New SSD installed for my Macbook Air rev.A

[hunter127]

First of all, hi to all i'm new to this forum.
I want to explain my ssd experience.
Last week i buy a G-Monster Photofast SSD 64GB ZIF 40pin for my macbook air rev.A and it works like a charm!!
Macbook air now is a lot faster in all application and i get more battery life (about 20 minutes). I'm really happy with it and i haven't any kind of problem to install it (this ssd has the same dimension and connector of the original samsung HDD 80GB installed in macbook air rev. A).
This is the only ssd 100% compatible with macbook air rev.A that i found.
It's write also in their site that is compatible.
Excuse me if my english is not perfect but i'm italian.

 

[fteoath64]

Congrats!.
Please post Xbench 1.3 benchmarks. Thanks.

 

[demonx]

Nice, I replaced my 80gb drive but with another 80gb. Might look into SSD if they come out with some bigger sizes that work

 

[h1d]

You might want to consider getting rev B SSD then.

 

[VirtualRain]

First of all, hi to all i'm new to this forum.
I want to explain my ssd experience.
Last week i buy a G-Monster Photofast SSD 64GB ZIF 40pin for my macbook air rev.A and it works like a charm!!
Macbook air now is a lot faster in all application and i get more battery life (about 20 minutes). I'm really happy with it and i haven't any kind of problem to install it (this ssd has the same dimension and connector of the original samsung HDD 80GB installed in macbook air rev. A).
This is the only ssd 100% compatible with macbook air rev.A that i found.
It's write also in their site that is compatible.
Excuse me if my english is not perfect but i'm italian.

Thanks!!! They have so many products... can you link to the one you purchased? Also, where did you buy it? How much? How difficult was the swap?

 

[hunter127]

I purchased on ebay for € 160 and it's not too diffucult to mount thanks to youtube video on how to replace it (about 20 minutes).
The model is Photofast g-monster 64gb 40pin zif interface. There is also a 128gb version fully compatible but not now available (i think august lanch and i don't know the price).
Xbench results are:

Results 32.64
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J61)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir1,1
Drive Type PHOTOFAST18ZIF_64GB PHOTOFAST18ZIF_64GB
Disk Test 32.64
Sequential 37.07
Uncached Write 31.45 19.31 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 36.78 20.81 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 24.41 7.14 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 125.99 63.32 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 29.15
Uncached Write 9.26 0.98 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 40.35 12.92 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 780.13 5.53 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 314.37 58.33 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[MacFanNoob]

Interesting, a Rev A with one of these SSD's and Coolbook, is certainly a great option??? Especially if Snow Leopard is as snappy as some claim....

 

[mac jones]

nice results.

There's quite a few brands now for the form factor (1.8", ZIF, 5mm) but this is a vote of confidence.

Note: this form factor is rather tricky because of the ZIF. I've found that these are rather user unfriendly with sketchy standards (and it's perhaps hit and miss).

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

I'm really interested in upgrading my 80 GB HD in a new 128GB SSD..
I found that the 128GB KingSpec 1.8" ZIF 44-pin SSD has a reasonable price and I'm really tempted to buy one.

However I found many people on various forums that are reporting a lot of problems in upgrading a rev A MBA's HD. Most of them say that the MBA will not boot from anything other than the original disks (80 or 64 GB).

Has anyone here investigated about this problem? Is it true?

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

by the way, I just wrote to KingSpec factory asking informations about compatibility between their 128GB and rev A MBA.

Hope they'll reply honestly..

 

[lixuelai]

There is a thread on the Apple forums about the Kingspec where it did not work. However sellers on Ebay CLAIM that it works and showed pictures of it working. So I dont know, was looking into it as well.

 

[alexcf]

Hi,

I'm quite interested to make this upgrade myself... Can I ask where you found the instructions to change the disk out?

Thanks,

Alex.

