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Apple SSD vs. Vertex 3 in day-to-day work

N

nochnia

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 25, 2011
84
1
I wanna get an i7 27" iMac the next week. But I'm not sure about the environment yet. I calculated it through and as a result the intern apple ssd seems not that expensive anymore. I won't open my imac so I would go for an TB 2,5" enclosure + TB cable + a 120GB Vertex 3 SSD. This would cost me approx. 350-400€. The upgrade for the apple ssd only version is about 500€. (I do have a external FW800 enclosure. And I already own enough harddrives. So this won't be a problem to loose the internal hdd. Perhaps a little advantage because of the noise???)

I've read several tests of the vertex 3 and the speed is pretty awesome. I've also read the specs of the intern apple ssd and that speeds don't get near the apple ssd... but how are they both compared in real world benchmarks. Starting Apps, Booting the system, kind of these things?!...
How does the difference between theses to feel?
 
My 2011 27" iMac with apple SSD boots my system in less than 15 seconds w/ all kind of apps fired-up right away. Photoshop boots in les than 3 seconds. Games like Battlefield 2 are running in 1 minute (fire-up BF2, select a server and loading the map)

Would a Vorex3 feels quicker in a daily job? Would a Vorex3 boot your system in 12 seconds..is that the profit? You have to build it in yourself with all the problems around the corner.

Not my game! :)
 
Yorr said:
You have to build it in yourself with all the problems around the corner.

Not my game! :)
Click to expand...
That's not an option for me too. But as I stated above. It would be possible to use a SSD as bootdrive via TB. Not yet but it's going to be possible. But it's only a little cheaper than taking the intern apple ssd.

I just called the local apple authorized reseller, and they offered me to substitute the intern 1TB drive with my own Vertex 3 at around 50€.
This sounds like a pretty good option to me?!?
 
nochnia said:
I just called the local apple authorized reseller, and they offered me to substitute the intern 1TB drive with my own Vertex 3 at around 50€.
This sounds like a pretty good option to me?!?
Click to expand...

Are they going to guarantee no fan issues? This is the type of substitution that causes the fans to kick up to max speed because of the lack of a temperature reading.
 
Yes. For the substitution they guarantee me no problems with the fans at all...
But I'm not sure if they know what they are talking about ;)

Other guys just substituted the original hdd for a vertex 3 and they had no problems too...?!
 
I'm pretty sure those who have simply replaced the HDD have had issues with the fans, or they somehow shorted it. I don't know how to do that as I added the additional SSD. But the fan control programs can solve your problem.
 
Dresevski said:
But the fan control programs can solve your problem.
Click to expand...

So that's no big problem. Since the SSD will be fine with a constant fan turn?!
The problem with normal HDD is I guess that if there is much workload you'll need much more cooling but with the ssd I don't have a clue...
 
Use a fan control program and have the fans go however you want, just enough to make the computer silent or higher depending on whether you like to keep your CPU cooler.

So much talk about this stuff. Just go out and do it! No regrets
 
But since the iStat Pro is buggy and shows 128° Celsius for the SSD (also apple ssd) I don't know how fast the fans have to turn not to harm the SSD
 
iStat pro is not buggy. SSDs don't have in-built thermal sensors for obvious reasons.
 
In normal day to day use I would be very surprised if you could tell the difference between the OEM Apple SSD and the V3. The type of usage you describe is not going to tax the SSD.

The only time you might notice a difference is if you do a lot of work moving around very large data files like video editing for example. If you are moving/using a 15GB video the faster SATA III interface on the V3 would probably be noticeable. But just booting and running apps like you described, you won't perceive a difference.

IMO people are getting a little wound up over some of the synthetic benchmarks posted.
 
I bought a Vertex 2 for my 2011 iMac. Before installing it I used it in a Firewire 800 enclosure to try it out, starting from it and having all applications on it.

In the FW-enclosure speed is limited to 60 Mb/s sequential and 4k random read to 11 Mb/s. Inside the iMac sequential speed is above 200 Mb/s and 4k random read 22 Mb/s, so twice as fast at least.

In day to day operation, starting the computer, applications and during usage, I can't tell the difference whatsoever. Everything starts instantly no matter where the SSD is. System startup is probably a little faster internally but I don't "feel" the difference.

Thus my guess is that the Apple SSD will feel just as fast and perform only marginally slower in real world usage. I choose to install my 180 Gb SSD because of cost, it cost me less than 200 € instead of 600 € for Apple 256 Gb.
 

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paol said:
I bought a Vertex 2 for my 2011 iMac. Before installing it I used it in a Firewire 800 enclosure to try it out, starting from it and having all applications on it.

In the FW-enclosure speed is limited to 60 Mb/s sequential and 4k random read to 11 Mb/s. Inside the iMac sequential speed is above 200 Mb/s and 4k random read 22 Mb/s, so twice as fast at least.

In day to day operation, starting the computer, applications and during usage, I can't tell the difference whatsoever. Everything starts instantly no matter where the SSD is. System startup is probably a little faster internally but I don't "feel" the difference.

Thus my guess is that the Apple SSD will feel just as fast and perform only marginally slower in real world usage. I choose to install my 180 Gb SSD because of cost, it cost me less than 200 € instead of 600 € for Apple 256 Gb.
Click to expand...
Did you replace the original hard disk with the SSD or did you add the ssd along with the hard disk?
If you did just replace the original did you use the cables that were connected to the original HDD to connect the SSD? Did you have any problems with the fans?
 
Hi daneoni,
"No moving parts therefore little to zero heat is generated by the drives."
That isn't true - did you ever tried to touch your RAM chips inside the computer (when it's running)? You'll get your hands burned.
And this is the temp. of my SSD:
 

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^
DRAM and NAND flash are two different things though. I don't think your SSD temp is actually 55 either. Software is likely misreporting or using another loosely related sensor to measure drive temp.
 
Hi,
wrong again, as you can see, I have also 3 external HDs, 1 of them being ANOTHER SSD,
and its as hot as the hybrid external next to it...
 

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kgian said:
Did you replace the original hard disk with the SSD or did you add the ssd along with the hard disk?
If you did just replace the original did you use the cables that were connected to the original HDD to connect the SSD? Did you have any problems with the fans?
Click to expand...

If you just replace the original hdd with the ssd you don't need any aditional cable but an 3,5" to 2,5" adapter. With the Vertex 3 you don't have any problems with the fan. With other SSDs you probably are going to have some errors at the hardware test...
 
Stan Mikulenka said:
Hi daneoni,
"No moving parts therefore little to zero heat is generated by the drives."
That isn't true - did you ever tried to touch your RAM chips inside the computer (when it's running)? You'll get your hands burned.
And this is the temp. of my SSD:
Click to expand...

iMac is a very tightly packed machine and other components such as the GPU (it's very close to the HD) will easily heat up the other components. FYI, in regular desktops that I have built the HDs/SSDs idle at around 30°C, just above the ambient temperature. My SSD in my MBA is 31°C atm as well (CPU is 47°C).
 
kgian said:
Did you replace the original hard disk with the SSD or did you add the ssd along with the hard disk?
If you did just replace the original did you use the cables that were connected to the original HDD to connect the SSD? Did you have any problems with the fans?
Click to expand...

I added the SSD. Used a slimline SATA in the dedicated port on the motherboard. No fan issues. Everything is working smoothly.
 
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