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$99 OCZ SSD 120GB - value?

It seems that some people are having reliability issues with this drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

Also, TRIM support has to do with garbage collecting and wiping data not in use anymore. I don't know too much about it though. Other users can tell you more.

But yea, I also want to know more about this drive. Perhaps there's someone here on Macrumors who has it. It really is a good deal.
 
ABadSanta said:
It seems that some people are having reliability issues with this drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
Click to expand...

good point - however it seems that those who have had problems are all windows users...so is it simply an issue that affects Win OS?

ABadSanta said:
Also, TRIM support has to do with garbage collecting and wiping data not in use anymore. I don't know too much about it though. Other users can tell you more.

But yea, I also want to know more about this drive. Perhaps there's someone here on Macrumors who has it. It really is a good deal.
Click to expand...
Ok, so this SSD should have the latest TRIM support? (not sure if I worded that correctly, I'm not too familiar with TRIM)
 
chuckflip53 said:
good point - however it seems that those who have had problems are all windows users...so is it simply an issue that affects Win OS?


Ok, so this SSD should have the latest TRIM support? (not sure if I worded that correctly, I'm not too familiar with TRIM)
Click to expand...

If people are experiencing freezes, I feel like that would have more to do with the drive. Don't quote me though, I'm not an SSD expert.

There would be support for TRIM for this SSD, yes. However I'm not sure how to go about it from there.
 
chuckflip53 said:
Ok, so this SSD should have the latest TRIM support? (not sure if I worded that correctly, I'm not too familiar with TRIM)
Click to expand...

I believe OCZ SSD's use a controller that has garbage collection built in, if that is indeed the case then TRIM support would be counter-productive.
 
maflynn said:
I believe OCZ SSD's use a controller that has garbage collection built in, if that is indeed the case then TRIM support would be counter-productive.
Click to expand...

The drive uses a Sandforce controller. It has GC (Grabage Collection) built into the controller, but that doesn't make TRIM counter-productive, just not as needed. TRIM and GC are built to work together. With aggressive GC TRIM is not needed as much, but I have found that the TRIM can really help a GC drive, as GC generally only works when the drive is idling, say at night. TRIM works interactively during deletions.

Having said that Sandforce based controllers are hit and miss with the OS X crowd. I have one (knocking on wood) it has performed flawless from the day I installed it. I have a different drive than this, but the OCZ drives haven't faired well in the past with the Mac crowd. This issues may have been resolved in newer firmwares though. It is not a bad price for this drive though.
 
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squeakr said:
The drive uses a Sandforce controller. It has GC (Grabage Collection) built into the controller, but that doesn't make TRIM counter-productive, just not as needed. TRIM and GC are built to work better. With aggressive GC TRIM is not needed as much, but I have found that the TRIM can really help a GC drive, as GC generally only works when the drive is idling, say at night. TRIM works interactively during deletions.
Click to expand...
Understood however people who have Sandforce equipped SSDs and enabled TRIM support in OSX have reported a performance drop - significant. So while I agree with you that they should not compete or impact performance, there has been reports of just that.
 
Agreed that there have been reports of throughput reductions, but the jury is still out if it is related to the drive, the way TRIM was enabled (the hack), or the compatibility issue. I have TRIM enabled and can't say as I have seen measure reduction in speed. IN fact after enabling it seemed that my drive became snappier. I didn't use the hack though and enabled through Terminal commands. Some who have used the enabler have had issues undoing it, so it is believed that the hack may have been the cause. Their is no definitive answer though.
 
squeakr said:
Having said that Sandforce based controllers are hit and miss with the OS X crowd. I have one (knocking on wood) it has performed flawless from the day I installed it. I have a different drive than this, but the OCZ drives haven't faired well in the past with the Mac crowd. This issues may have been resolved in newer firmwares though. It is not a bad price for this drive though.
Click to expand...

Two questions:
1. How long have you used your OCZ drive with your OSX?
2. Can you tell me based on the link if the firmware of this recently advertised drive has the issues resolved?
 
squeakr said:
Agreed that there have been reports of throughput reductions, but the jury is still out if it is related to the drive, the way TRIM was enabled (the hack), or the compatibility issue. I have TRIM enabled and can't say as I have seen measure reduction in speed. IN fact after enabling it seemed that my drive became snappier. I didn't use the hack though and enabled through Terminal commands. Some who have used the enabler have had issues undoing it, so it is believed that the hack may have been the cause. Their is no definitive answer though.
Click to expand...

There is a hack required to enable TRIM support with ALL ocz SSDs or just this particular one?

EDIT: Read through the SSD guide and saw this:
As of Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.6, TRIM is enabled on 2011 Macs with SSDs. OS X Lion is to add TRIM support for all Apple SSDs. As of DP4, third party SSDs are not supported. This may change in the future though. For third party SSDs, there is TRIM Enabler, but it is known to cause problems for some SSDs see the forum thread for more info).
Click to expand...
If I'm running Mac OS X 10.6.8 but on a 2010 Mac, does that mean I have TRIM support automatically enabled?

Thank you all for your responses
 
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To answer your questions,
I mentioned I didn't have this drive should have elaborated I guess as it does read misleadingly as I meant I have a Sandforce controller drive. I have a Corsair Force, didn't want to say which one to take over the discussion, so I can't mention about the firmware for the OCZ drives.

The TRIM enabler hack is required for all non-OEM SSD drives, no matter the controller or manufacturer. Only the drives from Apple have the TRIM enabled by default. All other require it to be enabled through other means.
 
squeakr said:
Agreed that there have been reports of throughput reductions, but the jury is still out if it is related to the drive, the way TRIM was enabled (the hack), or the compatibility issue. I have TRIM enabled and can't say as I have seen measure reduction in speed. IN fact after enabling it seemed that my drive became snappier. I didn't use the hack though and enabled through Terminal commands. Some who have used the enabler have had issues undoing it, so it is believed that the hack may have been the cause. Their is no definitive answer though.
Click to expand...

Correct, and I'm taking a very conservative approach where by the garbage collection logic in Sandforce controllers is quite good, so why risk slowing things down by hacking the system.
 
I am taking the risk as my machine never shuts dow, and it seems that to get the GC to work correctly, one has to leave the system idle while logged out at the log in screen, so nothing is running in the background (at least that is what some of the manufacturers have reported as being needed). I never lot out or shut down and it was such of an inconvenience for me that I enabled the TRIM. I in no way condone one way or the other.
 
maflynn said:
Correct, and I'm taking a very conservative approach where by the garbage collection logic in Sandforce controllers is quite good, so why risk slowing things down by hacking the system.
Click to expand...

Would you recommend, based on my computer, that I disregard turning on TRIM support once I install the SSD?
 
I would recommend you contact OCZ and get their answer. They made it and should know what is best.
 
I own 3 of the OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB drives and have them in two different machines for over 4 months now with no issues.

People bitch so much about OCZ SSDs but Ive owned 7 and never had any issues.
 
Orlandoech.com said:
I own 3 of the OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB drives and have them in two different machines for over 4 months now with no issues.

People bitch so much about OCZ SSDs but Ive owned 7 and never had any issues.
Click to expand...
Running windows or mac osx on one/both of those machines?
Also - what do you do regarding TRIM? (if anything)
 
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