 

[agerdsen]

128gig Photofast SSD installed in 1st gen MBA

Hi,
i have installed the 128gig from Photofast into my 1st gen. MBA.
Fits perfectly and replacing the old hd by the ssd one was not really difficult.
There is a site called http://www.ifixit.com, it has lots of repair manuals for apple devices. Its always detailed step-by-step instructions with lots of photos which makes it really easy to follow.
Installing the OS afterwards was also pretty easy. Just inserted the recovery DVD, formatted the new hd with the disk utility and followed the process.
The new harddisk works great, boot and shutdown is much faster and the additional gigs are more than welcome.
There is only one big problem. I also have winXP running on Parallels (i tried it also on VMwareFusion, same problem) on my notebook and windows hangs every 30 to 60 seconds for about 20seconds. I can still move the mouse, but eg. cannot click anything or move a window or type.
I am not sure but what else can it be than the new SSD.
Or are there parameters in OS X that can be changed to optimize?
I run the parallels windows with the same parameters as it was on the old harddisk and there it worked fine.
Any tips?

thx
Andy

here my xbench result:

Results 48.92
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J61)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir1,1
Drive Type PHOTOFAST18ZIFV2_128GB PHOTOFAST18ZIFV2_128GB
CPU Test 99.34
GCD Loop 186.96 9.85 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 89.27 2.12 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 73.56 2.43 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 98.82 17.21 Mops/sec
Thread Test 155.35
Computation 139.20 2.82 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 175.74 7.56 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 140.26
System 142.31
Allocate 191.74 704.12 Kalloc/sec
Fill 117.57 5716.48 MB/sec
Copy 135.86 2806.23 MB/sec
Stream 138.27
Copy 128.20 2647.87 MB/sec
Scale 126.97 2623.18 MB/sec
Add 151.01 3216.75 MB/sec
Triad 150.82 3226.49 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 112.89
Line 113.16 7.53 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 131.33 39.21 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 105.53 8.60 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 105.87 2.67 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 112.14 7.01 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 13.38
Spinning Squares 13.38 16.98 frames/sec
User Interface Test 114.30
Elements 114.30 524.59 refresh/sec
Disk Test 36.86
Sequential 51.94
Uncached Write 51.93 31.89 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 45.69 25.85 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 38.15 11.16 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 103.63 52.08 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 28.57
Uncached Write 8.67 0.92 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 49.08 15.71 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 982.70 6.96 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 308.33 57.21 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[h1d]

If you have the opportunity to sell rev A, check the rev B scores...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/638574/ (The attached text)

In short, PhotoFast is not really that fast...

 

[justit]

I am not sure but what else can it be than the new SSD.

Could creating a boot camp partition then having paralells run from it work?

 

[TheRiseofTheFal]

so is that a positive confirmation that the photofast 128 SSD works for the MBA? I've got the 80 gb hdd and am looking to extend the lifetime of this comptuer and would be very interested if this is actually reality...thanks!

 

[agerdsen]

Hi,
yes, its a positive confirmation that the 128gig photofast works in the mba. Except running winXP on parallels or VMwareFusion. Everything else seems to work so far. Of course i havent checked any program and maybe there are more that cannot deal with the new hd correctly.
I also did not try to run a different os using bootcamp.
Regarding the parallels problem, i do understand that the photofast disc is not very fast, but the benchmark test shows that its in nearly all disk-tests as fast as my old original 80gig harddisk or faster. And on the original one parallels was working w/o the permanent hangings.
Are there any settings i can make or check out for the harddisk?

thx
Andy

 

[kntgsp]

0.92MBps Random 4K write........

EDIT: Ahhh nevermind you're on the Rev. A which kind of buggers your choices there.

 

[agerdsen]

@kntgsp: Sorry, i dont get what youre saying. You mean that the 0.92MBps Random 4k write is the problem? But that value is higher as it was with the 80gigs hd. And with that one parallels was working.
Andy why does me having a Rev. A buggers my choices?

thx
Andy

 

[Marconelly]

Hi,
i have installed the 128gig from Photofast into my 1st gen. MBA.
Fits perfectly and replacing the old hd by the ssd one was not really difficult.

Can you tell where you got it from, and for how much? I can't find it being sold anywhere, and one place that has it backordered is listing 65000 Yen price, which is about $600. If I have to spend that kind of money, I'd rather sell MBA and buy a new one :\

 

[leonzong]

just tried xbench on my air rev.c 2.13GHz 128SSD

for your reference. I'm running snow leopard 421.

