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To TRIM or not to TRIM?

Do you use TRIM Enabler for your SSD?

  • Total voters
    68
  • Poll closed .
M

Minhthien

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2011
444
0
Those with upgraded SSD....Do you use TRIMEnabler or not and why?

My order for Intel 320 120gb will be here soon. I am taking the slower route as the SATA 3 seem like there are some problems. I did do a research and found so many people said TRIM enabler actually slow down their boot time. Please tell me your experiences about upgrade your SSD! Cheers!
 
I used it with my Intel X25-M G2 160 GB. Didn't notice any real difference.
 
I'm not particularly up to date on this subject, I remember the old terminal TRIM enabler caused more problems then it fixed. I don't know about the new one i don't bother my SSD seems to be running fine with garbage collection alone.
 
My SSD has a SandForce controller, which is supposed to TRIM on-the-fly. Had it over a year and Ive never noticed any slow-downs.
 
Since it's an Intel SSD I would suggest trying out TRIM. Intel SSDs don't have garbage collection that's OS independent so TRIM is very useful when using an Intel SSD. Sandforce based SSDs do not necessarily need TRIM as much as Intel SSDs do due to their garbage collection that's OS independent.
 
superericla said:
Since it's an Intel SSD I would suggest trying out TRIM. Intel SSDs don't have garbage collection that's OS independent so TRIM is very useful when using an Intel SSD. Sandforce based SSDs do not necessarily need TRIM as much as Intel SSDs do due to their garbage collection that's OS independent.
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Thanks for suggesting this! I will try once it arrive. I also heard that you need to upgrade the firmware of the SSD or is that for window only?
 
Minhthien said:
Thanks for suggesting this! I will try once it arrive. I also heard that you need to upgrade the firmware of the SSD or is that for window only?
Click to expand...

Firmware updates are typically a good thing to do. They can increase your transfer speed or reliability depending on the update.
 
superericla said:
Firmware updates are typically a good thing to do. They can increase your transfer speed or reliability depending on the update.
Click to expand...

Btw I did went on Intel site but all the firmware update are for windows user. Lets say if i can find the firmware for OS X I can update the firmware after I install a fresh OS X?
 
Minhthien said:
Btw I did went on Intel site but all the firmware update are for windows user. Lets say if i can find the firmware for OS X I can update the firmware after I install a fresh OS X?
Click to expand...

Eh I went through the same problem. It's not specifically for Windows..just burn the files to a disc and try it. Mine wouldn't update the firmware inside my MBP but I put the SSD in a Win laptop with only OSX installed..updated without any problems. You don't need to install a fresh copy of OSX either. I didn't notice any difference between using TRIM and not and updating the firmware..
YMMV though.
 
Jazojas12 said:
Eh I went through the same problem. It's not specifically for Windows..just burn the files to a disc and try it. Mine wouldn't update the firmware inside my MBP but I put the SSD in a Win laptop with only OSX installed..updated without any problems. You don't need to install a fresh copy of OSX either. I didn't notice any difference between using TRIM and not and updating the firmware..
YMMV though.
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Do you know if I can put the SSD in my PC Window Desktop Towel and preform the firmware upgrade? I don't have a laptop and not sure if they use the same power between laptop and desktop SSD? Thanks for your help!
 
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I just downgraded from a Micron C400 to an Intel 320. All I can say is this computer is now usable again! No more random hiccups browsing the web. No more SC2 players telling me to upgrade my %^&#$@ internet connection when it's actually the SSD freezing. It's great!

I enabled TRIM on mine cause Anandtech suggested it for this drive. I didn't upgrade the firmware to v1.7 cause I can't tell what version I have (4PC10302) but this thing is still pretty fast. The drive was made in May of this year and the firmware upgrade seems like it was released in January - so I'm hoping I have the latest one. Anyway, I can boot w/o any gears showing and Photoshop and the like open in one bounce.

Compared to the Micron/Crucial m4, I can definitely tell a speed difference - the difference being this ACTUALLY WORKS! =) But seriously, both drives are fast and for my everyday stuff I cannot tell a difference. I can confidently say the Intel 320 is a great choice.
 
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kappaknight said:
I just downgraded from a Micron C400 to an Intel 320. All I can say is this computer is now usable again! No more random hiccups browsing the web. No more SC2 players telling me to upgrade my %^&#$@ internet connection when it's actually the SSD freezing. It's great!

