MBA Sandisk SSD: 128GB or 256GB

[raptor402]

Hello, forum

I'm finally getting a 13" MBA to replace my trusty 2010 15" pro. I was initially planning to get the base 128GB model with 8GB RAM and the i7 processor, but then I read about the Sandsik SSDs. Apparently, the 128GB models are frequently equipped with Sandisk SSDs, which have a much lower sequential write speed (around 300 MB/s as compared to around 700 MB/s on the Samsung drives).

Is it worth going for the 256GB drive just to avoid the risk of getting a Sandisk drive?

Regards
Raptor

 

[ohbrilliance]

I can't comment on the speed, but I think it's worth going for 256GB due to 128GB being too little. After the OS, your apps, various cache files adding up, there's not a lot of growing room with a 128GB SSD.

 

[Miltz]

1. The reason the sequential speeds are lower is because it's a 128GB drive rather than a 256GB
2. Sequential Speeds mean nothing unless you spend all day transferring LARGE files
3. Sandisk SSD in the 2013 MBA is great and uses one of the best SSD controllers on the market made by Marvell.
4. People have gotten 256GB Drives from BOTH samsung and sandisk.

 

[TheSSDReview]

Further

If you can determine what SSD you might get at the 256GB level, the Samsung is the higher performing and I think most would agree that it is the best M.2 SSD out there with higher performance, based on XP941 specs of which it is. Some have achieved over 1GB/s on this SSD recently whereas that cannot be done with the SanDisk that we are aware of.

Our 256GB MBA Testing

 

[raptor402]

Thank you for your responses.

I don't really need 256GB; my storage use is quite limited. I'm also quite well acquainted with sequential read/write benchmarks but was just wondering why there was so great a performance difference.

Nevertheless, I suppose there isn't anything to worry about. Thank you very much for your help.

Regards
Raptor

 

[TheSSDReview]

Thank you for your responses.

I don't really need 256GB; my storage use is quite limited. I'm also quite well acquainted with sequential read/write benchmarks but was just wondering why there was so great a performance difference.

Nevertheless, I suppose there isn't anything to worry about. Thank you very much for your help.

Regards
Raptor

I wouldn't consider there to be a great performance difference, especially in your case where you might be lucky to see any difference whatsoever in visible performance. As much as you may see a second here or there in video transfer speeds, I would look more at manufacturer reputation and end component quality. JMO.

As far as the upgrade to 256GB, nobody ever needs that extra space...until they do. A few years ago, the Zenbook used a blade SSD that couldn't be upgraded outside of ASUS directly. We received a TON of e-mail after the fact of users hoping to find upgrade outside of the direct ASUS route. Consider that you probably won't be able to upgrade this SSD later on..just like that ASUS.

 

[raptor402]

I wouldn't consider there to be a great performance difference, especially in your case where you might be lucky to see any difference whatsoever in visible performance. As much as you may see a second here or there in video transfer speeds, I would look more at manufacturer reputation and end component quality. JMO.

As far as the upgrade to 256GB, nobody ever needs that extra space...until they do. A few years ago, the Zenbook used a blade SSD that couldn't be upgraded outside of ASUS directly. We received a TON of e-mail after the fact of users hoping to find upgrade outside of the direct ASUS route. Consider that you probably won't be able to upgrade this SSD later on..just like that ASUS.

I use NAS storage. My MBP (it is my primary work system) had been running on an 80GB SSD for over 2 years and I upgraded to a 180GB Intel 520 only because the 80GB drive died.

As for the speed issue, I'm quite aware that the performance difference won't be noticeable in real life use. I just wanted to avoid a Toshiba fiasco (I had been wrongly made to believe that that's how bad the Sandisk drives were). Now that the issue is cleared, I'm sure that I'll be safe with either SSD manufacturer. Thank you for your response, sir/ma'am.

Regards
Raptor

 

[ItHurtsWhenIP]

I use NAS storage. My MBP (it is my primary work system) had been running on an 80GB SSD for over 2 years and I upgraded to a 180GB Intel 520 only because the 80GB drive died.

As for the speed issue, I'm quite aware that the performance difference won't be noticeable in real life use. I just wanted to avoid a Toshiba fiasco (I had been wrongly made to believe that that's how bad the Sandisk drives were). Now that the issue is cleared, I'm sure that I'll be safe with either SSD manufacturer. Thank you for your response, sir/ma'am.

Regards
Raptor

Although I agree that either would be acceptable over a Toshiba, I feel oddly comfortable having received a Samsung 256..

Ironically, I feel 100% safe trusting SanDisk with any USB thumb drive needs I may have. I usually go out of my way to purchase from them..weird how that works I guess.

 

[raptor402]

Although I agree that either would be acceptable over a Toshiba, I feel oddly comfortable having received a Samsung 256..

Ironically, I feel 100% safe trusting SanDisk with any USB thumb drive needs I may have. I usually go out of my way to purchase from them..weird how that works I guess.

I quite agree with you. With thumb drives, I prefer to go for Sandisk or Corsair.

 

[kevingill]

Buying a 256gb MBA will not necessarily get you a Samsung drive. I have a 256gb Sandisk in my MBA. Write speed is around 600mb/s, read speed 720mb/s.