Results 111.18
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.6 (10A421a)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir2,1
Drive Type APPLE SSD SM128
CPU Test 151.34
GCD Loop 248.96 13.12 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 122.39 2.91 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 99.65 3.29 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 237.65 41.38 Mops/sec
Thread Test 271.42
Computation 330.72 6.70 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 230.16 9.90 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 173.91
System 199.87
Allocate 235.25 863.91 Kalloc/sec
Fill 170.48 8289.04 MB/sec
Copy 204.38 4221.38 MB/sec
Stream 153.92
Copy 146.31 3022.04 MB/sec
Scale 144.88 2993.19 MB/sec
Add 165.02 3515.21 MB/sec
Triad 161.55 3455.95 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 144.38
Line 137.67 9.17 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 172.24 51.42 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 148.58 12.11 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 147.41 3.72 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 124.28 7.77 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 49.36
Spinning Squares 49.36 62.61 frames/sec
User Interface Test 141.94
Elements 141.94 651.44 refresh/sec
Disk Test 78.82
Sequential 62.45
Uncached Write 50.21 30.83 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 59.34 33.57 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 45.95 13.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 181.15 91.04 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 106.83
Uncached Write 52.26 5.53 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 64.39 20.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1492.42 10.58 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 474.62 88.07 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[Jaap]

40pin or 44pin?

Do our MacBook Air Rev A's take 40pin or 44pin ZIF?

 

[jrabbit]

Rev A New SSD

I also just replaced the drive in my Rev A MBA with the Photofast 1.8 128GB ZIF SSD (GM-1.8"-ZIF 128GB) SSD from dvnation (http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/ca...Photofast+1.8+128GB+ZIF+SSD&exact_match=exact).

Very easy to do; just follow the iFixit.com instructions (http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/MacBook-Air-Hard-Drive-Replacement/860/1).

After repartitioning the new SSD to use the GUID partition scheme and a journaled filesystem, I used Carbon Copy Cloner with and external USB drive to clone/restore the boot drive; it took about 2.5 hours each way for about 50GB of stuff. Amazingly painless.

Now I've got plenty of room for everything I need (iTunes library, iPhoto libraries, Lotus Notes replication [yeah, I know], VMware VMs [XP, Ubuntu]). Much joy!

Here are the resulting Xbench scores:

Results 57.48
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.8 (9L30)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir1,1
Drive Type PHOTOFAST18ZIFV2_128GB PHOTOFAST18ZIFV2_128GB
CPU Test 111.80
GCD Loop 203.38 10.72 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 101.27 2.41 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 82.80 2.73 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 112.27 19.55 Mops/sec
Thread Test 156.11
Computation 157.82 3.20 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 154.44 6.64 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 140.76
System 131.95
Allocate 130.94 480.85 Kalloc/sec
Fill 124.96 6075.71 MB/sec
Copy 140.94 2911.00 MB/sec
Stream 150.82
Copy 142.31 2939.31 MB/sec
Scale 141.43 2921.84 MB/sec
Add 161.11 3432.03 MB/sec
Triad 160.84 3440.83 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 134.57
Line 127.89 8.51 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 159.68 47.67 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 129.62 10.57 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 130.48 3.29 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 129.98 8.13 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 17.77
Spinning Squares 17.77 22.55 frames/sec
User Interface Test 166.32
Elements 166.32 763.32 refresh/sec
Disk Test 33.77
Sequential 45.21
Uncached Write 41.82 25.68 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 37.38 21.15 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 33.26 9.73 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 129.18 64.93 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 26.95
Uncached Write 8.44 0.89 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 39.25 12.57 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 810.06 5.74 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 311.64 57.83 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[mac jones]

There's a cap of about 64 mb read/write speeds with the zif PATA on rev A

But this is pretty fast anyway. It's just that the stock 1.8 4200rpm is horrible.

I have the stock Samsung 64GB SSD and it's fine ; unless of course you want a speed demon (but I guess we all want those eah? )

So the Photofast or the the Sansung SSD's I would say at this point for those who (need) to upgrade their rev A's.

Something I highly recommend if your trudging along at 4200rpm

 

[Ilzen&Mac]

I'm also considering upgrading my rev.a hdd to something better. Do you think this ssd will work with rev.a? http://www.kingspec.com/solid-state-disk-products/ssd-18zif-1128mj.htm
It's Kingspec, 40-pin ZIF, sizes are suitable. I read about problems with kinspec's drive in rev.a, but that was a 44-pin drive, so I wonder if this one will work? It would be great to hear if someone already installed it.