500GB 7200 vs Apple SSD

[SoCalRich]

I'm getting a new MBP and I'm debating between a 500GB 7200 hard drive and a Apple 128 GBSSD drive. Speed and reliability are concerns I have between the 2 choices. I will be using Photoshop. No games.

I have heard that the Apple SSD isn't that much faster then the 7200 hard drive and the hard drive is more reliable.

Any opinions???

All input would be welcome.

Thanks...

 

[gent11]

The same Q I had as well... but after reading bunch of tests and the forum, I've decided to put SSD purchase on hold till the end of 2010:

1. SSD are not fully supported by OSX
2. Apple's SSD are not the best available out there (I hate not having the best available option in my new shiny macbook pro )
3. the prices are the way too high
4. hopefully, the next gen. of ssd will be available in q4 + prices will go down for sure.

Very subjective though.

regards

 

[wrboyce]

I love my C300, the difference is unreal.

Watch.

 

[barefeats]

There is no such thing as foolproof storage. You'll want a backup plan for whatever you choose.

As for the Apple SSD option, it's not as fast as the fastest third party SSDs, but it is twice as fast as the fastest 500G 7K notebook HDD for large sequential transfers and three times faster for small random transfers. As for number of transactions per second, it can handle 400 times more per second than the fastest notebook HDD.

I, however, would choose at least a 256GB SSD so you have adequate space for OS, apps, and data.

 

[barefeats]

I love my C300, the difference is unreal.

Watch.

I've tested the C300. Unless you have it on a 6Gbps host adapter, it's slower than the OWC Mercury Extreme and Crucial M225 for both small random and large sequential transfers.

 

[huythanhv2]

<bump>

So since ppl started receiving the CTO Macbook, anyone care to have a look to identify which 7200rpm harddrive Apply put in the unit?

 

[Mark Booth]

<bump>

So since ppl started receiving the CTO Macbook, anyone care to have a look to identify which 7200rpm harddrive Apply put in the unit?

Robert (barefeats) should be able to answer that as I believe he got the 7200rpm drive option. But, for data point sake, the 500GB 5400rpm drive that came in my MBP i7 was a Hitachi.

As for Apple's SSDs... If you want to go with SSD, I urge you to skip Apple's offerings and order you MBP with the default 5400rpm hard drive. Then decide on which SSD suits your budget and size requirements and save money by buying it and installing it yourself. It takes 10 minutes.

Robert has said he'll be posting a shootout of SSDs tested in the new MBP to his site soon.

Mark

 

[huythanhv2]

Robert (barefeats) should be able to answer that as I believe he got the 7200rpm drive option. But, for data point sake, the 500GB 5400rpm drive that came in my MBP i7 was a Hitachi.

As for Apple's SSDs... If you want to go with SSD, I urge you to skip Apple's offerings and order you MBP with the default 5400rpm hard drive. Then decide on which SSD suits your budget and size requirements and save money by buying it and installing it yourself. It takes 10 minutes.

Robert has said he'll be posting a shootout of SSDs tested in the new MBP to his site soon.

Mark

Thanks Mark =) I already ordered the 7200rpm last week but i don't think i'll get it until next week so just want to know that piece of information in advanced =P Hope it is the Hitachi version that ppl gave many positive feedbacks

 

[Sowelu]

Received my new MBP with the stock 512GB SSD (Toshiba). It's rediculously fast. I can't beleive the night and day difference over a regular HD (and over my Samsung SSD that I had last year). It boots in seconds, programs launch instantly, and the overall speed of the MacBook is completely noticeable.

I am not a benchmark person, but according to XBench, it's scoring almost 4 times faster than my 7200RPM HD in my other MBP (and more importantly, it feels 4X faster as well). I am sure other SSD's out there bench faster and *are* faster, but I really don't care. I am happy with 'instant and silent', so I am good to go.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Results 308.96

System Info

Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.6.3 (10D2094)
Physical RAM 8192 MB
Model MacBookPro6,2
Drive Type APPLE SSD TS512B

Sequential 211.29

Uncached Write 283.01 173.77 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 317.93 179.88 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 103.96 30.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 379.75 190.86 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 574.55

Uncached Write 363.58 38.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 450.17 144.11 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1997.73 14.16 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 671.32 124.57 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[JadeMonkee]

I am also in this situation.
I was wondering, if I choose the HDD now, then decide to move over to a SSD later, will buying and installing my own SSD void the Apple Care warranty?
Or are the happy for me to open up the Macbook myself and install whatever I want?
Cheers.

 

[breathesrain]

I am also in this situation.
I was wondering, if I choose the HDD now, then decide to move over to a SSD later, will buying and installing my own SSD void the Apple Care warranty?
Or are the happy for me to open up the Macbook myself and install whatever I want?
Cheers.

No. But if you ever have to send it in, be sure to take out your non-Apple drive, as there have been stories of Apple sending laptops back with a different, standard drive in place of a custom one.

 

[lasuther]

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp19.html

SSD is a big improvement

 

[Psion]

Hi Sowelu,

your experience sounds amazing, thinking hard about getting i7 and 512gb ssd myself.
few questions: do you have i5 or i7? is the mbp getting hot at all? 15 or 17 inch? and most important: can you post the ssd model number from system information? Mine is a hdd Hitachi HTS723232L9SA62 so not very new as you can see. That would allow all of us to do some research and make some predictions on longevity etc.

Thank you very much!

 

[involver]

I've tested the C300. Unless you have it on a 6Gbps host adapter, it's slower than the OWC Mercury Extreme and Crucial M225 for both small random and large sequential transfers.

In your test the C300 looks faster than everything except the Mercury?
http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp19.html

In the UK the Mercury is not easily available so I am thinking of getting a Crucial drive. The C300 does not cost much more than the M225 and uses better performing, newer technology so seems to be the best choice in this situation?