Aftermarket SSD's

[Jazwire]

Pretty disappointed in the wait time for an Apple installed SSD, so guess I'll do it myself. (I've torn apart PC's for 20 years, I'll be ok.)

With that said, whats the best choice for an aftermarket SSD for the 2011 IMAC's that is shipping right now.

I know there are issues with some of the brands, and also new SSD models are coming out regularly.

(While I know I can MRoogle, but I don't want some old info from months ago, when something new might of come out in the last couple weeks.)

 

[Jazwire]

Trying to decide on:


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Intel 320 300GB $540
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167058

Pros: 300GB for $500 price range.
Cons: Sata II (Possibly only an issue if used as a TB drive later.) And outdated if I want to use it in my next machine in years to come.


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Intel 510 250GB $599
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167043

Pros: Sata III (Faster if used as a TB ext drive.) Newer Tech/Futureproof.
Cons: $60 more and 50 GB less space.


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OCZ Vertex 3 240GB $545
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227707

Pros: Sata III ,Fastest Sata III drive.
Cons: Smallest Capacity , 60 gb smaller than 320, 10GB smaller than 510


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OCZ Vertex 2 240GB $429
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227591

Pros: Good $ per GB ratio.
Cons: Sata II, Old Tech


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Crucial RealSSD C300 $485
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148349

Pros: Sata III, 256 GB, Under $500
Cons: Performance / Reliability ????? (From what I've read Intel or OCZ have been superior.)


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Thoughts???
Suggestions???

 

[thaniel98]

You can not really go wrong with intel but you will pay a bit of a premium. My personal choice is OCZ. They have great customer support and will adjust the firmware based on customer input.

 

[cpalmer03]

does your SSD choice have to be mac formatted? how does this work? Or can you do any drive and format it after install?

 

[Weaselboy]

does your SSD choice have to be mac formatted? how does this work? Or can you do any drive and format it after install?

SSDs are not Mac specific. You can format any drive to the OS X file system and it will work.

 

[c613m]

I would go with the Vertex 3.

 

[nghix123]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

I have a vertex 3 in my 2011 iMac and im never going back to a regular HDD again.

 

[MrXiro]

I had the C300 and I loved it... I sold it when I sold my MBP and got a MBA. Now I'm looking into the Crucial M4.

 

[Besk one]

I picked up a OWC SATA3 240GB Mercury Extreme 6G and LOVE it, my boss was so impressed he replaced his SuperDrive in his 17" MBP with one.

Super fast and I like the build quality and the Sandforce controller (no need for TRIM)

I almost got an Intel 510, but am glad I went with the OWC it's been rock solid so far.

 

[redbotsoftware]

I picked up a OWC SATA3 240GB Mercury Extreme 6G and LOVE it, my boss was so impressed he replaced his SuperDrive in his 17" MBP with one.

Super fast and I like the build quality and the Sandforce controller (no need for TRIM)

I almost got an Intel 510, but am glad I went with the OWC it's been rock solid so far.

I agree with this. I have the older OWC in my Macbook, very fast, no slow down over time. The Sanforce is way better then TRIM, just do a little research.

I've considered the 6G for my new iMac, but I'd rather wait for the thunderbolt external drives, hey isn't that suppose to be out this summer?