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MacBook Pro 2011, SATA III or not?

N

Neverdyne

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 12, 2011
1
0
Hello everyone, I'm about to get my first ever Mac and have kind of a dilemma. I really want to set up my MBP 2011 with an SSD, and ideally a SATA III SSD. However, I've been reading everywhere that most brands of SSDs (Intel 510, Vertex 3, C300, M4) right now have problems with freezes, lockups, etc. From what I've read this happens only with SATAIII and not SATAII.

Since I have a desktop with LGA1336 and no SATAIII, I was thinking that maybe the best route is to get an Intel 320 drive, install it on the MBP, then once things are resolved or more information is out, switch that drive into my desktop and get a SATAIII drive for the MBP. What do you guys think? Should I take the risk and go for SATAIII straight up? Or get SATAII now and switch later on?

Thanks!
 
No, they work fine. There are always people with problems, but that's what a return period is for. The vast majority have no problems, and if yours does you'll know right away.
 
Same here. I installed a 240GB Vertex 3 SSD in my 2011 13" MacBook Pro and it works just fine. I can see in System Profiler that its running in 6Gbps (SATA III) mode and i haven't encountered any beachballs/freezes.
 
If you care more about speed and don't mind jumping through a few hoops to update firmware, then get a Sandforce-based drive. If you want an SSD that you'll never have to worry about again, get an Intel 320.
 
Vertex 3 is working fine for me too. The tough part is updating the firmware, which currently is not possible on a Mac.
 
Neverdyne said:
Hello everyone, I'm about to get my first ever Mac and have kind of a dilemma. I really want to set up my MBP 2011 with an SSD, and ideally a SATA III SSD. However, I've been reading everywhere that most brands of SSDs (Intel 510, Vertex 3, C300, M4) right now have problems with freezes, lockups, etc. From what I've read this happens only with SATAIII and not SATAII.

Since I have a desktop with LGA1336 and no SATAIII, I was thinking that maybe the best route is to get an Intel 320 drive, install it on the MBP, then once things are resolved or more information is out, switch that drive into my desktop and get a SATAIII drive for the MBP. What do you guys think? Should I take the risk and go for SATAIII straight up? Or get SATAII now and switch later on?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

This is my first post. I have a 2011 MBP 17 and happen to purchase the vertex 3 just because I had OCZ in my PC for over a year, trouble free.

I had the same issues with this drive where installation goes through but stuttering and sloooow performance have driven me crazy. So I requested a refund (Amazon) and placed an order for SATA II drive.

Last night, i stumbled upon the shielding solution thread, one more time, and thought I should try it before sending the OCZ drive!

So, I sheilded the cable with aluminum foil and following are test results:
1) Installation was completed in half the time (I am installing from flash drive in both cases)
2) Stuttering is 95% gone, but not completely.
3) Getting solid speed numbers of around 400 (both read/write) compared to not completing at all before shielding.

So what did I decide to do? I am going forward with the replacement and will settle with the SATA II for now, saving $100. I don't want to waste any more time/money on this issue. But it is clearly that Apple did something wrong here.
 
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