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256gb SSD.

I

i0s

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 6, 2010
26
0
So I've exhausted myself researching these ssd's.

I'm looking for a drive no less than 200gb to store the os, programs, and media on.

I DO NOT want an intel because the size is too small and I don't want to wait 7 months for the new ones to come out.

I've heard of the corsair p256, crucial m225, and ocz vertex.
I need one that won't drastically degrade over time, or require some weird firmware upgrade work around.

I will not be using boot camp or partitioning anything for windows.

It also needs to be under $700 which all of the above are.

If anyone can help me choose from those three or from any alternatives, it would greatly reduce my stress.
Thanks in advance.
 
i0s said:
And this is for my 13 MacBook pro.
Click to expand...

You should include the Crucial C300 256GB drive in your research. BHphoto.... sells it for $660. I'm using the 128GB version and have had zero issues. It has native GC so it shouldn't slow down over time.

cheers
JohnG
 
Corsair recently came with the new F series, which has sandforce controllers, might be worth checking out
 
Not being a bitchh but I read pretty bad things about Crucial C300 RealSSD's latest firmware. Apparently its bricking the drives right and left. Even Anand Shimpi from Anandtech.com broke his.
 
I would suggest an optibay and having a regular hdd as a place to store media. That way you can get much more storage for cheaper and still get the speed of an ssd by getting a smaller one. If that is not an option then I would look real had at the OWC mercury pro. I have seen really good reviews about it. It is also competitively priced.
 
I forgot to mention I also don't want to do the opti bay option.
Any other opinions?
What are the major differences between the above? I know the c300 and m225 are different sata numbers, but that wouldn't make a difference to my MacBook pro, would it?
 
i0s said:
I forgot to mention I also don't want to do the opti bay option.
Any other opinions?
What are the major differences between the above? I know the c300 and m225 are different sata numbers, but that wouldn't make a difference to my MacBook pro, would it?
Click to expand...

It would, because the C300 is much faster than the M225. Its not because of the 6 Gbps SATA bandwidth of the C300, but because it has faster read / write speeds. Check benchmarks on Anandtech, they are very detailed.
 
When will the new corsair f series be out? And what's the price looking like for the f240?
 
i0s said:
I forgot to mention I also don't want to do the opti bay option.
Any other opinions?
What are the major differences between the above? I know the c300 and m225 are different sata numbers, but that wouldn't make a difference to my MacBook pro, would it?
Click to expand...

I have both: The C300 is indeed a fair bit faster and nearly the same price (128 and 256GB only) so it's a no-brainer to go C300 if you decide to go with crucial.
 
i0s said:
So I've exhausted myself researching these ssd's.

I'm looking for a drive no less than 200gb to store the os, programs, and media on.

I DO NOT want an intel because the size is too small and I don't want to wait 7 months for the new ones to come out.

I've heard of the corsair p256, crucial m225, and ocz vertex.
I need one that won't drastically degrade over time, or require some weird firmware upgrade work around.

I will not be using boot camp or partitioning anything for windows.

It also needs to be under $700 which all of the above are.

If anyone can help me choose from those three or from any alternatives, it would greatly reduce my stress.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I am too on the way to buy new MBP 17" and the hard drive is a big think
I know that is too early to buy the SSD its too expensive (the price will drop)
and its look like the final vertion is not out yet.
but the reson at the moment for me is the quiteness of the drive and the less heat it will use and of corse the battery
 
i0s said:
How does the c300 fair against the others listed?
Click to expand...

I have a C300 265GB and I am very happy about it.
The firmware bricks never happened with any Mac's was only with people using Gigabyte/Asus motherboards that supported Sata3, the MBP only has Sata2 which is already pretty fast.

My xbench score is above 400 even when the drive is full. I had speedissues with Fw1 but they are completely gone from the moment I used FW2

You should investigate pretty closely and there is a thread that compares speeds of SSD drives so I suggest you to take a look there as well.
 
Does anyone know when the new force series are coming out? I can't seem to find any info on release date or price.
 
And has anyone heard anything about the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro?
Basically its down to that and the c300.
 
http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp19.html

Here is a comparison of speeds of different SSDs. I Really think you should go with the OWC.

If you read down to the bottom they link to another article that tells how the OWC avoids degration so well. That seems to be the thing that most people are worried about. As far as speed it is super fast. I have looked around and this just seems like a no brainer to me. It looks perfect.
 
I just looked at that article actually.
But then I read elsewhere that it had major degradation. So many mixed opinions.

But it's definitely between those two.
 
I have a feeling that once you get one you will be happy either way. So I wouldn't stress too much over it.
 
Would both come with the updated firmware?
Or would I need to do that myself?
 
Any Sandforce-based SSD should be a good choice: e.g. OCZ Vertex 2, OCZ Agility 2, OWC Mercury Extreme...
 
i0s said:
Would both come with the updated firmware?
Or would I need to do that myself?
Click to expand...

No way to really tell not that it matters. No matter what, at some point of your ownership of the SSD you'll definitely want to flash the firmware; so you might as well learn how (not that it's hard at all).
 
i0s said:
Would both come with the updated firmware?
Or would I need to do that myself?
Click to expand...

Retailer supplied drives likely have rev 0001. Just guessing here but I would suspect Crucial supplied drives would have 0002. I suspect OWC drives will have the latest firmware. Both appear to have similar read/write speeds.

Note: Updating the firmware does require a Windows PC. It's a minor hassle once you know the sequence. Doing it the first time can be a bit of a headbanger.

cheers
JohnG
 
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