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Bought one of these SSD's off amazon, and have a question

J

Jamie0003

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 17, 2009
1,460
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Norfolk, UK
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Vertex 3 has suffered from some issues so it would not be my #1 choice. E.g. Crucial M4 is a better choice.
 
I just got rid of my 120GB Vertex 3 in favor of a 64GB Samsung 470. I've heard nothing but great from that drive, and I don't need the highest-end SSD anyway. I want fast, but reliable. Even if it's SATA II.
 
It's good, just there have been a lot of problems with some users, whether it's a lot of beach balls (hanging), freezes, etc. Just be prepared if it doesn't run nice and smooth.

The thing was fast, but sometimes my boot/shutdown times would be 15/1 seconds, then it would be 2 minutes a piece. Or, it would randomly hang when opening anything for a minute, or completely freeze. Latest firmware and all, clean install and all. Vertex 3 is known for issues, but you may get lucky and it may run fine for you. If it does, congrats. I just bought mine for reliability and stability reasons.

And, I don't need more than a 64GB for a boot/program drive.
 
Jamie0003 said:
Hmm ok, but is it good for a first SSD?
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Well, depends what you look for. If you just want a relatively cheap SSD with fast theoretical numbers, then the Vertex 3 is a good choice but keep in mind that I warned you. Right now Samsung 470 Series is pretty much the only SSD with no widespread issues.
 
I have a Vertex 3 in my mid-2010 13" and love it; mind you, it's connected at SATA2. I've had zero issues with it (well, when I installed it I had to reboot it a second time for it to show in disk utility, but that took all of 10 seconds); it's stupid fast(for SATA2) reads 260MB/s writes 210MB/s, and I haven't had any problems with anything with it. I raced it against another 2010 13"(but with a 2.66GHz compared to my 2.4) with a 5400rpm HDD; I hit "restart" on both, the SSD had restarted and I opened Chrome, Mail, iCal, Word, and Transmission before the HDD had turned off. It's a night and day difference, and it's true I couldn't go back to using a HDD.
 
Hellhammer said:
Vertex 3 has suffered from some issues so it would not be my #1 choice. E.g. Crucial M4 is a better choice.
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Well, I haven't scoured all of the forums looking for issues, but the Vertex III has been rock solid and fast on my 2011 17". I can't say the same for the Crucial C300, that was a nightmare. I know that there are quite a few people running the Vertex III with no issues. YMMV of course.
 
Jamie0003 said:
I have decided to give an SSD for my Macbook Pro a try. I have never used one before. So I found this on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...I2HSWLJZUN1SXU&me=&seller=&colid=T2BHRAGSR8I8

It's perfect for my needs, as I store very little on my Mac, and is within my price range. Is it a good SSD, and will having that small amount of memory slow the computer down at all?
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Hey, I have used a Vertex 3 in my 2011 MBP for the last few months and I've had no problems with it at all. Its a great SSD and you'll love the performance.

Regarding the size, it is pretty small. As long as you leave at leave 10-15% of the drive empty you'll be fine. If it gets too full then the controller has a hard time managing the free space and your performance will suffer until you delete some files. Personally, I'd like to have you save a little more money and get at least a 120g. But, if your careful you'll be fine. Either way, its a lightening quick SSD and it will surprise you with its speed, I suspect.
 
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DustinT said:
Hey, I have used a Vertex 3 in my 2011 MBP for the last few months and I've had no problems with it at all. Its a great SSD and you'll love the performance.

Regarding the size, it is pretty small. As long as you leave at leave 10-15% of the drive empty you'll be fine. If it gets too full then the controller has a hard time managing the free space and your performance will suffer until you delete some files. Personally, I'd like to have you save a little more money and get at least a 120g. But, if your careful you'll be fine. Either way, its a lightening quick SSD and it will surprise you with its speed, I suspect.
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Well it's more of a test at the moment, just to see what having an SSD is like, if I really like it I can always get a bigger one at a later date, or go the removing the CD drive and replacing it with a HDD route.
 
Jamie0003 said:
Well it's more of a test at the moment, just to see what having an SSD is like, if I really like it I can always get a bigger one at a later date, or go the removing the CD drive and replacing it with a HDD route.
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The Vertex 3, I believe is the fastest available on the market, with the highest failure rate.
 
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