I enabled TRIM on mine cause Anandtech suggested it for this drive. I didn't upgrade the firmware to v1.7 cause I can't tell what version I have (4PC10302) but this thing is still pretty fast. The drive was made in May of this year and the firmware upgrade seems like it was released in January - so I'm hoping I have the latest one. Anyway, I can boot w/o any gears showing and Photoshop and the like open in one bounce.

Compared to the Micron/Crucial m4, I can definitely tell a speed difference - the difference being this ACTUALLY WORKS! =) But seriously, both drives are fast and for my everyday stuff I cannot tell a difference. I can confidently say the Intel 320 is a great choice.
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Great! Did you go in to the terminate and type those code after you TRIM it? So i don't have to worry about firmware upgrade for now. I did went to Intel forum and seem like the 320 is having alot of issues too but newegg review gave them straight 5 Stars! Anyway I will find out real soon.
 
I installed Kingston Hyper X 8gb 1600mhz and Intel 320 120gb tonight. I did apply TRIM and ran couple test. Please tell me if these score sounds familiar to you guys!

System: MBP 13' i7 and 8gb ram
Geekbench Score: 7111
AJA testing at 1gb: Write: 127.6 mb/s and read: 236.4 mb/s
Boot time: 12.8 second

I also tested my desktop with 7200rpm drive and it only read at 51.3 mb/s and write 52.4 mb/s! :) So far i am pretty happy! Everything snap when open! Everything so fast I must getting used to it!
I did test the sleep mode and have no problem with wakeing up.
 
Minhthien said:
I also tested my desktop with 7200rpm drive and it only read at 51.3 mb/s and write 52.4 mb/s! :) So far i am pretty happy! Everything snap when open! Everything so fast I must getting used to it!
I did test the sleep mode and have no problem with wakeing up.
Click to expand...

You're comparing SSDs to conventional hard drives?
 
I'm using Trim, but since "Trim Enabler" installs an old version kext I rather hex-edited the current kext. It's quite easy anyway (just change two instances of "Apple SSD" to the name of your own drive).
 
Timur said:
I'm using Trim, but since "Trim Enabler" installs an old version kext I rather hex-edited the current kext. It's quite easy anyway (just change two instances of "Apple SSD" to the name of your own drive).
Click to expand...

i think the latest version of Trim Enabler uses kext from 10.6.8.
 
I tried TRIM a couple of times, on 10.6.7 and 10.6.8, with a Vertex 3.

I got lockups — every once and a while, the computer became totally unresponsive for a minute or so.
 
Sidnicious said:
I tried TRIM a couple of times, on 10.6.7 and 10.6.8, with a Vertex 3.

I got lockups — every once and a while, the computer became totally unresponsive for a minute or so.
Click to expand...

if ur SSD already has garbage collection baked in the firmware, it's recommend that u do not use Trim Enabler.
 
I have an OWC SSD with garbage collection and now an intel 320 model. Since the the intel does not offer garbage collection I opted to enable the TRIM feature even if that means that I take a bit of a hit on the OWC SSD's performance.

Overall since enabling the feature last night things are working well for me.
 
Intel 160GB G2

After a year I started to feel a slowdown and finally updated the SSD FW to the latest and ran Trim enabler. Booting is faster (measurable) and the machine feels snappier.
 
Minhthien said:
Great! Did you go in to the terminate and type those code after you TRIM it? So i don't have to worry about firmware upgrade for now. I did went to Intel forum and seem like the 320 is having alot of issues too but newegg review gave them straight 5 Stars! Anyway I will find out real soon.
Click to expand...

No, since the drive is new besides what I just loaded on there, I did not erase the free space and run the commands afterwards. TRIM starts working after you delete stuff, so... not really necessary on a new drive.
 
kappaknight said:
No, since the drive is new besides what I just loaded on there, I did not erase the free space and run the commands afterwards. TRIM starts working after you delete stuff, so... not really necessary on a new drive.
Click to expand...

You realize enabling TRIM on a new drive is when you want to enable it, not when you've used it a while. That way the OS can communicate to the drive on what blocks were deleted. You only wan to erase free space when you enable trim on a used SSD.

I have a new intel 120gb and enabled it just for that reason.
 
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