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New Intel SSD X25M Gen2 almost here

MacMini2009

MacMini2009

macrumors 68000
May 22, 2009
1,728
0
California
andiwm2003 said:
how much do SSD prices come down per month (usually)?

i consider a 160GB at $450 but i'm waiting because i think about a 13"MBP and/or tablet mac.

If those drives come down to 300 bucks by x-mas then tyhere will be an unbelievable rush on those because everybody will upgrade their old or new computer with those.

for most cutomers those drives make you think you get a twice as fast machine.
Click to expand...

I'm going to buy the 160GB version by the end of this year or next year and I hope they cost around $200-$300.
 
NovemberWhiskey

NovemberWhiskey

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2009
3,022
1,272
andiwm2003 said:
how much do SSD prices come down per month (usually)?

i consider a 160GB at $450 but i'm waiting because i think about a 13"MBP and/or tablet mac.

If those drives come down to 300 bucks by x-mas then tyhere will be an unbelievable rush on those because everybody will upgrade their old or new computer with those.

for most cutomers those drives make you think you get a twice as fast machine.
Click to expand...

I think that holds for enthusiasts, but the general population still has no idea what an SSD is (or what a HDD is for that matter).
 
M

MikhailT

macrumors 601
Nov 12, 2007
4,582
1,325
The pricing depends on the worldwide NANDs supply and the fabs' production output (many of you might know this as the supply and demand laws basically).

Because of the current recession, the fabs are not doing the same production levels as they were before recession that led to a lot of price cuts. This year so far, the production level is much lower which leads to a constant or higher prices for all NANDs (we saw price doubled in the beginning of the year). We may not see another price cut for the current 50mm NANDs for a while.

The only reason Gen2 is much cheaper is due to the 34nm process, not because of the supply.

Vertex 120gb was on the way to 300$ when it was released but the worldwide supply and production has kept it to 385$ now. Once the fabs convert to 32/34nm process by the end of the year or early next year, we'll start seeing much cheaper SSDs. Until then, we won't see any massive price cuts for several months.
 
L

ljx718

macrumors 6502
Dec 13, 2008
428
2
MikhailT said:
The pricing depends on the worldwide NANDs supply and the fabs' production output (many of you might know this as the supply and demand laws basically).

Because of the current recession, the fabs are not doing the same production levels as they were before recession that led to a lot of price cuts. This year so far, the production level is much lower which leads to a constant or higher prices for all NANDs (we saw price doubled in the beginning of the year). We may not see another price cut for the current 50mm NANDs for a while.

The only reason Gen2 is much cheaper is due to the 34nm process, not because of the supply.

Vertex 120gb was on the way to 300$ when it was released but the worldwide supply and production has kept it to 385$ now. Once the fabs convert to 32/34nm process by the end of the year or early next year, we'll start seeing much cheaper SSDs. Until then, we won't see any massive price cuts for several months.
Click to expand...


i think youre confused with the laws of supply and demand. the lower the demand, the lower the prices to attract customers. the higher the demand, the higher the prices.
 
M

Mr. Wonderful

macrumors 6502a
Feb 19, 2009
571
34
NovemberWhiskey said:
Where did you buy it?

How does it perform?
Click to expand...

Some general impressions:

It's a lot lighter than a traditional hard drive, and also runs much cooler. Though I've never noticed heat coming from my old HDD while in my Unibody Macbook, which I can't understand because I have no idea how Apple is cooling it. I'm guessing/pretty sure my battery life has increased with it. I'm sure the 34nm process helped with all of this.

As far as actual performance gains go, once the computer has booted to the desktop, it's immediately completely usable. Resumption from sleep is likewise a little faster as well. This really brings to attention how long the computer takes to connect to the router, as the computer is ready and rearing to go while the airport is still deciding what to do. Snow Leopard will really help with this.

Otherwise, I haven't done anything intensive yet to test the performance, but altogether, it is as if a lag that I didn't even know was there has been removed from the computer, and it's like I can't believe we've been living with this laggy performance in our computers for all these years. Is it lightening fast OMG amazing!! ? No, I wouldn't really say that it reaches the hype and fabled performance gains that people tout when they're talking about SSDs. A lot better, yes, but like most hardware upgrades to an existing system, in most cases, it's like, "Is this it?" Though I would have to say that out of any hardware upgrade that I've ever done, the SSD has made the biggest noticeable improvement.

But like I said, all I've done is booted my Macbook and launched a bunch of Apps. I haven't really done anything too intensive yet.
 
G

gl4662

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2009
42
0
Mr. Wonderful said:
Some general impressions:

It's a lot lighter than a traditional hard drive, and also runs much cooler. Though I've never noticed heat coming from my old HDD while in my Unibody Macbook, which I can't understand because I have no idea how Apple is cooling it. I'm guessing/pretty sure my battery life has increased with it. I'm sure the 34nm process helped with all of this.

