Another ssd uni body mac mini question

[byke]

Hi there,
I have last years alloy uni body mac mini and hope to upgrade the harddrive to something like a 120gb SSD ....

Now, I know the hard drive needs to be 9.5mm thick ....
But I am stuck in regards to SATA or SATA II (I dont really know the difference between the 2).

Basically I just dont want to buy the wrong hard drive and find out it doesn't work/fit.

My local store sell these drives : http://www.webhallen.com/hardvara/datorkomponenter/harddiskar/ssd-solid_state/release

I had my eye on a intel ssd 120gb ... but it was only 7mm thick ..... (would that work?)

Obviously I could order from another store if there is any other drives that are newer and better?


Any help?

Cheers

 

[Transporteur]

There are no SATA II SSD's out there, so you can buy whatever drive you like.

The difference between SATA I and II is only the speed. SATA I has a maximum practical throughput of ~ 135MB/s, SATA II is good for ~275MB/s.
The Mini is SATA II compatible so don't worry about that.

Generally, the Intel drives whip with a 2.5mm spacer (already mounted on the drive) so that's not an issue. If any, a thinner drive doesn't make a difference as it is still equipped with the standardised mounting holes.

 

[mdgm]

But I am stuck in regards to SATA or SATA II (I dont really know the difference between the 2).

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA

Either would be fine with the Mac Mini.

I had my eye on a intel ssd 120gb ... but it was only 7mm thick ..... (would that work?)

I don't know, but OWC ones work and tend to be recommended: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/Mercury_Extreme_SSD_Sandforce/Solid_State_Pro

OWC have even posted installation videos: http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

 

[philipma1957]

buy the 120 intel

your site reads 1990 Kroner if it is swedish kroner the price is about 300 usd.

it is an okay price. I have placed about 20 intel ssd's in mac mini's my failure rate is 0% all 20 still work fine after 1 year. For reliability I have found the intel to work great. Owc has good service and good gear but they are usa based so shipping will cost you.

if you want one from them this one is on sale 480 usd but it is 240gb

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/SSDMX240/

 

[byke]

Cheers Guys,
yes I am based in stockholm, sweden at the moment so postage and import taxes can be a pain as overall it can work out more pricey when I order from the states if I get caught for taxes etc (plus it can be a pain if anything goes wrong).

OCZ drives are also available over here, but I havent looked too much into those yet.

Thanks for all your input, its super appreciated.

 

[byke]

I forgot to ask ... does anyone know if there is any issues using the Intel SSD with dual booting (osx / win7) ? as I often need to use bootcamp to get into win7 for online TV.

Cheers

 

[dolphin842]

The OCZ Vertex 2 is probably the best bet out of the list you gave. It's faster than the Intel and has built-in garbage collection functions that the Intel doesn't. We have one running happily in a 2007 MacBook.

 

[byke]

It seems I am little stuck for availability ... I can get a intel 120gb, but need to travel to another of their shops an hour out of town .... the other option is the OCZ 120GB Vertex 2 E Series SATA II 2.5" (SSD) (OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G) - but I cant figure out what the "E" stands for or if its super outdated?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[byke]

Just an update .......

I decided to hold of for a week or 2 as there is rumors of new drives from Intel this month ..... I thought either this may offer a better alternative or could result in the older drives going on sale.

Anyone know if the New Intel 510 SSD drives would work ok in a Unibody Mini?

 

[hwojtek]

An SSD is exactly like a hard drive but it uses a different media. And yes, they will. They have a standarized I/O which is called SATA protocol. It is extremely rare (though it happens just from time to time, like with the Momentus XD hybrid drive) for a SATA-interfaced disk not to work properly with any SATA host. No need to worry.

 

[klm123]

The OCZ Vertex 2 is probably the best bet out of the list you gave. It's faster than the Intel and has built-in garbage collection functions that the Intel doesn't. We have one running happily in a 2007 MacBook.

Not to try and hijack this thread, but does the garbage collection feature work as good as trim? I've heard yes and no debates, but I believe that most of the readings were from non-users, speaking from a theoretical standpoint. I am back and forth between the OWC Mercury Extreme pro SSD and the OCZ Vertex 2. I just keep reading, and changing my mind.

 

[dolphin842]

Not to try and hijack this thread, but does the garbage collection feature work as good as trim? I've heard yes and no debates, but I believe that most of the readings were from non-users, speaking from a theoretical standpoint. I am back and forth between the OWC Mercury Extreme pro SSD and the OCZ Vertex 2. I just keep reading, and changing my mind.

From what I've been able to read, TRIM/garbage collection are functionally equivalent but TRIM has the advantage of operating when the computer is being used (hardware-based GC needs downtime to operate).

Also, in some cases the SSD can waste garbage collecting effort without TRIM. For example, if you do not empty your Trash very often, hardware-based GC will use read/write cycles to organize the stuff in the Trash. Without an explicit deletion cue from the OS, the SSD has no way to determine if the data is worth shuffling around or not. The TRIM command essentially gives that cue to the drive not to waste cycles organizing data it doesn't need to.

At the end of day, benchmarkers who use standard SSD stress tests tend to find that hardware-based GC does the job just fine.

 

[klm123]

From what I've been able to read, TRIM/garbage collection are functionally equivalent but TRIM has the advantage of operating when the computer is being used (hardware-based GC needs downtime to operate).

Also, in some cases the SSD can waste garbage collecting effort without TRIM. For example, if you do not empty your Trash very often, hardware-based GC will use read/write cycles to organize the stuff in the Trash. Without an explicit deletion cue from the OS, the SSD has no way to determine if the data is worth shuffling around or not. The TRIM command essentially gives that cue to the drive not to waste cycles organizing data it doesn't need to.

At the end of day, benchmarkers who use standard SSD stress tests tend to find that hardware-based GC does the job just fine.

So, do you know if the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro offers garbage collection?