Benefit to larger SSD?

[ToomeyND]

I will be ordering a new mini tomorrow and a Samsung 840 ssd. I understand the shortened lifespan, but from everything I've read, I fall into the category where it doesn't really apply to me. I'm not going to be writing 1 GB/day, let alone 10.

I was planning on ordering the 250 gb model. My iMac that I just sold had about 200 GB used of the 320 available, including 30 GB of iTunes and 50 GB of iPhoto.

I could easily move the iTunes and iPhoto to the hdd that will come stock on the mini, but I would prefer to I keep it on the ssd if that doesn't cause issues. i also plan on moving about 300 GB of movies onto the stock hdd. Is there any reason to get the 500 GB model ssd?

I haven't decided on whether to make it a fusion drive or not. I was not planning on it, but I've been reading a lot here in the past week or so that might push me to do it. Would that matter in the ssd size?

My requirements are not huge. I don't make money off of the machine. I just want the thing to scream (within reason) when I'm using it (web, office, handbrake, movies). But I don't want to experience a bunch of lag or burden the ssd by nearly filling it up.

As always, thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ToomeyND]

Bump. Any thoughts would've great.

 

[eric/]

Whenever anybody is questioning something like this my answer is always get the SSD.

 

[dapitts08]

sounds like a 250 gig would work for you. i have the samsung 250 gig (non pro) and it is great although i have only ahd it for about 2 weeks now. i am running it along side the internal that it came with (non-fusion). i put all of my media on the internal and my apps on the ssd. right now i have 188 gigs available on the ssd. i didn't want to go below 250 in order to give me cushion for downloads.

 

[justperry]

If you are really worried about this get a MLC drive, but I think you're OK with the non Pro.

 

[Giuly]

I'd rather suggest you get a faster 128/256GB Samsung 840 Pro or OCZ Vector instead, along with the OWC DataDoubler, which allows you to install the SSD and the HDD together, and then set it up as a Fusion Drive.

That way, you'd have both the speed increases of the SSD as well as with the space of the hard drive for your iTunes library.

 

[auhagen]

As I remember it, the disk speeds is like following:

120: W: 140 / R: 540
250: W: 240 / R: 540
500: W: 360 / R: 540

Dont hang me up on the numbers, but thats how I remember them. The pros have a higher at write speed, but i dont remember the numbers in my head.

My point is dont go for the 120gb since its "slow".

I dont think you should be worried about the non pro for your use. It should last about 7-10 years with your consumption.

I recently bought the 250gb version, and its been an awesome upgrade to my 2010 MBP, so go for it

As far as fusion, its something I cant answer for you.

 

[dapitts08]

I'd rather suggest you get a faster 128/256GB Samsung 840 Pro or OCZ Vector instead, along with the OWC DataDoubler which allows you to install the SSD alongside the HDD and set it up as a Fusion Drive.

That way, you'd have both the speed increases of the SSD as well as with the space of the hard drive for your iTunes library.

the OP said he/she won't be writing much so what would be the benefit of the pro version in this case?

i found myself in the same situation adn went with the non-pro version and I have no regrets.

 

[ToomeyND]

I'd rather suggest you get a faster 128/256GB Samsung 840 Pro or OCZ Vector instead, along with the OWC DataDoubler, which allows you to install the SSD and the HDD together, and then set it up as a Fusion Drive.

That way, you'd have both the speed increases of the SSD as well as with the space of the hard drive for your iTunes library.

First off, I want to thank everyone for their input.

In response to this post, I'm questioning between a 250 and a 500 gb Samsung 840. My question was regarding filling it up being a problem.

Then you suggested the 256 or even the 128 SSD with MLC. Is your point that the MLC wouldn't experience any problems being full? I just don't understand why the suggestion for the 128, as I would probably fill it up immediately. Is this okay to do? And more so than the TLC?

 

[Giuly]

My point is that those are faster, and if you get a 128GB SSDs and the DataDoubler, then set it up together with the (already present) hard drive as a Fusion Drive, also less expensive than the 250GB 840.

Presented as a single volume on your Mac, Fusion Drive automatically and dynamically moves frequently used files to Flash storage for quicker access, while infrequently used items move to the hard disk. As a result you'll enjoy shorter startup times, and as the system learns how you work you'll see faster application launches and quicker file access. Fusion Drive manages all this automatically in the background.

128GB SDD + 500GB hard drive = a 628GB Fusion Drive.

 

[ToomeyND]

My point is that those are faster, and if you get a 128GB SSDs and the DataDoubler, then set it up together with the (already present) hard drive as a Fusion Drive, also less expensive than the 250GB 840.

128GB SDD + 500GB hard drive = a 618GB Fusion Drive.

Would you view the 256 in a fusion drive as wasteful? If I can get all the performance out of the 128, then the 618 gigs is probably enough in terms of storage. But would there be significant speed increases (in normal everyday use) with the 256?

 

[Giuly]

The 256GB drives are a bit faster than the 128GB in terms of write speed. Also, you'd have more time until the Fusion Drive even starts using the hard drive.

However, whichever way you go, the faster MLC drives are to prefer over the 840.

 

[dapitts08]

In response to this post, I'm questioning between a 250 and a 500 gb Samsung 840. My question was regarding filling it up being a problem.

based on what you have said I don't see the need for a 500 gig

if you weren't planning on the 2nd internal my thoughts may have been different

but that size (250 gig) ssd alongside an second internal for storage seems sufficient and is my current set up as well

edit: also from what everyone told me on this forum when i was doing my research....if you don't plan on writing to the ssd a lot (i.e just for the most part holding your apps on it) you don't really benefit as much from the additional write speed from the pro. like i said......i have the non-pro and the write speed has completely blown my mind compared to the non-ssd I have been used to.

 

[Weaselboy]

First off, I want to thank everyone for their input.

In response to this post, I'm questioning between a 250 and a 500 gb Samsung 840. My question was regarding filling it up being a problem.

Then you suggested the 256 or even the 128 SSD with MLC. Is your point that the MLC wouldn't experience any problems being full? I just don't understand why the suggestion for the 128, as I would probably fill it up immediately. Is this okay to do? And more so than the TLC?

MLC vs. TLC has nothing to do with the running while near full issue you asked about.

Short version. Don't worry about running near full.

Long version. SSDs set aside a "spare area" to account for the problem you are worried about. Some vendors call it "over provisioning." This leaves extra, unused space on the drive so it does not slow when near full. Look here at the pictures of the Samsung 840 250GB and note there are 8*32GB chips there for a total of 256GB. The extra 6GB is set aside for over provisioning.

The spec difference between 250/500 mentioned by auhagen can be seen in this chart from the above link. You see this in most any SSD test. The larger drives get somewhat better performance because there are more 32GB NAND chips to stripe the data across. But honestly, I really doubt you would notice this small speed difference in day to day usage.