SSD Buying Guide

Astroboy907 · Jan 20, 2014

Ok, so I just bought a used Mushkin Chronos mknssdcr240gb-dx drive, for a great price and am super excited about it. I have a 1tb WD scorpio blue drive currently, that I would like to not give up as I have tons of stuff. The SSD will be my boot, applications drive, and perhaps hold my photo library (IDK yet, still working this one out).

I just need some help with setup. I know I need a separate second drive caddy, I'm assuming just a cheap one from Amazon would work. I have a 2.5" USB SATA connector so I can access the drive. Do I just install the drive and move the OS over? What about fusion drive, anyone like this over two separate drives? Just need to answer a few questions so I do this right the first time. I'd love to keep the SSD in the optical drive bay, to keep the HDD drop sensor, but from what I've read it's not possible to boot from it there.

tranceaddict · Jan 23, 2014

Seems like I just missed a 480 GB sandisk extreme II at 299 USD in newegg. Amazon has had it at the same price for a day or two. Now they are selling Seagate 600 (480 GB) at the same price. Pretty tempting but I would probably wait for the sandisk since it has lower power consumption when idle.

81Tiger04 · Jan 25, 2014

I've got a Mid-2010 MBP and am looking to get a SSD to replace my 500GB HD? Any direction as to where to shop? Any recommendations as to what SSD to get?

ecschwarz · Jan 25, 2014

81Tiger04 said:
I've got a Mid-2010 MBP and am looking to get a SSD to replace my 500GB HD? Any direction as to where to shop? Any recommendations as to what SSD to get?

I'd check some of the sites that post regular deals on tech products (not sure if listing them would be breaking any forum rules), or you could also check Amazon. Samsung drives have been very popular on here and are a pretty good value. The 840 Evo should offer a significant improvement in performance and won't run into any SATA II/III compatibility issues (a few other drives tend to get flaky with SATA II connections, like on your MBP).

81Tiger04 · Jan 25, 2014

ecschwarz said:
I'd check some of the sites that post regular deals on tech products (not sure if listing them would be breaking any forum rules), or you could also check Amazon. Samsung drives have been very popular on here and are a pretty good value. The 840 Evo should offer a significant improvement in performance and won't run into any SATA II/III compatibility issues (a few other drives tend to get flaky with SATA II connections, like on your MBP).

Something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1390710900&sr=8-4&keywords=samsung+840

ecschwarz · Jan 25, 2014

81Tiger04 said:
Something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1390710900&sr=8-4&keywords=samsung+840

Yep - I got that exact one for my machine - I think it was about $10 less on Amazon and got Best Buy to price match. Just make sure that once you get any SSD installed that you enable TRIM (all throughout this thread, there's discussions about that) - I used this tool: http://www.groths.org/software/trimenabler/

Since your machine is a bit older, you won't be able to take advantage of the fastest speeds, but it still will be an excellent upgrade. As a reference, about 7 months ago, I put an regular 840 (Samsung's older "consumer" drive - slower write speeds than the 840 Evo) in a 2009 MacBook Pro and it made it feel as fast, if not faster than my brand new MacBook Pro that had a traditional hard drive.

If you're curious about some other SSDs, including the other members of the 840 family, the Wirecutter does a great job of outlining things: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-ssds/

MarvinHC · Jan 26, 2014

Samsung 840 Evo: I believe I have read somewhere in the forum (have read too many different things, sorry) that a firmware update of the SSD is needed before fitting it to a Macbook Pro. Is this still true? (I plan on putting one into an old Macbook Pro late 2008 unibody)

ecschwarz · Jan 26, 2014

MarvinHC said:
Samsung 840 Evo: I believe I have read somewhere in the forum (have read too many different things, sorry) that a firmware update of the SSD is needed before fitting it to a Macbook Pro. Is this still true? (I plan on putting one into an old Macbook Pro late 2008 unibody)

I did the firmware upgrade when I installed it just to get that out of the way - I grabbed the software from here - the "Mac" version ends up just downloading an .iso file that is the same as the PC version. For the best results, burn it to a DVD, not a CD, and not copied to a flash drive. This reboots into some sort of DOS-based tool that is not the most user friendly, but it works. Plus, doing this first will ensure that if it does fail (which I haven't heard too many problems of this), you can always return your drive before you put it into production. If you're talking about the Evo, you should be okay without the update:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html

MarvinHC · Jan 26, 2014

ecschwarz said:
I did the firmware upgrade when I installed it just to get that out of the way - I grabbed the software from here - the "Mac" version ends up just downloading an .iso file that is the same as the PC version. For the best results, burn it to a DVD, not a CD, and not copied to a flash drive. This reboots into some sort of DOS-based tool that is not the most user friendly, but it works. Plus, doing this first will ensure that if it does fail (which I haven't heard too many problems of this), you can always return your drive before you put it into production. If you're talking about the Evo, you should be okay without the update:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html

Thank you! In that case I will simply check what firmware is on mine once I get it. I hope I can avoid the update, I don't think I even have writable DVDs at home anymore.

heisenberg123 · Jan 27, 2014

whats all this firmware talk?

are you suppose to do this before putting OSX on the drive?

ecschwarz · Jan 27, 2014

heisenberg123 said:
whats all this firmware talk?

are you suppose to do this before putting OSX on the drive?

