaning when the disk is idle. From what I have read and personally witnessed, it seems to be pretty good at it too.
 
NickZac said:
Good choice! :D I have the M4 in my MBP too. At this point in time, I would not enable TRIM on the M4, as it seems more than capable of cleaning up garbage on its own. The Crucial does its own garbage cleaning when the disk is idle. From what I have read and personally witnessed, it seems to be pretty good at it too.
Click to expand...

Wanted to follow up on this. A month and a half later, my M4 runs the exact same read and write speed with data of all compression levels. Quite a few files have been moved in that time, and it is enough for me to believe those who say the Marvell controller is the best SSD controller in terms of garbage collection, and so I will not be enabling trim.
 
I have a related question and didn't want to start yet another SSD thread.

I have a 2008 MBP and I'm thinking of upgrading to SSD. I regularly clone my internal hard drive to an external drive. Would it be as easy as installing the new SSD and cloning it back from the external drive?

edit: there's like 5 different crucial m4 models. people have been recommending that brand/model from what I've been reading on here but which one should I get?
 
Last edited:
latestmonkey said:
I have a related question and didn't want to start yet another SSD thread.

I have a 2008 MBP and I'm thinking of upgrading to SSD. I regularly clone my internal hard drive to an external drive. Would it be as easy as installing the new SSD and cloning it back from the external drive?

edit: there's like 5 different crucial m4 models. people have been recommending that brand/model from what I've been reading on here but which one should I get?
Click to expand...

Yep, it's that easy.

Are you talking about on Newegg.com? I don't know why they do that. Get the cheapest one. They're all the same, other than the one kit they sell with a transfer cable.
 
latestmonkey said:
I have a related question and didn't want to start yet another SSD thread.

I have a 2008 MBP and I'm thinking of upgrading to SSD. I regularly clone my internal hard drive to an external drive. Would it be as easy as installing the new SSD and cloning it back from the external drive?

edit: there's like 5 different crucial m4 models. people have been recommending that brand/model from what I've been reading on here but which one should I get?
Click to expand...

Yes, I've done it several times with no issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back