Need help with purchase right SSD

[onnoysomoy]

Hello guys,
Need your help to find a right SSD for my Macbook pro 13" Mid 2009.

MBP spec:
Ram 8 GB
HDD 500 GB
Mountain Lion OSX 10.8
Model: 5.5

I want a ssd to speed up my mac. I researched last 2 days alot and than confused. I need a 60 GB SSD only for OS and applications (as primary). Dont know difference between 6gb/s or 3gb/s. Some place I saw for my mac model 3gb/s is right but another place someone said he running 6gb/s ssd in macbook mid 2009.

Tell me which one is right for me. 3gbs/s or 6gb/s and which brand is good.

Thank you.

 

[Weaselboy]

Hello guys,
Need your help to find a right SSD for my Macbook pro 13" Mid 2009.

MBP spec:
Ram 8 GB
HDD 500 GB
Mountain Lion OSX 10.8
Model: 5.5

I want a ssd to speed up my mac. I researched last 2 days alot and than confused. I need a 60 GB SSD only for OS and applications (as primary). Dont know difference between 6gb/s or 3gb/s. Some place I saw for my mac model 3gb/s is right but another place someone said he running 6gb/s ssd in macbook mid 2009.

Tell me which one is right for me. 3gbs/s or 6gb/s and which brand is good.

Thank you.

You machine only supports SATA II (3Gbps), however, SATA is backwards compatible... so any SATA II or SATA III (6Gbps) laptop SSD drive will work in your machine. A SATA III drive will just not perform to its speed specs due to your SATA II limitation.

All that said, there are very few SATA II SSDs even for sale any longer, and those that are don't tend to be any cheaper than the newer SATA III drives, so there is no reason not to go with the SATA III SSD. Plus if you move it later to a newer SATA III supported Mac, you will get the fill benefit of the SATA III speeds.

The Samsung 840 SSD is very popular around here and the 120GB version can be had for around $90. Or you can find a Crucial M4 64GB for around $60.

 

[onnoysomoy]

You machine only supports SATA II (3Gbps), however, SATA is backwards compatible... so any SATA II or SATA III (6Gbps) laptop SSD drive will work in your machine. A SATA III drive will just not perform to its speed specs due to your SATA II limitation.

All that said, there are very few SATA II SSDs even for sale any longer, and those that are don't tend to be any cheaper than the newer SATA III drives, so there is no reason not to go with the SATA III SSD. Plus if you move it later to a newer SATA III supported Mac, you will get the fill benefit of the SATA III speeds.

The Samsung 840 SSD is very popular around here and the 120GB version can be had for around $90. Or you can find a Crucial M4 64GB for around $60.

Thank you very much for your ans. This is helpful for me.

 

[emacna1]

This is the SSD that he mentioned (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NHAF06/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER).

I'm looking to buy it once I have the funds. It seems like a pretty popular one.

Keep an eye on it though. Just yesterday it was $89.99 now it's $98.76.

 

[Yahooligan]

Given the choice between an 840 and 840 Pro, go with the Pro. The Pro has a 5-year warranty compared to 3-year and also seems to be a bit more reliable than the non-Pro version. I have the 840 Pro 512GB version and absolutely love it, it's faster than Apple's SSD of the same size in the rMBP.

The 128GB 840 Pro is about $30 more than the non-Pro, well worth it for the extra warranty and reliability, IMO.

 

[Weaselboy]

Given the choice between an 840 and 840 Pro, go with the Pro. The Pro has a 5-year warranty compared to 3-year and also seems to be a bit more reliable than the non-Pro version. I have the 840 Pro 512GB version and absolutely love it, it's faster than Apple's SSD of the same size in the rMBP.

The 128GB 840 Pro is about $30 more than the non-Pro, well worth it for the extra warranty and reliability, IMO.

The 840 Pro is not more reliable, it just uses MLC NAND chips that do last longer. Give this article a look.

Basically, you are talking about the SSD lasting 35 years (Pro) vs. 11 years (non-Pro) (at 10GB writes a day). I doubt any of us will still have the same computer in 11 years. If that is worth the extra money to you, it is your call.

 

[johnnnw]

Let's not forget the Pro has a much better write speed, not just a life increase.

 

[Yahooligan]

The 840 Pro is not more reliable, it just uses MLC NAND chips that do last longer. Give this article a look.

Image

Basically, you are talking about the SSD lasting 35 years (Pro) vs. 11 years (non-Pro) (at 10GB writes a day). I doubt any of us will still have the same computer in 11 years. If that is worth the extra money to you, it is your call.

I'm not saying MLC is more reliable than TLC, I'm saying based on the complaints I've read here and on other sites that the 840 non-Pro drives seem to have a much higher failure rate than the Pro. TLC vs. MLC is about durability (write cycles) and speed. MLC wins there, but that doesn't and shouldn't imply the underlying hardware is any more reliable.

I don't know why the non-Pro drives seem to have a higher failure rate, that's just been my observation based on what I've read.

 

[Weaselboy]

I'm not saying MLC is more reliable than TLC, I'm saying based on the complaints I've read here and on other sites that the 840 non-Pro drives seem to have a much higher failure rate than the Pro. TLC vs. MLC is about durability (write cycles) and speed. MLC wins there, but that doesn't and shouldn't imply the underlying hardware is any more reliable.

I don't know why the non-Pro drives seem to have a higher failure rate, that's just been my observation based on what I've read.

Fair enough... I have not noticed any trend in posts here as far as one failing more often than the other. Like I said, if you think the extra write cycles are worth the added cost... that is certainly not an illogical decision. I just think for most users it won't matter.

 

[Yahooligan]

Fair enough... I have not noticed any trend in posts here as far as one failing more often than the other. Like I said, if you think the extra write cycles are worth the added cost... that is certainly not an illogical decision. I just think for most users it won't matter.

I agree for most casual users it won't matter, nor will the associated performance hit. I wouldn't consider myself casual and figured if I'm going to pony up for a 512GB SSD then I might as well get the one that has the best chance of meeting my current and future needs.

For someone upgrading to an SSD with a SATA-II/3Gb MBP then they're not going to really notice a difference between the non-Pro and Pro anyway.

 

[Weaselboy]

Let's not forget the Pro has a much better write speed, not just a life increase.

The Pro does have somewhat faster write speeds, but for the average user, this will not be noticeable. Unless you are regularly writing 10GB video files for example, just using the computer day to day is more reliant on fast seek times and any modern SSD excels at this. But sure, if you want absolute fastest write speeds the Pro us better. Is the extra cost worth it to the average user... I guess that is their decision. For most users, I doubt it. Just my opinion.