A lot of the SSDs have firmware updates that improve performance and efficiency (supposedly). I find doing it before setting it up (partitioning, erasing, installing OS X) works best, but you can do it with content on it (although you always run the risk of bricking it or losing your data).

heisenberg123 · Jan 27, 2014

ecschwarz said:
A lot of the SSDs have firmware updates that improve performance and efficiency (supposedly). I find doing it before setting it up (partitioning, erasing, installing OS X) works best, but you can do it with content on it (although you always run the risk of bricking it or losing your data).

So my best bet is install it than boot off an external clone, install firmware, than format and install osx?

ecschwarz · Jan 27, 2014

heisenberg123 said:
So my best bet is install it than boot off an external clone, install firmware, than format and install osx?

I can't speak for other drives, but on the Samsung ones, you just need to boot from their DVD. It boots into some sort of MS-DOS tool, runs the update, and then that's it. You could prepare that first, since you could do the firmware update without your original hard drive or a bootable copy of OS X playing into the equation.

Other than that, your steps make sense. You could also clone your old drive to your new one with a tool like Super Duper (http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html), Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/index.html), or Disk Utility...

heisenberg123 · Jan 28, 2014

ecschwarz said:
I can't speak for other drives, but on the Samsung ones, you just need to boot from their DVD. It boots into some sort of MS-DOS tool, runs the update, and then that's it. You could prepare that first, since you could do the firmware update without your original hard drive or a bootable copy of OS X playing into the equation.

Other than that, your steps make sense. You could also clone your old drive to your new one with a tool like Super Duper (http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html), Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/index.html), or Disk Utility...

thanks that makes more sense I was not thinking the DVD it comes with was bootable

ecschwarz · Jan 28, 2014

heisenberg123 said:
thanks that makes more sense I was not thinking the DVD it comes with was bootable

The one it comes with just has drivers and software for Windows - you'll have to download the .iso file and burn it to a DVD to use (the idea is that the SSD could be sitting on a shelf somewhere for a few months). You may even want to set it up, format it, install OS X, and check what version of firmware it's using - System Information will read and list it, as seen in the attached screenshot (also I just finished setting this machine up, so TRIM has not been enabled, as listed). To get the latest firmware, it's available on Samsung's site:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html

If you notice, it's also listed as EXT0BB6Q for the 840 Evo.

heisenberg123 · Jan 28, 2014

ecschwarz said:
The one it comes with just has drivers and software for Windows - you'll have to download the .iso file and burn it to a DVD to use (the idea is that the SSD could be sitting on a shelf somewhere for a few months). You may even want to set it up, format it, install OS X, and check what version of firmware it's using - System Information will read and list it, as seen in the attached screenshot (also I just finished setting this machine up, so TRIM has not been enabled, as listed). To get the latest firmware, it's available on Samsung's site:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html

If you notice, it's also listed as EXT0BB6Q for the 840 Evo.

thanks for the link

ManhattanBeach · Jan 28, 2014

Will upgrading to a SSD improve my rendering times in final cut pro? Or would i be better off upgrading from my current 4gb ram to 16gb? (or both

)

heisenberg123 · Jan 30, 2014

ecschwarz said:
The one it comes with just has drivers and software for Windows - you'll have to download the .iso file and burn it to a DVD to use (the idea is that the SSD could be sitting on a shelf somewhere for a few months). You may even want to set it up, format it, install OS X, and check what version of firmware it's using - System Information will read and list it, as seen in the attached screenshot (also I just finished setting this machine up, so TRIM has not been enabled, as listed). To get the latest firmware, it's available on Samsung's site:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html

If you notice, it's also listed as EXT0BB6Q for the 840 Evo.

so I ordered a 840 evo SSD

I downloaded the iso file burned it so its bootable and it made an IMG file is this correct?

so once my SSD arrives ill swap it with the current hard drive and insert the DVD with the firmware on, than will it update the firmware automatic or do I have to know some type of terminal commands?

ecschwarz · Jan 31, 2014

heisenberg123 said:
I downloaded the iso file burned it so its bootable and it made an IMG file is this correct?

It looks like they packaged an IMG file within the ISO file - I think that might have been a change. Let me look at the DVD I used (the one that worked) and see - I think the contents of that IMG file are what need to be on the DVD - if you look in that, it has some DOS classics like autoexec.bat and command.com. I'd hate to have you burning any extra DVDs, so I'll check that later tonight.

heisenberg123 said:
so once my SSD arrives ill swap it with the current hard drive and insert the DVD with the firmware on, than will it update the firmware automatic or do I have to know some type of terminal commands?