As far as actual performance gains go, once the computer has booted to the desktop, it's immediately completely usable. Resumption from sleep is likewise a little faster as well. This really brings to attention how long the computer takes to connect to the router, as the computer is ready and rearing to go while the airport is still deciding what to do. Snow Leopard will really help with this.

Otherwise, I haven't done anything intensive yet to test the performance, but altogether, it is as if a lag that I didn't even know was there has been removed from the computer, and it's like I can't believe we've been living with this laggy performance in our computers for all these years. Is it lightening fast OMG amazing!! ? No, I wouldn't really say that it reaches the hype and fabled performance gains that people tout when they're talking about SSDs. A lot better, yes, but like most hardware upgrades to an existing system, in most cases, it's like, "Is this it?" Though I would have to say that out of any hardware upgrade that I've ever done, the SSD has made the biggest noticeable improvement.

But like I said, all I've done is booted my Macbook and launched a bunch of Apps. I haven't really done anything too intensive yet.
Click to expand...


Nice, I am excited to get mine! Thanks for the review, question, does the lack of support for TRIMM thus far affect the new SSD's performance do you know?
 
M

MikhailT

macrumors 601
Nov 12, 2007
4,582
1,325
ljx718 said:
i think youre confused with the laws of supply and demand. the lower the demand, the lower the prices to attract customers. the higher the demand, the higher the prices.
Click to expand...

The laws of supply and demand are not that simple. You just describe just ONE law, which is the law of demand. Notice how it is called Laws of Demand and Supply. I wasn't even talking about demand but supply and the unstable market due to unstable level of supply.

Laws of Demand and Supply are relationships between the law of demand and the law of supply.
Here's the info.

Read the part, E. Disequilibrium, which describe perfectly what I'm talking about.
 
A

antskip

macrumors regular
Apr 24, 2009
100
0
Australia
Mr. Wonderful said:
Some general impressions:
As far as actual performance gains go, once the computer has booted to the desktop, it's immediately completely usable. Resumption from sleep is likewise a little faster as well...
altogether, it is as if a lag that I didn't even know was there has been removed from the computer, and it's like I can't believe we've been living with this laggy performance in our computers for all these years. Is it lightening fast OMG amazing!! ? No, I wouldn't really say that it reaches the hype and fabled performance gains that people tout when they're talking about SSDs. A lot better, yes, but like most hardware upgrades to an existing system, in most cases, it's like, "Is this it?" Though I would have to say that out of any hardware upgrade that I've ever done, the SSD has made the biggest noticeable improvement.
Click to expand...
I would agree very much with this review, though I have a OZC Summit rather than an Intel. Most of the recent non-Intel SSD's give a very similar experience to Intel, despite suggestions to the contrary; quite different from a HDD. Maybe the new Intel line and pricing will encourage more people to get them...
 
N

norsemen

macrumors regular
Apr 2, 2007
171
78
Anyone tried the new X-25M G2 on a brand new MBP (mid 09)?

I´m first and formost interested in any issue regarding the firmware update of the SATA interface (EFFI 1.7).

Thx in advance.
 
C

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
Expensive and slow writing drive. If you were to splash for the Samsung, then it would actually make sense to go for an SSD.
 
E

emt1

macrumors 65816
Jan 30, 2008
1,387
20
Wisconsin
cube said:
The 160GB Intel costs about the same as the 256GB Samsung.
The Intel writes at a pityful 70 MB/s, while the Samsung writes at 200 MB/s.
Click to expand...

Right. Did you read the thread? The Intel will dominate the Samsung when it comes to actual computing tasks. See: Random read/write speeds.
 
C

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
emt1 said:
Right. Did you read the thread? The Intel will dominate the Samsung when it comes to actual computing tasks. See: Random read/write speeds.
Click to expand...

Where is such a benchmark? Anyway, the the write performance of the Intel still puts it at the level of HYPE compared to a cheap hard disk.
 
nuckinfutz

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,539
406
Middle Earth
cube said:
Sequential writes are faster with a hard drive.
Click to expand...

I know I meant to say that but forgot to put a comma in the right place.

Intel certainly lags on sequential writes but honestly I see the smart storage system as a tiered system where you have a fast SSD for boot and you leverage the larger storage of HDD or an array for large sequential datastorage.

If I bought a Macboo Pro right now i'd probably remove the optical drive and go with a 5400rpm HDD for my bulk storage.
 
jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
93
cube said:
Where is such a benchmark? Anyway, the the write performance of the Intel still puts it at the level of HYPE compared to a cheap hard disk.
Click to expand...

Dude, it's not hype. Research the product. Random reads/writes are MASSIVELY important. What makes the Intel so good is that it has absolutely dominating performance *IN THE AREAS THAT MATTER THE MOST*.

There are a host of other things as well, but I can't sit here and type for an hour.
 
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