Intel vs. Samsung SSD? RAID 0?

[JesterJJZ]

Getting new boot SSD for my 2012 MacPro. Have dual 80GB Intel RAID0 in my 2006 MP. Trying to decide if I should go Intel again or Samsung and if I should RAID0 again. Still on SATAII in the MacPro so the RAID0 helps. Don't see how I can break 300MB/s without RAID0 or a SATAIII card.

 

[Giuly]

The best way to connect two SSDs to the Mac Pro is the Sonnet Tempo Pro or two Apricorn Velocity Extremes, with the latter being more affordable (2x$99 vs. 1x$289)

The Sonnet offers "Up to 960MB/s" while the two Apricorns are "Up to 550MB/s" each, so the latter would also be faster, provided you have two spare PCIe ports. Both will boot a 2012 Mac Pro.

As far as the SSDs go, Intel isn't really a recommendation these days. Your pick is between the OCZ Vector, Samsung 840 Pro or the new SanDisk Extreme II, with the SanDisk being supposed to offer the same performance as the Samsung in a more consistent fashion while being $10 and $70 (240GB and 480GB) less expensive.

Whatever you do, get the 240/256GB or larger model, as those are faster than their smaller brethren. I'd rather add the second 240GB drive later than just adding two 120GB ones. With the Apricorn, that also saves you the $99 for the second PCIe card.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Thanks!

Not sure yet if I can spare a slot for a boot drive. Though if I were, I was looking at the Accelsior from OWC. It gives me 2x esata ports to, so that would help. Not sure if they are hot pluggable though.

 

[Giuly]

The OWC Accelsior is a nice idea, but it's A) more expensive: You're looking at $750 for the 480GB model where two Apricorns and two 240GB SSDs run you $650, B) slower than the two Apricorns as it's PCIe x2 and C) uses SSDs with a SandForce SF-228X chipset, which isn't that great to begin with.

Another option is to wait until third-parties manufacture SATAExpress SSDs like the ones new Mac Pro and MacBook Air, as the MBA one has the same performance as this setup and the Mac Pro SSD is even faster.
ADATA previewed 1.8GB/s for a single stick already, and as they're intended for Ultrabook PCs, chances are that you can buy them on their own along with an appropriate adapter card.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Hmm...thinking a pair of Samsung pro series is the way to go for now. Sacrificing a PCI slot is tough. How much performance are we talking between a pair of 120GB and a pair of 240GB?

 

[Giuly]

In a RAID0, a difference in sequential write speed of about 300MB/s.

 

[JesterJJZ]

In a RAID0, a difference in sequential write speed of about 300MB/s.

Damn. Even if both are running on SATAII?

 

[hfg]

I am running a RAID-0 pair of 840 Pro 256GB on the Sonnet Pro PCIe card SATA-III (left):

The second image is the same RAID-0 SSDs on a pair of Velocity Solo x2 cards SATA-III:

The third image is with the same RAID-0 SSDs mounted in the Mac Pro disk trays SATA-II:


-howard

 

[JesterJJZ]

Impressive. Do you even see any difference in speed as a boot drive?

 

[hfg]

Impressive. Do you even see any difference in speed as a boot drive?

Not really.

My current configuration is a single 512GB 840 Pro on the MP tray, joined as a DIY "Fusion" drive with a 2TB hard disk (actually a split 4TB drive, half managed by Fusion, half static media storage). The RAID-0 SSD contains my photo library which does benefit from the higher speed interface and RAID-0 due to the file sizes involved.

-howard

 

[JesterJJZ]

Not really.

Gotcha.

The dual 80GB Intel SSDs in my 2006 MP are pretty snappy. I have an Intel 160GB SSD in my MBP and that is quite fast as well. Just trying to figure out if the increased cost of dual 240s over dual 120s is worth it in a MP these days, let alone even going dual SSDs at all. Can't give up a PCI slot unfortunately.