Once you install it physically in your computer, boot off the DVD and then it will automatically load a small utility - it's not the most user-friendly, but it basically prompts you for a few steps, does its thing, and then is done. Once done, you can reboot, format the drive, and then copy all of your stuff over (or do a clean OS X install).

I guess Samsung has a GUI-based utility that runs on Windows to update the firmware, but on the Mac, it's a bit more complicated...

heisenberg123 · Jan 31, 2014

ecschwarz said:
It looks like they packaged an IMG file within the ISO file - I think that might have been a change. Let me look at the DVD I used (the one that worked) and see - I think the contents of that IMG file are what need to be on the DVD - if you look in that, it has some DOS classics like autoexec.bat and command.com. I'd hate to have you burning any extra DVDs, so I'll check that later tonight.

Once you install it physically in your computer, boot off the DVD and then it will automatically load a small utility - it's not the most user-friendly, but it basically prompts you for a few steps, does its thing, and then is done. Once done, you can reboot, format the drive, and then copy all of your stuff over (or do a clean OS X install).

I guess Samsung has a GUI-based utility that runs on Windows to update the firmware, but on the Mac, it's a bit more complicated...

much appreciated if you can let me know if I have to do anything with that IMG file

MasturB · Jan 31, 2014

New here, just purchased my 13" Mid '12 MBP. I was leaning towards the Retina, but the advantage of upgrading the ram and HDD cheaper than buying at sale was just too much to pass up.uf Plus the fact Retina's don't allow you to put in new stuff was a deal breaker. I loved the retina's screen too as it would be great for photoshop but the one I got has a nice screen... not big enough of a gap to get it compared to the other pluses.

I purchased a 250gb Samsung Evo also, but I've been reading horror stories about it working with MacBooks.

I've read a ton of praise on Crucial drives in regards to being mac-friendly. Should I return the Evo and order the Crucial? I'm not in a hurry to switch out the HDD and put in the SSD. So don't mind a few days waiting to get it in the mail.

heisenberg123 · Jan 31, 2014

MasturB said:
New here, just purchased my 13" Mid '12 MBP. I was leaning towards the Retina, but the advantage of upgrading the ram and HDD cheaper than buying at sale was just too much to pass up.uf Plus the fact Retina's don't allow you to put in new stuff was a deal breaker. I loved the retina's screen too as it would be great for photoshop but the one I got has a nice screen... not big enough of a gap to get it compared to the other pluses.

I purchased a 250gb Samsung Evo also, but I've been reading horror stories about it working with MacBooks.

I've read a ton of praise on Crucial drives in regards to being mac-friendly. Should I return the Evo and order the Crucial? I'm not in a hurry to switch out the HDD and put in the SSD. So don't mind a few days waiting to get it in the mail.

Cruial is good too, where did you hear stories on the Evo? this thread has pages and pages of people recomending it

MasturB · Jan 31, 2014

heisenberg123 said:
Cruial is good too, where did you hear stories on the Evo? this thread has pages and pages of people recomending it

That's why I'm somewhat confused.

I was reading reviews on Amazon, I googled the process of switching it out and came up with several threads on Apple Discussion where people were recommending Crucial or OWC over Samsung.

I bought the Samsung because it's a brand name I trust, never heard of Crucial but after reading and doing some research I was surprised to see Crucial get better reviews than the EVO.

I think another issue was you have to update the EVO SSD but it won't work with MAC it has to be done with Windows? If that's the case I haven't had a Windows PC in years, I have an old Compaq PC with 512 ram and 80gigs memory... from 2002 and I think it'd take a millennium to update it on there.

heisenberg123 · Jan 31, 2014

MasturB said:
That's why I'm somewhat confused.

I was reading reviews on Amazon, I googled the process of switching it out and came up with several threads on Apple Discussion where people were recommending Crucial or OWC over Samsung.

I bought the Samsung because it's a brand name I trust, never heard of Crucial but after reading and doing some research I was surprised to see Crucial get better reviews than the EVO.

I think another issue was you have to update the EVO SSD but it won't work with MAC it has to be done with Windows? If that's the case I haven't had a Windows PC in years, I have an old Compaq PC with 512 ram and 80gigs memory... from 2002 and I think it'd take a millennium to update it on there.

ya firmware updates on a MAC do seem harder than on windows thats is my questions above yours trying to figure how to do it properly

I think you will be happy with the Samsung, but from what I read when deciding the Crucial also is just as good

MasturB · Jan 31, 2014

heisenberg123 said:
ya firmware updates on a MAC do seem harder than on windows thats is my questions above yours trying to figure how to do it properly

I think you will be happy with the Samsung, but from what I read when deciding the Crucial also is just as good

So to get the Crucial and return the Samsung or not, that is the question.

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