 

[mvmanolov]

i have the 128 sandisk drive. I have no major complaints about it really. the MBA is for me wife and she loves it. we have FV2 running and that drops the read/write by quite a bit. but am still getting respectable speeds, in fact its faster than my buddy's mid 2013 rMBP in booting up. That being said i wish i had gotten her the 256. just because of future space needs. but probably OWC will come up with a upgrade options

If i were you and $$$ was not a huge deal (buy 256 have no food money) i'd get the 256

 

[Dweez]

In my not so humble opinion, purchase as much internal (fast) storage as you can afford. No matter how much internal storage a system has, sooner or later the user will need more.

I'm not sure which (512) SSD I've got in my 13" MBA, but it's smokin' fast - over 700 meg/second reads & writes which makes the Samsung SSDs I've used in the past seem "slow".

 

[Meister]

Get the extra ssd. If you lack the funds then get the 4gig/256gb base model.
The i5 4/256 is the best version imo. U can get great discounts on them, too.
We have one at home and its perfect!

 

[alphaod]

The reason the 128GB disk is slower is because it has less memory chips to simultaneously write to (hence decreased performance).

It doesn't matter if it's Sandisk or Samsung; both will be slower at 128GB.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Along with many of those who have posted, my advice would be to get the larger size; not only is it more capacious, it is a lot faster, too.

 

[mvmanolov]

I can attest to the speed of 128, i'm getting 350/550 or somewhere there.
its for me wife who does not care that much so i saved $$$ on that and thought i'd upgrade if i need to when owc comes up with their version.

For regular use you won't notice the difference though both my other sad machines are faster but honestly not noticeably.

 

[stayley]

I had a 256GB Samsung in my first MBA that I had to replace because of faulty screen. Now I have a 256GB Sandisk. In the blackmagic speed test it is marginally slower, but those are benchmarks for you. I really doubt you would see any real world difference between even the 128GB and 256GB. I definitely didn't between the Samsung and Sandisk. This really shouldn't be a factor in your decision at all.

As far as the Toshiba fiasco goes... we're only gonna find out around June next year if either the Samsung or the Sandisk turn out to be faulty :/ Then again, I read in a couple of places that it was really a firmware/software issue rather than the disk itself and to some extent it was Apple's fault rather than Toshiba's. But this is not something people would swallow easily here.

 

[mg428]

I had a 256GB Samsung in my first MBA that I had to replace because of faulty screen. Now I have a 256GB Sandisk. In the blackmagic speed test it is marginally slower, but those are benchmarks for you. I really doubt you would see any real world difference between even the 128GB and 256GB. I definitely didn't between the Samsung and Sandisk. This really shouldn't be a factor in your decision at all.

So you had hands on two late 2013 13-inch Haswell rMBPs with 256GB, and they were both the pre-configured mid-level model (2.4/8GB/256GB), and one of them contained a Sandisk and the other a Samsung SSD, right?

 

[stayley]

I had a 256GB Samsung in my first MBA that I had to replace because of faulty screen. Now I have a 256GB Sandisk. In the blackmagic speed test it is marginally slower, but those are benchmarks for you. I really doubt you would see any real world difference between even the 128GB and 256GB. I definitely didn't between the Samsung and Sandisk. This really shouldn't be a factor in your decision at all.

So you had hands on two late 2013 13-inch Haswell rMBPs with 256GB, and they were both the pre-configured mid-level model (2.4/8GB/256GB), and one of them contained a Sandisk and the other a Samsung SSD, right?

This is a thread about SSDs in the MBAs. I said "MBA" in the first sentence of the post you quoted. Is it that hard to infer I was NOT talking about the rMBP? I hope this is just some typo (although the 2.4/8GB/256GB suggests it's not), cause otherwise I'm really starting to see literacy as a growing problem in the developed world.


If your question was about the MBAs then yes, I first had a 2013 13" 1.3GHz/8/256 MBA with a Samsung drive and display that I used for about 8 days and then replaced for another 13"/1.3Ghz/8/256 MBA, which came with a Sandisk SSD and LG display.

 

[mg428]

This is a thread about SSDs in the MBAs. I said "MBA" in the first sentence of the post you quoted. Is it that hard to infer I was NOT talking about the rMBP? I hope this is just some typo (although the 2.4/8GB/256GB suggests it's not), cause otherwise I'm really starting to see literacy as a growing problem in the developed world.


If your question was about the MBAs then yes, I first had a 2013 13" 1.3GHz/8/256 MBA with a Samsung drive and display that I used for about 8 days and then replaced for another 13"/1.3Ghz/8/256 MBA, which came with a Sandisk SSD and LG display.

Man cool down. I did not pay attention, that's it. My bad. I apalogize, if that would alleviate you. Speaking of "developed world", literacy is a problem of underdeveloped world, good manners is a problem of developed world. Choose your "world", and set your expectations and behave accordingly.

 

[yourtoys7]

Is it worth going for the 256GB drive just to avoid the risk of getting a Sandisk drive?

Just for that reason I wouldn't if you don't need it, but I would take for sure i7 and 8GB ram.

 

[stayley]

Man cool down. I did not pay attention, that's it. My bad. I apalogize, if that would alleviate you. Speaking of "developed world", literacy is a problem of underdeveloped world, good manners is a problem of developed world. Choose your "world", and set your expectations and behave accordingly.

Tragically the proliferation of superficial means of communication is making literacy a problem in the developed world as well.

Is it worth going for the 256GB drive just to avoid the risk of getting a Sandisk drive?

Just for that reason I wouldn't if you don't need it, but I would take for sure i7 and 8GB ram.

I think there is no reason to even consider it when getting an MBA. I agree that 8GB is practically a must in 2013. Not so sure about the i7 as far as the MBA goes...